So What Are you Reading?: Generations
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Flew through the majority of the Voyager relaunch series over the past month or so. It’s been years since a group of books gripped me so thoroughly.
Feeling a bit sad now that I didn’t have anymore Trek books to read so I’m moving onto TNG. I’d already read Before Dishonor because of the Voyager connection so I’m using that as a jumping on point and I’ve bought Greater Than The Sum to read next.
Feeling a bit sad now that I didn’t have anymore Trek books to read so I’m moving onto TNG. I’d already read Before Dishonor because of the Voyager connection so I’m using that as a jumping on point and I’ve bought Greater Than The Sum to read next.
There are so many great little worldbuilding details in that book. The chapter of Spock at the Federation Council meeting and the reveal of the two Talin ambassadors is a delight.
MONSTER, SHE WROTE: The Women Who Pioneered Horror & Speculative Fiction by Lisa Kroger and Melanie R. Anderson.
I'm really enjoying it so far. Along with reading about the usual suspects--Mary Shelley, Daphne Du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, etc., I'm learning a lot about lesser-known authors and their works. And the style is very breezy and conversational, not stuffy or academic at all.
EDIT: Hah! I was perusing the book when, lo and behold, I stumble onto a reference to a book I edited a few years back: BONEYARD by Seanan McGuire. That was a pleasant surprise.
I'm really enjoying it so far. Along with reading about the usual suspects--Mary Shelley, Daphne Du Maurier, Shirley Jackson, Anne Rice, etc., I'm learning a lot about lesser-known authors and their works. And the style is very breezy and conversational, not stuffy or academic at all.
EDIT: Hah! I was perusing the book when, lo and behold, I stumble onto a reference to a book I edited a few years back: BONEYARD by Seanan McGuire. That was a pleasant surprise.
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The newest Positively Trek Book Club episode is up, in which Bruce and I discuss the novel Deep Space Nine #11: Devil in the Sky by Greg Cox and John Gregory Betancourt. It was fun to talk about a novel set back in the early DS9 days!
Currently reading Voyager: To Lose the Earth by Kirsten Beyer.
Currently reading Voyager: To Lose the Earth by Kirsten Beyer.
Started on To Lose the Earth earlier
Had some time so since finishing To Lose The Earth (Good), i've gone through Strange Dogs, Auberon (Both by James S A Corey) , Blade of the Poisoner and Master of Fiends (Both by Douglas Hill). The latter two I haven't read in absoultely ages.
Now, it's The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal.
Now, it's The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal.
Nemesis Games by James S. A. Corey
I had been reading the TNG A Time to,,, series. But with the announcement of the new Picard novel the dark veil, I've had the urge to go read last, best hope by una mccormack. After that, I may read through the discovery novels, since I've been enjoying disco season 3 so far.
Finished reading the third Game of Thrones (actual series title, A Song of Ice and Fire), A Storm of Swords, back on October 3.Here is a copy if the review I posted on my personal Facebook page on October 4.
Well, it took me four months but I just finished reading the third book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (a.k.a., the Game of Thrones” series), A Storm of Swords (2000).
At the time it came out, this was the longest book in the series, weighing in at 973 pages long. (It was later topped by the fifth and most recently released book in the series in 2011, A Dance With Dragons (1,016 pages).)
A Storm of Swords follows A Game of Thrones (1996) and A Clash of Kings (1998), and is followed by A Feast for Crows (2005) and A Dance With Dragons (2011). There are two more volumes planned in the series, the titles of which have been announced as The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
The HBO “Game of Thrones” television series, which made it known to the non fantasy reading public, began in 2011 (the same year that the most recently released book came out) and ended in 2019. The first two seasons of the tv series adapted the first two novels (season one adapting A Game of Thrones and season two A Clash of Kings). Season three (which I will begin watching now that I’m done reading Swords), is said to adapt roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords, the second half of which is aired in season four.
Ok, all of that preamble done with, all I can really say about A Storm of Swords is *wow*. Author George R.R. Martin really ups the intrigue and surprises in this third installment.
While there were a few times when it seemed a bit too long, at the same time his cast of characters is so large and the scope of his fictional fantasy world is immense that by this point it really is like reading one insanely long novel rather than several separate ones.
Martin’s formula throughout the series is to have a number of “point of view” characters, each chapter told from the view point of each of these characters. At times it can be a bit frustrating because (quite intentionally, I’m sure) Martin will end one chapter with a major surprise or cliffhanger and then spend the next three or four chapters jumping around to other characters in far off other corners of Westeros (he never has the same point of view character focus in two chapters in a row, although the character can *appear* in the following chapter seen from the vantage point of a different character).
And, oh, the surprises are many in this third book. Without going into specific plot points (because A) some of you might still want to read the books or watch the tv series and I don’t want to spoil the big moments, and B) for those who haven’t already read the first couple books in the series it wouldn’t make much sense anyway), I will say that George R.R. Martin is definitely not afraid to kill off major characters. Several of them are killed over the course of A Storm of Swords, irrevocably changing the landscape of the “War of the Five Kings”, and others are betrayed by those closest to them.
The characters this time are mainly the same as those on the previous two books. Some remain the focal points of the story, while at least one or two get a bigger role than they had in A Clash of Kings (the second book) while some others from A Clash of Kings barely appear at all in A Storm of Swords (and one major character from A Clash of Kings does not appear at all, although I read that he will return in subsequent books in the series).
My favorite characters remain largely the Lannisters (Tyrion, Cersei, Jaime, and Lord Tywin), Catelyn Stark, Arya Stark, and Jon Snow. Sansa Stark begins the novel still trapped in Kings Landing and finds that her circumstances have not really improved with the events of the previous novel. Likewise, Tyrion finds that the arrival of his and Cersei’s father, Lord Tywin, has not made his life easier either, especially with the wedding of King Joffrey soon to be held. Indeed, there are *three* weddings in this book, two of which go horribly wrong for major characters.
I could go more into detail about what happens but I don’t see a reason to do so. Those who are interested in this series probably have already read it or and already planning to do so, or have satisfied themselves with watching the tv series (which, after the fourth or fifth season had to go largely its own way since they got ahead of what Martin had written). And those who aren’t interested aren’t going to be swayed by me in this little review.
Suffice it to say, I remain hooked by this series and I look forward to A Feast for Crows, A Dance of Dragons, and the two as of yet unpublished novels after that. (I guess I should feel thankful that I didn’t start reading this series until last year. Those who started reading it earlier have had to wait five years between A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows, six years between Crows and A Dance With Dragons, and *ten* years between Dragons and the next book, The Winds of Winter, assuming that it actually comes out in 2021.
I give A Storm of Swords four stars out of five on GoodReads, and would easily give it four and a half stars if GoodReads allowed for half stars.
Well, it took me four months but I just finished reading the third book in the “A Song of Ice and Fire” series (a.k.a., the Game of Thrones” series), A Storm of Swords (2000).
At the time it came out, this was the longest book in the series, weighing in at 973 pages long. (It was later topped by the fifth and most recently released book in the series in 2011, A Dance With Dragons (1,016 pages).)
A Storm of Swords follows A Game of Thrones (1996) and A Clash of Kings (1998), and is followed by A Feast for Crows (2005) and A Dance With Dragons (2011). There are two more volumes planned in the series, the titles of which have been announced as The Winds of Winter and A Dream of Spring.
The HBO “Game of Thrones” television series, which made it known to the non fantasy reading public, began in 2011 (the same year that the most recently released book came out) and ended in 2019. The first two seasons of the tv series adapted the first two novels (season one adapting A Game of Thrones and season two A Clash of Kings). Season three (which I will begin watching now that I’m done reading Swords), is said to adapt roughly the first half of A Storm of Swords, the second half of which is aired in season four.
Ok, all of that preamble done with, all I can really say about A Storm of Swords is *wow*. Author George R.R. Martin really ups the intrigue and surprises in this third installment.
While there were a few times when it seemed a bit too long, at the same time his cast of characters is so large and the scope of his fictional fantasy world is immense that by this point it really is like reading one insanely long novel rather than several separate ones.
Martin’s formula throughout the series is to have a number of “point of view” characters, each chapter told from the view point of each of these characters. At times it can be a bit frustrating because (quite intentionally, I’m sure) Martin will end one chapter with a major surprise or cliffhanger and then spend the next three or four chapters jumping around to other characters in far off other corners of Westeros (he never has the same point of view character focus in two chapters in a row, although the character can *appear* in the following chapter seen from the vantage point of a different character).
And, oh, the surprises are many in this third book. Without going into specific plot points (because A) some of you might still want to read the books or watch the tv series and I don’t want to spoil the big moments, and B) for those who haven’t already read the first couple books in the series it wouldn’t make much sense anyway), I will say that George R.R. Martin is definitely not afraid to kill off major characters. Several of them are killed over the course of A Storm of Swords, irrevocably changing the landscape of the “War of the Five Kings”, and others are betrayed by those closest to them.
The characters this time are mainly the same as those on the previous two books. Some remain the focal points of the story, while at least one or two get a bigger role than they had in A Clash of Kings (the second book) while some others from A Clash of Kings barely appear at all in A Storm of Swords (and one major character from A Clash of Kings does not appear at all, although I read that he will return in subsequent books in the series).
My favorite characters remain largely the Lannisters (Tyrion, Cersei, Jaime, and Lord Tywin), Catelyn Stark, Arya Stark, and Jon Snow. Sansa Stark begins the novel still trapped in Kings Landing and finds that her circumstances have not really improved with the events of the previous novel. Likewise, Tyrion finds that the arrival of his and Cersei’s father, Lord Tywin, has not made his life easier either, especially with the wedding of King Joffrey soon to be held. Indeed, there are *three* weddings in this book, two of which go horribly wrong for major characters.
I could go more into detail about what happens but I don’t see a reason to do so. Those who are interested in this series probably have already read it or and already planning to do so, or have satisfied themselves with watching the tv series (which, after the fourth or fifth season had to go largely its own way since they got ahead of what Martin had written). And those who aren’t interested aren’t going to be swayed by me in this little review.
Suffice it to say, I remain hooked by this series and I look forward to A Feast for Crows, A Dance of Dragons, and the two as of yet unpublished novels after that. (I guess I should feel thankful that I didn’t start reading this series until last year. Those who started reading it earlier have had to wait five years between A Storm of Swords and A Feast for Crows, six years between Crows and A Dance With Dragons, and *ten* years between Dragons and the next book, The Winds of Winter, assuming that it actually comes out in 2021.
I give A Storm of Swords four stars out of five on GoodReads, and would easily give it four and a half stars if GoodReads allowed for half stars.
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