What are you reading in 2023?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Get a few more degrees and you’ll stop caring.

I do roll my eyes at the pronouncements of academics about my professional field, which come off as hopelessly naive and out of touch.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Haven't read her Temeraire series - but the "flintlock fantasy" setting of dragons in Napoleonic times seems like it could be a great RPG setting...

I read the first one of this series. It's extremely popular, but I think you probably need to be into military fiction (my dad's jam, for one). For me, a lot of the people in uniforms being official at each other and the discussions of Napoleonic war got to be a bit much. But given how many books are in the series, I'm clearly a minority opinion.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I read the first one of this series. It's extremely popular, but I think you probably need to be into military fiction (my dad's jam, for one). For me, a lot of the people in uniforms being official at each other and the discussions of Napoleonic war got to be a bit much. But given how many books are in the series, I'm clearly a minority opinion.

I have very much enjoyed both the Hornblower and the Aubrey/Maturin series, so this may be my jam...

 

[overgeeked]

I have very much enjoyed both the Hornblower and the Aubrey/Maturin series, so this may be my jam...

I tried reading the Hornblower series. I started with Mr Midshipman. After the pages of describing the card game whist being played and the flat and dull duel I put the book down. Does it pick up from there? Is it a slow-burn series?

 

[Starfox]

Having finished this, I've moved on to The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi. My copy's been on my shelf for twenty-odd years, so it seems like time to sit down and actually read it. Interestingly, the copy I have also includes Yagyu Munenori's A Hereditary Book on the Art of War, so I'm getting a twofer there.

I really enjoyed Art of War, even if the language is archaic. I tried reading the Book of Five Rings but didn't get far - too mystical for my 20-year-ago self.

 

[Starfox]

The sexism is mostly confined to what’s typical of the genre, screaming damsels in distress being rescued by the mighty-thewed protagonist. Though there were 1-2 more fully realized female characters.

I read a collection of Robert Jordan Conan stories. They were well written, but sexist in a creepy way. There was a faux action girl character in them, seemingly a heroic character but in each and every story she was reduced to a victim of various kinds of sexual assault. I find this kind of sexism more objectionable than just a scream queen to be rescued.

The Conan Chronicles (Robert Jordan) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Faux Action Girl - TV Tropes

In the modern era, appraisals of gender roles have advanced considerably. Feminist movements, changing ideas of the ideal or attractive woman, and the overwhelming popularity of female characters who kick ass and take names has led to the …

tvtropes.org

 

[Starfox]

I tried reading the Hornblower series. I started with Mr Midshipman. After the pages of describing the card game whist being played and the flat and dull duel I put the book down. Does it pick up from there? Is it a slow-burn series?

I guess Hornblower is an acquired taste. I got some of the books in the middle of the series as present as a kid (translated to my native Swedish). Starting in the middle was probably a good thing - much later the Midshipman bored me too. Maybe they even profited from the translation, as Forester's language in English is quite dry. The stories are engrossing, but it could profit from some modern page count padding, adding personality and atmosphere. And yes, the books do get better, the ones he wrote last are the best. Actually, the parts of these books I enjoy the most are the opening chapters, before Hornblower gets on board his ship, with its exposés of 19C England. Then again, I have read and enjoyed Jane Austen, so tales of Old (upper class) England is something I like.

During the war, Forrester wrote a propaganda piece called The Ship. It is set on a Royal Navy cruiser in the Mediterranean and describes a short naval skirmish for the point of view of different characters abord the ship. I found this in the shelves of my parent's summer house and with not much else to read, I read it and quite liked it. This is from before he wrote Hornblower, but he was already an established author.

I am on book 6 of the Aubrey/Maturing series by O'Brian and it is pretty much what I requested above and more. Jack Aubrey is a modernized Hornblower. Stephen Maturin, the other main character, is much more than just the ship's doctor, tough, and their relationship is much more than that of commander and commandee - which I won't spoil. But their banter, the intellectual interests of the time, and relationships are quite interesting. There is a bit in one of the first books that is like Jane Austen, but from the male perspective - I quite enjoyed that. There is plenty of page padding, but very well done. I listen to these on Audible, and I also love the narrator. This series is looong, I am no more than a third into it, but it is standing up well so far.

 

[Alzrius]

Having finished this, I've moved on to The Book of Five Rings, by Miyamoto Musashi. My copy's been on my shelf for twenty-odd years, so it seems like time to sit down and actually read it. Interestingly, the copy I have also includes Yagyu Munenori's A Hereditary Book on the Art of War, so I'm getting a twofer there.

Having finished these, I'm now pulling another book of my shelf which has been waiting for me to read it: the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Of course, this is a reproduction of Edward FitzGerald's first edition translation, so it's wildly inaccurate to what was actually written in the twelfth century, but I suppose after a hundred and fifty years this version has some notability in and of itself.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I just finished Pratchett's The Last Continent, as part of my Discworld re-read. This is him at the height of his powers now, although he doesn't have much to say as in some of his later books. But the whole is an extremely affectionate tour through Australia in both fact and fiction. If he hadn't been on an Australian book tour immediately before starting this novel, I would be shocked.

It could definitely have used more focus on the aboriginal peoples and the wafer-thin plot is just there so Pratchett can wander around XXXX, but it's a very good ride. It really reinforces that we need some Aussie gaming company to create an Aussie-inspired setting. (Yes, I've seen the fun YouTube video that riffs on the idea.)

 

[Alzrius]

Having finished these, I'm now pulling another book of my shelf which has been waiting for me to read it: the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Of course, this is a reproduction of Edward FitzGerald's first edition translation, so it's wildly inaccurate to what was actually written in the twelfth century, but I suppose after a hundred and fifty years this version has some notability in and of itself.

While I usually prefer to power through one book at a time, a recent trip to the library (which has a section with a permanent sale of books that people have donated or which they've elected to cull from their stacks) resulted in my picking up a copy of Paul Krugman's Arguing with Zombies: Economics, Politics, and the Fight for a Better Future.

The book is a collection of essays that Krugman wrote for the New York Times, specifically from 2004 through 2016, in which he confronts the vicious mendacity that certain pundits and politicians put forward with regard to things such as Social Security, Obamacare, etc. Given that I was reading Krugman's column fairly religiously for much of that period (and still would be, if the Times hadn't elected to put it behind their paywall ), many of these are pieces which I've read before, but have forgotten. Given that each article is only three to four pages long, I'm finding it a very pleasant way to quickly refresh my memory.

 

[Hriston]

Three Hearts is definitely his most influential work on the creation of D&D, but for my money The Broken Sword is the better book.

I'm a little over halfway through The Broken Sword now, and I'd say you're correct! It's pretty amazing!

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I'm a little over halfway through The Broken Sword now, and I'd say you're correct! It's pretty amazing!

It's a visceral read that lives on the border between folktales, Norse sagas, and fantasy literature. Poul Anderson has plenty of great works, but I'd certainly say that this is my favorite.

 

[Eyes of Nine]

I tried reading the Hornblower series. I started with Mr Midshipman. After the pages of describing the card game whist being played and the flat and dull duel I put the book down. Does it pick up from there? Is it a slow-burn series?

I might be the wrong person to ask since I read them over 25 years ago. Tbh, not sure i would like them now - my tastes (and patience!) have changed considerably since then

And like @Starfox said, the Aubrey Maturin books are better (or at least I liked them better), in large part due to the interplay between the two main characters Jack Aubrey and Stephen Maturin

 

[Hriston]

It's a visceral read that lives on the border between folktales, Norse sagas, and fantasy literature. Poul Anderson has plenty of great works, but I'd certainly say that this is my favorite.

It’s certainly gripping. I’m reading the revised version, and I love Anderson’s foreword where he refers to his younger self as a different person and says he himself would not “write anything so headlong, so prolix, and so unrelievedly savage.”

 

[Richards]

I finally finished The Complete Chronicles of Conan; it was a good read, but 925 pages all at once was quite a lot - I'm glad to be reading something else now.

As I'm off to a week-long business trip tomorrow (and won't get back until Saturday night - ugh!), I hit the library book sale yesterday and stocked up on a bunch of books that will hopefully hold my interest. Six of them are all by the same author - Mariah Stewart - including four from a single series, and two others that are the start of their own respective series, but since I've never read anything of hers before I decided it would be better to bring along more of a wider selection, so if one book turns out to be a dud I have others that will hopefully be better. So I'll be bringing along one of hers, but also two other books by two other authors. I'm starting out with Shadow of the Knife by Kenneth R. McKay, which has an interesting premise: a psychopathic killer has killed a dozen women and is still at large, but then he sets his sights on his next victim, whose husband doesn't mind stepping outside the law to not only stop him, but give him the punishment he so richly deserves. We'll see how it goes.

Johnathan

 

[Zaukrie]

Finished the stone sky. Great series, but it just makes you realize how hard it is to write a great ending. I mean, she basically foreshadowed / told us the ending a book ago....I wonder how it would read if it wasn't about saving the world. More than just survival, but less about the ultimate need, if you know what I mean.

 

[Davies]

I tried reading the Hornblower series. I started with Mr Midshipman. After the pages of describing the card game whist being played and the flat and dull duel I put the book down. Does it pick up from there? Is it a slow-burn series?

My suggestion would be to read them in publication order, rather than the chronological order of the Admiral's life.

 

[Ryujin]

Just picked up "Sakuru: the Circle" by my friend Todd Downing. It's a cyberpunk story that he wrote 30 years ago and released as a comic, but I've not read it before. Odd bit of trivia: The cover art was designed back then and the main character looks very much like Keanu Reeves, before Keanu looked like he does now.

 

[Alzrius]

Having finished these, I'm now pulling another book of my shelf which has been waiting for me to read it: the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. Of course, this is a reproduction of Edward FitzGerald's first edition translation, so it's wildly inaccurate to what was actually written in the twelfth century, but I suppose after a hundred and fifty years this version has some notability in and of itself.

Having finished this, I was going to move on to a recently-purchased copy of The Descent of Ishtar, but for some reason found myself pulling my unread copy of Lewis Carroll in Numberland off the shelf.

Although it's not wrong to classify this as the biography of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, the presentation leans strongly into his mathematical undertakings, rather than the whimsy for which he's known today (though that's here too). I'm only two chapters in, but it's almost like the book can't quite decide if it wants to cover his life in general, or his mathematical interests in particular, and is trying to split the difference. It'll be interesting to see where this goes.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

I finished reading John Jakes' Brak the Barbarian. I enjoyed it way more than I expected. The first story is so gloriously weird that it reminds of Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Now I'm reading Shelly Mazzanoble's and Greg Tito's Welcome to Dragon Talk.

It’s certainly gripping. I’m reading the revised version, and I love Anderson’s foreword where he refers to his younger self as a different person and says he himself would not “write anything so headlong, so prolix, and so unrelievedly savage.”

It's funny, Michael Moorcock intensely prefers the original version of The Broken Sword.