June 2011 reading

reading Non stop Really enjoying it. Reminiscent of Hull Zero Three

starting audiobook Fuzzy Nation

I've just started Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh, still a bit confused if this is the first book in a series or prequel or just background filler for the universe her other books are set in, but I'm not having any issues with the plot.

I'm about halfway through Alanya to Alanya. I've set it aside for a bit... wondering if the man-hating ever gets any better. Also a bit horrified to think that this story represents what feminists REALLY think about men.

also have some YA fantasy stacked up... The Hunger Games, City of Bones, and just finished The Knife of Never Letting Go so will need to find the sequel pretty quick (as TKoNLG ends in a rather abrupt and steep cliffhanger)...

also working my way through Consider Phlebas

I just started Feed by Mira Grant. Very good so far. Might be one of the few zombie novels not to disappoint.

I just started Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi. I usually bounce off Scalzi, but so far this one is working for me.

#3 The Chaos Walking trilogy is excellent! I've been reading a lot of YA fiction recently (including the Hunger Games & the Uglies Series) and I've really enjoyed all of them, but the Chaos Walking books have been my favourite so far.

#1 I'm also working on the Fuzzy Nation audiobook. But the Audible download came with H Beam Piper's original Little Fuzzy also, so I'm listening to that first - I had never heard of Little Fuzzy until Scalzi announced his sequel/reboot/whatever. I'm enjoying Little Fuzzy quite a bit so far!

And I'm catching up on my Diana Wynne Jones. I finished Lives of Christopher Chant late last night and have started on Charmed Life. I'm sad I missed her books when I was a kid!

#3 I didn't spot much man-hating in Alanya to Alanya. Admittedly, Zeldin's husband is a bit of wet, and Sedgewick and the other executive men are monsters - but that's because they're executives. The executive women are just as bad.

#7 haven't spotted a 'good' man yet... admittedly I'm only halfway through... so far men are either monsters, thugs/stooges working for the monsters, or invisible... there was that one congressman that seemed somewhat interesting. I'll finish the story though... great premise, and horrifying world that she's built.

Starting up On Basilisk Station by David Weber.

5> Agent to the Stars is a fun read

2 Stretch

It is a standalone that acts as an anchor to many other books in the Alliance-Union/Company Wars setting. I'm a big Cherryh fan. What I will say is that I don't think it's the best Alliance-Union book.

Even if you think it's only so-so when you've finished it, please continue on :-) There are 4 'Merchanter' books that follow on: 'Merchanter's Luck', 'Rimrunners', 'Tripoint' and 'Finity's End and the two prequels 'Heavy Time' and 'Hellburner', which are also in the 'Devil to the Belt' omnibus. There is of course 'Cyteen' but I'd leave that until last.

The Merchanter books are standalones but should be read in order if possible. The two prequels are effectively a duology and should be read back to back.

If you end up reading 'Merchanter's Luck' and enjoy it, you should like the rest of the Merchanter books. The prequels are jolly good too. But I think you need 'Downbelow Station' as an anchor to provide a good swath of background.

:-)

#8 Elizabeth Weatherall turns into one of the great characters of sf, as much a monster as Sedgewick but much more finely shaded.

#4 by @tottman> If you like Feed, the sequel, Deadline, just came out today. Or yesterday maybe. Recently!

#10 Thanks @cosmicdolphin! I figured Downbelow Station was something along lines of a foundational book. The person who recommended it to me was not at all clear as to how it fit Cherryh's other books. So the info on reading order is much appreciated. So far I'm really enjoying it, much more complex than I intially thought, which is a good thing.

i got Deadline in last Saturdays post, it went on last months list.

Just started Zoo City, which most people here seem to have loved. So far, I agree!

Finished The Dervish House. I liked it, but felt it could have explored aspects of the characters deeper. Starting Ship Breaker, looks like a quick read.

cool, I just grabbed a kindle copy of The Dervish House for $1.99. Love those kindle sales!

Read Ship Breaker earlier this year and liked it a lot (I think more for the potential of the world than this actual story)... and yes it is a quick read.

just started unearthly neighbors by chad oliver which is suposed to be a s.f. classic

Finished On Basilisk Station. Found it to be similar to Elizabeth Moon's Familias Regnant series.

Moving on to Serpent's Reach by C. J. Cherryh. I've enjoyed it so far, much better than I liked Forty Thousand in Gehenna.

19 romula:

I found Serpent's Reach to be one of Cherryhs most straightforward novels. It's just a straight story. An enjoyable read. If you want to make your head explode read Wave Without a Shore which is the opposite end of the Spectrum in Cherryhs writing.

The first 6 Honor Harrington books are good, it deteriorates from there, with War of Honor being the bottom of the well.

20>

I haven't read Wave Without a Shore, but I have read quite a few of Cherryh's other books and enjoyed them. I just had a hard time getting into Forty Thousand in Gehenna for some reason.

I'd heard that about the Honor Harrington novels, and it's probably part of the reason it's taken me this long to start on them.

Forty Thousand in Gehenna is still on my list to read, if I remember correctly it's hooked in a little with Cyteen (which I also still have to read)

David Drakes RCN series is similar to Honor Harrington, but Drake maintains the quality level throughout the series. Where Weber has failed In the end I think.

I'm running scared from the Honor Harrington Juvies that are coming..sigh.

All of Cherryh's Union/Alliance books are a little bit "hooked in". One of my favourites is Angel with the Sword.

Angel with a Sword is on my list as well since it's the prequel to the Merovingen Nights shared world which I'd like to read. I always try and read 2 or 3 Cherryh a year, although so far I've steered clear of the Foreigner and Chanur series. If I see a Cherryh I don't have I generally just buy it and figure I'll get round to it eventually.

I have all of the Merovingen Night books, tho I've not read them all.

What's your opinion of the ones you have read Ian? I have the first 5 tucked away.

Once I finish what I'm currently reading (Black Holes and Baby Universes and Other Essays), I'm moving onto Theories of Flight. I enjoyed Equations of Life and I'm hoping the second book in the series is as good.

A lot of C.J. Cherryh's books take a bit of getting into: others slip down easily. I had to have two goes at 'Downbelow Station', for instance. The second time, it gelled.

#26 I've only read the first 3 and I enjoyed them.

I've read all of the Merovingen Nights books and I enjoyed them all. You get different kinds of stories because several writers wrote for their own parts of the overall story throughout all of the books. It was nicely done.

And, as #28 said, some of Cherryh's books are better than others, but remarkable for many being tied together in an overall universe.

Starting Ringworld as I scored a copy with The Ringworld Engineers and The Ringworld Throne (which I haven't read) - it's been many, many years since I read the first two...

Cherryh rarely if ever calls on asyouknowbob's services which makes for hard reading in some books.

#31: I don't care what the detractors say, I've always enjoyed the Ringworld books. The concept of the Ringworld seems more plausible than a "diskworld" (how and why use such a design) or a Dyson sphere. I really enjoyed Louis Gridley Wu's personality and identified with his being a recovering wire-head. Also, you just have to love the Ghoul's with their gruesome but noble niche in the system of things, and of course the protectors and tree of life root... oh and of course the Puppeteers. The Puppeteers just have to be a lampoon on human politics.

Wow. Just finished Non Stop. A real mind bender like Hull zero Three and 1984 to name a few. I'd give it 4/5 solid. This is going to stay with me for a while.

I've got to pick up Viriconium. That'll be my next read.

I'm half way through Fuzzy Nation on audio. Scalzi is a hoot.

I just finished re-reading The Inferior by Peadar O'Guilin. Now reading The Deserter by the same.

I've just finished Theories Of Flight which is the second Metrozone book. On to Degrees Of Freedom which is the third.

Reading The End of the Empire by Alexis A Gilliland.

So far, pretty decent.

I decided to read Transcendence by Sheffield instead. I read the first two of this series several years ago.

Not sure what to listen to yet.

Finished Serpent's Reach, moving on to Blade of Tyshalle.

I enjoyed Angel with a Sword and Festival Moon and have the rest of the Merovingen Nights on my wishlist.

Just finished Embassytown. It was a little bit of a slow start for me but I ended up really enjoying it. I'm moving on to Spin. I've been on the fence about reading it for a while but so far its been pretty good.

Finished Feed by Mira Grant and it was incredible!! Have to pick up Deadline when I get a chance. Now I'm onto The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N. K. Jemisin. Very interesting so far!!

Given up on Zoo city - I bought it as the Clarke Award Winner but, while being a well-written and stylish thriller set in the music scene in South Africa, it does not do much in the fantasy vein beyond familiars conferring a power on their owner. Now on Surface detail for some real sf goodness.

I've just finished Zoo City and really enjoyed it, though AlanPoulter above makes a valid point. There is at least one other kind of magic extant in the book though, which becomes significant later on in the story. But it isn't foregrounded very obviously and its existence doesn't become clear until it is needed in the plot. I liked the characters, the animals and the SA setting.

Am I the only person who really didn't like The hundred thousand kingdoms?! For me it didn't even come close to the hype, but I seem to be in a minority.

I'm most of the way through Babel-17, and finding it quite good even though I don't care for intergalactic space opera as such.

42: I gave up on Zoo City, too. It just didn't ever grab me, and eventually I got too bored with it and moved on to something else.

I'm another one who really enjoyed Zoo City. She's a talented writer. I want to pick up her Moxyland at some point.

@40, I have doomed Spin to my "never going to be read pile" by actually buying it ;) Let me know if it is worth halting my stream of incoming library books to pull off the shelf.

I'm mourning the fact that my massive library system (OhioLINK) doesn't seem to have managed to buy /any/ copies of Zoo City. How is that possible?!

I just finished and reviewed a Golden-Age-of-the-Pulps tale of sci-fi writers Asimov, Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and more, called The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown...my thread, post #124.

@47 Will do. It's been in that same pile for me too for the same reasons.

i very much enjoyed The hundred thousand kingdoms

Finished Altered Carbon last night which I enjoyed for the most part. I sometimes feel embarrased for authors when they write sex as I did here, other parts felt tacked on/forced, but I might give the sequels a chance sometime.

#52

The sequels are very different in feel. Broken Angels isn't a detective story, it is more a mil-sf story. There is still plenty of sex and violence from what I remember.

52 + 53: I liked the first two Takeshi Kovacs novels novels but not the third Woken Furies. Just couldn't finish it.

#35
Peadar will be pleased. I was at the book launches for both and, to my shame, have not read either yet. :-(

53 + 54> I liked Altered Carbon enough to give Morgan another go, I like mil - sf so maybe i can add Broken Angels to my ever growing TBR pile

I am reading (and absolutely enjoying!) David Zindell's Requiem for Homo Sapiens. Already finished Neverness and The Broken God and am currently on The Wild.

Once I finish, I think I will move on to Starship Troopers or The Man in the High Castle - two classics I haven't gotten to yet.

#56

Well whilst it is definitely military, it isn't the typical US (and they are typically US) mil-SF novel.

@56 - I think you'll like Broken Angels. It was definitely different than Altered Carbon and then Woken Furies is different from the first two. If you found the sex scenes embarrassing be prepared for more in BA. It was even more explicit if I remember correctly.

@43, 51 - I liked Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and The Broken Kingdoms but I can see why someone wouldn't. Personally I liked the concept of the gods being captured and used as weapons/servants but I did find myself asking at the end "Ok, did I just get tricked into reading two fantasy romance novels?" I could see either of them easily going the Harlequin romance route with a little editing.

#52 I agree with you there. I thought he had good concepts, but used too much sex and violence to make the story a fast paced read.

#54 Lol, my favorite was the 3rd one because it was the only one to deal with the issues and people hinted at in the first two novels. Brought it home for me.

I finished Zoo City as well. Mixed feelings about it--my comments on it are here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/117110#2742379

The Chanur books are my favorite Cherryhs, although I like a lot of her work. I haven't read much she's written since Cyteen--I really need to catch up on her work.

The South African setting was one of the things I liked best about Zoo City, maybe because it was similar-but-different to the kind of cities I'm familiar with, and that added a twist. I really like the SA bits of Tad Wiliams' Otherland too. That said, I also like the creepy-grimy-city thing of the New Weird, so maybe it was also an offshoot of that.

Finished Ringworld - interspersing some Nancy Collins between the Larry Niven books. Truthfully, there's almost nothing in Ringworld that I remember from my first read back in the 80s (an interesting book conceptually, I'm not sure if it's Hugo material though, but perhaps both my tastes and times have changed)...

#59 hah To me, outlander is romance plain and simple. I didn't get that feeling about Hundred Thousand Kingdoms tho.

I'm really enjoying Transvergence (physical book)

Started Glasshouse on audio

am reading Aftertime more zombies and well written. am hoping it turns into a romance its very grim at the moment.

I've moved on from Babel-17 to Empire Star, which is bound with it head-to-toe (the recent Vintage edition).

finished Consider Phlebas by Banks.... didn't get the title reference, otherwise was an enjoyable read.

re: Altered Carbon; read that a few years ago, and liked the story and setting well enough... but gratuitous torture scenes generally put me off. It's why I refuse to read anything more by Terry Goodkind (after reading Wizard's First Rule, which I loathed). So.. while I know Morgan is good.. I've been hesitant to pick up the next in the series.

have started Blackout by Connie Willis, and while I generally like Willis, I am wondering when this story is going to start... I'm into it for a 100 pages or so and it's mostly all been running around yelling at each other. I don't hate it or the idea or the characters (in fact I sort of like several of the characters) but I am a bit ... bemused, I guess. Contrast this with Kraken which was similar in that the story never seemed to go anywhere (at least as far as I was able to read, ~150 pages) .... but different in that I pretty much hated the characters and the settings (loved the premise though).

oh yeah, also finished the The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness (YA science fiction/fantasy), and liked it a lot. Recommend having the other two books of the trilogy on hand, however, because of the cliffhangers...

#68

A lot of running around in Blackout and the sequel. I'm afraid the plot is very thin and the research is poor.

No, 'Blackout' takes place in an alternate universe where the London Underground Jubilee Line was opened in 1935 for the Silver Jubilee of George V.... ;-)

(I'll get my anorak...)

> #43
On the Westeros forum, it seemed to me that about half the people who read THK liked it and the other half didn't. I haven't read it myself.

> #55
What?! As punishment, you must now hunt down and eat your dinner. :P

Just kidding. Speaking of Peadar's books, I just finished the second, The Deserter. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it was pretty good.

#68
Consider Phlebas
from The Waste Land, by T.S. Eliot:

"PHLEBAS the Phoenician, a fortnight dead,
Forgot the cry of gulls, and the deep seas swell
And the profit and loss.
A current under sea
Picked his bones in whispers. As he rose and fell
He passed the stages of his age and youth
Entering the whirlpool.
Gentile or Jew
O you who turn the wheel and look to windward,
Consider Phlebas, who was once handsome and tall as you."

A bit stretched, but the protagonist is an adventurer who dies....

Not reading anything at the moment but I liked the Google Guitar and thought I would post. It will probably change soon as I post it - you can play strings by moving the cursor over the google image.

http://www.google.com/

I admit to being abysmally and embarrassingly ignorant of poets & poetry (as a quick perusal of T.S. Eliot's wiki page makes clear). Fortunately that is something that I can rectify...

#68

Yeah, the chaos walking books practically end in the middle of a sentence. I probably would have been iritated if I had had to wait a year for the next book. Luckily I read all three in a row. I enjoyed them.

I recently finished re-reading The Maze Runner and then read The Scorch Trials by James Dashner. I enjoyed them, but still don't really know what is going on in that world or just who is pulling the strings. Also end in cliffhangers.

Finished Blade of Tyshalle, now on to either Caine Black Knife or Darwin's Children, depending on which one I can find.

Finished Ship Breaker, what a ride! Now starting Embassytown.

I just got Leviathans of Jupiter by Ben Bova. I have not read Bova in awhile and am looking forward to reading this one.

Just finished Spin. Good read that reminded me a bit of Greg Bear's The Forge Of God. Tempted to move on to the sequel Axis but I think I'll tackle Leviathan Wakes first.

Enjoying Glasshouse on audio

Reading the second book Convergence in Transvergence. I didn't realize it was an omnibus.

80: randalhoctor

Yes, the first 4 Books were Ombibused by Baen then there was a 5th and Final Book that didn't make it into Omnibus, Resurgence Which I'm going to pick up so I can read the series straight though.

Just finishing Childhood's End ... liking it despite some of the outdated stuff

I finished Embassytown, China Mieville's latest. I found it fascinating and one of his best. It really got my brain cells humming. It centers on the Language of an alien species that allows them only to speak truth, and their fascination with, and attraction to, the human ability to lie.

Finished American Gods the other night. Really good story and I liked it more than I thought I would after reading the plot summary. It'll be interesting to see how it translates into a HBO series. Moving on to the sequel novella The Monarch of the Glen from Fragile Things. Also picking up the audiobook for The Hunger Games just for something to listen to during the work commute.

I just finished The forever War by Joe Haldeman.

Regulating the growth of population by supporting/promoting homosexuality was new to me.

I've just finished "No time for heroes" by Sam Lundwall, and I intend to start reading The seedling stars by James Blish.

I started on Ursula Le Guin's A Wizard of Earthsea late last night. This should be a quick read. I was fairly certain I must have read it in the early 80's but I couldn't recall a thing about it. Upon starting it there was a slight familiarity, but I think now that it is just because i have read one of the later books long ago. Reading it is like a fresh book. I'm enjoying it as light fantasy.

#87 - I've been doing the same thing, rereading SF and Fantasy that I read so long ago that it seems new to me. Funny how some books just stick with you while others become forgotten completely...

#84: Neil Gaimen rocks. Fragile Things is great on audio btw.

#89 Thanks for the tip. I'll check into the audio version.

Yep #89, I like short story collections and that looks great - I put a copy on reserve at the library.

Speaking of Gaiman, just scored me some cheap Sandman comics. Looking forward to them.

#88 A Wizard of Earthsea turned out to be a much better book than I expected. It really turned out to be a journey of redemption and finding oneself and facing the dark side of the force long before there was Star Wars. I'm on the last few pages of it and am slightly mad at myself for not having read it sooner. In my younger days I read quite a bit of Le Guin and admired every bit of it so I can not quite figure why I stopped reading her work. I am going to remedy that situation however. My calling it a light fantasy was naive of me. Excellent young adult book.

93: I read A Wizard of Earthsea earlier this year and quite enjoyed it. It's held up remarkably. Le Guin wrote a brief article on the film version years ago:
http://www.slate.com/id/2111107/

smiles I had to refrain myself from commenting when you called it a light fantasy. i knew your opinion would change.

#92 My academic adviser (nuts! Google spell-check doesn't help me with the new LT text-entry gizmo box; please forgive my spelling errors) turned me on to Sandman comics. Pretty cool huh? Also introduced me to Neuromancer. Well it was a neuroscience program so I guess that kinda fits.

#93 My boss and pastor turned me on to Le Guin. I love her SF {THE LATHE OF HEAVEN, The Left Hand of Darkness, The Dispossessed} but snubbed the recommended A Wizard of Earthsea because its fantasy even though he gave me a CD with her commentary on it.

I just love how I keep ending up with such atypical advisers. Very cool.

#94 - thanks for the links to the comments by Le Guin. She is such an intelligent commentator. There is a more recent Earthsea, animated, by the Studio Ghibli folks (Miyazaki Jr in this case) that from what I read does not follow the story exactly either, but is rather a mashup of several things from various books.

#96 - I suspect why I never read the Earthsea books is because they were fantasy, unlike Le Guin's powerful science fiction, and thus I relegated them quite erroneously to second class status. I'm going to try and keep reading earthsea novels this year until they are done.

On the audio front: finished Glasshouse. Thought it was not bad. Started Hex a recent offering by Allen Steele, a stand-alone volume set in the Coyote universe.

Still reading the Transvergence omnibus. I'm almost certain I've read these before. It must have been long ago. Anyway, I'm loving it.

Read Agent to the Stars by John Scalzi in 2 days (fun read) and starting The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold

I'm currently in the middle of The Bone Palace by Amanda Downum. I don't read much secondary-world fantasy any more, I overdosed on it when i was younger. So this isn't quite hitting the spot for me, but it is really quite competently done and I intend to finish it.

I'm also about to finish The Stranger's Woes by Max Frei. I loved the first one, The Stranger, so it went to the top of the pile when it arrived. I'm not enjoying it as much as the first, and I'm wondering if it's something to do with the translation. The first one felt clumsy, but the story was charming enough that I didn't mind too much. This one is smoother, but has less charm.

Currently reading The Noise Within and The Noise Revealed for review.

Now reading Young Miles by Lois McMaster Bujold - trying to take in all the Miles Vorkosigan books...

#101: Ian, I've got The Noise Within lined up next.

#101, #103

And I've got The Noise Revealed ready. I've already read The Noise Within

Randal, don't bother.

Ian, thanks. I'll try my alternate The Stars, My Destination

I'm thinking it's time to reread Neuromancer, see how it holds up.

About to start Fuzzy Nation by John Scalzi.

Finished The Noise Revealed. I t was no better than The Noise Within.

Now reading God's War.

Just finished The Revolution from Rosinante and Long Shot for Rosinante by Alexis A. Gilliland

Half way through Pirates of Rosinante.

Enjoyed these a great deal, they remind me a bit of Allen Steele, a smoother read, and not as crazy with the characters.

No doubt I'll finish the third one today since we're 17 hours into a power cut which may last days according to the electric company.

It's a shame Gilliland only wrote 4 SF works.

Still listening to Hex.

Finished reading The Stars My Destination. I prefer the alternate title Tiger, Tiger. I thought it was very good. I plan to read more Alfred Bester.

Starting Dhalgren. I've been saving this for when I get in a pinch, bookwise, that is. So far; the writing is like poetry and the imagery is startlingly crisp, however, it seems dense like cheesecake served on double cream.

Love Bester - wait til you learn "Tenser, said the Tensor, Tenser said the Tensor. Tension, apprehension, and dissension have begun."

Reading Bujold's Borders of Infinity...

Just started Fallen Dragon, by Peter F Hamilton.

113: I enjoyed it.

Finished Leviathan Wakes. Trying to find something to fill the time until Flashback by Simmons or Heaven's Shadow by Goyer are released in early July.

Finally started reading The Scar by Mieville. For some reason, though I'm impressed by his books -- good writing, vivid & clever world-building, mind stimulating -- I'm resistant to reading them. I think it has to do with a slightly repellent quality I also feel in them. Not just gritty, but a bit grimy? Downbeat? Anyway, once I start, I love it.

Still working through Bujold - finished Brothers in Arms and started Mirror Dance...

>115 Beezlebug:: Flashback is out. Reviews are mixed, however.

Slowly working my way through The Dervish House but I'm flying through 47 Echo. This one has a Starship Troopers or Old Man's War feel except it's set on a near future earth without aliens.

Starting Expendable by James Alan Gardner

I read Feed by Mira Grant for the Hugos. It was decent enough, it I didn't like as much as everyone else seemed to.

I just finished re reading Asimov's The End of Eternity. It left me with a question. I remember reading a book as a kid in the 50's about changing history with minimal changes. It is similar to this book but I seem to remember the specific move made to change history was the lead character simply moved a child's block backward on a shelf so that the child did not see it. That was the MNC minimum necessary change.

Can anyone tell me the book or is my memory flawed. Thanx.

>121 beniowa: I agree with you about Feed. I found it a quick, light read. Enjoyable enough, but I was surprised that it got nominated for the Hugos.

Started in on The Dreaming Jewels by Sturgeon last night. (So much for my resolution to read more contemporary SF!)

122) I remember the book but not the title or author. I keep thinking Poul Anderson but that may be because of his Time Patrol books which aren't what you're talking about.

As I remember the scene you're referring to, a soup can was moved from one side of a spaceship galley shelf to the other which through a chain of events destroyed the spaceship and ended the space program for a time. I couldn't get a sufficiently detailed description of Asimov's The End of Eternity to make sure that scene wasn't in that book. :-)

>122 scifanatic: You might want to post your question to the "Name that Book" group. They might have some ideas.

http://www.librarything.com/groups/namethatbook

122, 126 hmm a short by kuttner maybe these seem familiar,

We'll I'm gonna bail out on Dhalgren. I'd been looking forward to reading it a long time. I'm on page 144. It's just moving too slow. The book is 801 pages. I'll dog ear the page just in case I decide to try it again.

Can anyone tell me if the name William Dhalgren written in a list in the stories notebook turn out to be a key character later on or even the protagonist himself?

I'm gonna start Embassytown.

#118. Thanks, I saw that and also the mixed reviews. I figure I'll give it a chance. Just finished The Hunger Games so now I'm completely out of things to read.

#128 No, he isn't. It's one of my favourite novels, by the way.

>129 Beezlebug: @Beezlebug You might read the Hunger Games sequels, Catching Fire and Mockingjay. They're really good, too.

tottman--thanks for the link to Name that book. I am new to this site and appreciate your help.

pjfarm-- it might be Poul Anderson. I will give his older stuff a try (ordered "Guardians of Time" to see if it the one). Thanks for the help.

I actually managed to finish a novel this month! Usurper of the Sun (B) is old school in terms of being more about ideas and concepts than characterization, and I don't necessarily mean that in a good way. That I give this novel a better rating than it might deserve just on the basis of literary quality is a comment on Nojiri having worked rather hard to imagine first contact with a species that really does have a totally alien agenda.

Reading Ringworld Engineers

Finished Caine Black Knife then moved on to The Honor of the Queen and The Short Victorious War. Just started In Conquest Born.

#131 Thanks. I saw those but was concerned that a lot of people said the quality went down through the trilogy. I'll probably pick them up sometime though.

Just finished the latest Culture novel from Iain Banks, Surface detail, which was wonderful! I left it on a plane to the US and had to buy another copy to finish it. While away, I bought paperbacks of Alastair Reynold's Diamond dogs, turquoise days and Bruce Sterling's The zenith angle in a wonderful second-hand bookshop in New Orleans.

Finished Hex on audio. It was ok.

Heartless by Gail Carriger. Enjoyed it.

Finished my read of The Dreaming Jewels, and reviewed it as part of the collection The Dreaming Jewels / The Cosmic Rape / Venus Plus X in which I read it.