What are you reading in 2022?

[Cadence]

Whatever gaps and slips there were in the first two Inspector Grant books, there weren't any in the third book now credited to Elizabeth MacKintosh's Josephine Tey pseudonym. It isn't an inspector grant book, but instead is the story of Miss Lucy Pym accepting an old friend's invite to visit a women's college in England in the 1940s to give a talk about her book. Definitely recommended. I'm also glad I didn't read the Amazon description (or any other) before picking it up.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I just finished the third book in Brandon Sanderson's Skyward series: Cytonic. I'll be honest, it was kind of a slog. There were plenty of enjoyable moments . . . but I think that I'm just BrandoSando'd out at the moment. I've read almost all of his books in the past 9 months, and while they're overall really good, the style has started to get old. Especially due to this book being one of his more standard and boring novels and its twist not being that great (in comparison to those of Mistborn, Stormlight, Elantris, and even Steelheart). And the series went in a different direction after the first book than I was expecting and would have preferred. Maybe when I revisit the books sometime in the future I'll be able to appreciate them more. I'm going to put off reading the Skyward Flight Novellas until I've finished something by another author.

I still really liked and recommend Skyward, the first book in the series. It had a great cast, an engaging plot, and interesting twists for what I was going to be a pretty standard Space Opera novel. The series, for me, sadly peaked with the first book. Which is rare for Brandon Sanderson, because I personally enjoyed The Hero of Ages more than The Final Empire, Shadows of Self more than The Alloy of Law, and Words of Radiance more than The Way of Kings. The only other series of his that I think peaked in quality with its first book was Steelheart.

Now, onto finishing The Golden Compass. Maybe I can figure out what the hell is going on soon.

 

[Zaukrie]

Just got Guy Gavriel Kay's new book. Very much looking forward to it.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Still reading that instructors book about archery (mostly deals with Recurce-shooting though). And I am halways through a "Write Now!"- book with stuff for SF and Fantasy. I really need to finish those, though the archer-book is kind of moot, as it is so much about recurve-archery. Here in Sweden other material is preferred.

I have however finished reading Blades in the Dark. Interesting setting, but I am not sold on the system after a read-through. Would I like to try and play it? Yes. But I do not think I would be a good GM for it.

Also finished Wasteland King by Lilith Saintcrow. It was the third and last book in the Gallow and Ragged-series. Urtban fantasy where Fae interacts with humans, and it does not end well. I liked to book. she has a style of writing that is easy to read. And she is very prolific in her writing, so I have many more series to buy if I want them all. I have previouse read her Bannon & Clare-series, which was steampunk+magic.

Then I finsihed Reese & Reeves 2: Arpeggio by Krystine Brown. It is direct continuation of her previous book. I bought mine from the kickstarter she had to finance it. It is whimsical kind-of steampunk setting, but it is weird, with a lot of pop-culture references. Like Mad Shelleys disease which turned people into undead monstrosities. Was so-so..

I will now start with an anthology of Cthulhuesque horror-stories by renowned Swedish horror-author Anders Fager, called Samlade Svenska Kulter. I have read some stuff from him before, as he had a number of novellas and 2 adventures as part of the kickstarter for the Swedish version of Call of Cthulhu.

I will also need to reread the rules for The Troubleshooters rpg (some stuff was added after I proof-read it), so I can make more adventures for it.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I just finished the third book in Brandon Sanderson's Skyward series: Cytonic. I'll be honest, it was kind of a slog. There were plenty of enjoyable moments . . . but I think that I'm just BrandoSando'd out at the moment. I've read almost all of his books in the past 9 months, and while they're overall really good, the style has started to get old. Especially due to this book being one of his more standard and boring novels and its twist not being that great (in comparison to those of Mistborn, Stormlight, Elantris, and even Steelheart). And the series went in a different direction after the first book than I was expecting and would have preferred. Maybe when I revisit the books sometime in the future I'll be able to appreciate them more. I'm going to put off reading the Skyward Flight Novellas until I've finished something by another author.

I still really liked and recommend Skyward, the first book in the series. It had a great cast, an engaging plot, and interesting twists for what I was going to be a pretty standard Space Opera novel. The series, for me, sadly peaked with the first book. Which is rare for Brandon Sanderson, because I personally enjoyed The Hero of Ages more than The Final Empire, Shadows of Self more than The Alloy of Law, and Words of Radiance more than The Way of Kings. The only other series of his that I think peaked in quality with its first book was Steelheart.

Now, onto finishing The Golden Compass. Maybe I can figure out what the hell is going on soon.

Did you back Sanderson's kickstarter?

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

Did you back Sanderson's kickstarter?

No, I didn't have the money for the physical copies when the kickstarter was running (I could have gotten the e-books, but my ADHD makes it really difficult to read digital books). And I'm not sure if I'm going to buy the Frugal Wizard book. I'm just going to wait until they're available to buy individually.

 

[killerklown]

I've finished reading and writing a review of Warpstar!, the neo-clone of WH40k. TLDR: I really liked it. Check on my blog if you wanna know why, if it might be for you too, and why I don't write that i LOVE it ;-)

[OSR Review] Warpstar!

What is "Warpstar!" ? "Warpstar!" is the science fiction counterpart of "Warlock!", which was an RPG implying that they were neocloning Warh...

osrdread.blogspot.com

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading Burroughs' Tanar of Pellucidar. Fast-paced and entertaining, it seemed a bit formulaic though.

Now I'm giving Ernest Bramah's The Wallet of Kai Lung a shot. As old as it is, I'm somewhat hesitant about it, expecting a giant dose of orientalism. But Lin Carter liked the series enough to put the subsequent volumes in the Ballantine Adult Fantasy series, so I'm giving it a shot.

 

[Scottius]

I've finished reading and writing a review of Warpstar!, the neo-clone of WH40k. TLDR: I really liked it. Check on my blog if you wanna know why, if it might be for you too, and why I don't write that i LOVE it ;-)

[OSR Review] Warpstar!

What is "Warpstar!" ? "Warpstar!" is the science fiction counterpart of "Warlock!", which was an RPG implying that they were neocloning Warh...

osrdread.blogspot.com

I'm a big fan of Warpstar and it's fantasy sibling Warlock. Glad to see some love for it here.

 

[Guest 7034872]

This one is off the fantasy/sci-fi path, but I've recently gotten into For the Life of the World by Alexander Schmemann. For those who get into theology, he is extraordinary.

 

[Richards]

I'm now reading Dhampir by Barb and J. C. Hendee, another library book sale 50-cent investment. So far it's pretty good: the protagonist is a swordswoman who's really a con artist, who bilks villages by taking advantage of their superstitions to rid the town of "undead forces" - which always takes the form of her half-elf partner in crime, who she "kills" and then "takes the body away to perform a ritual in secret to make sure it doesn't rise again." Two problems, though: she's been saving her money and bought a tavern where she plans to retire, much to the consternation of her half-elf partner; and there really are undead in the area who are interested in this "undead hunter" who claims to be able to take them down.

She knows almost nothing of her absent father; given the book's title I'm willing to bet he was a vampire and she's the dhampir the book's named after.

Johnathan

 

[trappedslider]

Raven Rock: The Story of the U.S. Government's Secret Plan to Save Itself - While the Rest of Us Die by Garrett M. Graff

Spoiler

A fresh window on American history: the eye-opening truth about the government's secret plans to survive a catastrophic attack on US soil, even if the rest of us die - a road map that spans from the dawn of the nuclear age to today.

Every day in Washington, DC, the blue-and-gold 1st Helicopter Squadron, codenamed MUSSEL, flies over the Potomac River. As obvious as the presidential motorcade, most people assume the squadron is a travel perk for VIPs. They're only half right: While the helicopters do provide transport, the unit exists to evacuate high-ranking officials in the event of a terrorist or nuclear attack on the capital. In the event of an attack, select officials would be whisked by helicopters to a ring of secret bunkers around Washington, even as ordinary citizens were left to fend for themselves.

For 60 years the US government has been developing secret doomsday plans to protect itself, and the multibillion-dollar Continuity of Government (COG) program takes numerous forms - from its plans to evacuate the Liberty Bell from Philadelphia to the plans to launch nuclear missiles from a Boeing-747 jet flying high over Nebraska. In Raven Rock, Garrett M. Graff sheds light on the inner workings of the 650-acre compound (called Raven Rock) just miles from Camp David as well as dozens of other bunkers the government built for its top leaders during the Cold War, from the White House lawn to Cheyenne Mountain in Colorado to Palm Beach, Florida, and the secret plans that would have kicked in after a Cold War nuclear attack to round up foreigners and dissidents and nationalize industries. Equal parts presidential, military, and cultural history, Raven Rock tracks the evolution of the government plan and the threats of global war from the dawn of the nuclear era through the War on Terror.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

With Ernest Bramah's The Wallet of Kai Lung, I did something I haven't done in years. I put the book down, unfinished. While I had been prepared for the orientalism, the overly-formal dialogue got to be a cudgel taken to my brain again and again after a hundred pages. I just couldn't go on.

So I switched Flashing Swords #4: Barbarians and Black Magic, edited by Lin Carter. Way better...bookended by Jack Vance and Michael Moorcock, it was way more enjoyable.

Now I'm reading Margaret St. Clair's The Dolphins of Altair.

 

[Nellisir]

Finished Paladin by CJ Cherryh, and The Gate of the Gods, by Martha Wells. Started on The Element of Fire (by M. Wells), but misplaced it last night (much annoyance) so I punted and skimmed through Mordenkainen's Monsters of the Multiverse.

(It's...fine. I appreciate having all that stuff in one place. I also think we're going to see WotC pivot away from the recent stuff they've been doing, but I'm not sure towards what yet. Dragonlance & Spelljammer feel like "Ok we've done everything else, lets give them this now." I don't think D&D is ending; I don't even think it'll be a big edition change. But it doesn't make sense to update Volos & Mord1 and not update the Monster Manual.)

Anyway. Also got Oerth Journal #36 and read through that. Excellent stuff.

 

[Ulfgeir]

Just finished Samlade Svenska Kulter av Anders Fager (the name of the book directly translates as Collected Swedish Cults). It is a collection of Lovecraftian/Cthulhuesque short stories that are loosely connected. A bit uneven, but the stuff that is good, is very good. Starting with a story called Furierna från Borås (The Furies from Borås). Borås happens to be my hometown, so it was extra fun to read that one, and have heard the author do a reading from it at a gaming convention. Two people fainted during the reading... From other reasons, but still, it is good PR. That story also became a graphic novel called Smutsig Svart Sommar (Dirty Black Summer), which both gave a bit of backstory, and some more of things that happened afterwards. The stories are not for the faint of heart or those that are prudish.

So, it is bit complicated, as he first wrote a book, called Svenska Kulter (this book will be released in English in September by the name Swedish Cults). He then wrote 2 more books, but they were not published in Swedish, but rather all 3 books were added together to form Samlade Svenska Kulter. Here's a video that explains it..


And they have also made a Swedish rpg based upon some of these stories. I don't have it unfortunately, and think it is out of print.

 

[dragoner]

I am re-reading the Algebraist by Banks, it is very baroque sf in its own way. I have decided to re-read a lot of my books and then let them go.

 

[wicked cool]

been reading books that come through on facebook recommendation
last ritual-cthulu story. theres a series of books with some that have loose connections to each other. good but not great.
broken heart arellium-monsters in a pit , political intrigue, sort of super powered knights-enjoyable. book 1 of not sure
revenant and the tomb- tomb holds horros with a hero that is a revenant. enjoyable
ventifact colossus-group of adventurerers recruited to stop an ancient evil. Feels like a D&D group. liked it. Also book 1 of something


anyone have any recent books based on a party of adventurers fighting in a D&D type world. books written within last 5 years

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished St. Clair's The Dolphins of Altair. It's weird and trippy and very 60s, but it all hangs together better than it should.

Now I'm reading Lord Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow.

 

[Richards]

I'm now reading a thriller called Deserves to Die, by Lisa Jackson. It involves a killer who likes taking body parts as trophies from the women he kills, and a victim he thought he killed in the Bayou survived and is hiding out in Montana...where there's another, similar killing (does he know she's still alive and in hiding?) - plus the recent shooting death of the beloved local sheriff which may or not be related. I've read other books by this author and picked it up (at a library book sale) based on name recognition alone. I'm 70+ pages in (I started reading it in the doctor's office and pharmacy waiting room this morning) and it's already intriguing, and although this is apparently part of a series with the same female Montana detective main character and I haven't read any others in the series, I'm having no trouble keeping up with the characters.

Johnathan

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished Dunsany's The Charwoman's Shadow. Lovely stuff, as usual, full of magic and beauty.

Now I'm reading Alan Burt Akers'/ Kenneth Bulmer's Transit to Scorpio.