What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

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aliantha
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Post by aliantha »

I'm Murrin wrote:It's based on The Twelve Dancing Princesses
Everything old is new again. :lol:

I need to attack my dead-tree TBR pile. I've promised myself that I'll do one dead-tree review per month. That ought to force me to whittle down the stack somewhat before WFC comes around again in November. 8O
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Post by Avatar »

Deadhouse Gates. :D

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Post by SoulBiter »

The Darkbow Collection - (The Kobalos Trilogy, and The Horrors of Bond Trilogy).

So far I give it a thumbs up!
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Post by I'm Murrin »

I finished The Girls at the Kingfisher Club today, and while it's not SFF, it is one of the best books I've read recently. Really great.
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ussusimiel
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Post by ussusimiel »

Well, I finally finished Deadhouse Gates and unless someone can convince me otherwise, I'm not sure that I'll read anymore of these. I'd be interested in reading one about the Bridgeburners (if their story is told in detail in any of the books), but otherwise, it just doesn't seem to be doing it for me.

Lots happens, epic stuff, massive battles, huge forces clashing etc. yet I can't seem to find the significance of any of it. Stuff just seems to happen, then more stuff and then it ends. It's as if everything is on such a large scale that I can't pick out what's important :?

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Post by wayfriend »

ussusimiel wrote:Lots happens, epic stuff, massive battles, huge forces clashing etc. yet I can't seem to find the significance of any of it. Stuff just seems to happen, then more stuff and then it ends. It's as if everything is on such a large scale that I can't pick out what's important :?
My last commentary on Malazan was: it would have been more interesting if it was focused.

I am rereading Pandora's Star/Judas Unchained by Peter Hamilton and it is massively good. This is my reread because I got the last Void book in the series. If anyone likes the kind of sprawling, world-building sci-fi you find in the Hyperion/Endymion series, you'd like it.

Before that I tried some Rothfuss and thought it was like candy: tastes good, but you can't live on it.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

If Deadhouse Gates doesn't do it for you, then I wouldn't bother going on. I can't imagine such a thing, but there you go. It's all subjective. If those words didn't convince you, none of mine will.
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Post by Orlion »

I always recommend reading through Memories of Ice. I had a higher opinion of Deadhouse Gates than you did, but a lot less than most everyone else. If Memories of Ice does not do it for you, you have no soul-erhm...I mean, it is simply not your cup of Irish Tea with a spot of milk.
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Post by Avatar »

I'm on the last hundred pages odd of DHG, and I still just can't get over what a great book it is. :D The chain of dogs. Icarium. Coltaine. It's all important U, all of it. :D

Without doubt one of my favourites.

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Post by ussusimiel »

Orlion wrote:I always recommend reading through Memories of Ice. I had a higher opinion of Deadhouse Gates than you did, but a lot less than most everyone else. If Memories of Ice does not do it for you, you have no soul-erhm...I mean, it is simply not your cup of Irish Tea with a spot of milk.
I'll probably give Memories of Ice a go (if I can get it at the right price), as to the state of my tea, boiling water over the leaves and a nice drop if milk does the job nicely, thank you! :biggrin:

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Post by Frostheart Grueburn »

I have a spare, albeit triple-hand. Bought a larger paperback edition later, looks nicer in my nerdy shelf.
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Post by aliantha »

I've been on a tear lately. Started Red Rising yesterday. It's good -- better than I thought it would be, in fact.

What's up with all the dystopian stuff lately, though? Hunger Games, Ann Leckie's series, and now this one. I know it's a perennial theme in sci-fi, but it's like it's been resonating across a greater spectrum of people lately. Or maybe it's just me....
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Post by Avatar »

Memories of Ice. The first time I read it, I didn't like it so much. Now it's one of my favourites. The siege of Capustan...

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Post by Fist and Faith »

Freakin' amazing book.
All lies and jest
Still a man hears what he wants to hear
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aliantha
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Post by aliantha »

Finished Red Rising. It devolved into a Lord of the Flies ripoff, almost. I'll take a pass on the next book.

I'm now reading an ARC for an indie acquaintance. She's calling it magic realism, but I'm not sure I'd go that far. ;)
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Post by I'm Murrin »

I'm now reading Love is the Drug by Alaya Dawn Johnson. Really enjoyed her previous book, The Summer Prince.
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Post by Orlion »

Finished Lock In by a John Scalzi last night. It was entertaining enough, and even had some really good components...but the ending just dragged, if I wrote here "whodunit" it would not qualify as a spoiler because you pretty much know "whodunit" almost from the get-go (hell, the characters seem to know), and the "social aspect" of it seems to be swept under the carpet in the last 40 pages.

It's a lot better than I thought it would be and I did enjoy it... but I hope it is not his best as some of the reviews I've looked at would have me believe... that would be somewhat disappointing.
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Post by Avatar »

Ok, MOI paused after the siege while I read Aaronovitch's Foxglove Summer yesterday, and busy on Banks' Hydrogen Sonata now. Never read either of them, so they take precedence. :D

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Post by aliantha »

Just finished Lifelode by Jo Walton. The author claims it's sci-fi, even though all of the action takes place in what amounts to a medieval castle and lots of people have what amount to magical talents.

The most striking thing about the narrative is that it's written in present tense. It makes sense, as the talent of one of the main characters is the ability to see ghosts or shades of other characters at various ages. So a grown adult might be speaking to her, and she'll see and hear him just fine, but she might also be seeing the man's 15-year-old self looking panicked and his 50-year-old self rolling his eyes. Or whatever. Anyway, the idea is that time isn't linear.
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Post by Fist and Faith »

Is it good? Walton's Among Others won all kinds of awards a couple years ago. I haven't read it. I have it, but it mentioned Zenna Henderson's The People. That sounded interesting, so I read it. Never got back to Walton. Not sure exactly how my thinking works sometimes...

The People is very good. (The movie about it, with William Shatner and Kim Darby is not. :lol:)
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