May Reading Thread

[Ian Fortytwo]

Gollancz have released some new revisited science fiction and fantasy books recently. So I'm currently reading The Female Man, by Joanna Russ.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Gollancz have released some new revisited science fiction and fantasy books recently. So I'm currently reading The Female Man, by Joanna Russ.

A favorite of mine. Some see it as a feminist classic, others as a polemic. Let us know what you think.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Bob Roth STRENGTH IN STILLNESS, (T.M.) 2018.

 

[Dave Vicks]

GHOSTBUSTERS DAUGHTER Violet Ramis Steil . Harold Ramis Biography.

 

[Rodders]

Finished and thoroughly enjoyed Judge Dredd: Whiteout.

Next on to Judge Dredd: Psykogeddon By Dave Stone.

 

[Bick]

And now for something completely different, I’ve started Digging Up Britain, by Mike Pitts. This is an archeology book, that looks at 10 recent excavations going back through time from most recent (1000 AD), back to about 400,000 years ago. Very good so far.

 

[Elentarri]

2 General fiction novels and a fantasy anthology:
No Two Persons by Eric Bauermeister - light, feel-good book about what a particular book means to 10 people. Pretty good.
The Sound Between Notes by Barbara Linn Probst - main character with adoption issues tries to relaunch her concert pianist career after raising a kid, when a genetic disease that affects the fingers rears it's head. Ok, except for the whiney, self-absorbed main character.
Equinox and Solstice is an anthology with 5 stories that deals with seasons. Mixed bag.

 

[Dave Vicks]

ORSON WELLS, biography 1985. By Barbara leaming.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

I just finished An Illusion of Thieves, by Cate Glass.

Why did I even take a look at this book that has the fatal word in the title? I did hold off for quite a while after this book first came up as a recommendation from Amazon. But what finally decided me was reading that Cate Glass is actually a pseudonym for Carol Berg, an author who has written a number of books that I liked and admired, although they were quite a bit darker and more intense than I would have preferred. But the review that mentioned Berg and Glass were one and the same also mentioned that the trilogy written under her pseudonym was not so dark as her usual books.

The magic was fascinating, and the Renaissance-flavored setting well-executed. The heroine of the story is not one of the titular thieves. Though the first in a series the plot wraps up in a way that is satisfying and not at all a cliff-hanger. But when it comes to books by Carol Berg, "not so dark" still leaves a lot of territory. The plot here had its dark moments, and one element of the story I found deeply creepy. Which is not what I am really in the mood for just now. So I don't think I am going to be in a hurry to pick up the next two books.

However, for anyone who is a fan of Berg and feels they have been waiting far too long for her to start another series: this one is where to find it.

 

[The Judge]

I read Illusion of Thieves when it first came out as I love Berg's work, and I did a mini review here in 2020 when I read the sequel.

As I mention there, I actually enjoyed the novel more the second time around, but I do agree about the dark moments and the troublesome aspects. The sequel, A Conjuring of Assassins, however, felt a lot lighter in tone, and from memory I don't think those aspects, while not ignored, played as big a part, so it might be worth looking at notwithstanding your concerns. I think, too, you might be interested in the divination, which to me (in my undoubted ignorance of the whole subject!) seemed a cross between Tarot and I Ching.

I wasn't so impressed by the third novel in the series, which goes off at a different angle about the city and I kept getting lost in what at the time I thought was a convoluted plot, but I might give that another go this year, to see if I get on with it any better now.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

so it might be worth looking at notwithstanding your concerns

I probably will be reading it at some point in the not too distant future, but just now I am turning to a little comfort reading.

 

[AE35Unit]

I didn't realise that Pickwick Papers was such a long haul. 777 pages on my book reader. Not sure I'm gonna make it...

 

[hitmouse]

I didn't realise that Pickwick Papers was such a long haul. 777 pages on my book reader. Not sure I'm gonna make it...

Almost as long as a modern fantasy novel.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Up next Ralph Steadman art books. And

M.C. Escher art book.

 

[Danny McG]

I'm currently reading a cyber punk/ near future dystopia type book by Owen Taylor - (Chrons member otaylor) Time without End

I'm Beta reading it for him, it's pleasingly good so far.

 

[Dave Vicks]

Currently THE RED PONY ,1933, By John Steinbeck.

 

[The Big Peat]

I finished Tehanu by Le Guin.

It's very lyrical and evocative. I always enjoyed reading the pages. I didn't enjoy the story. It's a story that tends towards mundanity and philosophy, which doesn't help me, but I think part of it is I struggled to connect to the characters. I saw all the characterisation, but didn't take to them. The setting and subject matter kept making me think of Pratchett's Witches, which I like a great deal better. I think it was very much a tale of isolation, and the characters were kept isolated from me.

I also found myself wishing it was the great adventures of Wizard of Earthsea or Tombs of Atuan. Not a fair or useful comparison, but that's where my mind was at.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Maybe not, but my experience of the book reflects yours.

I think that Tehanu tried and achieved some important things, but I couldn't connect with the story or the characters as I could with the original trilogy.

 

[hitmouse]

I finished Tehanu by Le Guin.

It's very lyrical and evocative. I always enjoyed reading the pages. I didn't enjoy the story. It's a story that tends towards mundanity and philosophy, which doesn't help me, but I think part of it is I struggled to connect to the characters. I saw all the characterisation, but didn't take to them. The setting and subject matter kept making me think of Pratchett's Witches, which I like a great deal better. I think it was very much a tale of isolation, and the characters were kept isolated from me.

I also found myself wishing it was the great adventures of Wizard of Earthsea or Tombs of Atuan. Not a fair or useful comparison, but that's where my mind was at.

I had a similar experience, and left the novel about a third of the way through. It was disappointing, since the original trilogy were so special to me as a child.

 

[Hugh]

I finished Tehanu by Le Guin.

It's very lyrical and evocative. I always enjoyed reading the pages. I didn't enjoy the story. It's a story that tends towards mundanity and philosophy, which doesn't help me, but I think part of it is I struggled to connect to the characters. I saw all the characterisation, but didn't take to them. The setting and subject matter kept making me think of Pratchett's Witches, which I like a great deal better. I think it was very much a tale of isolation, and the characters were kept isolated from me.

I also found myself wishing it was the great adventures of Wizard of Earthsea or Tombs of Atuan. Not a fair or useful comparison, but that's where my mind was at.

I couldn't get my head around it when it first came out and I really tried. Re-reading it maybe ten years later, I appreciated it very differently. Being older, I identified much more with the helplessness of Ged (and still do), and I thought it wonderful that the deeply damaged child finds the dragon truth within herself. I rate it highly now and for me it's one of those books that embodies inner truths, much like the earlier trilogy, just different ones. Of course I haven't read it in a while....