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Up north here its getting really hot, sure its starting to get cold down south, what books are you reading at the start of a new season?

I read Neom. I am just not picking well recently! This was only a meh 2 stars for me.

The Exorcism Engines by Phil Foglio and Kaja Foglio

Andrea wrote: "Up north here its getting really hot, sure its starting to get cold down south, what books are you reading at the start of a new season?"

Strangely enough, after the last three weeks of autumn in Sydney delivered temperatures equivalent to mid to late winter (overnight lows between 2 and 5 degrees C), the first 2 days of actual winter have been very autumnal, with lows of 10-12 degrees and highs in the low 20s.

Didn't quite finish Isle Witch before May ended, only finished last night

Found a graphic novel series at the library (in French) called Elfes with first book Le Crystal des Elfes bleus. Each book has different artists/writers, but those covers caught my eye (yes the men a little over muscly and the women overly endowed and underdressed but not the worst I've seen) and the stories so far are interesting enough, kind of like a Lord of the Rings but between epic quests, just regular conflicts between men, elves and orcs. Its probably more like a Forgotten Realms actually.

Continuing the Amos Daragon series (also French) with Le Crépuscule des dieux, kind of a French version of Percy Jackson except high fantasy rather than urban.

And Simon Teen has more free books on their site, I'll be working my way through Sweet & Bitter Magic by Adrienne Tooley

Still reading The Golden Enclaves. Re-read Age of War.

Binti#2 Home by Nnedi Okorafor. It's as brilliant as it is short, and I love the African-based themes.

Jevon wrote: "Binti#2 Home by Nnedi Okorafor. It's as brilliant as it is short, and I love the African-based themes."

I read those last year; quite good.

I reread Hidden Deep by Amy Kilpatrick (if you love romantasy this is the one) and also rereading the Starstruck series by Brenda Hiatt (if you love YA /NA romance, try this one). And I also wrapped up Jeff Haskell's Grimm's Wars (because military scifi is the shiznit.

Page wrote: "I reread Hidden Deep by Amy Kilpatrick (if you love romantasy this is the one) and also rereading the Starstruck series by Brenda Hiatt (if you love YA /NA romance, try this one). And I also wrappe..."

Oh, Page- I've considered that Jeff Haskell series. How is the characterization? I love military SF, but only the kind that has fully developed characters.

Finished the Amos Daragon book and jumped back to Shannara with Dark Wraith of Shannara which is a graphic novel, though printed b&w on regular paper. Only just started so can't comment much on it...but the artist needs to work on his horses, some angles are good, but there was one where the rider was sitting on the horse's rump instead of withers, the horse's chest stuck out weirdly, and the head was so deformed it wasn't recognizably equine :) And clearly the artist isn't a rider, he doesn't know how you're supposed to hold the reins.

Sandman Slim series book 3 by Richard Kadrey.

Dark Wraith was a quick read. It was an ok addition to the world of Shannara but unlike some other companion graphic novels I've borrowed from the library, I feel no urge to buy a copy of this for myself (the Lunar Chronicles one on the otherhand...that one was fun, trying to resist the temptation). Anyway, a graphic novel fills my "Alternate Form" Bingo slot.

Up next is Valiant by Holly Black. I read the first book for free on the Simon Teen site some time back, a decent YA fairy urban fantasy, good enough to borrow the second book from the library. And bonus, it will fill my "starts with a V" Bingo slot!

When I picked V as the letter when putting together the Bingo card, I had planned to use "The Voyage of the Jerle Shannara" but that turned out to be the trilogy name :) But this one is perfect, needed excuse to finish off Holly Black's trilogy too. Black has written so much fae related stuff would have been unfortunately to stick only to Spiderwick. I might even grab more of her work if time permits.

I have finished The Sands of Mars, the second (and longest) of the three novels that make up The Space Trilogy: Islands of the Sky / Earthlight / The Sands of Mars.

Today I read Fugitive Telemetry. I'm a huge Murderbot fan! @Andrea, I'd completely forgotten that we listened to Valiant on a recent trip. I didn't care for it - it was too dark and sad for me, but I can use it for the V slot, too! I may try to read something else, tho, that I may like better, altho I don't have too many books that start with V in my massive TBR pile!

I finished Ninefox Gambit, and although I was not fully satisfied with that book, I still started the second book in the series, Raven Stratagem. The world created by the author is quite strange, but I want to see how the story unfolds.

I'm working my way through 2 book series that have been on my TBR pile for too long. Enjoying them a lot too. 1) The Clone Alliance and 2) Spaceside. The Rogue Clone series is quite interesting. Set in a future where a pangalactic Earth government runs the Milky Way with it's army of clones. One clone finds himself in the middle of a revolution when some planets suddenly declare indepence.
The Planetside series by Michael Mammay is a good murder mystery set in space. Glad I finally get around to read it.

Georgann wrote: "I'd completely forgotten that we listened to Valiant on a r..."

The first book was pretty dark too, and this one is proving to be the same. I'm wondering if the grittiness makes it perfect for Elfpunk too, but either way, I need it more for a V, that's proving harder to fill :)

From series:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
Vision in Silver
The Void of Mist and Thunder

My TBR (local authors):
The View From Castle Always
Veins of Gold
Vampire-ish: A Hypochondriac's Tale

These are some great suggestions, Audrey. I LOVED The Others series, so much so that I am considering rereading one for our reread BINGO slot, and I never reread books! But since I have to... *smile* I am considering Vespertine for my V slot, altho several of these look good!

I enjoyed The Others a lot more than I expected; maybe because it didn't have a heavy-handed romance.

I trust Melissa McShane and Charlie Holmberg to write good books. I haven't read any of Candace's yet, though. (I am always telling local authors, "I have your book. I just haven't read it yet.")

My review of Downward to the Earth by Robert Silverberg

/review/show...

I just finished The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet. I'm late to the party, I know, but this was just such great space opera! I used it to fill my B2 Bingo slot and made my second Bingo! I plan to read the next 3, even though they don't seem to follow the same characters much. The Liaden Universe series by Lee and Miller is my favorite space opera. They have a new book coming out July 4 Salvage Right (book 26 and to my astonishment, I have read them all!!) and I can't wait. Guess what I'll be counting for my published in 2023 square will be?

As part of my "classics" theme, I've read . It's written in a kind of a funny tone that works really well, even though the events that happen are definitely not funny - the ending is rather terrifying. I've really enjoyed it.

I remembered I had started reading the Odd Thomas series a while ago and for some reason didn't finish it, so I read . Not a candidate for the Man Booker prize, and it seems the books of the series follow the same general plot, but the dialogue is funny and characters are colorful (my favorite is the Russian), so a pleasant, light read.

I liked the "Ancillary" trilogy so I tried to read despite not caring much for Provenance... I get that these writers think using weird pronouns and stuff makes them "inclusive", but this book didn't include me as I can only read texts in English, so that was my fastest DNF ever by some margin (and I don't even usually DNF books).
Also, the fact that the most visible reviews are from people who got a free ARC in exchange for a review look very fishy to me. What would this book's score be without paid-for-by-the-publisher reviews?

Bryan wrote: "Also, the fact that the most visible reviews are from people who got a free ARC in exchange for a review look very fishy to me."

Well the book looks like it was only published 7 days ago, not much time for non-ARC readers to have (1) bought it and (2) finished reading and (3) taken the time to write up the review :)

While I've written reviews for many ARCs I do try to be honest, but I will admit to leaning towards not giving really terrible reviews (fortunately I've had very few terrible ARCs to attempt to figure out how review, like to provide constructive criticism rather than just saying it sucks). I'm even more lenient for an indie writer who had to pay out of his pocket to send me a copy than for a big publisher. But I still try to be reasonably honest, I don't feel I'm "paid" to lie just because I got a copy for free.

After all people asking for an ARC of book 5 of the series might be a fan of the series. Its a pattern I've seen, that reviews might actually improve as a series goes on since only the people who like it stick with it :o)

Andrea wrote: "Well the book looks like it was only published 7 days ago, not much time for non-ARC readers to have (1) bought it and (2) finished reading and (3) taken the time to write up the review :)"

Yes, when books are about to (or have just) come out and have only a few reviews, that make sense, and then those advance reviews are mostly displaced by newer ones. This book has >400 reviews already; I checked the first 10 on the page and literally all of them were for a free copy, so either they sent a lot of ARCs or they somehow had their reviews pushed to the top.


Andrea wrote: "While I've written reviews for many ARCs I do try to be honest, but I will admit to leaning towards not giving really terrible reviews"

I've never received ARCs but I'm sure I'd do the same: maybe ignore some of the bad stuff, focus on the good stuff - after all, the writer was nice enough to give me their book, so it would be really mean to slam it. This is normal, but I think it's why ARC reviews are biased, even if only a little, and unvolontarily (from the reader's part anyway :)


Andrea wrote: "After all people asking for an ARC of book 5 of the series might be a fan of the series. Its a pattern I've seen, that reviews might actually improve as a series goes on since only the people who like it stick with it :o)"

Agree, by the time book 5 comes out people who hated the first one should be long gone, unless they're really masochists.

I also mention I got an ARC in the review so people reading my review can assume the review has been "rounded up" so to speak. I've also seen giveaways on GR with 100 copies at a time, not counting other sources of ARCs so maybe a couple hundred of ARC reviews isn't impossible. And then the rest would be the people who couldn't wait to grab a copy the moment it came out since they love the series so much, which would bias the positives :o)

To be honest I generally skip the good reviews and jump to the bad ones and then skim to see if anything jumps out as something that annoys me, like the YA heroine who isn't good enough for her million boyfriends that are drooling over her. I mean if you read the reviews for Fractal Noise you'd think the book was terrible, but its just everyone who has NOT read the book complaining the cover art was generated by AI and are protesting that a real artist didn't get paid. Fair enough but it had nothing to do with the book itself.

Or the books that don't even have arcs yet but have a hundred positive reviews, just people expressing how eager they are to read it. Or books not published yet with bad reviews because the author is taking too long to write it and fans are frustrated.

Basically I tend to ignore reviews for the most part :D Except indie books, since some are real gems, but some are...well...not. A publisher will at least have an editor pass through for grammar and spelling even if the story itself still stinks!

Finished Valiant, like the first one in the trilogy it was dark and gritty, lots of drugs and homelessness and other stuff but its still quite good. But I liked how faeries are portrayed "realistically", not as some cute glitter butterfly but as creatures that can be truly terrifying and not to be trusted. I had started reading Shannara since it had elves in it, but they were basically humans with pointy ears, personality-wise they are indistinguishable, and there are reasons for that in Brooks' world, but it left me craving for more realistic fey portrayals.

And talking of Shannara, next up is Antrax by Terry Brooks

My library also had a copy of Brian Froud's Faeries' Tales which I've been going through enjoying the artwork. At times it felt very familiar then discovered he worked on The Dark Crystal and Labyrinth which explained it. I'm now inspired to find some books with the original tales. I mean Shannara and Merry Gentry and Iron Fey series are all fun but I should check out some of the folklore they are all inspired by too.

The ARC reviews were also the first, giving them more time to garner up votes.

I have finished The Space Trilogy: Islands of the Sky / Earthlight / The Sands of Mars, which will fill the Omnibus slot in my Bingo. These three novels by Arthur C Clarke were all written in the 1950s (pre-Sputnik), and while all of them are good examples of his early work, they all demonstrate one of the perils of writing near-future SF - authors often get the science wrong.

Just finished Stormbringer after reading the 5 previous Elric novels, and man do I wish I read these earlier. Great stuff, can really feel the culmination of the previous books while reading Stormbringer. Does Elric qualify as "Heroic fantasy" as he is kind of an anti-hero?

The book I've read thus far that is germane to this group is The Parched Sea by Troy Denning, here's my ⭐⭐�� review.

Hi Connor, I read the Elric books way back in 1970 something or another and they made a lasting impression on me. I think they would make a great mini series for one of the streaming services.�� If you enjoyed Elric, you might also like Moorcock's Corum Jhaelen Irsei series, which starts with the book The Knight of Swords... Also read back in 1900 and seventy something and much enjoyed. You may already know that Moorcock had a multiverse, where most of his main fantasy characters were all aspects of the same Eternal Champion but if not, now you do.�� Enjoy

Robin wrote: "Hi Connor, I read the Elric books way back in 1970 something or another and they made a lasting impression on me. I think they would make a great mini series for one of the streaming services.�� If ..."

Hi Robin, thanks for your response! That is very cool, I have actually read Moorcock's Hawkmoon series previously and really enjoyed it, I have a copy of the Swords Trilogy that is on my to-read list as well, I appreciate the recommendation and the insight

The Runestaff, also V good. Happy reading. ��

Connor wrote: "Just finished Stormbringer after reading the 5 previous Elric novels, and man do I wish I read these earlier. Great stuff, can really feel the culmination of the previous books while..."

I really want to get into the Elric series one day, I've got a lot of the books already, just need to find the time. Although not having read them I can't say if they count as heroic fantasy :o)

Robin wrote: "Hi Connor, I read the Elric books way back in 1970 something or another and they made a lasting impression on me. I think they would make a great mini series for one of the streaming services.�� If ..."

I read them way back then, too. Time certainly does fly!

I started reading Parsival: Or, A Knight's Tale, but about a dozen pages in I reakised I wasn't really in the mood for it. I have now started Marvel's Black Widow: Forever Red

I also read the Elric books in the 70s, and have read most of Moorcock's Eternal Champion series, although the trilogy he wrote about a Martian hero is pretty hard to find - although I think it was reprinted in an omnibus edition some years back.

Phantasm: An Isekai LitRPG by Christopher Hall

Finished The Scorpio Races, which I thought was beautifully written but kinda boring. Currently reading The Wicked King—while I found its predecessor The Cruel Prince to be just okay, I'm actually quite enjoying this one so far.

Just started another vintage Dragonlance book, Kindred Spirits! 🐉

I recently finished The Firemaster's Legacy by Kylie Fennell. Loved it! Here's my review:
/review/show...

I finished Raven Stratagem. It was ok, but not sufficiently so that I want to read the 3rd book in the series. Instead I am starting Lords of Uncreation by Adrian Tchaikovsky, 3rd book in the Final Architecture series; i had enjoyed the first two books.

Real life examples that seem almost like sci-fi


Bizarre: The Most Peculiar Cases of Human Behavior and What They Tell Us about How the Brain Works by Marc Dingman

In this book Marc Dingman discusses the human brain, and disorders that result when the brain malfunctions.

Chock full of fascinating examples. 4 stars

My review: /review/show...

Beyond Kings and Princesses: Governments for Worldbuilders by Oren Litwin

Barbara wrote: "Real life examples that seem almost like sci-fi

[book:Bizarre: The Most Pecu..."

After hearing a story of guy who became a pedophile, then had a brain tumour removed and went back to normal, then started showing signs of being a pedophile again and sure enough, the tumour had come back...makes you really think, how much are we really in control of anything we think or do, its kind of scary really. And our penal system...putting a guy in jail because he has a tumour isn't going to punish/rehabilitate him either. At the same time we can't just go around saying nobody is responsible for what they do because of their brain chemistry either, that just means we can all do whatever we want without any consequences since "my brain made me do it" or whatever :o)

Definitely fascinating stuff, wonder if the library has this book it sounds interesting...

Andrea wrote: "Barbara wrote: "Real life examples that seem almost like sci-fi

[book:Bizarre..."

At the same time we can't just go around saying nobody is responsible for what they do because of their brain chemistry either, that just means we can all do whatever we want without any consequences since "my brain made me do it" or whatever :o)

I agree Andrea. I think we're responsible for what we do, and if people are misbehaving (or outright criminals) because of their brain malfunction, measures should be taken to restrain them until they get better (if ever).

Rereading the Hobbit right now. Its actually very interesting rereading it all these years later as I didn't recall how little faith Tolkein had in his readers to pick up on things. There are so many instances where he'll say something and then in the sentences after explain it or even outright do authorial asides in parenthesis to give what are generally unneeded clarifications of things. Doesn't really detract from the experience for me, but its interesting because I guarantee it would come off as annoyingly hand holding by today's standards.

I finished reading Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. The third novel in the Mars trilogy. It completed the story well. I am reading Translation State by Ann Leckie. It is another novel in the Imperial Radch Series. I plan to read Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer next.