July 2021 Reading Discussion.

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Ian Fortytwo

A Poet, Writer and eclectic Reader.
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I've put Jane Austen's Emma to one side for a while.
I am now reading two books.

The book group one is Burning the Books, by Richard Ovenden.

The second book is The Queen, by Matthew Dennison.

Of course I also have my poetry book and quarterly to read as well.

So what are you reading.
 
Time to read has dried up and I'm only reading a few pages here and there which, I'm afraid, isn't kind to a novel like Kill Creek by Scott Thomas, since it owes much of its effectiveness to atmospheric writing. In spite of that, I'm enjoying the direction its headed in. Briefly, four major and very different writers of horror are gathered together by a rather enigmatic rich podcaster to discuss their work. The twist is that the podcaster has rented time in one of the midwest's most famously haunted houses in which to conduct the interview. Oh, on Halloween.
 
I am reading Kim Stanley Robinson - Mars trilogy. The first one was pretty good, I am now a couple of hundred pages in to the second one.
 
Reading two novels: Dostoevsky's Demons and Kipling's Kim (both are rereads).

I'm reading short stories by Walter de la Mare and Isaac Bashevis Singer.

I'm back into reading Boswell's Life of Johnson and continuing Joan Bennett's study of Sir Thomas Browne, and reading a commentary on the book of Samuel, which in Christian Bibles is two books, and I'm in the first one.
 
I finished Arcadia the sequel to Quant in the Colony Story series by Richard Weyland. I found it to be quite interesting. This book was actually a series of 4 novellas? (20,000 words) which covered the first 125 years of the Arcadia colony, interspersed with short check-ins on Janice Quant the intelligent computer from the first story. The stories reminded me a little of the original Foundation trilogy. In that it covered large swaths of history by focusing on one significant development in each time slot. In the afterward Weyland says that his original story idea of lost human worlds finding each other is going to develop in the third book of the series Galactic Survey.

On the whole Arcadia was much more about social and political relationships than science. One of his "main" thoughts is that for the most part colonies are going to revert to a time when people usually married in their teens and had 5 or 6 kids. I find the first thought dubious, but the second makes better sense.

I give Arcadia a solid 4 of 5 stars and will definitely read Galactic Survey when it is published.
 
I began reading a collection of two Fritz Leiber novellas: Ill Met in Lankhmar and Ship of Shadows. I'm halfway through Ill Met in Lankhmar and am finding it a little disappointing. The beginning is great: it has an early plot twist that got me; but it hits the breaks on a very long act 2 I'm struggling to read through.

That aside, the usual. E-zines (preferably the free ones, but I buy one or two every month) and Daily Science Fiction newsletter.
 
I began reading a collection of two Fritz Leiber novellas: Ill Met in Lankhmar and Ship of Shadows. I'm halfway through Ill Met in Lankhmar and am finding it a little disappointing. The beginning is great: it has an early plot twist that got me; but it hits the breaks on a very long act 2 I'm struggling to read through.

That aside, the usual. E-zines (preferably the free ones, but I buy one or two every month) and Daily Science Fiction newsletter.
I would strongly recommend a bit of perseverence with the Lankhmar novels. It takes a while to tune in to the dry humour, but it is worth it. Ill Met in Lankhmar is good, but Leiber really got into his stride in subsequent stories.
 
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Good so far!
 
Finished two books today. The first was the only novel I've read in months, A Theatre for Dreamers by Polly Samson, a fictionalised account of the bohemian community on the Greek island of Hydra in the 60s. Not a strong advert for fiction. Needed to be half its length, with half the number of characters, and a stronger plot.

Next was William Blake vs the World by John Higgs, which has been my bedtime reading for the last three weeks or so. Written in rather earthbound prose for such a visionary subject, but nevertheless insightful and valuable. Presents a strong case for why Blake's work is still important, and how it has mostly been misunderstood by those who have made use of it since his death.

My aim now is to finish The Pursuit of Power (Europe 1815-1914) by Richard J Evans before the library stops letting me renew it.
 
@Danny McG .... I read almost all of her (Lindsay Buroaker's) Star Kingdom series. I might have one book left to go. It was all pretty good, but a little too heavy on the Fantasy and Romance side of things to make her one of my favorites.
 
@Danny McG .... I read almost all of her (Lindsay Buroaker's) Star Kingdom series. I might have one book left to go. It was all pretty good, but a little too heavy on the Fantasy and Romance side of things to make her one of my favorites.
I ain't got to the Romance yet, now I'm not sure I want to keep reading it!
I got a large TBR list so I might go to another writer.
Edit:-
Here we go

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I ain't got to the Romance yet, now I'm not sure I want to keep reading it!
I got a large TBR list so I might go to another writer
Not saying there's going to be, but she is famous for Fantasy work.
 
Finished this. Liked everything in it especially the editorial type stuff by Barry Malzberg and Bill Pronzini.

TheEndOfTheFifties.jpeg


Now reading this:

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Contrary to Malzberg and Pronzini, Summer is just getting started.
 
So, you know the old saying: "Don't Judge a Book by it's Cover?" I know that's a true statement, but I have to admit covers play a substantial role in which books I explore a bit deeper. This is a book whose cover almost kept me from reading it.



It kept drifting to
Starman's saga.jpg
bottom of my "To Be Read" pile. But since it's a Kindle Unlimited book, I finally decided I'd give it a try and ditch it quick. Well, that proved to be very wrong. Here's my Amazon Review:

A Science Fiction Novel in the Great Old Tradition

This novel reminds me of the great science fiction masters. It talks about big ideas, it has a scope as wide as the distance between stars. It brings up new ideas about what it means to travel to the stars and to travel back. It is on the hard Science Fiction side, but not the kind of hard Science Fiction that is so filled with science that it takes a front seat to the story.

If you like novels like the Foundation Trilogy and Gateway, this will be a treat for you.

---------

I'm convinced that this is a stand alone novel. Colin Alexander, at least as far as I can see, has only written stand alones. The novel follows Leif Grettison. (If you look at the cover it says "The long strange journey of Leif the Lucky." --- Another reason I almost did not read it. That sounded too corny for words.) about a 100 years into the future. Things are not wonderful on earth, still a lot of war, and the big powers have just pulled back from the brink of an extinction level war. But all is not hopeless.

Why did I borrow it in the first place? app. 350 4-5 star reviews. I thought that had to be meaningful because there was little in the blurb or the cover which made me want to read it.

I won't say more about the story, but that it's the kind of book that is staying with me days after finishing it. I awarded it 5 stars (and most of you know that I don't do that lightly). Perhaps the most significant thing I can say is that I picked up his latest novel and have started it right away.

Sigh! the cover on it is horrible as well.

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This whole month of July im pretty much reading Wheel of Time Dragon Reborn and the recent print issue of Horror Hound that i bought from Barnes and Noble.
 
I started off Save the Cat! Strikes Back without much hope; but now I'm liking it a lot. I got overwhelmed with books on craft last year, but this is a great comeback!
 
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