What are you Reading? Mentatiferous May 2019 edition

[Janx]

Almost done with Dead Witch Walking, a Rachel Morgan UF book.

Did a beta-read on a cyberpunk novella for a local author.

Probably have to pick another book tonight. Probably a book from another local author I'd met recently. Gotta support the locals, and find out which ones are good.

 

[Nellisir]

Tchaikovsky's thing for spiders means I generally shy away from his books. Spiderlight was enough of that.

Is that a thing for him? It was an interesting twist and I liked it. The book just wasn't extraordinary. Solid B material.

I've only read the first Corum book. Really need to dive deeper into that series. It's hard to go wrong with The Eternal Champion.

Well, Book 4 just showed up, so I'll get to finish that run pretty soon.

 

[Blue]

So in addition to the wrist-breaking six-volumes-in-one, I also have a ebook I'm reading. The Wendy by Erin Michelle Sky is a retelling, or rather a re-imagining, of Peter Pan. I'm not far into it, but so far I am very much enjoying the narration style, one that almost chats with the reader. I have never read the original Peter Pan, but I can easily believe it was (or should have been) written in a stye like this. It's 3rd person POV, but the narrator is like a storyteller - there's a bit where it says that by etiquette any conversation should start with introductions, so it introduces the characters in the scene. This is not a character in the story that is being told.

Not sure I'm doing a good job describing it at all, but it's working for this story.

Will let you know more on plot and characters when I get further into it.

 

[Richards]

I finished up The Pharaoh Key and it was by far the weakest entry in the Gideon Crew series. Next up is The Magnificent Nine, the latest "Firefly" novel by James Lovegrove. Based on the title alone I'm expecting a version of "The Magnificent Seven" (or, before that, "Seven Samurai") set in the "Firefly" universe. It should be interesting (and possibly even shiny!)

Johnathan

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished reading Satanic Panic: Pop-Cultural Paranoia in the 1980s. For the most part, it was quite good. Only two or three essays were too dry or too wackadoodle. It covered all the major bases – heavy metal, D&D, serial killers, Geraldo, satanic ritual abuse, and so on.

Heck, there was even an image of D&D-Wheaties cereal tie-in hologram. I didn’t know that was a thing!

Next up is a re-read of Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman’s Dragon Wing, the first book in the Death Gate Cycle. I read that, oof, almost 20 years ago when I was first getting back into D&D and fantasy stuff.

 

[Kramodlog]

I just finished Glasshouse by Charles Stross. A very human story about memory, identity and post-human brain hacking in a post-singularity setting. Also post-scarcity. Those are a lot of posts. It is clear Stross wants to take readers elsewhere.

At the same time as Stross explores current gender identity and roles, he explores what war would be fought over in a universe where there are no material needs. Information. Information is the object of war. It is a tough equilibrium act, but it is one he pulls off.

Interestingly enough, this is Stross' most accessible novel I've read. Ever. It is also his most sensitive and sentimental story. Coincidence?

I recommend it to any sci-fi fan worth their salt, or anyone who wants to read about gender roles and identity. Or military PTSD.

I'm starting ​Iron Sunrise, also by Stross.

 

[Nellisir]

Finished up the World of Tiers 5th book (which has threads leading into the 6th book, so maybe I will hunt that down...) and the Corum books (enjoyed). I was "luckily" able to time my trip this weekend out to see my daughter to coincide with the 2nd weekend of the big book sale, so...hello another box of books. I didn't NEED them, but.....

 

[Janx]

Reading Tales from the Den by Jae Mazer and Jessica Raney. Two local authors who wrote a ton of short stories and made a collection. Horror.

Pretty good. Found a couple editing mistakes later on, but I've enjoyed what I read, despite Horror not being my bag.

One interesting thing, is they don't identify who wrote what until the back of the book. I correctly guessed on two stories when I saw them at Comicpalooza this last weekend.

 

[acpitz 1]

Next in unread pile seems to be "Orpheus and the Roots of Platonism" by Algis Uždavinys which I'm going to start right now.

 

[Ralif Redhammer]

Finished reading Weis and Hickman's Dragon Wing. Honestly, it held up a lot better than I had expected.

I can remember, almost 20 years ago, being displeased with the treatment of the Gegs. But today I can appreciate them going with a different take on dwarves.

I've been in the mood for some Appendix N reading, so next up is R.E. Howard's Conan the Adventurer.