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Welcome to June. Almost halfway through the year.

Let's see, halfway through Myst (now I want to play the game again!) and I started on the graphic novel Resident Alien, Omnibus: Volume 1 by Peter Hogan which inspired the TV series.

Tony wrote: "Welcome to June. Almost halfway through the year."

Isn't it hard to believe? I'm about 3/4 of the way through Song of the Mysteries. I'm going to be sorry when it's over!

Yeah, I feel like I've already done a year's worth of work - and June is our busiest month, so the next 4 weeks will be ... interesting 🫥

I finished Tracker and moved on to the next book, Visitor, continuing to enjoy the series.

I didn't get much reading time last week, so I'm still reading The Daemon Prism Was able to read a fair bit today, though, and still liking it a lot.

Just finished Nightfall and Other Stories . Asimov was one of my earliest favorite sci fi authors. Loved this collection of stories--some I'd read and forgotten; others I'd never read before. I also loved reading the introduction he wrote for each story...where he got the ideas, how it was published, etc.

Finished Myst, the book ends exactly where the game starts, with someone falling through a crack and the book being lost. I actually went on youtube to find a walkthrough, just a few minutes of it to refresh my memory of the game. I still have our old Mac Performa down in the basement, think that was where the game was installed...and now I want to play Riven and Exile too, I never got past collecting little frogs in Riven, hehe. Maybe as an adult I will be able to figure stuff out more? Wonder if I can install a Windows 95 game on a Windows 10 machine...probably not...will see.

Since I have a couple other things already in progress not yet picking up something new. Gives me a bit more time to pick between the two I have planned for next :) Sometimes so hard to decide.

Well, Song of the Mysteries was a fiver. But her books usually are!

Now I'm rereading the LOTR trilogy with one of my other groups. It's like reading about old friends again.

Andrea wrote: "Wonder if I can install a Windows 95 game on a Windows 10 machine...probably not...will see."

Check out gog.com - they have lots of old Win 95 (or earlier) games updated to run on Win 10/11. They have Myst, Riven and Exile.

I have a Wheel of Time game for Windows 95. I don't know why I held on to it, but I did. I was a huge WoT fan when I bought it.

I just went to that site Tony, and they have it.

Resolute by Jack Campbell

Mary wrote: "Resolute by Jack Campbell"

I love that series

Since I need to get this book returned to the library, it was time to start The Swan Riders by Erin Bow. It was some time back that I read the first book for free on the publisher's site so I wanted to find out how the story ends!

Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg. Still holds up during my second reading.

Yrret wrote: "Lord Valentine’s Castle by Robert Silverberg. Still holds up during my second reading."

Nice to hear! I've read this book a long, long time ago. Maybe I should reread it soon.

I'm reading Service Model by Adrian Tchaikovsky


and I find it hilarious!

Mary wrote: "Resolute by Jack Campbell"

One of my absolute favourite series. :)

Implacable by Jack Campbell

Good one, Mary!

I'm reading the new one in the Grimm's War, (#7 I think) Traditions of Courage. It's a good one!

Finished The Swan Riders, I expected a big world changing thing but it was really a character driven tale.

Starting on The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 2: The Queen of Air and Darkness which is another library book that absolutely must go back next week...not sure I'll manage that, its huge with small print but I'll at least get through the short story which prompted me to borrow this in the first place :) The advantage of an anthology is you can stop almost anywhere and pick it up again later.

Hell and Back by Craig Johnson

This addition to the Sheriff Walt Longmire series is WAY off the beaten track. Walt 'time travels' back to the late 1800s and a notorious Indian Boarding School that has a predatory Cheyenne entity hanging about.

It's a complicated but compelling story. 4 stars

My review: /review/show...

Andrea wrote: "Finished The Swan Riders, I expected a big world changing thing but it was really a character driven tale.

Starting on [book:The Collected Short Works of Poul Anderson, Volume 2: The Queen of Air ...The advantage of an anthology is you can stop almost anywhere and pick it up again later"

*dons pedant cap*

It's the works of a single author. It's a collection. Anthologies include works of different authors.

*doffs pedant cap*

It's not definitive that "anthology" refers only to collections of works from different contributors. The Oxford English Dictionary site does mention various authors, but Miriam's does not, and dictionary.com specifically mentions both a collection by various authors and a collection by a sole author as being anthologies. So I think it's YMMV in this case.

Finished Yumi and the Nightmare Painter and re-read Age of Empyre.

Finished The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon, I will review it when I have a minute. Followed it up with the novelette A Dead Djinn in Cairo by P Djeli Clark, which even I was able to skip through in one sitting. Onwards now to The Haunting of Tram Car 015 also by P Djeli Clark, with the general intention of following that with Master of Djinn to complete my foray into the Dead Djinn universe. look at that, there is even forward planning going on here... :-)

Review for Shadow of the Wind here for any interested parties :-)

/review/show...

Finished Empire in Black and Gold, enjoyed it and will pick up the next book at some point. Currently awaiting Song of the Mysteries - none of my local bookshops stock it (including Waterstones) which I find hard to believe, but it’s been like that with the rest of her works too. So I’ve had to order it in.

Andy wrote: "Finished Empire in Black and Gold, enjoyed it and will pick up the next book at some point. Currently awaiting Song of the Mysteries - none of my local bookshops stock it (including Waterstones) wh..."

I just finished Song of the Mysteries recently. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

I read Master of Djinn without realizing there were novellas that came first, and I was a little confused at the worldbuilding.

I read a short story from the Dead Djinn Universe in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (I think there may be others but I'm not sure) which I really liked, without knowing that there was a Dead Djinn Universe. I had an Amazon recommendation for Master of Djinn, wen't 'ah, I see,' connected the dots and put that on my want to read shelf. That prompted an 'if you like that you may like this' recommendation, proving that although we have had some fun at the expense of the Amazon/Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ algorithms it does get it right sometimes:-)

My review of NecroTek by Jonathan Maberry

/review/show...

Robin wrote: "I read a short story from the Dead Djinn Universe in the Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction (I think there may be others but I'm not sure) which I really liked, without knowing that there was ..."

It was pretty good, but I bet the novellas would have enhanced the experience.

Starting The Midnight Library

I read my first book by Fonda Lee, Untethered Sky . Our MC, Ester, was very brave and dedicated. I quite liked it. One more square marked on my Bingo card.

I finished The Daemon Prism last night. It was book 3 of Collegia Magica trilogy. I really enjoyed spending my time in this trilogy. Feels like it's been a while since I've felt so "in" a series. Daemon Prism wasn't as good as the first two books and end felt rushed, but still good. I really miss the worlds of Spirit Lens and Soul Mirror though.

Anyway, switching things up a bit with an Icelandic mystery Snowblind by Ragnar Jonasson. Weirdly when I've tried reading this the last few winters I kept getting stuck on the 2nd or 3rd chapter and just couldn't get into it. Meanwhile I start reading it in summer now and somehow super into lol Funny how moods work.

I have finally finished Death's End. It took about 5 weeks due to work. Overall I enjoyed it, although I thought it could have been shorter - it did have a tendency to wander sometimes. It was a lot more speculative than the first two books, but that's not really surprising as the timeline advanced, and the author did generally keep the science within the bounds of what we consider possible.

Tony wrote: "I have finally finished Death's End. It took about 5 weeks due to work. Overall I enjoyed it, although I thought it could have been shorter - it did have a tendency to wander someti..."

Are you going to read The Redemption of Time by Baoshu....the (sort of) fan fiction continuation?

Finished reading Amos Daragon, Le sanctuaire des braves and switching to the next Amos Daragon: Le Sanctuaire des Braves II. This is a spinoff trilogy from the original Amos Daragon one...this author is really really mean to his characters!

I'm also working on the silly but also fun The Adventure Zone Vol. 4: The Crystal Kingdom

Barbara wrote: "Are you going to read The Redemption of Time by Baoshu....the (sort of) fan fiction continuation?"

I'm aware of it, but it's not high on my reading list at the moment. Apart from anything else, I'm way behind on my Bingo reading, and I don't think that will fill any of the slots I need 😄

Finished the Haunting of Tram Car 015, which was excellent, building nicely on the first novella. Tram Car is a lovely tidy piece of writing. Everything fits together so neatly. Even things that initially just seem to be there as a bit of world building, or to sell the veracity of a character, turn out to have greater significance later. Anyone learning to write short fiction could do worse than study this story.

It is not in my nature to get wildly over excited about things but I am now rather looking forward to Master of Djinn...

I have started reading Childhood's End, which will fill my pre-1960 Bingo slot.

I chanced upon Oracle at my library, and it turned out to be a pretty good supernatural horror story, plus it was translated from Dutch to English, so filled out a Bingo square and gave me a second Bingo! Had I checked ahead of time, I would've seen it was book 2, but it read well as a stand alone. Just that book one was referred to quite often, but other than introducing one important character, it was fine.

Robin wrote: "Finished the Haunting of Tram Car 015, which was excellent, building nicely on the first novella. Tram Car is a lovely tidy piece of writing. Everything fits together so neatly. Even things that in..."

I have been hearing quite good things about this series lately! When I first heard of it, it didn't immediately pop out at me, but considering revising those thoughts and giving it a go!

Georgann wrote: "I chanced upon Oracle at my library, and it turned out to be a pretty good supernatural horror story, plus it was translated from Dutch to English, so ..."

Another author I keep hearing so many good things about. Not sure why I haven't added it to the list yet!

In Our Stars by Jack Campbell

Mary wrote: "In Our Stars by Jack Campbell"

How'd you like it, Mary?

Michelle wrote: "Mary wrote: "In Our Stars by Jack Campbell"

How'd you like it, Mary?"

So far, so good. More than a third but less than half done.

I finished Visitor and will be starting the next book, Convergence later today.

I've been reading through a lot of Riyria Revelations, now I just have Heir of Novron to finish.

Currently I am on a different tack, reading The Black Prism. It's my first by Brent Weeks.

Oh, I love Heir of Novron. My favorite.

Starting on The Fall of Babel by Josiah Bancroft, the final book of the series (not counting some short story stuff). Let's see if the ascending Senlin from the first book makes it to the top or not :o)