Science Fiction / Fantasy

[PatH]

I've read 3 of the 4 Constellations, and a couple of the dozens of chapbooks.  Quality of the stories varies all over the place, but even some of the poorer ones are useful fill-in.

The story of Val Con and the turtles is particularly nice.  I miss the turtles; they haven't been around since Korval moved to Surebleak.  Of course for a turtle, that's no time at all.

I just finished The Gathering Edge, #20 in the series.  That just leaves Neogenesis, which won't come out in paperback until the end of March.  It must have been over 10 years ago that I started reading the series, because Fledgelingdidn't come out until a couple of years after I started.  Lee and Miller were between publishers then, and some of the earlier books were hard to find.  Time flies when you're having fun.

[Frybabe]

I agree about the quality of the shorts. You are right. The turtles haven't been around for a while. I've read Neogenesis, so I am all caught up. I am thinking with the way things are going, the authors are moving into a new generation. Time marches on... I haven't quite gotten used to nor taken a fondness to many of this new batch of characters. Some of the "adventures" are leaving me with mixed feelings, but I think that has to do with all the new characters and having to get used to their stories (and background). The "new blood" in the tales may appeal more to the younger set. I think the title Neogenesis may portend new directions the general story seems to be taking. Not good or bad, just taking awhile to adjust. Let me know what you think then.

[PatH]

As of now, I totally agree with you, Frybabe.  The early stories had a spark that's dimmer now.  It must be hard to keep up that level for 21 books.

I wish my library would stock the books, especially the chapbooks.  Amazon sells them, but buying all the chapbooks would cost way too much.

[Frybabe]

I just finished watching Season 3 of The Expanse.  I am not sure I liked it near as well as the previous two seasons, but then I didn't care so much for some of the new characters and story-line in books 3 (Abaddon's Gate won the 2014 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction) and 4, so it follows I wouldn't like the TV version much either. Season three had some expanded or modified material and a bunch of stuff that was left out. Their depiction of the action inside the center sphere within the ring left something to be desired, too.  They did such a good job on the Eros special effects that I was fairly disappointed in the sphere sequence. I just downloaded book 5, which I will start soon.

I read most of the Liaden Constellation 1 short stories, passed over one, Balance of Trade, which I already read, and read the second half of one. I didn't care too much for the Moonhawk stories. The Pat Rin story that told how he got started in the gaming business and how Nova discovered her powers was very interesting.  I was lucky to have some credits towards an ebook, which certainly helped.

[Frybabe]

The BSFA short list is posted:  https://www.sffworld.com/2019/02/news-bsfa-shortlist-announced/

I don't know any of these authors except for Martha Wells. She wrote the Murderbot seris of which Exit Strategy is the latest. I have had the first of the series, All Systems Red, on my library wish list for months.

I've am almost finished with Nemesis Games, fifth in the Expanse series. It is a bit intense. The crew go their separate ways during a lengthy repair and overhaul of their ship. This is is a united we stand/divided we fall kind of book, where each chapter flip/flops between characters and the very serious and possibly deadly situations in which the find themselves. It is also setting up for adding additional crew. Book six, Babylon's Ashes, is on hold at the library and should soon be ready.

[PatH]

You're one better than I am, Frybabe.  I don't know any of them.  Maybe I should start reading Interzone again.

[PatH]

Frybabe, although Game of Empire is fun because of the analogy to Kim, it definitely seems outdated stylistically.

[Frybabe]

I am about to add another book to my long, waiting to read Scifi list. It is called Starshine by G.S. Jennsen. I just can't resist the opening line, "The end of the world began with a library query." That may be the only or almost only reference to a library in the entire book, but that is all it took for me to download this freebie. I've been trying to stay away from downloading first of series books until I get more of my already downloaded books read. It isn't working.

The Expanse book 7 just became available at my online library. Now that makes five books I need to read this month. Not going to happen. Fortunately two of the books are three week borrows. Still, doubt I will get to finish any of them before I need to renew or send back. I am also in the middle of doing my taxes. It is a very good thing that Spring Break in Latin class is a whole month this time.

[PatH]

I just got an ad from Amazon that the next Liaden book, Accepting the Lance will come out in December.  I didn't read the description, because it looked like it would have some spoilers of Neogenesis.

[Frybabe]

Thanks for the heads-up!

[Frybabe]

Huh! It appears I am all caught up on the Expanse series. Book 8, it turns out, won't be released for six more days, then I have to wait-see if the library picks it up. Book 7 takes a real interesting and intense turn. Can't wait to see how it resolves. Our group of heroes are getting old.

[Frybabe]

The Expanse book 8 was released three days ago. The library has it already. I am 33rd in line. I guess it will be a while until I get to read it. Season 4 of the TV series is done filming and should be reading to air soon. Still no date: June is expected.

Meanwhile, the HALO TV series with Showtime is slogging along very, very slowly. They still haven't cast anyone yet and don't expect filming to begin until June.

I have read several nothing-special SciFi books lately, but with the beginning of the month, I will be picking up the third of the Expeditionary Force series, Paradise. Slow going, since I am alternating it with the Galaxy's Edge series.

New to my audio book collection: On the fantasy side, yes, I said Fantasy, I now possess the first two of Michael J. Sullivan's Riyria Revelations series, and his The Age of Myth , which I believe is related. I also just acquired is A Long Time Till Now by Michael Z. Williamson. It is a time travel story about a platoon of soldiers who suddenly find themselves in the Paleolithic era.

[Frybabe]

Now that I have finished rereading the first of Joel Shepherd's Spiral Wars series, Renegade, I am going to have to remember to continue on with the series when I finish the Expeditionary Force/Galaxy's Edge series' rotation.

In the Audible department, I've added a bunch more of Michael J. Sullivan fantasy series novels, a Michael Williamson scifi, A Long Time Till Now, Mark Lawence's Prince of Fools, and a John Scalzi called The Dispatcher. I now have 45 audio books, of which I've only listened to six and a quarter so far. I may have to drop it for a while to catch up, but not yet.

[PatH]

I see that we lost fantasy/sci-fi writer Gene Wolfe a few weeks ago.  I haven't read his New Sun series, which seems to be thought of as his best, but I've liked some of his other books, and some of his short stories.

Have you read Soldier of the Mist?  It's a rather unusual fantasy.  It's supposed to be the text of a scroll, written in ancient Latin, by Latro, a mercenary soldier, now a prisoner, wounded in the battle of Plataea (479 BC) fighting on the Persian side against the coalition of Greek states.  (This was the final battle of that particular war; the Persian army was badly defeated.). Latro's head wound has resulted in amnesia--his memory of the past is fragmentary, and every morning he has forgotten what happened the day before.  He keeps this diary to remind himself of who he is and what has happened to him.

The story is told in a naive and clueless way, as we follow Latro around various parts of Greece and adjacent lands.  His wound has also given him the ability to see ghosts, spirits, and the gods and goddesses, further distorting his viewpoint.

Wolfe makes you work hard for your story; Latro doesn't know much about what's going on, and places and people are mostly not called by names we know, though there is some help at the back of the book.  But if you're willing to put up with that, it's an enjoyable story.

[Frybabe]

I don't think I've run across any of Gene Wolfe's works, PatH. Right now I am in the middle of H. Beam Piper's "The Last Enemy".

The Galaxy's Edge book 3, Kill Team, was a short but intense book. I say short because it only took me three days to get through it. My Kindle told me it would take me around three hours to read it, which doesn't sound right for a 334page book, but sure enough, i zipped right through it. Part of the book involved a deep cover spy called Tom who was starting to lose his real self to this person he was to pretend to be. Very touch and go for him to remind himself he has another "real" life and that this "Tom" is not who he really is. And then he must live with the guilt of becoming part of and participating in the deadly activities of an arms dealer to rebels and terrorists.

Only three more days until Jack McDevitt's next Alex Benedict book drops into my library.

[Frybabe]

PatH, I am almost 3/4 of the way through Octavia Gone. It took me a wee bit to warm up to it, but since then it is okay. Not great, IMO. McDevitt managed to get a little bit of an archaeological find in it, and a discovery that will go undisclosed by request, but the main mystery is the disappearance of and renewed search for an experimental station, not to collect artifacts, but to discovery what happened. 

[Frybabe]

Well, Jack Campbell's latest dropped into my library yesterday. Of course, I have to put off reading it because the latest Expanse book finally was ready for me at the online library. So, now I've stopped what I was reading to start on that. There is a time gap between book 7 and book 8. The new Empire appears to be well established now. Still waiting for Amazon to start showing Season 4 episodes, the production of which finished more than a month ago.

[Frybabe]

I did a marathon read yesterday and finished the Expanse Book 8, Tiamat's Wrath. The series spans decades. Jim Holden is somewhere close to sixty now by my reckoning. More new characters are introduced and several characters are lost. One crew member, though killed, comes back modified. My sister will like that since she likes the Undead type of stories. This opens up a whole new phase in the evolution of the saga, I think.

It is almost time to pick up another Lending Library read. I expect to switch back to book 4 of the Expeditionary Force series. Gosh, this switching back and forth a pain, but since I only get one a month, I don't want to get too far behind in either story lest I forget where I left off in the story-line. That also means, with my other reading, I am likely going to have to drop reading the Star Nomad series that I started for a while. Actually, I was rereading the first of that series when I stopped for the Expanse book.

[PatH]

Frybabe, I realize I never told you what I thought of Neogenesis.  I'm with you in being less interested in many of the younger characters, and that includes the rejuvenated Daav and Ailliana, who so far don't have much character.  I've got other quibbles too.  Lee and Miller are overdoing some of their standard tricks.  The Tree is way overdoing its role of deus ex machina, and being absurdly prescient about what's going to be needed.  There's also a lot of people turning their minds inward, seeing swirls of color, maybe marred with dust, and tweaking them mentally to do everything from catch a person's mood, to healing them, to trouble-shooting a computer, to saving the universe.  Perhaps I was crabby when I read it.  My knee was still hurting a lot.

That said, I enjoyed the book enough to want to continue reading the series.  I hope we don't have too many AIs as characters though; some of them didn't have very interesting personalities.

Kamele is evolving in an interesting way.  It must be unnerving to learn that a lengthy liaison was constantly overlooked by one's partner's lifemate.

[Frybabe]

Can't disagree with you Pat. The younger set is into magical superpowers, so I guess Lee and Miller are trying in a minor way to incorporate something similar. But I could be wrong. Anyway, the bunch of books I got are all in the older, more traditional (if there is one) settings.

[Frybabe]

Pat, I gave up real quick on Hyperion in audio book form. I think I need to read that in print so I can take a little time deciphering what they are talking about. All that tree/leaf stuff at the beginning had me confused (or annoyed) from the getgo.

Oh, just the other day, I listened to The Dispatcher by John Scalzi. I got it free on one of Audiobook's monthly promotions. It is only between 2 and 3 hours in length. What an interesting concept. If you are killed or about to die you get a chance at getting your life back through the services of a dispatcher. Of course there is the legal side and then there are the shady deals. I liked it. I see he will be a featured author at the American Library Association, June 20-25. He will also be in DC for the National Book Festival on August 31 as a feature author. I occasionally think about going to the National Book Festival, but always talk myself out of it. My library system used to sponsor a trip, but for some reason the last two years, they went with a cultural and craft fair on the Mall.

[Frybabe]

Soooo, Pat, I found these on YouTube. They thoroughly convinced me that I did the right thing about returning the Audible version. This book really needs to be read rather than listened to.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owAhwfJ-Z5Y
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLy_ksIjaq8

[PatH]

Frybabe,  I could never listen to that book.  Even reading it, I had to keep looking back in an effort to keep everyone straight.  I wouldn't stand a chance with audio.  And after watching that first video, I wonder if it should even be a movie.  Its weirdness and awfulness is hard to stage.

I thought I didn't like it, but it definitely has something, and looking at that video, and recalling memorable bits makes me think it's one of those books I have to read twice to get it.

[PatH]

I got Scalzi's The Dispatcher out of the library.  Yes, it's an interesting concept.  I like the way Scalzi takes oddball concepts like that and uses them as the basis for investigational novels.

[Frybabe]

I am hoping that Scalzi writes a few more of his Lock In series.

I finished reading Jack Campbell's latest Genesis book, Triumphant, ends that offshoot in the Lost Fleet universe. According to his web post last year, he is giving Black Jack a break while he works on other projects, like another trilogy set in his fantasy series The Pillars of Reality. It also looks like he is working on ideas to continue the Lost Fleet series and including some of the characters of the Lost Stars series. Looking forward to that, but I don't expect to see anything for a year or two.

So now I am back to catching up on some of the Liaden Universe short stories and novellas. I just finished a novella called Degrees of Separation which is about Don Eyr and Serena who I honestly don't remember from their main line of books, but is set partly on Liad in Low Port.  This is a prequel to a short story, "Block Party", which is set on Surebleak. I just now skimmed that one and will likely go back and read it a little later since there it is free to read up on the Baen site. It actually looked a bit uninteresting, though, at first glance.

[PatH]

I just got my hands on the Liaden Constellation IV, which contains both those stories.  Block Party doesn't start off very interesting, but it's just getting going.  I don't remember those characters either.

I'm finally going to read the Genesis series--got the first one from my library, along with one of the later books in Charles Stross' Laundry series, which is kind of deteriorating.

[Frybabe]

Pat, if you haven't  run across "The Beggar King", when reading the Liaden shortstories,  it is a great little piece that describes how Daav and Clarence O'Berin  met. Clarence, you may recall, is the Juntavas Boss of Lower Port.

[Frybabe]

I haven't been reading any science fiction the last week or so. There have been other things that caught my attention. But, as I continue on reading the historical fantasy, River of Stars, I've gotten more and more interested in the characters, the culture and events of China still under the influence of the bureaucracy built by Confucius, the rituals and moral tabboos.

Because I want to reread Marco Kloos' Frontline series, I decided to spend the money to by the whole series. I did not want to tie up my once a month Lending library with it. I am still working through the Expeditionary Force and the Galaxy's Edge series' which I have been alternating each month. Marco Kloos has a new series out called the Palladium Wars. It follows a former prisoner of war who is trying to find his way home.  The prisoners are being released with a limited-time pass to get out of the winning side's territory and some money. The prisoners find and pay for their own way home, and of course, the scalpers are ready and waiting to accommodate them  at a greatly increased price. Of course, I have to read the rest.

Just found news this morning that the The Expanse Season 4 will premier on December 13. Now if Showtime would only get off their butts and get moving with the HALO mini series. They have their directors/producers and such, but they only have two characters cast so far.

[PatH]

I finally got around to starting Jack Campbell's Genesis Fleet series, by reading Vanguard.  Nice read, finishing with one of his "it's a long chance, but it's possible we could have won this way"  battles.  It's amusing to see the forebears of familiar characters too.  My library system has enough copies that I'll be able to finish the series slowed down mostly by the slowness of moving held books to somewhere I can actually get them.

[Frybabe]

This is in "the things you run across" department.

I've been watching the shipping webcams on the St. Clair River. Last week I noticed a "pleasure boat" named Plan B plying the river. Naturally, I thought of Clan Korval. Now yesterday, one of the posters in the chat discussion used the word proly instead of probably, just like the Surebleak characters.

[PatH]

That's amusing, Frybabe.

I finished the Genesis Fleet trilogy.  It's amusing and a little sad to see the Alliance starting out as the way to save the colonies, when by the end of the two Lost Fleet series it's increasingly overrun with evil politicians who nearly destroy everyone with an automated fleet run amok.

[Frybabe]

I decided to try out Martha Wells and her Murderbot Diaries series. All Systems Red is narrated by a Cyborg security unit who named itself Murderbot. What a depressing nickname to give oneself. I expect there will be an explanation at some point. What I got from the description of the books is that the stories involve an identity struggle regarding what it means to be a cyborg and its desire to become autonomous. I've seen the books described as pretty standard fare, but fun to read. I'll let you know.

[Frybabe]

Okay, looks like a whole month has gone by already.

First, some news. We have an actually SciFi reader now up on the Library Bookshelf in SeniorsnadFriends. He is a friend of SoPBubble's and is from Brazil. If you have a chance, go over and say hi.

Now for the books. I have finished the second of the Murderbot series and have the third on hold. Interesting character, and like I said a fast, easy read - both of them.

I am not into the sixth of the Galaxy's Edge series I am reading. Interesting characters who deal in military ops, black ops and spying. Lots of who do you trust issues and
"Murphy" strikes again just when you think everything is going well. This latest book seems to be setting up one character for super powers. Not into that.

Downloaded Patricia Cornwell's Quantum a few days ago. This one comes with embedded video and animation, so I'll be checking that out later in the month. Amazon actually classifies this one as a thriller.

Gotta go, the critters are looking for a snack.

[PatH]

Frybabe, thanks for nudging me to welcome Waltermar.  I feel like I want to tell him everything at once, which would be overwhelming, but I'll try to feed in suggestions gradually.

[Frybabe]

After Altered Carbon, it took me a while to come down off that "high" and finally settled on reading Alan Nourse's Star Surgeon. It is an interesting but not complex story that follows a trio of provisional doctors on their first patrol without supervision. The success of the patrol will determine whether or not they are given permanent status as doctors. Of course, one of the provisionals is not from Earth and has to deal with discrimination, bigotry and prejudice, and down-right hatred.

[Frybabe]

Well, this is interesting. I was looking at other works by Alan Nourse and discovered that he wrote a book called Bladerunner. It is not to be confused with Blade Runner the movie, which mostly just used the name. I read this article from Wikipedia about the book. Now I am going to have to sit myself down and read that book as well as read the Philip K. Dick's Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep?, and the two short stories by Dick, "Imposter" and "Minority Report". I do not remember reading Dick's book but I did read John Scalzi's spoof novel. Other than clips, I have not seen the Blade Runner and Minority Report  movies, and I never even heard of Imposter.

[PatH]

Dick's book is quite different from the movie, not so much in the dystopian background world as in plot.  I read the book first, and I think that's the best way.  About a dozen movies have been made from Dick's stories; at the moment I can only think of Total Recall and A Scanner Darkly in addition to the ones you mention.

I recently read The Other Wind, Ursula K. LeGuin's final winding up (that makes two) of the Earthsea trilogy.  Earthsea lovers, which I think you are not, will want to read it, but although it has the mystical atmosphere of the other books, the story is pretty thin.

[Frybabe]

Pat, I gave up on  Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep? real quick.  I had better luck with Scalzi's spoof of the book, but even that seemed a convoluted romp, not making a whole lot of sense. I think Scalzi's sense of humor helped me get through his book. I didn't know Total Recall was written by Dick until a week or so ago.  I have only read a very few of Dick's short stories long ago and wasn't overly impressed as I recall.

I read Alan Nourse's Star Surgeon last week. I rather like his stories.

[Frybabe]

PatH, here is a description of the newest Laiden Universe book being released in December. https://www.baen.com/accepting-the-lance.html

I am, at the moment, between SciFi books reading a bit about ancient commerce and economics, and the first of the Tier One thriller series, as well as listening to a non-fiction book by Brigadier General (Ret) Robert Spalding which I think I mentioned in the Non-Fiction section. My listen to Starship Troopers did not last very long. The story is okay. The narrator was okay, but didn't make the story seem very interesting or exciting. I finished Martha Wells' Exit Strategy which was the fourth (and final, I think) of the Murderbot series. Also finished the second of the Altered Carbon series by Richard K. Morgan, Broken Angels. This last one, is not Noir like the first. It focuses on an archaeological find and all the players who hope to gain from the new technology found.

On hold are Invisible Planets, translated and edited by Ken Liu, and the next of the Altered Carbon series, Woken Furies.

[PatH]

Thanks, Frybabe.  That's not a very useful description, is it.  Either of us could have written it from what we already know.  It'll be a while before I find out more.  My library doesn't think Lee and Miller are worth buying, I'm not willing to pay $25 for a hardback, nor sacrifice the space, and I don't do ebooks.  Am I right in thinking the title comes from one of the Clutch Turtle dance/martial moves?

I finally got around to reading John Scalzi's The Collapsing Empire and The Consuming Fire.  They're pleasant enough reads, though I had to work hard to keep the alliances straight.  Maybe when the third one comes out it'll be easier, since a lot of the characters have already killed each other off.  The different ways sci-fi writers get around the speed of light in travel amuse me, and this is a nice variation.