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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - November 2014

...but I still have Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation and What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions that I've started and hope I can get more done...

Ooh I love that little McKillip book. Do you have the one with the gorgeous cover?




This might take a while...

But I am a really really really slow reader, so if I want to get through ANY of that lot, I'd better get cracking! :P


Recently finished up a handful of the books I've been reading. First was Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress, which I absolutely loved. Short novella that makes me feel like shit for being a human.Here's that review
And then I dived into The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan, which really is a better book than the first in the series. Still not crazy about those books in general, but I definitely enjoyed TCC. Enough to grab The Autumn Republic on release day when it hits. My review.
And I literally just finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, the very last of the Cosmere backlist I had to go through. I definitely didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I'm not a high fantasy guy, and it's solidly high fantasy. Here's that review
And here's some of the other stuff I'm still making my way through:
And then I dived into The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan, which really is a better book than the first in the series. Still not crazy about those books in general, but I definitely enjoyed TCC. Enough to grab The Autumn Republic on release day when it hits. My review.
And I literally just finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson, the very last of the Cosmere backlist I had to go through. I definitely didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. I'm not a high fantasy guy, and it's solidly high fantasy. Here's that review
And here's some of the other stuff I'm still making my way through:




Hah, there we go! Added an extra "/" for some reason.
Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Jlawrence wrote: "I'm almost done with Joss Whedon: The Biography, which inspired me to start the Joss-written Astonishing X-Men, Vol. 1: Gifted, and just so I'll be reading too much at once I'm also about to begin Patricia McKillip's Alphabet of Thorn..."
Ooh I love that little McKillip book. Do you have the one with the gorgeous cover?"
I bought the Kindle version, and that cover shows up as a thumbnail for it in my Kindle library screen, but they didn't include it full-size in the ebook for some reason. :( Been looking forward to reading it for a long time, though!
Ooh I love that little McKillip book. Do you have the one with the gorgeous cover?"
I bought the Kindle version, and that cover shows up as a thumbnail for it in my Kindle library screen, but they didn't include it full-size in the ebook for some reason. :( Been looking forward to reading it for a long time, though!
terpkristin wrote: "but I still have Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation and What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions"
I'm especially curious what you'll think of What If? engineering-wise, terpkristin. :D
I'm especially curious what you'll think of What If? engineering-wise, terpkristin. :D


The Crimson Campaign really is far better; I had very mixed feelings about the series but became weirdly hooked on it so I'm glad to see that I'm not the only one who felt that way.
I finished Station Eleven yesterday. An engrossing read, but a bit unsettling to read while a real pandemic rages - felt a little too real at times.
I've just started Hounded, which is one of the monthly book picks over at the Sci-Fi & Fantasy book club. I'm in the mood for something light, so I think I'll enjoy it.
On the back burner at the moment (mainly because life has been too crazy recently to spend much time thinking about what I'm reading) are Hild and The Gods of Gotham.

Robyn wrote: "Rabindranauth wrote: "Recently finished up a handful of the books I've been reading. First was Yesterday's Kin by Nancy Kress, which I absolutely loved. Short novella..."
The magic is very offputting to me. McClellan made rules for what the powder mages can do, but for most of the action scenes he doesn't have them use their power past the bullet bending. It doesn't make sense. And then randomly he'll feel in the mood for something flashy or something, because then they'll start doing all sorts of crazy stuff, from controlling the energy of an explosion all the way to inhuman reflexes. So that really took a lot of the fun out of the book for me. But it was still a decent read.
The magic is very offputting to me. McClellan made rules for what the powder mages can do, but for most of the action scenes he doesn't have them use their power past the bullet bending. It doesn't make sense. And then randomly he'll feel in the mood for something flashy or something, because then they'll start doing all sorts of crazy stuff, from controlling the energy of an explosion all the way to inhuman reflexes. So that really took a lot of the fun out of the book for me. But it was still a decent read.

Finally going to read The Fault in Our Stars, which I put on my e-reader before getting the previous book from the library. I figure that one should be quick, and then I'll try Arcanum by Simon Morden that I picked up from the library over the weekend.
On Audible I'm listening to Judas Unchained by Peter F. Hamilton. I finished Pandora's Star a few days ago and was surprised by how much it drew me in. As soon as I get through that I've got The Slow Regard of Silent Things on deck.

It is, as expected, fantastic. I've been a big fan of Randall Munroe's work for a long time, and am a regular reader of and his related blog, . Given his past, it's not a surprise...the only sad thing is that the book doesn't (can't) have the mouse-over alt text. :) ;)


It's a beautifully written book, but for Sword and Laser members, I have to point out that it is not really Sci-Fi, even though it takes place in near-future Russia, and contains engineering and agricultural technologies that don't currently exist.
One of the main premises is that endless daylight can be produced in specific areas of the earth through the use of mirrors orbiting in space, combined with the construction of vast earthbound "greenhouses" that encompass whole cities and regions. That is as far as it goes in Sci-Fi terms; the bulk of the book is about the impact of new technologies and business models on personal relationships as well as on cultural traditions. The central story contrasts the divergent paths in life taken by twin brothers in the context of these societal changes, and focuses on the deep-rooted love these brothers have for each other and how they are pulled apart from each other by overwhelming economic and political forces. At the same time, the damage to their relationship represents the crumbling of indigenous community traditions that the new technologies threaten.
This book refers to a great deal of Russian culture, both literary and political. There is a quite a bit of critical parody, in which Communism, Anarchism, and Capitalism are all shown in a rather unfavorable light.
The book reads more like 'Literary' fiction than Science Fiction, but I know that there are at least a few Sword and Laser members that like novels that don't necessarily remain enclosed inside genre pigeonholes, so I highly recommend it to those folks.


It's my favorite book ever and maybe the best I've ever read, but I suspect that would result in the fastest mass lemming in the history of the group. :)
P.S. I just started Dashiell Hammett's Red Harvest.



I kept telling myself that through the first 11 volumes of his SoT series before I finally gave up. Oh to have all those hours back.

I kept telling myself that thr..."
Each book in the series kept getting worse until Naked Empire broke me of the need to read any more. I do kind of half-heartedly wonder whether he's wrapped up the war yet. But what I really wonder is why I read so many of them after the 2d or 3d in the series.
I'm currently reading Happy Hour in Hell.

I also bought Gravel Volume 3: The Last King of England by Warren Ellis on Comixology. And that's... well, it's Warren Ellis. Need I say more?

It's a beautifully written book, but for Sword and Laser members, I have to point out that it is not really Sci-Fi, even though..."
Sounds good!

As for reading, I am about to start Ancillary Justice. I am really excited to give it a try finally.

For now I'll be getting my Rothfuss fix with The Slow Regard of Silent Things and after that I've been meaning to catch up on the Drizzt saga, only 5 books to go now...


After that I'll read through Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and Childhood's End. I loved interstellar and I'm in a bit of a scifi mood.
At home I'm finishing off Business Model Generation: A Handbook For Visionaries, Game Changers, And Challengers and then on to Understanding Comics: The Invisible Art


Might try to finish Miserere: An Autumn Tale and Ship of Destiny if I have time later in the month.
I've just started in on my paperback ARC of The Providence of Fire, with S.E. Lindberg's Spawn of Dyscrasia cued up on my Kobo. Fingers crossed, this week should see the arrival of A Play of Shadow on my doorstop.
terpkristin wrote: "I just finished Heraclix & Pomp, though I haven't written my review yet.
Heraclix & Pomp was such a great read. Not at all what I expected, but so much better because of it.
Heraclix & Pomp was such a great read. Not at all what I expected, but so much better because of it.
Joe Informatico wrote: "I'm finally starting the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham"
I really enjoy his Dagger & Coin series, but I haven't read any of that series yet.
I really enjoy his Dagger & Coin series, but I haven't read any of that series yet.

Oh that would be great! I keep meaning to read it and never doing it, so this would be a great push :D

Now I'm gonna try to finish Snow Crash.

I really enjoy his Dagger & Coin series, but I haven't read any of that series yet."
I thought the Long Price Quartet was very good.

It's hard enough to read, I can't imagine doing it on audio. Especially if you are reading all the footnotes in A Gravity's Rainbow Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon's Novel to trying and understand all the obscure references.

It's hard enough to read, I can't imagine doing it on audio. Especially if you are reading all the footnotes in A Gravity's Rainbow Companion: Sources and Contexts for Pynchon's Novel to trying and understand all the obscure references. ..."
But sometimes that is the big mistake, missing the forest for the trees. When I shifted to reading Ulysses in audio, a lot more of it started coming together. So I dunno, might be worth a try.

Interesting point...I have a few spare audible credits, I think I will try it. It's one of my reading goals for next year :)

The World of Ice and Fire is such a beautiful book, I find myself just staring at and studying the illustrations. I spent most of last weekend being truly engrossed. I haven't re-read the series in awhile, so it was fun to get immersed in the world again. (It was cold outside so cuddling up in my blanket and a mug of hot tea and a good book... ahhh heaven on earth...) I've always loved the history of Targaryen rule ( i even created my own "family tree"). Lots of stuff i knew from picking up things in the series proper and the Dunk & Egg stories, The Blacks and the Greens, etc. But it was nice to get a look at the entire known world.

Still working on DADoES, and will be starting The Tropic of Serpents soon.
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