September 2017: reading thread

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I finished Dave Hutchinson's Europe In Autumn. I'm not quite sure what to think about it, I did like the writing (it reminded me a bit of Claire North's work) and the way it managed to capture the feel of a Cold War espionage novel despite the near-future setting and I thought it had some good characterisation but structurally it felt a bit odd. For the vast majority of the novel we have very little idea what's really going on, and the real plot is only introduced very near the end (even if it does partially explain some of the things that happened earlier). It felt like it spent a lot of time on relatively small details like the early days of Rudi's career as a chef but felt a bit rushed which it came to the heart of the plot. I know there are a couple more books so I'm hoping they go into a bit more detail about some of the things I feel the first book needed to explain a bit more.

Now I'm reading Jo Zebedee's Inish Carraig
 
I’ve just finished reading Ursula LeGuin’s “The Winds of Twelve Quarters” (1975) which contains seventeen stories first published between 1962 and 1974. I enjoyed it much more than I had expected. The reason for purchase was the discovery that it contains the two earliest Earthsea stories, first published in 1964 and predating the books - to quote LeGuin: “The two stories that follow were my first approach to and exploration of the ‘secondary’ world of Earthsea, about which I later wrote three novels.”

Although I haven’t looked at them in years, I’ve always valued the Earthsea stories as back in the 70s/80s they managed to speak directly to the inner landscapes of myself and many others. Rather to my surprise these two stories, “The Word of Unbinding” and “The Rule of Names”, while only totalling some twenty pages, did not disappoint me at all and are very much recognisable as Earthsea. One of them has clear links to “The Farthest Shore” and the other has an appearance by a certain famous dragon. Also a main character goes by the name of Mr Underhill (who of course lives under a hill): now I wonder where she picked up that name…

However the other stories are also very readable, their quality showing in that in their time they were nominated for four Hugos (winning one),“Winter’s King”, "Vaster than Empires and More Slow”, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”(Winner of Best Short Story), “The Day Before the Revolution”, and two Nebulas (winning one, “Nine Lives”, “The Day Before the Revolution”(Winner of Best Short Story).
 
I've given another 25 comics a send off, and am now starting Space Winners by Gordon R Dickson.

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Nearly at the end of the Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames - cracking read.

Not sure what to read next, although Weaveworld by Clive Barker is whispering softly to me from its place on the shelf.
 
Finished le Carre's The Honourable Schoolboy -- a good read, but felt a bit all over the place, literally in a geographical sense. But unlike some reviewers I read, I didn't sense that le Carre had too little knowledge or experience of south-east Asia to pull it off, though that might be because I have almost none. I'm in awe of his ability to write a fascinating story about a world that revolves around tedious detail, vagueness and guesswork.

Now straight on to Smiley's People.
 
HareBrain said:
Finished le Carre's The Honourable Schoolboy -- a good read, but felt a bit all over the place, literally in a geographical sense. But unlike some reviewers I read, I didn't sense that le Carre had too little knowledge or experience of south-east Asia to pull it off, though that might be because I have almost none. I'm in awe of his ability to write a fascinating story about a world that revolves around tedious detail, vagueness and guesswork.

Now straight on to Smiley's People.
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Possibly my favourite of the three.
 
dannymcg said:
Still working my way through the entire Quiller series.
A sci fi book and then a Quiller and then a sci fi etc etc.
Interspersed now and again with a sci fi short or an adventure novelette.
Currently reading Quiller in 'The Sinkiang Executive' but I'm also trying once again to read through the Gripping Hand (sequel to mote in god's eye).
I've tried this a couple of times before but always get bogged down in the politics of the Motie trading clans and give up.

Tbh this sequel is yawnorama but one day I'll finish it :(
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It never really lived up to the first book.
 
Started on the tube this morning and already 70 pages into Adrian (checks spelling) Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Hooked already, which has surprised me as I wasn't a fan of his 'Shadows of the Apt' books (the three - well, two and a half - I read before giving up, anyway).
 
Bugg said:
Started on the tube this morning and already 70 pages into Adrian (checks spelling) Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Hooked already, which has surprised me as I wasn't a fan of his 'Shadows of the Apt' books (the three - well, two and a half - I read before giving up, anyway).
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I'll be interested in your final thoughts; I've had it on my wish list for a while now.
 
Very nearly finished Tacitus' Complete Works. Liked it more than the first reading. Mostly grim stuff, though.

It's a shame we don't have more about Trajan or Antoninus Pius to go along with the stuff about terrible emperors.
 
I am currently listening to Heads or Tails by Damien Boyd. It is another strong D.I. Dick Nixon story. I am reading Angel's Truth by our own A.J. Grimmelhaus. As it's a Fantasy I was a bit worried about how much I would like it. But after having made a good start (30 %) I can tell you that I am quite enjoying it. (And this from a man who had to slog to get through The Hobbit.)
 
Bugg said:
Started on the tube this morning and already 70 pages into Adrian (checks spelling) Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Hooked already, which has surprised me as I wasn't a fan of his 'Shadows of the Apt' books (the three - well, two and a half - I read before giving up, anyway).
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I think Tchaikovsky did improve significantly as a writer through the course of the Apt series and he carried through into his later books. I did like Children of Time a lot, although I through the plotlines about the spiders were more interesting than the plotlines about the humans.
 
williamjm said:
I think Tchaikovsky did improve significantly as a writer through the course of the Apt series and he carried through into his later books. I did like Children of Time a lot, although I through the plotlines about the spiders were more interesting than the plotlines about the humans.
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Me too! I would have loved to see less of the humans - I found those bits dragged :)
 
Jo Zebedee said:
Me too! I would have loved to see less of the humans - I found those bits dragged :)
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At the moment I'm enjoying the human parts more (around 180 pages in). Could be because I'm severely arachnophobic, though :D
 
The Second Foundation by Isaac Asimov - Enjoyable if rather simplistic third Foundation book. Now I have to decide whether to continue with the later prequels and sequels. More here.
Queen of Angels by Greg Bear - I nearly put this down after 100 pages and by the end I wished I had*. More here.
Remnant Population by Elizabeth Moon - I highly recommend this different and thoughtful first contact book. It bears no resemblance to Moon's more normal space opera and fantasy work sitting more comfortably alongside her other standalone work The Speed of Dark. If you are interested in how an elderly arthritic female main character can keep me reading until three in the morning then give this a read! More here.



* whilst I certainly wouldn't recommend this book I think some (possibly @Stephen Palmer) might find the look at AIs gaining self-awareness in the interstellar probe thread interesting.
 
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