So what are you reading this year 2021?

[Blue]

It gets better? I mean it is a real favorite of mine, I liked it from the beginning, you might not like it though.

I'm expecting so. It's just a slow start.

 

[dragoner]

I'm expecting so. It's just a slow start.

I think part of it is her personal experience, which could be off-putting to what someone is looking for in a typical sci-fi romp.

 

[Blue]

I think part of it is her personal experience, which could be off-putting to what someone is looking for in a typical sci-fi romp.

There's nothing off-putting about it. It's just a slow start, it happens. She's wandering around inside the Ship, and it appears we're getting very little progress or even new information in spite of her attempts. I'm sure it will pick up.

 

[Richards]

I finished Gone and while it was an entertaining read the reveal at the end as to identity of the kidnapper seemed kind of lame and not entirely well thought out - almost as if was just a plot twist for the mere sake of having a plot twist and really any old plot twist would do. (I guess I've just gotten spoiled over the years by Jeffery Deaver.)

So I finished that book half-way through an all-day courier mission on a military plane. Fortunately, I brought a spare: The Siege of Eternity by Frederik Pohl, published back in 1997. I picked it up because the back cover blurb seemed interesting: aliens coming to Earth from Skylab and bringing with them several clones of people who had already come back from there. However, about 50-60 pages in I started wondering if I'd read this before and 100 pages in I was certain I had, for I specifically recognized the alien named "Dopey" and his two golemlike "Docs." When I got home I realized why I hadn't recognized the title: it's the middle book of a trilogy that I have in one entire volume, The Eschaton Sequence, which I've previously read. So now I'm considering dropping the book entirely, as having already read it once before and it barely registering in memory means it apparently wasn't that exciting a read. (And reading through it this second time a couple decades later just reminds me I tend to prefer Frederik Pohl's short stories over his novels.)

So, next up I'll probably go with Mike Resnick's Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future. I've heard good things about it from several sources, so when I saw it for sale I thought I'd give it a go. After all, that's what got me to try The Lies of Locke Lamora, one of my smartest purchases ever. I won't hold Resnick to that high standard, but I am hoping for a good read.

Johnathan

 

[Blue]

So, next up I'll probably go with Mike Resnick's Santiago: A Myth of the Far Future. I've heard good things about it from several sources, so when I saw it for sale I thought I'd give it a go.

For me, Resnick's Santiago stories were fun romps. No critical plot analytics were hurt in the writing of them, but they are definitely quick and enjoyable - beer and pretzels of books. That's not a downer, I own a bunch of them. Actually, I find they get better the more of them you read in that you see more development and different points of view and it builds the setting.

 

[KahlessNestor]

Still reading Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller, Sr. by Ron Chernow.

Still reading Night of the Hunter by R. A. Salvatore.

Still reading Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire.

Still reading The Strange Death of Europe by Douglas Murray.

Still reading The Battle for Spain by Antony Beevor.

Finished reading Tasha's Cauldron of Everything by Wizards of the Coast.

Still reading Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life by Jordan B. Peterson.

Still reading Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevsky.

Still reading The Immortal Game: A History of Chess by David Shenk.

Still reading Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb.

Still reading Changes by Jim Butcher.

Still reading The Icebound Land by John Flanagan.

Still reading A Lone Habitation by Seanan McGuire.

Still reading My Grandfather's Son: A Memoir by Clarence Thomas.

I got an Audible account for my first audio books. At first I wasn't sure I would like them, because I thought I would just have my mind drift or something and not pay attention. But Brandon Sanderson has released his latest two books (collaborated with other authors) and made them audio only releases.

So I listened through his first audio only book The Original. The blurb hadn't really appealed to me, and part of me wondered (before listening) just how involved Brandon was in writing it (given EVERYTHING he writes), but it really held my attention, gave me visions of making it into a movie in my head (he tends to be very cinematic anyway, and this would definitely work as a movie), and reminded me a bit of Legion and Snapshot, so very Sanderson. I very much enjoyed it, and the concept was very interesting once I got into it.

Now I have started listening to the new Reckoners novel, Lux. Also very good so far. Much longer than The Original, and nice to revisit that universe again.

 

[Marc_C]

Finished Elfstones of Shannara. Much better than Sword of Shannara. Good for easy and lazy summer fantasy reading. Started Wishsong of Shannara.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished CAS' Poseidonis. Really great stuff, though I think the quality starts to dip in the latter half of the book. The Double Shadow, though, that story was one of the most chilling tales of Appendix N I've come across.

Now I'm reading Fred Saberhagen's The Second Book of Swords.

 

[Zaukrie]

Listened to about a third of the audible version of Sandman. Much darker than I realized, and I knew it was dark. ..... Got just past 24 hours.... So far.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

Decided to read one of the many unread books on my game shelf, so I'm reading The White Hack. It's interesting so far... Maybe even some day I'll be able to get it to the table.