Finished my reread of “A Fire upon the Deep” - still holds up. Will probably look up the Leckie Radtch standalone, as I enjoyed Memory and Desolation.
Third Perpetual Book Thread
- Thread starter MonaLisaOverdrive
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Memory and Desolation were Arkady Martine, right? I’m pretty sure…
checks shelf
Yep, cool, not crazy
.Yeah, different author/series. Also awesome, though.
Whoops, you are correct. But I also enjoyed the Ancillary trilogy, so it will work out in the end.
Two of the best stories/worlds in Sci-Fi that I’ve read in years. I was utterly immersed and captivated by them both.
As a quick aside, I read the Nimona graphic novel. That was a nice way to recover from The Handmaid’s Tale. Now, onto Provenance!
Yesterday was new Max Gladstone day, which means I got to re-read Dead Country to remind myself of what happened so I could contextualize the new book (Wicked Problems).
Such an incredible author, love his core conceit of “man discovers secrets of how the world works to go to war against the gods - now we’re 20+ years after the world breaking war and the deathless necromancers and sorcerers run law firms & rule much of the world via capitalism but with soul stuff as the medium of exchange.”
Such an incredible author, love his core conceit of “man discovers secrets of how the world works to go to war against the gods - now we’re 20+ years after the world breaking war and the deathless necromancers and sorcerers run law firms & rule much of the world via capitalism but with soul stuff as the medium of exchange.”
Stephen Graham Jones's final book in the Indian Lake trilogy came out a few weeks ago. I've just finished it. The three books are:
My Heart is a Chainsaw
Don't Fear the Reaper
The Angel of Indian Lake
They are superb horror novels, with an excellent main character. A bit like the movie "Cabin in the Woods" the more you know about horror movies in general (and slashers in particular) the more you'll get from the three books. But the core story and the handful of central characters are really well written. When something happens to one of them, you feel it. Jones is one of the best horror writers working right now.
My Heart is a Chainsaw
Don't Fear the Reaper
The Angel of Indian Lake
They are superb horror novels, with an excellent main character. A bit like the movie "Cabin in the Woods" the more you know about horror movies in general (and slashers in particular) the more you'll get from the three books. But the core story and the handful of central characters are really well written. When something happens to one of them, you feel it. Jones is one of the best horror writers working right now.
They are 100% on the list. I read The Only Good Indians by him either last year or the year before, and that was dark and gritty as all get out.
Man, this was so good. Kept sending my wife little snippets of just fantastic writing today.
That was the first of his I read. I followed it with some short stories and some of his earlier work. My Heart is a Chainsaw completely hooked me.
Levar Burton has read at two of his stories. That was my first exposure.
Apple podcast auto-media thing in the spoiler, if you are so inclined:
Two Parts Dead, first in the setting and lays the ground truth well.
The Variations by Patric Langley - I liked it, but was skipping ahead at the end, felt I'd already seen the ending from the viewpoint presented. Some very interesting concepts, The GIft - voices from your past family tree and Agnes's Hospice for Acoustically Gifted Children and its history, his writing is crisp and clear, but does get a bit bogged down in some sub-plots. Overall, a good read. 2023, 463 pages.
Somebody in the Discord recommended I read Penric's Mission after I finished Hallowed Hunt. It was excellent.
I also had the misfortune to read The Dark Between the Stars. Utter dreck.
I also had the misfortune to read The Dark Between the Stars. Utter dreck.
I didn't know there were multiple novellas until right now. I guess the other ones will be next on the list.
Edit: Looks like both the daemon and shaman novellas are on libby without a wait.
Edit: Looks like both the daemon and shaman novellas are on libby without a wait.
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Over on The Atlantic is a list of "Six Cult Classics You Have To Read." One of them was available at the library and I picked it up, "Multiple Choice" by Alejandro Zambra.
It is a very odd book. "Written in the form of a standardized test, Multiple Choice invites the reader to respond to virtuoso language exercises and short narrative passages through multiple-choice questions that are thought-provoking, usually unanswerable, and often absurd. It offers a new kind of reading experience, one in which the reader participates directly in the creation of meaning, and the nature of storytelling itself is called into question."
Zambra is a Chilean writer and this book was translated by Megan McDowell.
I really enjoyed it, it took me just a few hours to read, but I will remember it for sometime.
The other titles
Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany
Women’s Barracks, by Tereska Torrès
Blood and Guts in High School, by Kathy Acker
Little Man, What Now?, by Hans Fallada, translated by Susan Bennett
Dictee, by Theresa Hak Kyung Cha
This could be fun, I've not read any of them.
"Penric's Demon" is where it all starts. "Penric and the Shaman" is next. Here's a page on Goodreads that sets out the (in-world) order for the whole series (11 novellas and one novel).
Enjoy!!
Provenance is indeed a book. It is a book. Those are the words. I have said them, once, twice, three times. It is book.
It just turned fucking weird. And better than it had been going. These are true things. I say them too, here outside the world.
It just turned fucking weird. And better than it had been going. These are true things. I say them too, here outside the world.
And finished that. Yep. It was okay, but not nearly as good as the Ancillary books.
I'm going to read TMNT Ronin Lost Years comic/graphic novel, then jump into Translation State.
I'm going to read TMNT Ronin Lost Years comic/graphic novel, then jump into Translation State.
I finished Man at Arms last week. Terry Pratchett is growing on me. I like how he plays with fantasy tropes. However, the Kobo app can die in a fire.
Pratchett is my relief valve, when I need a break from the doom and gloom of non-fiction. I'm in to my first Gladstone, Three Parts Dead, and sense Sir Terry every once in a while.
Today on Audible I discovered that the 5th installment of Dennis E, Taylor's Bobiverse series will be released in September. It's going to be called Not Till We Are All Lost and will once again be read by the awesome Ray Porter. I can't wait!
Just finished Nuclear War: A Scenario by Pulitzer Prize nominee Annie Jacobsen, as if I didn't have enough to worry about already. Technically fiction, but it's a highly plausible scenario based on years of research and interviews with people who have been at high levels in the U.S. strategic armed forces. The good news is that I already had a pretty good grasp of the effects of nuclear weapons, perhaps because I own a copy of The Effects Of Nuclear Weapons, a cornerstone reference book in the field. So that part wasn't surprising. The bad news is that there are some new weapons systems, and some old systems that don't work very well, which alter the calculus of responding to a potential nuclear threat, and not in a good way.
A quick read--300 pages--partly because global thermonuclear war only takes an hour or so, and partly because that hour is really packed full of action and drama. Recommended if you're having trouble staying awake at night.
Next up is probably Dune: Messiah, which I somehow never read, although I should finish (re)reading Beowulf first.
A quick read--300 pages--partly because global thermonuclear war only takes an hour or so, and partly because that hour is really packed full of action and drama. Recommended if you're having trouble staying awake at night.
Next up is probably Dune: Messiah, which I somehow never read, although I should finish (re)reading Beowulf first.
I just checked our library for her books and she's prolific, in addition to Nuclear War we have:
Surprise, kill, vanish : the secret history of CIA paramilitary armies, operators, and assassins - 2019
Phenomena : the secret history of the U.S. government's investigations into extrasensory perception and psychokinesis - 2017
The Pentagon's brain : an uncensored history of DARPA, America's top-secret military research agency - 2015 < interesting
Operation Paperclip : the secret intelligence program that brought Nazi scientists to America - 2014
Area 51 : an uncensored history of America's top secret military base - 2011
After her interview with Dan Carlin, I added that one to the list.
Finished Mammoths at the Gates, the latest Singing Hills novella. It was quite enjoyable.
Now I'm a bit into Lyorn, Steven Brust's latest. Number 17 or something in the decades long Taltos series? I think there are only supposed to be one or at most two more books coming before the whole thing finally wraps up. This one is extremely self-indulgent in very funny ways. Not an entry point for folks new to the (mis)adventures of Vlad Taltos. But I'm enjoying it.
Now I'm a bit into Lyorn, Steven Brust's latest. Number 17 or something in the decades long Taltos series? I think there are only supposed to be one or at most two more books coming before the whole thing finally wraps up. This one is extremely self-indulgent in very funny ways. Not an entry point for folks new to the (mis)adventures of Vlad Taltos. But I'm enjoying it.
That's how I found out about this book as well, I bought it as soon as that show was finished. There's nothing Stephen King has every written that is as terrifying as Nuclear War: A Scenario.
Currently reading Disenchanted, Book 1/3 of the Land of Dis series by Robert Kroese. I loved his 5-book Mercury series (something about angels and demons tickle my brain in the right setting) and apparently picked this up a while ago but I'm now just getting to it. Still unsure how I feel about it but it's not off-putting yet so I'll keep plugging away at it.
Got done reading The Witch King by Martha Wells. Decent book and I will continue with the series whenever book 2 comes out. Will admit though that I did not find it nearly as engrossing as her MurderBot series. Had some Ann Leckie lined up afterwards but for some reason, I wanted space between Martha Wells and Ann Leckie so Robert Kroese it is. May even throw in the latest Foreigner Book (Deceiver, #22 if you can believe it) by C.J. Cherryh before I hit up Ann Leckie's latest two.
Got done reading The Witch King by Martha Wells. Decent book and I will continue with the series whenever book 2 comes out. Will admit though that I did not find it nearly as engrossing as her MurderBot series. Had some Ann Leckie lined up afterwards but for some reason, I wanted space between Martha Wells and Ann Leckie so Robert Kroese it is. May even throw in the latest Foreigner Book (Deceiver, #22 if you can believe it) by C.J. Cherryh before I hit up Ann Leckie's latest two.
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Finished Gardens of the Moon after bouncing off it hard the first time (the fact that I was deathly ill and couldn’t even concentrate enough to read the news at the time, much less a book, probably played some part in that). After feeling utterly lost the first time I’m surprised how easily I breezed through it this time. The best advice I got was being told that it’s not just normal not to understand a lot of what’s going on, it’s actually deliberate.
Knowing that I didn’t need to worry about the details of warrens and the ins and outs of the races and kingdoms and just needed to track the major characters and plot points for now shifted my focus and made it a pretty enjoyable read. That said it wasn’t all a change for the better. There was a real feeling of designated heroes and villains where the book simply told us who to root for and we had to take it at its word since the larger world and the motivations of the various factions weren’t made clear. I suspect later books in the series will fix this (to the point I suspect a reread will border on reading like another book entirely), but keeping us in the dark for an entire book was a bit much.
That said I’m really looking forward to more. Will probably read something else before moving on the Deadhouse Gates to prevent burnout, but I’ll be back sooner than later.
Knowing that I didn’t need to worry about the details of warrens and the ins and outs of the races and kingdoms and just needed to track the major characters and plot points for now shifted my focus and made it a pretty enjoyable read. That said it wasn’t all a change for the better. There was a real feeling of designated heroes and villains where the book simply told us who to root for and we had to take it at its word since the larger world and the motivations of the various factions weren’t made clear. I suspect later books in the series will fix this (to the point I suspect a reread will border on reading like another book entirely), but keeping us in the dark for an entire book was a bit much.
That said I’m really looking forward to more. Will probably read something else before moving on the Deadhouse Gates to prevent burnout, but I’ll be back sooner than later.
Two thirds of the way through Translation State. I'll probably finish it tonight.
The Presger are so fucking weird. It's great!
The Presger are so fucking weird. It's great!
And done.
And yes. The Presger are, in fact, so fucking weird.
I would happily let this world lie fallow, or read more stories in it. Either way. There are so many interesting avenues that Leckie could take this. Or none! Either way, I’m super happy to have read through the Radch books. I know there are bound to be short stories in the collection that was just released, but I don’t have that yet. And I have Raven’s Tower sitting on the shelf to be read as well. But that is for later!
Up next?
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, by former Ars Front Page (and IO9) alum Annalee Newitz (Bookshop.org).
It‘s been on my list for a while, but on my to-be-read shelf for far shorter. And I want some non-fiction before diving back into other worlds.
And yes. The Presger are, in fact, so fucking weird.
I would happily let this world lie fallow, or read more stories in it. Either way. There are so many interesting avenues that Leckie could take this. Or none! Either way, I’m super happy to have read through the Radch books. I know there are bound to be short stories in the collection that was just released, but I don’t have that yet
. And I have Raven’s Tower sitting on the shelf to be read as well. But that is for later! Up next?
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, by former Ars Front Page (and IO9) alum Annalee Newitz (Bookshop.org).
It‘s been on my list for a while, but on my to-be-read shelf for far shorter. And I want some non-fiction before diving back into other worlds.
Over on the immigration thread, I asked if anyone had read How migration really works : the facts about the most divisive issue in politics by Hein de Haas (2023).
arstechnica.com
As suggested in the book, you can pick and choose the chapters (or myths), each is self-contained and I read through the first 5 then skipped around to the conclusion. Seems we're in a sea of disinformation on this topic, and I see no reason not to believe de Haas. His notes and references seem very credible and he takes the issues and builds a case defusing panic and hyperbole used by politicians world wide. It's really an old story brought up to date and he is both readable and informative. Recommended for anyone who wants to sleep better at night.
Immigration Panic 23/24
I learned yesterday that the immigration agency only receives 4% of it's funding from the government. 96% is from the filing fees they charge. That is true, and how some functions that are fee funded are immune to most federal government shutdowns. That filing process can get very expensive...
arstechnica.com
As suggested in the book, you can pick and choose the chapters (or myths), each is self-contained and I read through the first 5 then skipped around to the conclusion. Seems we're in a sea of disinformation on this topic, and I see no reason not to believe de Haas. His notes and references seem very credible and he takes the issues and builds a case defusing panic and hyperbole used by politicians world wide. It's really an old story brought up to date and he is both readable and informative. Recommended for anyone who wants to sleep better at night.
The Atlantic is running an essay on a SCIFI author named Cordwainer Smith, which is the nom de plume of one U.S. Army psyops officer named Paul Linebarger.
An interesting read, the essay's title is
Our library carries a audio-book collection of Cordwainer Smith short stories and a few of his novels in the stacks. I've reserved Norstrilia for a later read (A rich man from another planet buys Earth to escape an enemy and winds up being Earth's benefactor.)
The Atlantic essay is a nice bit of 1950's psy-ops entertainingly written by Annalee Newitz .
A gift link to The Atlantic article is here:
www.theatlantic.com
An interesting read, the essay's title is
Our library carries a audio-book collection of Cordwainer Smith short stories and a few of his novels in the stacks. I've reserved Norstrilia for a later read (A rich man from another planet buys Earth to escape an enemy and winds up being Earth's benefactor.)
The Atlantic essay is a nice bit of 1950's psy-ops entertainingly written by Annalee Newitz .
A gift link to The Atlantic article is here:
The Sci-Fi Writer Who Invented Conspiracy Theory
It all goes back to one man in the 1950s: a military-intelligence expert in psychological warfare.
www.theatlantic.com
Speaking of Annalee Newitz, I finished their Four Lost Cities book. It was pretty darn interesting and entertaining, and I learned some fun things! Honestly, it was a wealth of ideas for my own fiction writing - I took a LOT of notes.
In addition, I learned that ancient Romans (at least in Pompeii) drove their carts on the righthand side of the road. One of the many, MANY things their book taught me!
Up next? Going to wrap up the feature length Ann Leckie novels by reading her fantasy Raven's Tower. I need to order her short fiction collection that dropped this month as well - was hoping to find it locally, but I haven't been successful so far.
In addition, I learned that ancient Romans (at least in Pompeii) drove their carts on the righthand side of the road. One of the many, MANY things their book taught me!
Up next? Going to wrap up the feature length Ann Leckie novels by reading her fantasy Raven's Tower. I need to order her short fiction collection that dropped this month as well - was hoping to find it locally, but I haven't been successful so far.
I remember reading Cordwainer Smith 30 odd years ago? I don't remember the books being exceptional in any way.
I would think Philip K Dick would be a better source for conspiracy fodder, but like I said Cordwainer Smith didn't leave an impression.
I don't know that I'd pick Philip K Dick. He was prolific, and got a lot of his stories on the big and small screen, but Helmuth speaks for Boskone and others listen...