SF/F Books: Chapter Two - What Are You Reading?

[MyCylon]

Just finished Valis today. Suffice it to say I adored. It is strange, and there's a lot I didn't understand (in part due to my limited knowledge of some of the faiths and philosophical ideas referred to), but it's also got some fantastic ideas to ponder. Wonderful.

I'm contemplating whether to continue with Dick or turn to something different for the moment (my girlfriend has "Sewer, Gas, Electric" at home) and return again later since Valis was really intense.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^He does, doesn't he? Try the novel Anansi Boys; there's another character link with American Gods, but to a lesser degree than "Monarch of The Glen". It's much more lighthearted and an easier-to-follow plot. And I can't recommend Stardust enough if you've never read it.

I just won't shut up about Neil Gaiman, will I?

I'm in the middle of a Gaiman kick right now. I started with American Gods. I thought it was a very strong story overall and I like its interpretation of American mythology. Shadow is a fine protagonist and Mr. Wednesday takes him to a lot of interesting places. I loved Mr. Nancy's story about stealing the Tiger's balls and blaming it on the monkeys. ("I thought I said no stories." "Oh, that? That was barely enough to clear my throat.") I was also enchanted by Easter, Czernobog, & the 3 Russian sisters. Something about Laura's storyline really moved me.

The only times I didn't much care for the book were when the story slowed down too much. I understand what his point was whenever he did those vignettes in the past about how all of the old gods made it to America in the first place but I didn't find them very interesting. I kept waiting to get back to Shadow. I was also slightly bored by the long stretches where Shadow would just be hiding out in small town middle America waiting for Mr. Wednesday to contact him again.

After I finished American Gods, I dove right in to Anansi Boys. Anansi Boys is a far superior book, if only because it reminds me of the best of Douglas Adams' work. It has a keen, witty observation of the absurdities of everyday life. Things get worse & worse for Fat Charlie because that's just what happens a lot of the time. The fact that magical things happen is merely an extra layer of nuisance for him. And Daisy Day is just too cute!

Now, I'm working on Neverwhere. (Actually, I took a brief break for a couple days to read this hilarious Hollywood memoir I found, Fast Forward: Confessions of a Porn Screenwriter. It's not SF/F, obviously, but it's a quick read and really funny.) I'm only a couple chapters into Neverwhere so far but I like it. In terms of style, it has a lot of the same observational humor of everyday irritants as Anansi Boys. However, the assemblage & the overall prose quality aren't nearly as polished as they are in his later works.

 

[S. Gomez]

^Sweet. I think I enjoyed Anansi Boys a little bit more as well, mostly because of the lighter tone. I need to read Neverwhere one of these days.

So I have what may sound like a silly question to some, but bear with me. For some time now I've been more aware than I probably should be that I haven't read a single book by Stephen King. A couple short stories, and about half of The Mist (got too gory for me in one bit), but that's all. I'm really more interested in his less horrific works, the stuff like The Green Mile and the story The Shawshank Redemption was based on. The Dark Tower is also looking more and more intriguing, but I've learned that it has a great deal of connections with some of his other books; I was wondering how "necessary" it is to read his whole oeuvre to "get" The Dark Tower (and conversely whether I should read the series to "get" elements of his other books).

(Don't even ask what's happening to my Middle-earth reading; it will get taken care of!)

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I seem to be on a bit of Neil Gaiman kick lately, too. I have Coraline, Anansi Boys, Stardust, on the To Read pile, and The Graveyard Book pre-ordered.

I'm currently reading Neverwhere, I'm finding it a lot easier to get through than American Gods. Don't get me wrong, I liked American Gods, but I just found it hard to get through, for
some reason. I don't know if it was because I have the expanded text, which in the introduction is described as longer and more meandering than the original.

 

[Steve Roby]

For some time now I've been more aware than I probably should be that I haven't read a single book by Stephen King. A couple short stories, and about half of The Mist (got too gory for me in one bit), but that's all. I'm really more interested in his less horrific works, the stuff like The Green Mile and the story The Shawshank Redemption was based on. The Dark Tower is also looking more and more intriguing, but I've learned that it has a great deal of connections with some of his other books; I was wondering how "necessary" it is to read his whole oeuvre to "get" The Dark Tower (and conversely whether I should read the series to "get" elements of his other books).

I only read the first Dark Tower novel, and didn't care for it at all. From what I've heard about the most recent books, I'd like them even less. Not helpful, I know.

I haven't read the non-horror stuff other than Different Seasons, the book with four novellas (including the ones that the movies The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me were based on). It's pretty good, as I recall. But his horror stuff can be very good, and of the books I've read, I'd say The Shining is probably the one to read. It's horror, but it's also very character-driven. And though it's long it's a lot less self-indulgent than many of his later books.

 

[Mistral]

For some time now I've been more aware than I probably should be that I haven't read a single book by Stephen King. A couple short stories, and about half of The Mist (got too gory for me in one bit), but that's all. I'm really more interested in his less horrific works, the stuff like The Green Mile and the story The Shawshank Redemption was based on. The Dark Tower is also looking more and more intriguing, but I've learned that it has a great deal of connections with some of his other books; I was wondering how "necessary" it is to read his whole oeuvre to "get" The Dark Tower (and conversely whether I should read the series to "get" elements of his other books).

I only read the first Dark Tower novel, and didn't care for it at all. From what I've heard about the most recent books, I'd like them even less. Not helpful, I know.

I haven't read the non-horror stuff other than Different Seasons, the book with four novellas (including the ones that the movies The Shawshank Redemption and Stand By Me were based on). It's pretty good, as I recall. But his horror stuff can be very good, and of the books I've read, I'd say The Shining is probably the one to read. It's horror, but it's also very character-driven. And though it's long it's a lot less self-indulgent than many of his later books.

Good-it wasn't just me. Yawned through the Dark Tower and gave up. I thought maybe I was defective or something based on all of the people who rave about it.

 

[Scout101]

Just blew through the newest Shannara book by Terry Brooks (name escapes me at the moment), and am currently reading The Scourge of God, by S.M. Stirling. It's the latest in his series about the "change" and is pretty enjoyable...

I've only read Dies the Fire, but I'm still kind of interested in that series, particularly the second trilogy. Is there any real need to read the two books after Dies the Fire, or can I skip ahead to The Sunrise Lands without much of a problem?

You can get into the next series without the others, but why would you? After Dies the Fire, the next two are really just one double-length story that takes place about 10 years after the first book. Really wraps up the story going on in the Portland area, and sets up the entire background going into the 2nd series. You can read it without the rest, but you'd miss background that would make it more enjoyable. Characters that are new to you that were fleshed out over two books, etc.

The previous series should all be paperback at this point, so no real hardship there. Truth be told, I get them all from the library now that I've mastered the inter-library loan deal, so I read them all.

I also started with Dies the Fire (rather than the original Island in the Sea of Time series), but later jumped back and read the original 3. Since the series are opposite sides of the same coin/event, I didn't miss anything, but I enjoyed that series as well. Fun to see both sides of this, with the same even just happening backwards. Very interested to see where the latest book series is going, as they are getting closer to 'ground zero' for the Change/Event, and tying the two series together will be interesting.

Find I'm liking the author more and more. With the exception of the Sky People book, I've enjoyed his work.

 

[S. Gomez]

So I decided to postpone some of my Middle-earth reading until after I get back from my trip, which will be in mid-November. For right now I picked up T.E. Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom (hardly fantasy, I know), and then hopefully squeeze in a re-read of either American Gods or Stardust before I leave. For the trip itself one of the books I'll have is Neverwhere (all this talk about Gaiman, and listening to his audiobooks, is what inspired such choices!).

I was in the bookstore today and I've decided to get either The Green Mile or Different Seasons for the trip as well. Hmm...

 

[Skywalker]

Just blew through the newest Shannara book by Terry Brooks (name escapes me at the moment), and am currently reading The Scourge of God, by S.M. Stirling. It's the latest in his series about the "change" and is pretty enjoyable...

I've only read Dies the Fire, but I'm still kind of interested in that series, particularly the second trilogy. Is there any real need to read the two books after Dies the Fire, or can I skip ahead to The Sunrise Lands without much of a problem?

You can get into the next series without the others, but why would you? After Dies the Fire, the next two are really just one double-length story that takes place about 10 years after the first book. Really wraps up the story going on in the Portland area, and sets up the entire background going into the 2nd series. You can read it without the rest, but you'd miss background that would make it more enjoyable. Characters that are new to you that were fleshed out over two books, etc.

Honestly, I already know how the first trilogy ends. That, and I was a little bored by Dies the Fire, even though I still like the background and the setting.

I also started with Dies the Fire (rather than the original Island in the Sea of Time series), but later jumped back and read the original 3. Since the series are opposite sides of the same coin/event, I didn't miss anything, but I enjoyed that series as well. Fun to see both sides of this, with the same even just happening backwards. Very interested to see where the latest book series is going, as they are getting closer to 'ground zero' for the Change/Event, and tying the two series together will be interesting.

Part of the reason why I'm still interested is to see how Stirling ties the Change series to the Event series, and how he explains what exactly caused the incident.

Find I'm liking the author more and more. With the exception of the Sky People book, I've enjoyed his work.

Have you read The Peshawar Lancers? That's probably my favorite of Stirling's work. I wish he'd write another novel in that setting.

 

[Mistral]

Peshwar Lancers is great. I still think the Draka books are his best, though. Particularly, Marching Through Georgia.

 

[S. Gomez]

All the talk about Neil Gaiman, and listening to him read his stories on audiobook... I'm re-reading American Gods.

 

[Demiurge]

Continuing my CJ Cherryh Alliance-Union reading with the Fading Suns trilogy. Not quite up to Cyteen or Downbelow Station, but quality scifi about the intersection of alien cultures.

 

[Steve Roby]

I got into Doctor Who back in the summer of '01 and have been working my way through the various book series, in between all the other stuff I read. I've read the Doctor Who New Adventures and the Eighth Doctor Adventures, and I'm currently gradually working through the spinoff Bernice Summerfield New Adventures. Published after Virgin Books lost the Doctor Who licence, these books carry on a number of characters and elements created for the books, and even without the Doctor present they're a lot of fun. Bernice is a great character, and the books find ways to make use of the Whoniverse without getting themselves in trouble. The last one I read this time, Beige Planet Mars, had a lot of backstory involving Daleks and Ice Warriors, but didn't have to name them.

If there's anyone out there who read the Doctor Who NAs but never bothered with the Benny books, they're well worth tracking down, especially now, when Doctor Who novels have lost a lot of the complexity and maturity they had when the show was off the air.

I also read a new anthology, Extraordinary Engines, edited by Nick Gevers and featuring stories by a variety of well-respected SF and fantasy writers. It's subtitled The Definitive Steampunk Anthology, which it isn't; it's a collection of all-new material, and a definitive collection would have to include some of the writers who invented steampunk twenty years or so ago, like KW Jeter, James Blaylock, etc. But if it's not definitive, it is nonetheless very good. Not all the stories were what I'd necessarily consider steampunk, based on what I remember from Jeter, Blaylock, Gibson and Sterling's The Difference Engine, etc; some of it seemed more akin to the New Weird, and some writers associated with that scene appear in this book. Still, the overall level of quality is ver yhigh, and I'm glad to have the chance to read some stories by writers of whom I've read but hadn't yet encountered, like Margo Lanagan.

One of the contributors to Extraordinary Engines, Jeff Vandermeer, created and explored the city of Ambergris and its world in his book City of Saints and Madmen, a collection of stories, which I read and loved several months ago. Now I'm reading Shriek: An Afterword, another book about Ambergris, this one in the form of a memoir by Janice Shriek about her brother Duncan, who she believes dead. He isn't, and he's making parenthetical replies to her story as she goes along.

Ambergris, despite the mysteries of the gray caps and the Silence and the violence of the Festival of the Freshwater Squid, seemed like it would be a really neat place to spend some time when I was reading the first book. Not so much here, as the book describes, among other things, the War of the Houses, the attack of the gray caps, and the Shift, still unexplained two thirds of the way through the book. This is a remarkable work of fantasy literature, with its well-drawn characters, its familiar but alien world, its suspense, and its distinctive narrative style. Anyone who likes fantasy but is tired of all the Tolkien knockoffs out there should give Vandermeer a try.

 

[Klagg]

I finished Backup, the Harry Dresden novelette, and am now rereading his Dead Beat. My next new book depends on which Amazon order arrives first, Hybrids by Robert J Sawyer or Blood Lite with another Dresden short story.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I finished Backup, the Harry Dresden novelette, and am now rereading his Dead Beat. My next new book depends on which Amazon order arrives first, Hybrids by Robert J Sawyer or Blood Lite with another Dresden short story.

Backup is out? Amazon is still telling me it's on pre-order.

 

[Klagg]

I bought directly from the publisher, Subterranean Press, which sent those orders out before sending to Amazon. But their shipment to Amazon was completed last week.

I paid extra for a signed and numbered edition. It was a nice but short story. I did not care for the art in it.

 

[Bob The Skutter]

I bought directly from the publisher, Subterranean Press, which sent those orders out before sending to Amazon. But their shipment to Amazon was completed last week.

I paid extra for a signed and numbered edition. It was a nice but short story. I did not care for the art in it.

Ah, I see. Amazon.co.uk is still saying the 31st. I wasn't sure if Subterranean would ship to the UK, so just ordered if from Amazon, the same with the limited edition Storm Front, but now Amazon says it's unavailable.

 

[Klagg]

I don't know the answer to that. But the publisher regularly posts on Jim Butcher's message board. You might try asking that question in this thread:

http://www.jimbutcheronline.com/bb/index.php/topic,6628.10.html

 

[S. Gomez]

One of the contributors to Extraordinary Engines, Jeff Vandermeer, created and explored the city of Ambergris and its world in his book City of Saints and Madmen, a collection of stories, which I read and loved several months ago. Now I'm reading Shriek: An Afterword, another book about Ambergris, this one in the form of a memoir by Janice Shriek about her brother Duncan, who she believes dead. He isn't, and he's making parenthetical replies to her story as she goes along.

Ambergris, despite the mysteries of the gray caps and the Silence and the violence of the Festival of the Freshwater Squid, seemed like it would be a really neat place to spend some time when I was reading the first book. Not so much here, as the book describes, among other things, the War of the Houses, the attack of the gray caps, and the Shift, still unexplained two thirds of the way through the book. This is a remarkable work of fantasy literature, with its well-drawn characters, its familiar but alien world, its suspense, and its distinctive narrative style. Anyone who likes fantasy but is tired of all the Tolkien knockoffs out there should give Vandermeer a try.

I saw City of Saints And Madmen in the bookstore a while back and thought it sounded interesting, but I wasn't sure whether or not it would be to "weird" for my tastes. I'll check it out one of these days.

 

[Steve Roby]

I saw City of Saints And Madmen in the bookstore a while back and thought it sounded interesting, but I wasn't sure whether or not it would be to "weird" for my tastes. I'll check it out one of these days.

It's weird, but it's not inaccessibly weird. I've read a few SF and fantasy books that play too many games with prose or plot to be enjoyable reading experiences. This isn't one of them. Though it has some literary and experimental elements, City of Saints and Madmen is always readable, usually compelling, sometimes funny, sometimes tragic.