August 2018 Reading thread

[tobl]

just finished Serpentine by laurel Hamilton. great read

 

[nixie]

Still reading Paul Hoffman's Left Hand of God. Don't get me wrong it's good enough to entertain but doesn't grab your imagination, everything has been done before I know that can be said for most books but normally the author adds their own twist, I'm not getting that from this.

 

[janeoreilly]

Finished reading Tiptree Her Smoke Rises Up Forever, which was angry and bleak, read Herland which was hilarious, now reading Assassination Classroom 4 and Pretty Deadly.

 

[Hugh]

Finished reading Tiptree Her Smoke Rises Up Forever, which was angry and bleak

Agreed! You may already be familiar with the biography by Julie Phillips, "James Tiptree, Jr., The Double Life of Alice B. Sheldon", which fills in the gaps of the anger/bleakness.

 

[pambaddeley]

Read R A MacAvoy's trilogy, Lens of the World, King of the Dead and Winter of the Wolf. Enjoyed these a lot more than other books by the writer, although books 2 and 3 are not quite as good as the first.

 

[Vince W]

Ed Mastery by Michael Lucas. If you don't know Michael Lucas, he's written many technical books on Unix/BSD including ones on FreeBSD, OpenBSD, SSH and some others. While Ed Mastery is geared towards Unix users who are looking to improve some skills, it is often a hilarious look at Unix computing history. If you know anything about Unix then this book is more than a manual.

 

[The Judge]

Still reading Paul Hoffman's Left Hand of God. Don't get me wrong it's good enough to entertain but doesn't grab your imagination, everything has been done before I know that can be said for most books but normally the author adds their own twist, I'm not getting that from this.

He was ripping off quotes all over the place, and the last battle is just a real world one with different names, so it doesn't surprise me if the plot elements were also borrowed from other works, though I didn't notice anything myself (but you read a lot more than me, so I'd trust your judgement there). I wasn't overly impressed with it when I read it earlier in the year, and to my mind it got worse the further I got into it.

 

[williamjm]

He was ripping off quotes all over the place, and the last battle is just a real world one with different names, so it doesn't surprise me if the plot elements were also borrowed from other works, though I didn't notice anything myself (but you read a lot more than me, so I'd trust your judgement there). I wasn't overly impressed with it when I read it earlier in the year, and to my mind it got worse the further I got into it.

I remember it being hyped by the publisher when it came out, but nobody I know who read it was particularly impressed by it.

 

[Paul_C]

I'm half way through Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter, but I've hit a plot line that I'm struggling to get past, so I might give it up.

I'm in a reasonable mood though, so it might be time to give The Ocean at the End of the Lane a second go.

I found it sorely lacking the first time I read it, but I'm prepared to consider the possibly of being wrong.

 

[tobl]

Still reading Paul Hoffman's Left Hand of God. Don't get me wrong it's good enough to entertain but doesn't grab your imagination, everything has been done before I know that can be said for most books but normally the author adds their own twist, I'm not getting that from this.

it actually is not that bad. read much worst. and there's a twist in the final so maybe that gets you lol

 

[Danny McG]

This morning I'm setting off on a decades overdue re-read of the four 'Planet of Adventure' books by Jack Vance.
This ought to keep me occupied for a good while

 

[thaddeus6th]

About a third of the way through Joan Alcock's A Brief History of Roman Britain. Quite enjoying it.

 

[Vertigo]

I'm half way through Noumenon by Marina J. Lostetter, but I've hit a plot line that I'm struggling to get past, so I might give it up.

I'm in a reasonable mood though, so it might be time to give The Ocean at the End of the Lane a second go.

I found it sorely lacking the first time I read it, but I'm prepared to consider the possibly of being wrong.

I read Noumenon a couple of weeks back and haven't got around to writing it up yet. I managed to finish it but definitely had a couple of issues with some of the plot elements though I'm not sure I could present that strong a case against them. Disappointing overall though.

 

[Hugh]

This morning I'm setting off on a decades overdue re-read of the four 'Planet of Adventure' books by Jack Vance.
This ought to keep me occupied for a good while

Watch out for those Chasch!

 

[Nozzle Velocity]

Just finished Ted Gioia's West Coast Jazz (1992). Parts of the book incorporate some of his earlier essays, so it's not as elegantly structured as his later The History of Jazz, but this is illuminating and deeply researched nonetheless.

On to Doomstar by Edmond Hamilton. The knock against this one by some critics was that he was reacting to the 60s by going "serious". I prefer my Ed Hamilton as straight adventure, no chaser...so, we'll see.

 

[janeoreilly]

Now on to Anne Charnock dreams before the start of time

 

[nixie]

Due too picking it up at the same time as Left Hand of God, I'll give Paul Hoffman's The Last Four Things a go.

I didn't actively dislike the first one but it is not something I would recommend.

 

[Parson]

I've finished a book a night the last three nights by Laurence Dahners: Last week I started off reading his earliest work Bonesetter (Summer) and Bonesetter (Winter). Both were less than his Ell Donsaii books I'd read before, (think Jean Auel in 250 pages and unpretentious) but so much more enjoyable than so much of the dark stuff I've been reading that I went back and on successive night read Quicker, Smarter, and Lieutenant. (First 3 of the Ell Donsaii series) and they were great. Science Fiction with science, a hero worthy of the name, and a plot that resolves in 300 pages! What a concept!!! I'm unsure what I read next, but I've just purchased an ebook of possibly my favorite book of my early teens Catseye by Andre Norton.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Finished reading Master of War by David Gilman a few days ago - an exceptional mediaeval Historical Fiction novel, based during the 100 years war. Need to put aside time to write a glowing review.

 

[HareBrain]

After skimming a couple of Alan Moore-era Swamp Thing collections, I've settled down to a reread of Black Light by Elizabeth Hand. Anyone else read anything by her?