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Randy wrote: "I finished American Gods a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. If only I could watch the TV show without subscribing to Starz... "

Was lucky that Handmaid's Tale was picked up by Bravo here in Canada but American Gods is not available. Hoping it will pop up eventually, sometimes have to wait a year or so.

I'm watching American Gods on TV right now and really enjoying it. Haven't read it yet. I usually like to read the book first but didn't want to miss the show.

Andrea wrote: "Randy wrote: "I finished American Gods a few weeks ago and really enjoyed it. If only I could watch the TV show without subscribing to Starz... "

Was lucky that Handmaid's Tale was picked up by Br..."

Is Handmaid's Tale on Bravo in the US also? I'm getting tired of everything being on Netflix or Hulu.

Currently reading the classic alternate history/time travel novel Bring the Jubilee: What if the South Had Won the Civil War? by Ward Moore

Traitor's Blade by Sebastien de Castell�
Like a bad penny, this fantasy novel keeps turning up on my various recommendations. I picked it up a few months ago when it was on sale for 99¢. Finally read it. It's trying for a Three Musketeers vibe, but without all the French stuff. The good, kind, wise King has been killed by the evil Dukes, but his loyal Greatcoats try to carry on spreading justice and goodness around the kingdom. If illogical plot "twists" and repeated deus ex machina don't bother you and you're just in it for the swordfights, maybe. I didn't really care for it.

Ooh, harsh. I plan to read that one. someday.

Starting A Fire upon the Deep. Definitely will not finish by the time the discussion starts. Love the prologue though.

Silvana wrote: "Ooh, harsh. I plan to read that one. someday."

Well, at some future monthly topic when you let me know you've read it, I'll collect my "I told you so." ;)

Silvana wrote: "Starting A Fire upon the Deep. Definitely will not finish by the time the discussion starts. ."

Just started last night, too, but for me it's a re-read so I can pretend I finished it. :)

Michael wrote: "Is Handmaid's Tale on Bravo in the US also?.."

Nope, just Hulu.

Wolf Moon by Ian McDonald �

Eagerly awaited sequel to Luna- New Moon (which we discussed last year.). The moon in this series is entirely a laissez-faire corporatocracy, with politics, buy offs, assassinations, sabotage and open warfare all possible options for maximizing profit (or just messing with the competition.) I keep thinking of this as how The Moon is a Harsh Mistress would really play out if Heinlein's liberty-loving criminals weren't all so scrupulously polite. The sequel is a bit heavier on action and less on setting & politics than the first, but still a solid hard scifi read.

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

Sequel to Ninefox Gambit doesn't have all the engaging character interaction of the first novel (a Clarice / Hannibal Lector working relationship), but it's still an excellent, unique approach military scifi. "Any sufficiently advanced mathematics is indistinguishable from magic."

Brendan: (view spoiler)[So your (redacted) wish was granted, but were you as happy about it as you expected? (hide spoiler)]

Silvana wrote: "Ooh, harsh. I plan to read that one. someday.
Starting A Fire upon the Deep. Definitely will not finish by the time the discussion starts. Love the prologue though."

I loved the prologue, and so far everything that came after it. I won't be finished by tomorrow but I'm more than half way through and am looking forward to the discussion. I've already gone out and bought the second book in the trilogy (Tor should be happy to know their free book idea is in turn generating sales!) For some odd reason the third book isn't in print, can only find it in ebook form *shrugs*

And as for American Gods, I am definitely not disappointed so far. Like I said, I had no idea what to expect so I'm enjoying figuring things out along with Shadow. I can see why people like reading Gaiman so much.

Andrea wrote: "(Tor should be happy to know their free book idea is in turn generating sales!) ..."

Ach! I completely forgot Tor gave away the ebook; I've been reading my old paperback. Mind like a sieve. Having the ebook will speed reading up (because I'll have the book when not at home, not because my e-reading speed is faster than my print reading speed :)

Finished Company Town shortly after my last post, I was quite liking it minus some minor issues...and then the ending happened. Gave it 3/5 stars. I guess just not what I was expecting from the book and felt a bit disappointed by it because most of the book was quite good and had a ton of potential that was never really fulfilled. There was quite a bit that felt really rushed to me towards the end. In a way it seems like Ashby chose that particular ending because she thought it would be what readers would least expect, instead of making things more cohesive. Like the purpose was to take readers by surprise instead of get the point of the story across.

Anyways, after that I started Red Seas Under Red Skies and imagine that'll take me a bit to finish at 600+ pages. Still loving Scott Lynch's writing and world building, and hoping it improves on the areas where The Lies of Locke Lamora kind of disappointed for me.

In June I got through:
Magic Strikes - fun UF - not too much romance, I'll keep reading if they continue like this.
The Book of Phoenix - Easy to dip in and out of - i enjoyed it but can see why others wouldn't
Three Dark Crowns- A cut above most YA.
Walkaway - this one was - well everything the reviews say about it, good and bad. Huge amazing ideas, so many kinds of characters, and a whole lot of manifesto thinly disguised as conversation. But I enjoyed said manifesto though the book went slowly for me.
Convergence - Foreigner no. 18 (!!) I'm reading for Cajeri now - certainly interesting character development coming there.
Moon over Soho- other UF I've decided to try. Also fun, easy to read and witty.

Now I'm pushing myself into Everfair (it's been sitting there a while) and then Company Town. (and then a choice of 3 Tomes - Way of Kings, Grace of Kings,or Leviathan Wakes)

Rachel wrote: "In June I got through:
Magic Strikes - fun UF - not too much romance, I'll keep reading if they continue like this...."

I enjoyed the series through Magic Rises, though there will be more romance along the way. (I worried a bit over the level of violence in the foreplay.) The authors have a knack for dramatic scenes and the occasional bits of humor.

Yes - I can see the main romance being aimed at but I appreciate the speed at which it is proceeding (NOT fast and unbelievable).

My Sanderson-themed year is going well. Finished up Mistborn and Infinity Blade. Just started Elantris.

Ooh a Sanderson year! I recommend putting Warbreaker up at the top!

I've got Warbreaker on my radar, but read an article that said if you're new the the cosmere, mistborn is the best place to start.

You just pointed me to my next read, though.

Jevon wrote: "I've got Warbreaker on my radar, but read an article that said if you're new the the cosmere, mistborn is the best place to start.."

Cosmere... snort. I don't get why Sanderson wants to pretend his novels are all integrated into some single, overarching mutiverse. Elantris, Mistborn, Warbreaker, The Way of Kings, The Emperor's Soul, are all entertaining stories in their own right. I don't care how he thinks of them in his own mind anymore than I cared Asimov wanted to merge his Robots, Empire and Foundation into one.

Apparently in the future he will write books that bring the different places together, for example the characters and magic in Warbreaker and Elantris and Way of kings. I guess he's introduced the cosmetic idea now to get us peons used to the ideas.
Even in The Bands of Mourning you see bits of this overarching ... theology I guess? It's for the geeks that want to understand how each magic system ties together. Not clear to me if his non adult stuff is supposed to fit though.

G33z3r wrote: "Sequel to Ninefox Gambit doesn't have all the engaging character interaction of...

Brendan: (view spoiler)"

Yes, (view spoiler)[I was quite pleased, though maybe the reveal could have been a bit smoother, unless I seriously missed some dropped clues it felt a bit abrupt. (hide spoiler)]

I wonder why authors feel the need to bring their books into some over arching universe. Heinlein did it too & I really disliked the resulting books. If someone like Zelazny pops in a reference via his Amber or road universe is OK. They're already supposed to contain multiple realities, but someone like Heinlein forcing it is never satisfactory. There's nothing wrong with standalone novels.

Stephen King...seems like everything he wrote had something to do with The Dark Tower, even if only tangentially. Thought it was a fairly unique idea (made me think of the cameos of various characters in each others Pixar movies), but then I hadn't read Asimov or Sanderson, seems like the idea is a pretty common one after all.

Also don't like it when a book was written to be a standalone single, but then it does well and suddenly one must have sequels.

Jim wrote: "I wonder why authors feel the need to bring their books into some over arching universe. Heinlein did it too & I really disliked the resulting books. If someone like Zelazny pops in a reference via..."

I personally like it, as long as it doesn't detract from the stories themselves.

Jim wrote: "I wonder why authors feel the need to bring their books into some over arching universe. Heinlein did it too & I really disliked the resulting books. If someone like Zelazny pops in a reference via..."

Yeah. It results in some seriously pointless books.

Andrea wrote: "(made me think of the cameos of various characters in each others Pixar movies)"

You may find this interesting....

Roger wrote: "I personally like it, as long as it doesn't detract from the stories themselves. "

I agree. It's neat if they planned for it & sneak up on the idea or if they can serendipitously toss a character in for a cameo. That can add a lot. It's when they shoehorn old, well loved stories into some box they were never designed for that I dislike. It does detract from the stories & it can shine a floodlight on the author's weaknesses.

For example, I didn't mind Heinlein's character Lazarus Long mentioning Pinero (from the short story Life Line) at all. That was fun. Rescuing Mike & Manny from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress & dumping them with Jubal Harshaw (Stranger in a Strange Land) with Lazarus was far too much, though.

Heinlein didn't have many characters. He mainly had one main character in 3 different ages. It's pretty tough to tell the difference between Lazarus, Hazel (The Rolling Stones), & Jubal. They're interchangeable, just like Manny & Scar. Hazel when she was younger (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress) in could have been swapped with any of the hero/heroines in his juveniles.

I liked each of the characters in their own books, but together was boring when it wasn't plain irritating. Without a specific name given, who said what in a conversation was tough to follow & generally irrelevant since Heinlein was preaching. He tended to do that, but without truly individual characters to carry the different viewpoints, it was an irritating snooze-fest.

I'm currently re-reading the Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage. I first started this series around 9th grade, but only got up to the fourth book, Queste, and now I'm on the fifth book, Syren. It's a fantasy middle grade series that tends to get judged a lot because I've heard people call it a Harry Potter rip-off and, though there are similarities, the Septimus Heap series has its own originality, IMO.

Plus, I've put a goal on myself to finish reading any completed series/trilogies that I own before I start or buy another book series.

Avery wrote: "Plus, I've put a goal on myself to finish reading any completed series/trilogies that I own before I start or buy another book series."

I told myself that at the start of the year too...but then I joined this thing called a book club and so many interesting books were selected that I couldn't help but join in to most of the group reads, though I intentionally skipped some that started new series that were still incomplete.

So my goals to finish what I started hasn't changed, I just keep on starting more and more of them! I have the following to finish:

- Three books in the Dying Earth by Jack Vance

- One book and one short story collection in the Red Mars series by Kim Stanley Robinson

- One book in Gene Wolfe's New Sun series

- Two standalone books in the Belgariad world by David Eddings

- A bunch of short stories/novellas in the Powder Mage world by Brian McClellan, will start the spinoff series once it is more complete, hate waiting for books to come out (Martin, Butcher...)

- 6 Dark Tower + The Eyes of the Dragon by Stephen King (working on the Dragon book right now)

- Anansi Boys (to go with American Gods) by Neil Gaiman, will follow right after Eyes of the Dragon

- 2.5 books in the Zones of Thought series by Vernor Vinge (haven't even finished the first one yet!)

- And though it wasn't a recent group read, I did start the John Carter of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs because it had been read here, only 2 in, about 8 more to go?

Technically I could also continue The Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch and Discworld by Terry Pratchett but both worked ok as standalones, will return to them later on. Pratchett's series is 30+ books long so it's a bit daunting, as for Lynch, waiting for the next book to come out so I can read them next three together.

On the other hand I did complete
- The Eternal Sky trilogy by Elizabeth Bear
- The two Love/War/Death books by Kij Johnson
- The Passage trilogy by Justin Cronin
- Caspak Trilogy by Edgar Rice Burroughs

So three done, 8 (~19 books) to go and who knows what will be added before I catch up on what I've already got.

How does that quote go? So many books, so little time? :)

Andrea wrote: "Avery wrote: "Plus, I've put a goal on myself to finish reading any completed series/trilogies that I own before I start or buy another book series."

I told myself that at the start of the year to..."

Sounds very ambitious, I made a similar goal last year and did alright on it, though I didn't get anywhere close to finishing Malazan....

This year I'm doing some re-reads, I'm six books into the Dune series and just finished the first Stormlight Archive book. I'm not sure what's next maybe Ender's Game or Harry Potter.

I want to reread Harry Potter too.

My sister is into the Malazan series, so I know I need to wish you good luck! Not only does it have quite a few books (especially if you count Esslemont's books) but all the books are massive! I want to read it one day too but I know I'll really need to dedicate some time to it.

Alright, June wrap up.

Finished The Bands of Mourning was clearly amazing. I'm desparately waiting to continue with my Brandon Sanderson binge-ing with the the first Stormlight Archive.

Old Man's War by John Scalzi. It was not what I was expecting. The premise was great, but I got a little bored with the fighting after a while. But it definitely made me think.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin. Amazing as I was expecting, since I love N.K. Jemisin. Very sweeping and some gods playing with some mortals. I'm looking forward to the next one.

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. I didn't love it, but I loved the message. For some reason it reminded me of The Library at Mount Char, even though it was much less gory and dark.

Seasons of Glass and Iron because it won something, I forget what. I didn't realize it was a reworking of two old fables, but I think it was a nice little short story.

In the Indie world: I did not enjoy Heart of Gold or the The Illustrious.

Sword Art Online: Aincrad Omnibus (2-in-1 Edition) by Reki Kawahara