November 2018 reading thread

Three Jack Vance short story collections: "The Augmented Agent", "The Narrow Land", "When the Five Moons Rise". I enjoyed these. In general I prefer his short stories to his longer works (with one or two exceptions), but that's true for me of much of SF.

Picked up on a whim in an Oxfam shop: Cliffsnotes on Virgil's Aeneid. I haven't come across Cliffsnotes before, but I've been somewhat prejudiced against trying the Aeneid in the past, despite being familiar with parts of it from schooldays. To my surprise this greatly abbreviated summary and analysis was a pleasant read, a bit like in younger times reading the Classics Illustrated comic version of a lengthy novel.
 
Paul_C said:
Authority completed. I think I enjoyed it more than the first one, despite the fact that it's something that infuriates me - the middle book of a trilogy that doesn't work without the books either side if it.

I feel in the mood to complete a few of the outstanding trilogies where I've read the first two, so it's The Burning Page - Genevieve Cogman next, followed by Revenant Gun - Yoon Ha Lee and then finish the Southern Reach trilogy with Acceptance.
Click to expand...

I finished The Burning Page last night, an entertaining romp like the previous two. Revenant Gun starts tonight.
 
Just finished The Spirit Of Hawkwind - definitely essential reading for any Hawkwind fan. Now turning my attention to Herman Hesse's Steppenwolf.
 
I'm not keeping up with this very well.

So far this month I've read

Red Angel: Book II Raiders by C. R. Daems --- much like the first book, good enough, but nothing earth shattering. I will likely continue the series another time.

Dead Souls by Angela Marsons book 6 of the D. I. Kim Stone series. A very British detective series which keeps sending me back to Google to decipher some of the British slang.

Deranged by T.R. Ragan; A Jessie Cole Novel. In my opinion T.R. Ragan writes some of the most on target detective fiction out there. Cracking good series.

Am now reading:

Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim so far it is compelling story about a Chinese immigrant to the United States in 1923 who comes as someone pretending to be someone else a "paper wife." I have high hopes for this.
 
Parson said:
I'm not keeping up with this very well.

So far this month I've read

Red Angel: Book II Raiders by C. R. Daems --- much like the first book, good enough, but nothing earth shattering. I will likely continue the series another time.

Dead Souls by Angela Marsons book 6 of the D. I. Kim Stone series. A very British detective series which keeps sending me back to Google to decipher some of the British slang.

Deranged by T.R. Ragan; A Jessie Cole Novel. In my opinion T.R. Ragan writes some of the most on target detective fiction out there. Cracking good series.

Am now reading:

Paper Wife by Laila Ibrahim so far it is compelling story about a Chinese immigrant to the United States in 1923 who comes as someone pretending to be someone else a "paper wife." I have high hopes for this.
Click to expand...
o_O And it's only the 9th! :D
 
anno said:
Other Great Hawkwind books are Carol Clerks Saga of and Ian Abraham’s recently republished Sonic Assassins...
Click to expand...
I've read Carol Clerk's book and I think it's an interesting scenario that with the two books, you essentially get a very similar story but from two very different perspectives. Worthy companions:)
 
Wolfed down Chess, a novella by Stefan Zweig. This is a writer I've never read before in a form (novella) I have little experience of, and it has persuaded me that I ought to address both deficiencies.
 
Having a quick plough through John Parker's The Gurkhas. Interesting little look into their history and conditions.
 
Jack Vance: "The Many Worlds of Magnus Ridolph": eight of the ten Magnus Ridolph stories. Late 1940s/early 50s.

And Vance's "The Dragon Masters". Perhaps the first SF I ever read, 1962 Galaxy, passed to me by my father because the illustrations looked like dinosaurs. I loved it and still do, perhaps because it's still invested with that childhood sense of awe and wonder. I've just been looking at what I think are the original illustrations for Galaxy (Jack Gaughan) that impressed me so much all those years ago: sadly, while evocative, they are nowhere near as powerful as the ones that grew in my memory.
 
Vertigo said:
25 years. I read it when I was at uni which makes it about 38 years ago. Not sure I understood it mind!
Click to expand...
I'm struggling a bit with it but determined to finish it. It seems to be about our dual natures of the cerebral and animalistic as far as I can tell.
 
The Black Corridor by Michael Moorcock - came across a tatty 1970s paperback. I like it as a study in paranoia, self-delusion and the 'slow reveal'.
 
I read The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, and while the science was super dodgy, it was a fun read. I also attempted City of Stairs but I got bored. There wasn't anything really wrong with it except I didn't care to continue reading. I haven't picked up my next ebook yet. I'm listening to The Lies of Locke Lamora on audio (I read it back when it first came out and in search of good audiobooks to read decided another go was warranted) and Dark Orbit by Carolyn Ives Gilman also on audio.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Thread starter Similar threads Forum Replies Date
farntfar Poll for theNovember 2018 Anonymous challenge. Workshop 0
Ursa major POLL -- November 2018 75(+10)-word Writing Challenge -- TYWIN WINS! Writing Challenges 0
farntfar November 2018 100 word anonymous challenge Discussion thread. Workshop 69
farntfar November 2018 100 word Anonymous Challenge Story thread. Workshop 14
The Judge DISCUSSION -- November 2018 -- 85 Word Challenge Writing Challenges 303

Similar threads


Back
Top