Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364538 times)

PatH · « **Reply #2200 on:** July 30, 2014, 08:12:35 PM »

Science Fiction / Fantasy

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Discussion Leader: PatH

PatH · « **Reply #2201 on:** July 30, 2014, 08:14:17 PM »

Feast or famine: all of a sudden, I'm inundated. The first was City of Bones, which I picked up from the library several weeks ago, but haven't had a chance to read yet.

Then came Jack Campbell's Steadfast, the latest in the Lost Fleet series. I ordered the paperback from the UK 2 weeks ago. It was shipped from Ireland last week, with no time promise, and I thought I'd have to wait a while, but I got it two days ago.

Then the latest in Charles Stross' Laundry Files series--The Rhesus Chart. Two weeks ago, my library system didn't own it, had one copy on order, and I signed up as #14 on the hold list. Today I got a notice that my copy was waiting for me. The system now owns 14 copies, all either checked out or waiting in hold, and there are no pending holds. They must have ordered enough to meet the list. I'm not sure this is the best use of funds--why not order a few copies and make us wait--but I'm glad to get my chance, and glad that Stross will get the income.

Lastly is the next sf/fantasy f2f club selection, Jim Butcher's Grave Peril, which I bought last night. Butcher is an author I've been meaning to try, so we'll see how I like him.

Which do I read first? Frybabe could tell you. Campbell, of course. You're right, Frybabe, he's back up to speed, and we have a bunch of new issues to deal with.

Steph · « **Reply #2202 on:** August 05, 2014, 08:10:29 AM »

Ijust picked up The Magician and have read the first 25 pages. Interesting, although it is supposed to be like Harry, but more adult in theme. We will see.

PatH · « **Reply #2203 on:** August 05, 2014, 09:51:22 AM »

I'll be interested to hear what you think of it. I think it's more like Narnia for grownups, though without C. S. Lewis' strong religious themes. If you like it, there are two more.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2204 on:** August 05, 2014, 06:36:41 PM »

Two new SciFi books arrived at the library for me to look into:

Artemis Awakening by Jane M. Lindskold - social SF ( well that's a new designation to me), lost civilization rediscovered by an archaeologist who hopes to find the vanished empire's advanced technology which may help him to get back home. Of course there are others who are interested in the lost artifacts. Of course I will have to read this to compare it with Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict series. Oh, and it may be considered part Fantasy? It includes a major character who is a huntress, and she has a psychic-linked puma.

The Forever Watch by David Ramirez - hard SF, part mystery, part dystopian thriller. Spaceship with a city-like environment on a journey of 1,000 years. Murders included.

Steph · « **Reply #2205 on:** August 06, 2014, 08:54:02 AM »

The Magician is at this point puzzling and considerably darker than I expected. I did kknow that this is a three book trip.. So much of it is a mystery.

Steph · « **Reply #2206 on:** August 09, 2014, 08:44:34 AM »

The Magician.. finished the first one and doubt I will try the second or third. Violent.. depressive,, horrid characters. I guess this is written for another generation other than mine. I don't want the only character I liked to die and the hero to be such a fatheaded idiot.

PatH · « **Reply #2207 on:** August 09, 2014, 10:11:35 AM »

I didn't care much for it either, but didn't want to prejudice you before you had a crack at it. It's much admired, but I don't see why.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2208 on:** August 09, 2014, 06:23:49 PM »

I am currently reading Date Night On Union Station by E. M. Foner. It is pretty funny. The main character, something of a workaholic whose Mom and friends are on her about finding a guy. She is given a subscription to the space station's dating service. The story is about her dates, and those of the second main character who took a subscription in trade for work done. They keep missing each other in their daily duties. She is a representative of EarthCent (quickly rising to Ambassador) and he is a former military/mercenary who won a junk yard in a card game. The e-book is free on Amazon. The author just released a next in series called Alien Night on Union Station. I am planning on reading that too.

Steph · « **Reply #2209 on:** August 10, 2014, 09:20:24 AM »

Now that sounds like fun.. will look it up.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2210 on:** August 14, 2014, 09:45:57 AM »

I've finished Aliens Night on Union Station, the sequel to Date Night... It got more heavily into the "gameverse" which occasionally had my eyes glazing over, but it was central to the story (as I suspected). This second book was also funny, what with the strange aliens and the diplomatic interactions. A new character was introduced who I suspected was not exactly who he said he was, but I could not have guessed who he really was. Kelly's mom came for a visit, less interesting than it could have been, I think.

Oh, and I should mention that for the most part the editing was good. I only found a few errors in both books. The books have no sex, swearing, killing and the like, so they are a great set for the young set to read too. I tried to find info on the author, but having practically no luck other than the little blurb at the back of the books. The author lives in MA with a dog.

Steph · « **Reply #2211 on:** August 15, 2014, 08:41:17 AM »

Sigh.. I broke down and bought the 6th episode of Cassaandra Clares series.. It is huge, but was on sale at 16.00 and I do love the series. It is supposed to finish off the series.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2212 on:** August 16, 2014, 12:01:40 PM »

I picked up The Forever Watch by David Ramirez on Friday and am done with it already. Alright, I didn't read the whole thing. While the premise was interesting and I liked the complicated love story and the ending, I started to really lose interest when it looked like it was heading towards an alien or genetic monster type horror. Well, I apparently was mostly wrong there, but still I read the beginning and the ending and don't feel the need to read all the in-between stuff.

There are many, many readers who actually got through it and gave it high praise. It is indeed, intense. If you are interested in dystopian thrillers set on a huge spaceship, do check it out. Here are comments from GoodReads readers. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17934479-the-forever-watch
When the readers say it is complex, intense and intriguing, it is that.

The author's bio posted on a number of sites: "DAVID RAMIREZ is an ex-scientist who divides his time between Oakland, CA, and Manila, Philippines. Once a molecular biologist who worked on the Human Genome Project, Ramirez returned to the Philippines to get married. He dabbled in computer science and the last STEM project he worked on was programming part of the information system for the chronobiologists of EUCLOCK, a cooperative project between European research groups on the study of circadian rhythms in model organisms and humans." This is his first book.

Now I have started another of Jack McDevitt's Priscilla Hutchens series, Odyssey.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2213 on:** August 17, 2014, 02:18:11 PM »

I lied. Not intentionally. After starting Odyessy I went back, reread the reviews for Forever Watch and decided to read the middle bit. I am glad I did. The book did actually get pretty exciting after p100 or there about. All that "psi power" floating about is more than I care for, but the story IS good. I can feel the emotions swirling around - love, loss, longing, pride and satisfaction of a job well done, curiosity, paranoia, pain. BTW, surprise ending.

Steph · « **Reply #2214 on:** August 18, 2014, 09:02:11 AM »

psi power has always interested me. may try the book.

PatH · « **Reply #2215 on:** August 18, 2014, 01:51:52 PM »

John Scalzi has a new book out--Lock In. It looks like a new approach for him. A new virus epidemic, mostly harmless, affects 1% of its victims by immobilizing them. They can only interact with others in a virtual reality. Then it turns out that the victims can control some people, use their bodies. Don't know where this will go, but it looks interesting. I'm #16 on the wait list for the one copy on order by my library.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2216 on:** August 18, 2014, 04:34:29 PM »

Interesting, PatH. Let us know what you think of it.

PatH · « **Reply #2217 on:** August 18, 2014, 05:25:19 PM »

It may take a while if they don't order more copies.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2218 on:** August 19, 2014, 07:41:23 AM »

Can't believe it. My library system (including my branch) actually has three copies on order.

Oh dear, they list it as Horror Fiction as well as Science Fiction. I do hope he had kept some of his humor in it somewhere.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2219 on:** August 19, 2014, 08:15:53 AM »

I am just now up on John Scalzi's blog on his website http://whatever.scalzi.com/

Audible has two versions for pre-order, one is narrated by Amy Benson (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) and the other by his bud, Wil Wheaton (Star Trek Next Generation).

Steph · « **Reply #2220 on:** August 19, 2014, 10:39:15 AM »

Just got an email flash that Patricia Briggs is publishing short story anthology on Mercy.. a heroine of hers who is quite interesting.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2221 on:** August 19, 2014, 12:03:37 PM »

Interesting recent interview with John Scalzi. Only the last few minutes relate to Lock In. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCqCpYAoMjE

Gee Whiz, the book even has a theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98Ry87NBpek

Frybabe · « **Reply #2222 on:** August 21, 2014, 06:42:59 AM »

Finished Jack McDevitt's Odyssey. I thought it was more exciting than the last one. Unfortunately the last in the series gets bad reviews. Hutch is back piloting again, but many thought the explanation of the Omega cloud origins unsatisfactory and the story uneven and boring. All I want to know is how did Hutch end up. May just reserve the book to check out the ending.

In the meantime, Artemis Awakening is ready for me to pick up along with a book about Wales by Welsh travel writer Jan Morris. Morris, who is still alive and kicking at 87, wrote a highly praised non-fiction trilogy called Pax Britannica that I'd like to read - if I can find it at a reasonably price in good condition.

Steph · « **Reply #2223 on:** August 22, 2014, 08:51:30 AM »

Jan Morris.. A travel writer, but am I right that she was once he??

Frybabe · « **Reply #2224 on:** August 22, 2014, 10:02:29 AM »

Yes, you are correct Steph. I read Morris's book, Conundrum, about her transformation. It is the book that my X read in which he (now she) found out he was not alone and started his quest.

I've started Artemis Awakening. So far, I am not real impressed. Since I am only in two chapters, I will continue on a while. The two (three?) main characters are still getting to know each other.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2225 on:** August 23, 2014, 07:35:46 AM »

Okay, Artemis Awakening is a DNF for me. I did skip around to get the gist of the goings on and if the main character got to go home.

Surprise! Lock In was in the new book pile that my Friday partner was processing. I am surprised that our branch library manager ordered it; she is not particularly fond of Science Fiction. I am surprised that it came in so soon; it was on order for two libraries in the system (according to the online catalog), but not ours. The book isn't scheduled for release until the 26th, yet it is here already. There is a line behind me, so I have to get reading.

I've been trying to find info about how Scalzi decided to do a book using what sounds a lot like locked-in syndrome as the focus. When I saw the synopsis, I thought of the Shriner's Hospital commercial about the little girl whose muscles were locked at birth and the work they were doing to help her overcome the problem. It is a real syndrome. NIH doesn't have much on it. http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/lockedinsyndrome/lockedinsyndrome.htm

Steph · « **Reply #2226 on:** August 23, 2014, 09:02:19 AM »

Yes, I did read Conundrum as well. I once knewsomeone who went from male to female. but he had also been married many years, had teen age daughters and it was so terribly hard on them. He/she was very happy, but not sure about his wife and children

Frybabe · « **Reply #2227 on:** August 23, 2014, 09:43:49 AM »

Did you read the Firekeeper series Steph? Artemis Awakening is written by the same author. http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/l/jane-m-lindskold/

Steph · « **Reply #2228 on:** August 24, 2014, 09:06:48 AM »

Do not remember Firekeeper. I tend to read mostly female science fiction writers, not fond of space opera..

Frybabe · « **Reply #2229 on:** August 24, 2014, 12:39:10 PM »

I don't know why they called it the Firekeeper series since all the titles except one have Wolf in the title. Oh, okay, the title or name of the girl is Firekeeper and she was raised by "magically enhanced" wolves according to the blurb about the first book on Fantastic Fiction. I'll stick with space opera any day.

More on Lock In. It isn't so much a book about finding a cure for a nasty virus as it is dealing with the side effects and culture that grows up around the victims. It mixes murder, politics, discrimination and a new culture born from technological enhancements that allow victims to interact with others.

Steph · « **Reply #2230 on:** August 25, 2014, 09:04:36 AM »

Lock in iis something I want to look for. Sounds interesting.

PatH · « **Reply #2231 on:** August 25, 2014, 02:30:22 PM »

Both of you will probably read Lock In before I get it. I'm #16 on a waiting list for the one copy my library intends to purchase. Of course, they may do what they did with The Rhesus Chart--buy more when they see the length of the waiting list.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2232 on:** August 25, 2014, 05:13:40 PM »

Just finished it PatH. I wonder if Scalzi will do a sequel. I wonder if he had doubts about the story. He says he wrote it last year, but that it was his wife that pushed him to get it ready for publication. He acknowledged her as the reason the book made it to publication. Did he have doubts about the book? Kirkus gave it a starred review, which mean the book is in the running for this year's Kirkus Prize. Gosh, there are a lot of nominees. Very few titles I recognize. The Light We Cannot See and Euphoria are on the list.

I do wish I knew what inspired him to use locked-in syndrome as a vehicle. It is not a well known or understood problem. My Friday library partner's husband has ALS. He was diagnosed less than a year ago. Already, he can no longer get up and down the stairs. He becomes exhausted just walking from one room to another. He is gradually becoming "locked-in".
http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/exchange/node/1913

PatH · « **Reply #2233 on:** August 25, 2014, 06:41:27 PM »

Oh, dear, Frybabe, I feel so sorry for your friend and her husband. Someone I know whose husband died of ALS called it a very cruel disease, and your link spells out why. I wonder if Scalzi was spurred to write Lock In by knowing someone with the problem. It's certainly out of his usual range of subject.

I realize that after getting and reading The Rhesus Chart, I never reviewed it here. I'm also not sure if any of you read Stross' Laundry Files series. My SIL described them as a cross between James Bond and H. P. Lovecraft, only Bond works for the Postal Service. Magic and demons are real, but they are phenomena leaking in from other universes, and computer tricks can inadvertently summon them, or they can deal with them. The narrator, Bob Howard, is a "computational demonologist", working for a British government agency (the Laundry) putting out fires. They are great fun if you happen to like that kind of thing. Stross must have worked for the government at some point; he's scathing about bureaucracy. Downside: the books can get pretty gruesome, and there is some bad demon sex (not with Howard, who is quite moral in his love life).

They absolutely have to be read in order. Anything else leads to incomprehension and spoilers. Rhesus Chart is a good continuation of the series.

Steph · « **Reply #2234 on:** August 26, 2014, 10:43:31 AM »

That sounds like fun.. Nothing like a big juicy demon to start the day.

Frybabe · « **Reply #2235 on:** August 26, 2014, 11:45:13 AM »

I've just given up on reading a fantasy by William Morris. Yup, the same William Morris that gave the world all those wonderful textile and wallpaper designs. Never knew he wrote poetry and novels. The Well at World's End is a medieval fantasy. I liked finding all those archaic words, but the story itself seemed simple and not very exciting. But what do I know, H. G. Wells liked it. Apparently Tolkien and C. S. Lewis did too. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Morris

I see Morris wrote his own epic poem version of the mythic stories of Sigurd (Siegfried). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Sigurd_the_Volsung_and_the_Fall_of_the_Niblungs There is a quote in the link about what he thought of the epic being turned into an opera. I've just downloaded it from Project Gutenberg to add to my Niblung tale collection. There are a lot of Morris books on Gutenberg, more than Wikipedia lists.

BTW, Steph. I wonder why I like mythology but not, for the most part, fantasy.

Steph · « **Reply #2236 on:** August 27, 2014, 08:54:17 AM »

hmm. I too like mythology and there are some fantasy authors, who combine the well known myths into their version of a fantasy and are fun.. Now if my off and on memory releases some names, will put them up..

PatH · « **Reply #2237 on:** August 27, 2014, 11:38:43 AM »

I think because myths and legends have been told and retold over generations, they have been hammered into shapes that seem most satisfying and right to us, meeting our artistic and psychological needs. Some of the best fantasy writers either use the myths or have enough of a feel for them to get the spirit. That's why Tolkien is so much better than his imitators; he was steeped in all the myths he had translated and studied. The imitators take the components, but they don't know what to do with them.

There are also fantasy writers who don't rely on myth; I'm trying to come up with some names and am blanking on it. Steph?

Frybabe · « **Reply #2238 on:** August 27, 2014, 12:11:09 PM »

This site claims to be the top go to for scifi, fantasy, horror and anime fans. Here is their top 20 authors of fantasy list:
http://www.mania.com/top-20-greatest-fantasy-writers-alltime_article_114266.html

I did read all the Tolkien Lord of the Rings and the Hobbit books and enjoyed them. However, when I tried to reread The Hobbit for our recent book discussion, I couldn't stick with it. Couldn't get into Alice either, probably because I saw the movies too often, just like The Wizard of Oz (which became ad nauseum for me).

Oh, I did like Guy Gavriel Kay's Ysabel which is billed as an urban fantasy. I also like Carol Goodman's books. They are not fantasy per se, but use myths and fairy tales juxtaposed with a modern mystery to drive the action/plot. I liked the movie Avatar, which is more fantasy than science fiction to my mind.

Maybe I should stop saying I don't like fantasy.

PatH · « **Reply #2239 on:** August 27, 2014, 03:28:04 PM »

Interesting list. Terry Pratchett is an all-time favorite, as is Tolkien. I kind of like Lord Dunsany, Neil Gaiman, and some of Piers Anthony, and can't stand Roger Zelazney. Pratchett certainly doesn't fit the myth pattern.

Of their also-rans, I like Lloyd Alexander and liked L. Frank Baum when I was a kid. C. S. Lewis is good, but comes down kind of heavy on the religion and Imperialism. Tim Powers is strange--the one book of his I've read--Three Days to Never--is a mixture of alternate timelines, the supernatural, wicked plots, international intrigue, etc. Odd, but compelling.

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Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364538 times)