Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364028 times)

Frybabe · « **Reply #3240 on:** May 24, 2020, 07:11:23 AM »

Now that I have finished the second of Ann Leckie's Imperial Radch series (Ancillary Sword), I am ready to start the third. This series is more what I would call social SciFi. The protagonist of the series must navigate, not only his ship, but all the social, cultural and gender norms of the different peoples he engages with. The gender references can be a bit confusing, so if you start the series, pay particular attention to the description of how the different cultures refer to themselves. Mostly, though, it seems regardless whether you are a he or she, they seem to refer to everyone as a she. The business of wearing gloves in public was a little odd, but the why of that got explained in book two. I already downloaded book three, but will start that after I finish up the first of Greg Alanson's offshoot of his popular Expeditionary Force series, Mavericks: Deathtrap which follows the part of the force that was left behind at a planet they call Paradise.

BTW, while the Expeditionary Force series is fun and has an number of memorable characters, I think Ann Leckie's series give you more to think about regarding cultural norms, not only in the books, but in real life too. It also reminds you that direct translations of different language can sometimes get you because of differing cultural understanding of the word in question. Some words while the direct translation may be "correct" in literal terms, the word may be an insult in another culture.

I haven't listened to my audio book the last few days--must get back to that, too.

PatH · « **Reply #3241 on:** May 25, 2020, 03:07:20 PM »

Frybabe, you've convinced me that I should reread Ancillary Justice, then go on to the other two. I think I'll get it more completely the second time. Now all I have to do is find the book.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3242 on:** May 26, 2020, 06:05:08 AM »

Pat, the Leckie series reminds me that I probably should reread Le Guin's The Left Had of Darkness which also covers gender and cultural differences. I did get around to reading her Rocannan's World and Planet ofExile, both of which I really liked. Can't remember if I read City of Illusions, think I did but can't quite remember what all it was about. Well worth reading again, too.

PatH · « **Reply #3243 on:** May 26, 2020, 09:45:37 AM »

The Left Hand of Darkness is definitely worth rereading. I see you were in the discussion we had of it ten years ago. That's the last time I reread it, maybe it's good for another, if I can pull out of my reading slump.

For a whole lifetime, I've been trying unsuccessfully to get JoanK to like science fiction, but she liked that one. Perhaps it appealed to her sociologist training, or her love of reading about mountaineering.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3244 on:** June 18, 2020, 08:34:58 AM »

Continuing on with the fantasy series I am listening to, Age of Swords is pretty exciting. I already decided that this whole series is going to get a re-listen in the future, and I am only on the third entry now. The narrator is fantastic. How he manages to keep all the character voices straight is beyond me. The story and characters are memorable, and I love hearing some of the names.

Finally, I have picked up my hard copy of Heavy Time by C. J. Cherryh which has been staring at me for several months. I mistyped the title on my last post of May 14. It is set in the same universe as Downbelow Station. The other SciFi read I started is Sector 64: Ambush by Dean M. Cole. It started out well, but it is starting to lose its appeal already. It is another of the benevolent vs. bad guy alien books in which the humans of the newly discovered Earth become involved in an alien war. I don't think I am in the mood for that just now.

I see a group of scientists from the University of Nottingham are now estimating that there are 36 intelligent life forms in our galaxy. Even Forbes is reporting it. I guess that will be of interest to all those marketers who hope to expand their product territories.

PatH · « **Reply #3245 on:** June 23, 2020, 10:31:18 PM »

It's even quieter than usual on SeniorLearn. I finally ran across my copy of Ancillary Justice, and have put it in my bedside pile. We'll see if I reread it.

I see that Scalzi's The Last Emperox is out now. It's going to have to wait until library books are easily available--not worth a special effort.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3246 on:** June 24, 2020, 05:40:19 AM »

What a story Heavy Time is! I finished it yesterday. Fantastic storytelling. Once again C. H. Cherryh had me totally engrossed in the story and the characters. A tale of corporate greed and malfeasance on a ore processing and shipbuilding station, Cherryh brings together a cast of characters ranging from young newbie, naïve ore prospectors to the old hands, from those who are suppressed by "the system" and find ways to work around it as best they can to those who know how to "play" the system, from political activists to don't rock the boaters. It is a tale of murder, cover-ups, and the psychological, physical and financial damage wreaked upon those unknowingly caught in the middle.

Yes, I have had my eye on The Last Emperox also. I agree the series is not worth a special effort. IMO, it is a rather "ordinary" series, good reading but not outstanding. I am sincerely hoping he does another in the Lock-In series. I can find no clue as to what he might write about next. His daily blog is always well thought out and interesting. https://whatever.scalzi.com/

Andy Weir's next book: https://www.tor.com/2020/03/27/andy-weir-ryan-gosling-the-hail-mary-science-fiction-mgm/ Another person/group saves the world book. Not sure I will be interested.

PatH · « **Reply #3247 on:** July 10, 2020, 01:05:03 PM »

I've flubbed my chance to read The Last Emperox. When my library started adding back services, I neglected to see where they were with resuming filling hold requests. Since I was #1 in line, almost a first for me, I immediately got a chance to get it. Safe ways of getting anywhere are a rare and precious commodity for me, not to be wasted on a lukewarm book like that. Too bad I didn't suspend my hold. If you do that, when they reinsert you it's at the same number you had, so I could have gotten the book later with very little notice. Somehow I'm not crying over it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3248 on:** July 11, 2020, 06:49:21 AM »

I still have it in my wish list for now and have not put it on hold yet. Right now I have three non-fiction books to read, two of which I have started.

In my daily Project Gutenberg rummage, I discovered a Mary Wollstonecraft dystopian novel that looks interesting. It is a plague story called The Last Man.http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/18247 I don't know when I will get around to reading it though.

PatH · « **Reply #3249 on:** July 11, 2020, 10:47:03 AM »

Frybabe, I'll be interested to see what you think of The Last Man. I own it, but only read a fraction of it before getting bogged down. The characters are based on the group of intellectuals Shelley was a part of, and continue all the arguments the group used to have.

According to Wikipedia, the book was inspired by an earlier work, Le Dernier Homme (1805), an interesting take on the end of humanity, with a religious component.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Le_Dernier_Homme

Frybabe · « **Reply #3250 on:** September 10, 2020, 10:59:26 AM »

PatH, I thought you'd like a partial report on Scalzi's The Last Emperox. The first few pages of the Epilogue reminded me so very much of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. It sound so much like Douglas Adams "voice". Most of Book Two I skipped. I had forgotten about the foul-mouthed character from the second book. She was back in spades in that chapter. On to Book Three and I am now at into Chapter Nine, where I am back with the Emperox and her side of things. So, it is getting more interesting, but not yet especially compelling. One thing I did especially like was that in the prologue, we are given an itemized sequence of events of actions in the previous two books.

PatH · « **Reply #3251 on:** September 10, 2020, 03:31:48 PM »

Frybabe, that prologue is a game changer for me. Now I can take any chance I get of reading the third book, without having to reread the other two to remember all the different factions and characters, and who's still alive. Thanks.

Still, not Scalzi at his best.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3252 on:** September 11, 2020, 06:17:20 AM »

I agree, Pat. I just have not "bonded" with any of the characters in this series, although the whole premise of the story, the upcoming loss of "the Flow" travel lanes and how they are handling it, is interesting.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3253 on:** September 12, 2020, 05:59:41 AM »

I've finished with The Last Emperox. It did get better as I read further in. There was an "Awwww" moment which delighted me and the ending was somewhat of a surprise.

PatH · « **Reply #3254 on:** September 12, 2020, 12:31:36 PM »

Well, Frybabe, you've said enough to convince me that when I get a chance, I should read it. It'll be a while, though. I can't use up my precious few chances for rides yet.

I don't remember if you liked Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. I was impressed at first, but it went off in a way I found tiresome, and I didn't finish it. She has now written a second book, Piranesi. The Post's reviewer, who liked the first book, likes this one too, but warns that it's effect is particularly vulnerable to spoilers, so I recommend that anyone who wants to read it take a chance without reading any reviews. (The Post's reviewer promised to be careful, but he'd already said enough to tell me what the book is like, so I stopped there.)

Frybabe · « **Reply #3255 on:** September 13, 2020, 08:38:34 AM »

Clarke's book does not ring a bell with me Pat.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3256 on:** September 18, 2020, 05:50:18 AM »

I am back to reading SciFi.

Just as I started Cliford D. Simak's Empire (only a coupte of paragraphs in) the next library hold dropped. So now I am reading A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine. A coincidence in names. Simak's Empire appears to be a tale of corporate power and greed. Martine's "Empire" appears to be more like political intrigue. So far, the tale is about a person(s) who is called upon to take over the ambassadorial duties to a neighboring empire at short notice. So here she is struggling to get used a new job with only a crash course on the Empire and the previous Ambassador, and unravel the death of her predecessor. I don't want to say to much about this one for fear of giving out spoilers. I am hooked. It is, of course, the first of a series.

PatH · « **Reply #3257 on:** September 18, 2020, 09:14:27 AM »

Just what I need, the first of a new space opera series. The book sounded familiar, and one look at her on Fantastic Fiction was enough. The book was a choice of the Politics and Prose fantasy/sci-fi f2f book discussion group I used to go to. Although I stopped going when I stopped driving, I've kept track of their selections, because they tend to be good, and this one looks promising. Now P & P is doing all their book groups remotely, but alas, the sci-fi group just stopped instead.

There should be quite a contrast between Simak, the classic old style giant, and Martine.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3258 on:** September 19, 2020, 06:34:55 AM »

I think you will like it Pat. The people of the Empire use often poetry or poetic syntax (is that the word I want?) to communicate, especially in "coded" messages.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3259 on:** September 21, 2020, 06:31:56 AM »

Yea! Jack Campbell has a new series set in the Lost Fleet Universe. The first, Boundless (The Lost Fleet: Outlands Book 1, will release in May of 2021.

Another of my library holds just dropped, Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings (The Dandelion Dynasty Book 1).

I am half way through A Memory Called Empire. The story remains intriguing. It is likely I will be sad to finish it.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3260 on:** September 24, 2020, 06:22:34 AM »

I finished A Memory Called Empire. It turns out that this is another first of series book. From the teaser chapter at the end of the first book, it looks like it goes on to the war with aliens threatening the empire. Initially there is no communication between the aliens and the Empire, so I expect the intrepid Ambassador will be called upon at some point to finally figure out how to communicate with them. I haven't checked the library yet to see if they have the new book.

Back again to Terry Prachett's BBC radio plays. This one was Guards, Guards which was quite a bit longer than the others so far. Robert Gwilym ,who plays Carrot, is Welsh. What a delight to here his accent.

PatH · « **Reply #3261 on:** September 24, 2020, 08:01:00 AM »

Even without Welsh connections, I find Welsh accents delightful to listen to. Guards, Guards is perhaps my second favorite Pratchett book, the first being the next in line, Night Watch.Two other particularly good ones come to mind: Maskerade and Monstrous Regiment.

You're the only one here who would even consider reading Trail of Lightning, which I mentioned in the Library, so I'll say a bit more. Not only is the Navaho nation a main survivor of the half drowned world, the ancient gods and spirits have awoken. The heroine is good at sniffing out and destroying monsters. It helps if you are at least a little familiar with the mythology and customs. I've picked up enough from Tony Hillerman's mysteries to help. The book is a decent example of its type, nothing special.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3262 on:** September 25, 2020, 08:57:24 AM »

Pat, I had to skip Small Gods, just didn't care for it. Night Watch is next up.

Dennis Taylor's fourth Bobverse, Heaven's River, is not residing in my Audible library. I'll be listening to that after I get done with Pratchett.

PatH · « **Reply #3263 on:** September 25, 2020, 10:36:43 AM »

I didn't care much for Small Gods either. Pratchett's books vary a lot in quality.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3264 on:** September 26, 2020, 05:00:11 PM »

I now have the Audible app set up on my laptop (Ubuntu Linux OS) and am having fun with their new free podcast offerings.. John Scalzi was interviewed mostly about a new upcoming novel and I started listening to the Hell Divers IV which is in my wishlist to get when it goes on sale. Now I get to listen free, but I have to get it done by 9/30. More about Scalzi's new efforts later. Suffice it to say it is not SciFi, but something more akin to what you might get from writers like Dean Koontz or Stephen KIng, more in the supernatural line.

2020 Dragon Awards:
Best Science Fiction - The Last Emperox.
Best Military Science Fiction - Savage Wars by Jason Anspach & Nick Cole. This is part of their Galaxy's Edge universe
Best Fantasy - The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern

Dragon Awards are open to those who register on their website to vote.

The 2020 Hugo Awards: http://www.thehugoawards.org/
I only just realized that A Memory Called Empire won for Best Novel. Not bad for her first novel. The second in this series is not due to release in March, 2021.
According to Wikipedia, "Martine said that the book was in many respects a fictional version of her postdoctoral research on Byzantine imperialism on the frontier to Armenia in the 11th century, particularly the annexation of the Kingdom of Ani." Arkady Martine is the pen name of AnnaLinden Weller, who is also an historian and city planner.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3265 on:** October 08, 2020, 08:07:33 AM »

This has got to be the a very good book for Kirkus to give it such a rave review. Have you read it perchance?

The Quantam Thief (book one of a series). It was released in 2011, but I only just heard of it. https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/hannu-rajaniemi/quantum-thief/

PatH · « **Reply #3266 on:** October 08, 2020, 10:58:57 AM »

Those are strong words for a reviewer. No, I haven't read it, though it rings a faint bell. I probably heard of it when it came out. It sounds pretty complicated, but evidently the plot works.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3267 on:** October 10, 2020, 11:52:40 AM »

I am really enjoying Dennis E. Taylor's Heaven's River on audiobook with Ray Porter narrating. I didn't notice at first that the book is paying homage to a number of books, TV shows, movies, a scientist (but I forget who already), and probably a game or two, but I am not up on them except for HALO. I am definitely going to have to listen again and keep a notepad with me to write down all the references. Star trek and its offshoots get a lot of play, Skippy the beer can from Craig Alanson's popular Expeditionary Force series, the TV show Cheers. Much of the setting is an O'Neil Cylinder or Ringworld type of environment.

I gave up rather quickly on Simak's Empire BTW. Just wasn't in the mood for corporate empire bullying just now.

So, in between with the Scifi books. I should probably pick up my print copy of C. j. Cherryh's Hellbender. Every time I start to read it a library loan pops up after only getting a few paragraphs read. I've restart the thing three times already. I think I might be safe for now.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3268 on:** October 11, 2020, 07:29:35 AM »

I've discovered that Quantum Thief and its sequels are posted on YouTube for a free listen. Chapter One was a bit mind-bending, but I got through it with the help of recalling my minuscule knowledge of virtual reality and quantum anything that I picked up reading and watching scifi.

I am still looking for something that will be helpful in understanding Quantum anything without all the mind numbing math. This morning I checked out what Audible had and discovered an amazing number of books that have latched onto the "God particle" discussion as it applied to religion. One that looks particularly interesting explores a relationship between it and Buddhism.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3269 on:** October 15, 2020, 07:00:45 AM »

I found a glossary of terms and characters for Quantum Thief, et. al. I should have guessed, considering this is a quantum environment, that the object (a Q-Box) the thief is tasked to steal is a Schrodinger's Box. Everyone wears a watch because Time is used as currency. Interesting that some of the words are Hebrew or Hebrew based. Wikipedia's character list is great because it lists the main characters' iterations and lists the various factions and their associations.

Wikipedia on the themes of the story:

Quote

Themes central to The Quantum Thief are the unreliability and malleability of memory and the effects of extreme longevity on an individual's perspective and personality. Prisons, surveillance and control in society are also major themes.

Yes, I am still listening to it. The narrator's voice is mesmerizing. [/size]

PatH · « **Reply #3270 on:** October 15, 2020, 01:00:21 PM »

I would have a terrible time keeping track of a book like that by listening. Even reading, I'm sure I would keep checking back to get something straight. It looks like a good read, though.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3271 on:** October 18, 2020, 09:02:39 AM »

Pat, I finished Quantum Thief yesterday afternoon and started the next, Fractal Prince this morning. Fractal Prince seems a easier to follow so far. A bare-bones synopsis of what went on in the first book is incorporated into the beginning in a very natural manner and reinforces some information/insights/assumptions/suspicions that I had come up with. The action in the second book will be on Earth for the most part.

Ken Liu's The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories dropped into my library yesterday. I look forward to reading it, but I am almost positive I read at least one, “Mono No Aware”, already.

PatH · « **Reply #3272 on:** October 18, 2020, 10:38:55 AM »

I've already read that one too. Don't remember where.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3273 on:** October 25, 2020, 07:22:10 AM »

I truly like, so far, the selections of short stories in The Paper Menagerie. I love especially Ken Liu's stories involving automaton.

The Fractal Prince is on hold for now. I kept getting too many interruptions, including falling asleep on it, to follow it well. So, I figure I will have to start over when I get back to it.

So now I have started listening, on YouTube, Cryptum by Karen Travis. I skipped her three HALO books a few years back because of the poor reviews by HALO fans. Her attempt to soften up the storyline and characters did not set well with the hardline military/war readers and gamers. So far it is so, so, but I am not very far in yet.

PatH · « **Reply #3274 on:** October 28, 2020, 10:26:05 AM »

This news is weeks old, but I get behind in following the real outside world. N. K. Jemisin has been awarded a MacArthur genius award. I've been meaning to try her books; this is one more prod.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3275 on:** November 25, 2020, 06:44:35 AM »

I haven't read any of her books either, Pat, but I have run across her books now and again.

Hellburner by C. J. Cherryh is now history. I wish she had written a third book. It just begs for a third. The main character is definitely suffering from PTSD, and late in the book, his reflections over his life lead me to believe he may believe that Dekker could be in the autism spectrum. He has definite trouble interacting and understanding people, but is very good with machines and described by some of the other characters as very intelligent. I read a forum page where someone listed her books with short notes describing many of them as being very loosely tied to the Union/Alliance universe. I really hadn't made the connection between her Faded Sun Trilogy (which I liked very much) and the others I've read.

The last of the Great Library of Alexandra series, Sword and Pen, dropped the other day, so I am reading that now.

PatH · « **Reply #3276 on:** November 28, 2020, 11:47:52 AM »

Frybabe, I don't know if you're interested, since I think you didn't read the first book, but a sequel just came out for Ready Player One, the dystopian future, with people living mostly in virtual reality and conducting a sort of treasure hunt involving the quirks of early computer games.

I haven't read it yet, but gave a copy to my SIL, who was enthusiastic about the first book and uses virtual reality in his hearing research. He said it starts out well, but has lots of amusing surprises, so I shouldn't read reviews that might contain spoilers. It's unsurprising title is Ready Player Two.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3277 on:** November 29, 2020, 06:29:25 AM »

I don't know why Ready Player One and the sequel don't appeal to me. After all, I did like Tron and Hackers (the movies), and The Quantum Thief, et.al. fascinated me. While not gaming per se, the series was set mostly in a post human virtual reality (or two or three). Another post human/human combo I liked was the Takeshi Kovacs series which started with Altered Carbon.

Oh, here is something weird (kind of). When I was out cleaning my car windows yesterday, I noticed a car parked next door which had a business logo on the door announcing The Umbrella Corporation "Our business is life itself". I never heard of the outfit so looked it up. It turns out that it is a part of the Resident Evil franchise. Well, I was a little surprised, but should not have been. After all, Daphne and Ken are into Zombies these days. It is a good thing Daphne gave up on the Christmas yard decorating or we may have ended up eventually seeing a Zombie Christmas display. This year, they had so many decorations for Halloween they opened their garage door and added a butcher scene.

The other day I listened to a novella called The Collector by Rhett C. Bruno. It is a prequel to his Children of Titan series which is a corporate vs. rebel thing. The main character is a corporate collector (aka: corporate bounty hunter). The story was interesting, but not interesting enough to read the series, I think. The first of series novel is called Titanborn which I think I started to read a year or so ago and very quickly lost interest. Bruno has a new book out called The Luna Missile Crisis which sound interesting. I may try that at some point.

PatH · « **Reply #3278 on:** November 29, 2020, 10:17:44 AM »

I can think of lots of reasons for non-appeal. The dystopia is depressing, and you have to care about the early computer games. I read it because my f2f discussion group was reading it, and did enjoy it enough that since my SIL Erick says the sequel is good, I'll read it eventually.

I miss that group. They were fun, and a good source of books I wouldn't have found otherwise. After I stopped driving I still kept track of their choices, but when the virus hit, all of Politics and Prose's groups either went virtual or shut down, and sci-fi and fantasy both shut down.

Frybabe · « **Reply #3279 on:** December 01, 2020, 12:42:34 PM »

I don't go to Facebook unless absolutely necessary, and I haven't been reading Sharon Lee's blogs, so I just found out yesterday that she has been battling breast cancer and has undergone a mastectomy and chemo treatments. According to Steve Miller in his forward to Ambient Conditions (Adventures in the Liaden Universe® Book 31), just out, Sharon has been teaching herself to write novels again after all that. A kind of writer's block maybe? I expect I would be a little muddled too, after all that. I wish her well and a speedy and permanent recover.

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Author Topic: Science Fiction / Fantasy (Read 364028 times)