[Mentalist]

Finished "Plague of Swords" late last night. Since I'm spending my time painstakingly backing up all the crap on my computer to external hard drives, this leaves me with loads of reading time.

"Plague of Swords" was good. A bit of a slow build-up as it had all the hallmarks of an interlude book, but it found its stride towards the end. The last book looks to be something quite interesting, gonna grab it on Sunday.

About 150 pages into "The Widow's House", and I'm back to being incredulous about some of Abraham's characters. But at least the out-of-touch dragon is amusing. Can't wait for him to start smashing stuff up.

[Andorion]

Tsundoku, on 25 December 2019 - 01:03 PM, said:

Don't you have a better half? And a job/study? Where the hell do you get the time? Speed reader?

Yeesh.

For my part, I just finished The Grey Bastards. Took a little while to get going, then it really hit it's stride and didn't let up. Great fun, interesting developed characters and a cool concept.

Five rampaging orcs out of six.

Will definitely read the sequel, The True Bastards.

Christmas vacation! I have basically been binging books

[Abyss]

Mentalist, on 20 December 2019 - 02:38 AM, said:

Finished "Lies sleeping" the next Peter Grant book. Feels like the end of an arc, and Peter's sudden growing is a bit of an unexpected development. Good book though: ended up finishing the last 120 or so pages at home, once things started to escalate.

EDIT: summing up my thoughts on the book. I'm actually getting the impression Aaronovitch is building up a few secondary characters to give them their own time in the spotlight. Guleed getting a PoV role feels almost inevitable at this point.

Agreed. Some of that happens in the comics, which he also writes.

[Tiste Simeon]

Flipping heck I just finished THE HOD KING and man that was an epic book. Seriously wonderful, well written and excellently paced. Can't wait for the final installment.

[Macros]

I know right, really looking forward to the finalle

Fig started the book club book God's of Jade and Shadow today while we had a power cut.
Read the fist like 80 pages, different

[JPK]

For those that've read The Atrocity Archives:

The Concrete Jungle is it's own thing, right? I'm a good chunk into it now, but I feel like the main book has tied itself up and this is a bonus story. It doesn't really seem to be connected at all being his experience with the type of weapon involved.

[Andorion]

JPK, on 27 December 2019 - 04:02 PM, said:

For those that've read The Atrocity Archives:

The Concrete Jungle is it's own thing, right? I'm a good chunk into it now, but I feel like the main book has tied itself up and this is a bonus story. It doesn't really seem to be connected at all being his experience with the type of weapon involved.

Its been a few years, but iirc its a self contained story.

It may however contain a few elements that will become mainstream in the later books.

[Andorion]

I am currently reading this rather different book - Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
It seems to be a whodunnit in space with clones.

[Mentalist]

I finished "The Widow's House" the same day I started it.

It was... okay. I expected more, and maybe I shouldn't have? Dunno. Basically, I'm left unsure how the story can wrap up effectively in a single volume.

I'll be picking up Book 5 on Sunday, so we'll see, I guess. But as it stands, I'm not sold on this.

[Abyss]

Tiste Simeon, on 26 December 2019 - 10:39 PM, said:

Flipping heck I just finished THE HOD KING and man that was an epic book. Seriously wonderful, well written and excellently paced. Can't wait for the final installment.

Very enjoyed most of it. At times it cut closer to SENLIN, which did not love, than to ARM, which I absolutely did, but overall great book.

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 28 December 2019 - 02:12 AM, said:

JPK, on 27 December 2019 - 04:02 PM, said:

For those that've read The Atrocity Archives:

The Concrete Jungle is it's own thing, right? I'm a good chunk into it now, but I feel like the main book has tied itself up and this is a bonus story. It doesn't really seem to be connected at all being his experience with the type of weapon involved.

Its been a few years, but iirc its a self contained story.

It may however contain a few elements that will become mainstream in the later books.

Separate story added to the book.

[Abyss]

Andorion, on 28 December 2019 - 02:13 AM, said:

I am currently reading this rather different book - Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
It seems to be a whodunnit in space with clones.

I enjoyed it. Manages more than a few nice twists along the way.

[Aptorian]

I'm a hundred pages into the third Witcher book, Blood of Elves.

I'm a bit confused. If this book is technically the first book and the others are short stories and prequel material. How is the reader meant to understand half of the stuff going on?

Geralt isn't even the focus!

Ciri is quite adorable though. Currently Sapkowski is running the reader through these training and teaching sequences, where we see Ciri growing and learning. It's fun and very charming.

I love that Sapowski put a lot of research into armed combat. He either knows a lot about sparring or he's a great bullshitter.

[Abyss]

Aptorian, on 28 December 2019 - 03:03 PM, said:

I'm a hundred pages into the third Witcher book, Blood of Elves.

I'm a bit confused. If this book is technically the first book and the others are short stories and prequel material. How is the reader meant to understand half of the stuff going on?

Geralt isn't even the focus!

Ciri is quite adorable though. Currently Sapkowski is running the reader through these training and teaching sequences, where we see Ciri growing and learning. It's fun and very charming.

I love that Sapowski put a lot of research into armed combat. He either knows a lot about sparring or he's a great bullshitter.

My understanding is that it's not the first, or even second book as it was marketed in NorAm. It's like the third.
Also it kind of sucks.

THE LAST WISH was sold as book 1 here and while it is a short story collection it works nicely as an intro.

BLOOD otoh was a badly translated out of contexts mess sold as book 2. Threw me right out of the series.

[JPK]

Andorion, on 28 December 2019 - 02:12 AM, said:

JPK, on 27 December 2019 - 04:02 PM, said:

For those that've read The Atrocity Archives:

The Concrete Jungle is it's own thing, right? I'm a good chunk into it now, but I feel like the main book has tied itself up and this is a bonus story. It doesn't really seem to be connected at all being his experience with the type of weapon involved.

Its been a few years, but iirc its a self contained story.

It may however contain a few elements that will become mainstream in the later books.

Yeah, it was definitely it's own thing. I'm glad I read it because it dealt with a couple of political things and knocked then out of the way before they would get annoying in an actual book. Also, introduced a new character that looks likely to be another field op. Anyways, I finished it up last night and I'll grab book 2 sometime in January.

In the meantime I've started Arden's The Bear and the Nightingale. A couple chapters in and I'm coming to the realization that I've developed a bit of a taste for Russian flavored fantasy that started with The Master and Margherita, Jasper Kent's Danilov books, and Vita Nostra.

[Mentalist]

Aptorian, on 28 December 2019 - 03:03 PM, said:

I'm a hundred pages into the third Witcher book, Blood of Elves.

I'm a bit confused. If this book is technically the first book and the others are short stories and prequel material. How is the reader meant to understand half of the stuff going on?

Geralt isn't even the focus!

Ciri is quite adorable though. Currently Sapkowski is running the reader through these training and teaching sequences, where we see Ciri growing and learning. It's fun and very charming.

I love that Sapowski put a lot of research into armed combat. He either knows a lot about sparring or he's a great bullshitter.

Ciri's backstory (mostly) comes from "Sword of Destiny". "Blood of the Elves" is a (nearly) direct sequel to the last short story in that book. That being said, that short story throws in a first Nilfgaard invasion out of left field, so it's got its share of confusing moments.

[Aptorian]

Oh I get it, it just feels kinda ramshackle. Well the whole end of Sword of Destiny, with Geralt having TV-show flashbacks, was weird.

Still entertaining to see stuff from the games popping up. Right now they're encountering Scoiatel.

[Andorion]

Aptorian, on 28 December 2019 - 05:35 PM, said:

Oh I get it, it just feels kinda ramshackle. Well the whole end of Sword of Destiny, with Geralt having TV-show flashbacks, was weird.

Still entertaining to see stuff from the games popping up. Right now they're encountering Scoiatel.

The books aren't really the best. IMO the short stories are the best part and everything just goes downhill from there.


I am reading 14 by Peter Clines and this is so weird and intriguing

[Chance]

Currently reading Blood in the Water book 11 of the destroyermen series, nothing spectacular exactly but sometimes some lost regiment kind of stuff is just what I need. Pretty fun ideas with the multiple lost regiments in the same world. .

Andorion, on 29 December 2019 - 02:05 AM, said:

Aptorian, on 28 December 2019 - 05:35 PM, said:

Oh I get it, it just feels kinda ramshackle. Well the whole end of Sword of Destiny, with Geralt having TV-show flashbacks, was weird.

Still entertaining to see stuff from the games popping up. Right now they're encountering Scoiatel.

The books aren't really the best. IMO the short stories are the best part and everything just goes downhill from there.

I was stupid enough to read on on the strenth of those short stories but it sure wasn't worth it.

This post has been edited by Chance: 29 December 2019 - 04:08 PM

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 09 December 2019 - 07:14 PM, said:

Abyss, on 05 December 2019 - 03:59 PM, said:

...On to MURDERBOT, about halfway into ALL SYSTEMS RED and very enjoying so far.

Just Finished RED, went straight into ARTIFICIAL CONDITION, also enjoyed enough to continue into ROGUE PROTOCOL and once done will likely jump straight to EXIT STRATEGY.

Happy to see Wells is doing a full length novel due next year. There's a lot of good writing with the Murderbot character. It brings to mind an 'older' style of sf where the audience is along for the ride with a bad attitude pribvate eye POV character and doesn't get explanations for everything, and partly just gloriously cynical and filed with scathing comments about human stupidity from the pov of a robot trying to keep the humans alive.

The earbook narrator's ability to distinguish inner monologue vs speech is impressive.

Abyss, on 17 December 2019 - 05:36 PM, said:

About 1/3rd of the way thru HELL DIVERS 6: ALLEGIANCE... i was NOT expecting this to be as good as it is.
Would not suggest anyone who tried the series and bailed come back for this, but if you read thru the end of bk 5, there's more of what you want here, if what you want is desperate, driven characters with hi-tech weapons, running around a contaminated world, trying not to be eaten by mutant monsters, shot by insane androids, or stabbed in the back by other desperate, driven people who are also running around a contaminated world, trying not to be eaten by mutant monsters, shot by insane androids.

Some backlog re books Just Finished...

THE MURDERBOT DIARIES are great. With a brief detour between 3 and 4 for HELL DIVERS 6, i just finished the fourth short EXIT STRATEGIES, all in earbook.

Liked these a LOT, maybe even loved. There is so much to like... the style is classic sf, without a lot of time spent explainifying the science... SecBots, 'security robots' such as Murderbot, are androids made from robot and cloned human parts. Spaceships use wormholes. Humans have colonized a pile of planets. Ok, got it, go. The titular Murderbot is an unusual example of the type. We learn in the first few pages of the first story just why ... minor spoiler if you care...

Spoiler

he hacked himself and removed the corporate controls

...and this colors the entirety
of the four stories from its POV. The Murderbot has a great 'voice', and the earbook narrator utterly and completely nails this. The cynicism, the confusion and irritation and longing around humans, the hunger to act on his programming and just kill things... the voicework is among the best i've heard.
Each story runs from the next, i suppose they could be heard out of sequence but i wouldn't recommend it as events and the character's development follow the set.

The action scenes... each story has at least one scene that's just cinematic and fast and fun and pure awesome.

And, i cannot overstate this...Wells makes the Murderbot's character evolution interesting. I'm not going to say she does anything wildly novel vs any other sf author whose used the 'robot tries to be human' trope, but this is easily among the bestest i've read, in particular because Murderbot does not actually want to be human so much as more human than when it starts the story, and the way it bounces this off of the supporting cast in each story is very nicely done.

There is a lot... seriously, a LOT.... Wells can still do this the Murderbot, and i am so there for whatever is next.

Worth the dollars and the time.



And then we have HELL DIVERS 6: ALLEGIANCE, also Just Finished.
Look, it's book 6... if you liked the series so far, this is more of the same and i enjoyed it for the same reasons. Post-Apocalyptic Earth sucks, the few survivors are just barely hanging on, and the risk from other survivors, creative mutant beasties, and failing tech is pretty much incessant. The action remains great fun whether it's a mass battle against mutants or a knifefight in a hallway. And i give the author credit for having seriously reset the status quo back in book 5 yet kept the level of risk just as high... it's fun that truly, no character is safe is igiven the track record for the series to date it's more 'when' than 'whether' a character you like gets taken out.
The hook for book 7 is obvious and i'm in when it lands. Book pun intended.


On the Ben Aaronovich's RIVERS OF LONDON spin-off novella 'THE OCTOBER MAN', which introduces a completely separate cast over in Germany. Halfway in, so far so good.