Jean (Majkia) : 2016 edition: Secrets, Swords, Sorcery and Space Ships

BOOKS READ


PAGES READ


ROOTS


BOOKS BOUGHT



State of the TBR Challenge: 20/24

First Quarter Reads

January
1. A Royal Pain - Rhys Bowen ROOT, RTT Theme
2. Zer0es - Chuck Wendig - ROOT, DeweyCAT, AlphaKIT Z
3. Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson - TBR Challenge, ROOT, SFFFKIT
4. An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, BingoPUP
5. Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham - - AlphaKIT, SFFKIT, ROOT, BINGO DOG (survival story)
6. Princess Elizabeth's Spy - Susan Elia MacNeal - - ROOT, BingoPUP, RTT
7. A Dangerous Talent - Charlotte Elkins - - ROOT, BingoPUP, AlphaKIT



February
1. Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey - - SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT, BingoDog, ROOT
2. Jumper - Steven Gould - 9. Jumper - Steven Gould - AlphaKIT, ROOT, BingoDOG
3. The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT
4. The Doomsday Key - James Rollins - ROOT, AlphaKIT


March
1. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - ROOT, TBR Challenge
2. Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - AlphaKIT, ROOT, SF/SFFKIT
3. The Courbet Connection - Estelle Ryan - - ROOT
4. The Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson -

Second Quarter Reads

April
1. A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny - ROOT
2. Where Serpents Sleep - C.S. Harris - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
-. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Valente - Did Not Finish - ROOT
3. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, SF/SFFKIT
4. Half a Crown - Jo Walton - - AlphaKIT, ROOT
5. Hominids - Robert J. Sawyer - - AlphaKIT, ROOT
6. Trapped - Kevin Hearne - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
7. The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
8. The Devil Colony - James Rollins - Sigma Force 7 - ROOT, AlphaKIT

May
1. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, SF/SFFKIT
2. The Alphabet House - Jussi Adler-Olsen - ROOT, AlphaKIT
3. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, AlphaKIT
4. Cibola Burn - James S.A. Corey - - The Expanse Book 4 - - ROOT from 2014, SF/SFFKIT
5. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves - - ROOT from 2015, RandomCAT, TBR Challenge
6. The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, AlphaKIT, ROOT
7. A Meeting at Corvallis - S.M. Stirling - - TBR Challenge, ROOT
8. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam - - TBR Challenge, ROOT, AlphaKIT

June
1. The Chronoliths - Robert Charles Wilson - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT
2. Red Rising - Pierce Brown - - ROOT, AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT
3. Seventy-Seven Clocks - Christopher Fowler - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
4. Nexus - Ramez Naam - - TBR Challenge, ROOT, AlphaKIT
5. Fated - Benedict Jacka - - ROOT, AlphaKIT
6. Red Gold - Alan Furst - - ROOT, AlphaKIT

Third Quarter Reads

July
1. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT
2. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton - - ROOT, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT
3. Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, RandomCAT
4. The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton - -ROOT, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT

August
1. Artifact - Gregory Benford
2. The Fallen Blade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
3. The Ghost Brigades - John Scalzi
4. Spartan Gold - Clive Cussler
5. Bloodline - James Rollins

September
1. Echo - Jack McDevitt - ROOT, AlphaKIT
2. At the Sign of the Crow and Moon - Mitchell Hogan
3. Crucible of Souls - Mitchell Hogan
4. Hammerfall - C.J. Cherryh - DNF
5. Nemesis Games - James S.A. Corey
6. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl
7. The Wheel of Darkness - Preston/Child
8. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves
9. Search the Dark - Charles Todd
10. Monster Hunter International - Larry Correia

Fourth Quarter Reads

October

DNF Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Safon
1. When Gravity Fails - George Alec Effinger
2. What Remains of Heaven - C.S. Harris
3. The Palace Job - Patrick Weekes
4. I Am Half-Sick of Shadows - Alan Bradley
5. The Raphael Affair - Iain Pears
6. Warchild - Karin Lowachee
7. The Secret Vanguard - Michael Innes
8. Death and the Lit Chick - G. M. Malliet
9. Ice Blue - Emma Jameson

November
1. Dead Water - Ann Cleeves
2. A Death in Vienna - Daniel Silva
3. Timebound - Rysa Walker
4. The Ace of Skulls - Chris Wooding
5. Seveneves - Neal Stephenson
6. Neuromancer - William Gibson

December
1. Angel with Two Faces - Nicola Upson
2. Brat Farrar - Josephine Tey
3. Legacy of the Dead - Charles Todd
4. Cold Fire - Kate Elliot
5. Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esselmont
6. The Pucelle Connection - Estelle Ryan
7. There Came Both Mist and Snow - Michael Innes
8. The Iron Tactician - Alastair Reynolds
9. The Thousand Names - Django Wexler

TBR for 2016

Primary:

✔ 1. Toll of the Hounds - Steven Erikson Completed January
✔ 2. Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson Completed March
✔ 3. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson Completed April
✔ 4. The Protector's War - S. M. Stirling Completed May
✔ 5. A Meeting at Corvalis - S.M. Stirling Completed May
✔ 6. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton Completed April
✔ 7. Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton
✔ 8. Evolutionary Void - Peter F Hamilton
✔ 9. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves Completed May
✔ 10. Blue Lightning - Ann Cleeves Completed September
✔ 11. Dead Water - Ann Cleeves Completed October
12. Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Alternate:

✔ 1. The Raphael Affair - Ian Pears - Completed May
✔ 2. The Flanders Panel- Arturo Perez-Reverte Completed May
✔ 3. Brat Farrar- Josephine Tey Completed December
4. The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon DNF
5. The Stockholm Octavo- Karen Engleman
✔ 6. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam Completed May
7. Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell
8. Excalibur - Bernard Cornwell
✔ 9. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercombie - Completed March 1
10. Heroes - Joe Abercrombie
✔ 11. The Last Dickens - Matthew Pearl Completed September
✔ 12. Nexus - Ramez Naam

Welcome to the New Year. I'll drop my star off here, and lurk around a bit as I've done before. Happy reading!

With you all the way.

I'll be following along. :)

Hi everyone, thanks for dropping by.

Janny, I saw you mentioning The Element of Fire elsewhere. I do need to get to that. It's been in the TBR for years. I so loved her Raksura works.

I'll be keeping an eye on Green Dragon reading, knowing full well I'm exposing myself to masses of BBs. But hey, hearing about good books is what it is all about!

I'm hoping to keep up posting this year. Last year I fell off the wagon (although I did keep reading, so that was a positive) after the mother-in-law passed away and we spent a month of pure hell with the remainder of the family as they feuded and kept trying to get us to take sides. Alas, we own the house she was living in, so we're still stuck going back but I don't think it will be for as long a time. Jim is just as upset with them all as I am.

Hopefully I won't get as upset and depressed this year. Wishing all a better 2016.

Wishing you a wonderful 2016 in all aspects of your life, but especially reading.

>11 majkia: May you have 365 days of happy reading memories this coming year, and here's hoping the family will realize that stuff is just stuff, but family is essential.

>7 majkia: May I just put in a good word for one of the authors under your Alternate category? Arturo Perez-Reverte. He's an interesting author -- I enjoyed The Seville Communion and discussed it with two book groups. I can't recall now if I read The Flanders Panel, but I do perhaps want to vouch for and nudge him up in your TBR pile.

>7 majkia: & >14 jillmwo:

I would second the vote for Arturo Perez-Reverte. I have read and enjoyed many of his books. The Seville Communion is a particular favourite. The first of his books that I read was The Dumas Club and that was closely followed by The Flanders Panel which I also thoroughly enjoyed.

Each of his novels, apart from his Captain Alatriste series, are all quite different from one another but all are enjoyable.

Very glad to hear good things about Arturo Perez-Reverte. His books sound like they are exactly what I will enjoy. Day one of the year and I've already got BBs. :)

>13 MrsLee: You know, it wasn't (isn't) even about stuff they are feuding. Long simmering resentments I guess. The irony being the MIL played favorites, and it is the two (of four) kids she loved most, and often stated it, who are feuding with one another.

I hope your family issues will soon settle down, and you'll be able to relax and enjoy your reading, and life in the sunny south. Happy New Year!

1. A Royal Pain - Rhys Bowen - ROOT, RTT Theme, BingoPUP - about a spy

First book of the year, a hold over from 2015 which I just couldn't finish in time.

Enjoyable cozy mystery with a likable if somewhat dizzy heroine who muddles her way through, as the queen asks her to look into the mysterious occurrences surrounding the visiting princess from Bavaria.

Lighthearted even if there are a couple of murders. Love her granddad.

I hope that 2016 is a good year for you in all ways, and that the family drama is resolved quickly and painlessly. In the meantime, I hope that you find many good books to escape into. Looking forward to following you this year.

We're doing Malice at the Palace by Rhys Bowen as the January selection for the township mystery group. It is one of the more recent ones featuring that amateur sleuth, and I'm hoping the series holds up.

>20 jillmwo: I'll be interested in what you think of it!

Starred. Happy reading!

Can't wait to see what you think of the end of the Malazan epic.

Feeling like I should already know, but what is ROOT?

A ROOT is a book from my TBR, to fulfill the ROOT challenge at: http://www.librarything.com/topic/210960

ROOT stands for Reading Our Own Tomes.

>23 aviddiva: I was going to ask the same thing.

Thanks for the answer.

Wishing you a great year ahead - may life treat you kindly and leave you plenty of time to enjoy your reading.

I really enjoyed Element of Fire - while obviously earlier in her career, it wound up very nicely, gave me a sorta Musketeers feel, which I loved.

Happy new year - I hope it is a less stressful, more rewarding one and many good books.

Hey everyone, thanks for visiting.

It is the day before my 9th Thingaversary so I thought I'd give a State of Play for LT:

Plans for this year: I planned to focus on series I've begun and with that read the tomes I've been slow to read because I've been too focused on number of books read, as opposed to reading the books I've put off because they are Loooooong.

I'm now having withdrawal or some such regret as it is now nearly the middle of the month and I only have one book finished. Eeep. Granted I'm about 2/3rds of the way through Toll the Hounds and Erikson writes so densely and this book in particular is so full of ideas, that it's been slow going although I'm loving every page of it.

I'm 3/4 of the way through Zer0es which is also intriguing and interesting. Hope to get that done today or tomorrow.

Another goal I had (which I knew was hopeless) was to limit the number of books I buy. Well, duh. Too many good sales to pass up for books I've wanted for awhile. At least I can count most of them toward my Thingaversary purchases:

1. Rewinder -Brett Battles
2. Well of Ascension Brandon Sanderson
3. The Hero of Ages - Brandon Sanderson
4. The Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
5. Shadows of Self - Brandon Sanderson
I still haven't read the first Mistborn book, but as these were on sale and I hope to get to the first of the series this year, I got them.
6. Luna: New Moon - Ian McDonald
I love his writing so wanted this one badly. Could not resist the sale.
7. Neuromancer - William Gibson
I can't believe I don't own this. Maybe I bought this before I joined LT? Anyway, caved.
8. Steal the Sky - Megan O'Keefe
Steampunk, with a good review or three. Caved.
9. Mycroft Holmes - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
I do love a pastiche.

Also, to Grow On:
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
Another steampunk that sounded good.

Happy Thingaversary! That looks like a good bunch of books.

>29 majkia: Happy early Thingaversary! What great books you've got to look forward to.

A great start to a new year! My reading is suffering tremendously this month. Only half way through a very long novel and I'm not sure why I don't stop, because I'm not loving it. On the other hand, my husband is finally wanting to sit and watch the Hobbit movies with me in the evening, so that eats up my reading time. By the time dinner is cooked and eaten and we've watched the movie until he falls asleep (he could never make it through a whole movie), I have about half an hour left to read.

Happy Thingaversary!

That looks like a super list of books. I am looking forward to Ian McDonald's Luna. I like his work also.

Happy Thingaversary! May the year ahead bring many happy hours of reading to you!

I have The Watchmaker on my shelf.

>35 catzteach: So do I. Maybe we could try and do a group read of it.

>35 catzteach:, >36 Sakerfalcon: That sounds good!

2. Zer0es -Chuck Wendig



Hackerpunk. Young hackers are caught and offered an out. Don't go to jail, instead go to work for the government. When they get there, they start to question just what the heck is going on. What is going on becomes more and more bizarre the deeper and better they hack.

Interesting premise with AI and goverments vying for dominance and just what can go wrong when they do.

Happy Thingaversary - enjoy your reading, it looks like a great stash.

Just started The Watchmaker of Filigree Street Quite good, so far.

>36 Sakerfalcon: >37 majkia: I would do a group read!

We're RVing at Topsail Hill Preserve State Park again. We'll be here until the end of February.

Sunset this evening:

Beautiful!

Envious.

>42 majkia: Wonderful photo!

And the beach:

That looks so serene! Lovely!

>46 majkia: Such pretty blues!

>46 majkia: *happy sigh* I relax just looking at that photo (and feel warmer - it's subzero in London today).

>46 majkia: So peaceful looking.

3. Toll the Hounds - Steven Erikson



Erikson is a master at winding threads upon threads through and around each other. Complex motives, deeply emotional themes, and amazing characters are forced to find their way through a landscape torn by war, greed, selfish desire and horror. But there is always hope.

At 850 or so pages, it was a slow read for me, mainly because it is so dense and deep at times, not to mention attempting to keep all the threads and the characters straight in my head.

4. An Expert in Murder - Nicola Upson



Good start to a series. Set in London between the wars, Josephine Tey is a well known playwright. She meets a young girl on a train down to London and things go from great to horrid in a flash.

Lots of confounding and confusing information presented so that the mystery was difficult to guess which is a very good thing. I enjoyed the main characters and they were well drawn and fully fleshed out. The theater setting was intriguing too.

Ooh, sounds good! book bullet bullseye!

5. Day of the Triffids - John Wyndham



Horror tale about a dystopia where nearly everyone goes blind from watching a spectacular meteorite display. Holds up well and is just as scary now as it was back in the day when I first read it. Also, the original movie is terrific.

>54 majkia: I really enjoyed The Day of the Triffids. I also enjoyed The Midwitch Cuckoos, another of Wyndham's books that has been turned into a film on a number of occasions.

>54 majkia: Both this one and The Chrysalids are on my TBR pile. I remember reading TC when I was at school but don't remember the story, but have never actually read TDOTT (or seen the film)

I haven't read The Chrysalids but have enjoyed both Triffids and The Midwitch Cuckoos with DOTTs better IMO.

I enjoy his writing. Very matter of fact, no blood and gore or over-description to take away from the actual plot.

Day of the Triffids has been a favourite of mine ever since I first read it in my early teens. It has held up very well over the years.

6. Princess Elizabeth's Spy - Susan Elia MacNeal



A period spy thriller starring the less than perfect (and that's a good thing) Maggie Hope. This round Maggie is assigned to protect the young Princess when MI5 believes there is a plot to kidnap her.

I had some issues with this book The ending. Firstly, it seemed to be lifted nearly entirely out of Enigma. And, I found the whole escape the sub and no one is near the exit to stop them from just opening it and getting out??

Still, I'll read a least a few more if not the whole series since I enjoy the characters and enjoy the books.

7. A Dangerous Talent - Charlotte Elkins




First in the Alix London series, a series about art forgery and theft. I love stories about art so I enjoyed this quite a bit. Colorful setting, not so much romance that it bothered me, and a pretty good mystery to boot.

>59 majkia: I've read two Maggie Hope mysteries. I have enjoyed them both. I'll read another when I come across it.

January Reading Summary:

Despite the distractions of RVing and quite a few hardware training classes for our county's poll workers in light of Florida's upcoming Presidential Primary, I managed to read 7 books.

Oldest was written in 1951 - The Day of the Triffids newest was written in 2015 - Zer0es

Longest was Toll the Hounds at 850 very densely written pages, shortest was A Dangerous Talent at 270, with a total page count for the month : 2820

One 5 star read - Toll the Hounds

4 female authors/3 males

All 7 were ROOTS.

I read:
3 period mysteries
1 contemporary art mystery
2 sci fi
1 epic fantasy

8. Abaddon's Gate - James S.A. Corey -

- SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT, BingoDog, ROOT

Third Book in The Expanse Series. I just love this series and find the books nearly unputdownable.

James Holden, the guy who always seems to find himself in the middle of a major mess, mostly not of his own accord, is such a great character. He's far from perfect, and knows it. He doesn't see himself a a mover and a shaker, more a poor guy who keeps stepping into it, and can't quite understand why that is. At the same time, when he finds himself faced with unbelievable odds or incredible aliens, for that matter, tries his hardest to do what he thinks is right, regardless of whether anyone else sees things his way. He just hopes his crew, at least, will come around to his way of thinking.

This time round, Holden is determined to avoid the mysterious object deep in space that has Mars, Earth and the Belters scrambling to reach it and control it. He wants nothing whatever to do with it. But then he finds himself and his ship and crew maneuvered into having to go precisely there.

He blames the protovirus which seems to have some weird control over him for this and hates his being controlled by it.

And from there, things go pear-shaped.

9. Jumper - Steven Gould



When a teenager is threatened with serious bodily harm by his abusive father, he 'jumps' through space and arrives at a place where he feels safe. Finally driven into real fear, he runs away, and finds his way in the world to discover he can 'jump' at will.

Afraid, and alone, he fumbles his way toward adulthood while searching to learn if he is unique or if there are other jumpers out there.

Not bad for a coming of age story. Characters are likeable and the storyline, although not constantly filled with action, still kept me reading.

Is this the same story as the movie way back when that starred the kid who played Annikan/Darth Vader?

>63 majkia: Hah, was afraid that you hit me with a book bullet there, but checking my spreadsheet I noticed that you have already added this series to my wishlist at an earlier date.

>65 catzteach: I think the movie used some of the concepts from the book, but the plot, as I remember it from the movie, is nothing whatever like this book.

>66 LunaticDruid: Hah! I do love the series, and have really enjoyed the TV series SyFy has done of the first book Leviathan Wakes. I should add that I get so involved in the books I have to read them quite fast.

10. The Aeronaut's Windlass - Jim Butcher - - ROOT, SF/SFFKIT, AlphaKIT



Steampunk adventure story featuring a wildly inventive world where some people are crossed with creatures, and where cats talk and plot alongside humans, with aeronauts who lock ships of the air in mortal combat and aetheriests see the future whilst giving up their sanity.

Can't wait for book 2!

“Shivers heaved out a sigh. “Just trying to make tomorrow that bit better than today is all. I’m one of those … you’ve got a word for it, don’t you?”

“Idiots?”

He looked sideways at her. “It was a different one I had in mind.”

“Optimists.”

“That’s the one. I’m an optimist.”

“How’s it working out for you?”

“Not great, but I keep hoping.”

“That’s optimists. You bastards never learn.”
― Joe Abercrombie, Best Served Cold

>69 majkia: haha awesome dialog!

>69 majkia: How true!

I gave Jumper 3* too. If you ever come across born to exile it's a fantasy version of a similar theme without the domestic abuse.

>68 majkia: Just finished the third Harrey Dresden. I want to read more of Butcher. I'll have to check this series out!

>69 majkia: Love the characters that Abercrombie has created. I really should get back to his books sometime soon.

>73 catzteach: - be aware that Jim's series' are very different from each other. Whilst I love what he's done with Harry, I'm much less keen on some of his other work, and actively disliked the Fury set.

>75 reading_fox: Thanks for the warning. I'll still give him a chance. But maybe stay away from the Fury set. ;)

>75 reading_fox: and >75 reading_fox: I enjoyed the Fury set but it was admittedly not nearly as good as his Harry Dresdens. Given that, I think The Aeronaut's Windlass shows a potential to be better yet. He's grown as a writer and it shows. His characters are deeper and more complex.

11. The Doomsday Key - James Rollins - ROOT, AlphaKIT



ROOT, AlphaKIT

Good entry to the Sigma Force series. This time they're searching for a cure to a runaway fungal agent that is killing folks across the world. And the Guild is involved from the start. But why? And how?

Pretty much non-stop action, with the usual twists and turns. I do like the crew too.

12. Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - TBR Challenge, ROOT





Fourth in the First Law Series. Joe Abercrombie's world is bloody, uncompromising and full of death and destruction. Not to mention a lot of gallows humor.

A former female general is saved on the brink of death after she'd been betrayed by her boss, so she is determined to kill everyone who was involved in her and her brother's betrayal. She assembles quite the group to help her including a former prisoner, a poisoner and his assistant, a Northman who wants to become a better man, and a couple of others who join up along the way.

But what will drive her if she ever does manage to kill all 7 of her enemies. And it won't bring back her dead brother either.

Abercrombie is strong on characterization and world building. Even if not one person you meet along the way has more than a trace of praise-worthy traits, you still find yourself hoping somehow they'll manage to survive the experience.

79> I think I've got Best Served Cold back in my TBR pile at home.

13. Lockstep - Karl Schroeder



Quite different from the usual far future sci fi I've read, this one postulates that FTL is never solved and so hibernation is the only way to travel to distant stars. And, beyond that, setting entire planets or groups of nation-states on scheduled 'lockstep timelines' where the society is awake for a few weeks or months, then hibernate for different lengths of time, allow humans to trade and visit other similar societies.

Lots of political and religious overtones as well as family dynamics color the action and the people involved.

What with being busy with working the polls and training poll workers, my reading has really slowed. Hoping to fix that now!

14. The Courbet Connection - Estelle Ryan - ROOT, BingoPUP
Genevieve Leonard series, book 5



Good entry to the series, with the team being assisted by another non-neurotypical young man, which gives Jenny a chance to grow more in her dealings with people. The case is grim, with the team trying to discover missing college students, one of whom is a friend of one of their own.

We're RVing again at St George Island State Park in Florida. We were rained out all weekend but Monday was gorgeous.

15. Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen 9



Postitioning that many characters to participate in the downfall of the Crippled God makes my head hurt! Wow. As usual, bloody, philosophical and often damn depressing to see otherwise sane folks think violence and war answers anything.

Looking forward to slogging my way through The Crippled God so I can finally get to The Forge of Darkness!

Summary for March: I finished only 4 books for March but in my admittedly weak defense, one was 912 pages long, another was 816 pages long.

Total books: 4 Total pages: 2406

2 epic fantasy, 1 science fiction, 1 mystery/thriller

Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie - 912 pages
Lockstep - Karl Schroeder - 352 pages
The Courbet Connection- Estelle Ryan - 326 pages
Dust of Dreams - Steven Erikson - 816 pages

2 were from my TBR list, 1 was a gift, all were ROOTs

16. A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny


Seventh book in the Gamache series. As usual, murder happens in the tiny, apparently most dangerous town, in Quebec. And, as usual, the murder is about art. But it is also about light and dark and forgiveness and pain.

17. Where Serpents Sleep - C.S. Harris - AlphaKIT, ROOT - 4th in the Sebastian St Cyr series


More complexity added to poor Sebastian's life. So of course he dives into a puzzle bought to him by Hero.

The series attempts to paint the misery of the time, and here it delves into the horrors that arise for women, of many different social standings.

>84 majkia: You're almost there! You're in for a great ride :) I'm trying to hold off on the Kharkanas trilogy until they're all written. We'll see how long that lasts.

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making - Catherynne M. Calente


DNF - Did Not Finish.

I've tried this for a week and I still don't care what happens to this girl. Giving up. Will count as a ROOT but as nothing else.

89> I ended up DNFing on that book too. Valente's been hit or miss with me. I didn't care much for Six-Gun Snow White either, but I absolutely loved her In the Night Garden.

>89 majkia: >90 pwaites: That's a shame, I loved the title of that one and was very tempted to give it a try - but I shall take this as a warning that all may not be as tempting as it at first appears.

>89 majkia: I gave up on that one, too. It was awful!

Gee, I had no idea so many folks wouldn't like The Girl. I feel better now!

>93 majkia: I enjoyed it a lot, but it's definitely not for everyone. Like pwaites, Valente is a bit hit and miss with me, though for me it was In the Night Garden I couldn't get through. (It was gorgeous and intricate and I don't know why it didn't work for me. It's everything I enjoy in a story normally.) With the Fairyland books it took me until the third book to bounce off the series as a whole.

18. The Crippled God - Steven Erikson - Malazan Book of the Fallen 10 and Last


The last book of the Fallen. Amazing.
As usual, finishing a wonderfully complex and fascinating series is sad even if it is also satisfying.

Amazing that Erikson can wrap up such a series that had so many characters, threads and motives and themes. Not everything was wrapped up, there are still questions in my mind, but it was surely enough of closure to feel satisfied and still surprised. THe series certainly didn't go where we all must have believed it would go when we started out on this journey.

And, of course, it said a lot about the human condition, our prejudices, our fears, our conceits and yes, our hopes.

In a mere 1200 pages.

19. Half a Crown - Jo Walton Last in the Farthing Trilogy



Fine ending to an unsettling alternate history trilogy where Germany won WWII and holds sway over most of the world.

ROOT, AlphaKIT

20. Hominids by Robert J. Sawyer



Very interesting take on alternate/parallel worlds. This one has Neanderthals beating out our types rather than the other way round.

ROOT, AlphaKIT

21. Trapped - Kevin Hearne - 5th in the Iron Druid series.



Not my favorite of the series, but I do love Oberon and he didn't disappoint. Also, seeing the rise of a new Druid was very cool. I also get a great kick out of all the quick bows to favorite books and TV series and movies he throws into the dialog.

I listened to the audio because I love how the narrator does Oberon.

22. The Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack - Mark Hodder - steampunk



A steampunk novel wherein a travel from the future keeps appearing and frightening the Victorians. Sir Richard Burton is tasked by the crown to look into the matter. Not to mention keeping an eye on some of the other weirdness happening in London.

Certainly imaginative regarding alterations in the timeline, in some of the more well known Victorians and what they are about (Darwin, Nightinggale etc).

First in a series. I just might have to continue this series to see if it remains quite so imaginative.

I liked the rest - at least as far as I've gotten. Our library has all of them except the 4th...

>100 drneutron: Good to know! Thanks.

23. Devil Colony - James Rollins - Sigma Force 7



ROOT and AlphaKIT

7th in the series. Lots of action as well as a surprising amount character development for a thriller series. That's what I like about it most. The main characters are so complex and well drawn that they are far from the norm for the genre.

April Roundup:

Pages read: 3109. Largest month page total to date (this year anyway)
Books read: 8

Longest book: The Crippled God - 1200 pages
Shortest book: Half a Crown and Trapped - each at 320 pages.

2 mysteries, one period mystery, only current day mystery, one thriller, 4 SFF, 2 Sci Fi

One Five star read: The Crippled God.

One Did Not Finish: The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland - I just found it boring.

Biggest surprise book: The Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack - fun steampunk and very imaginative.

24. The Abyss Beyond Dreams - Peter F. Hamilton Part of The Commonwealth Universe series.


TBR Challenge, ROOT from 2015, SF/SFFKIT

There is a weird void in the Galaxy that seems threatening and is periodically grasping ships and taking them into itself. Who else but Nigel Sheldon, one of the creators of the Commonwealth, to ask to look into it and see if he can't neutralize it's powers.

I love this series, for it's elaborate world-building and imaginative creation of societies morphed to thrive in a universe so very different from the one we know, and yet be reasonable and understandable. He peoples these worlds with characters who are intriguing, deep and complex. Not to mention the science!

25. The Alphabet House - Jussi Adler-Olsen


ROOT from 2015, AlphaKIT

Rather grim tale of two English pilots shot down over Germany and their prolonged attempt to survive the war. I kept thinking I'd seen this movie. It is an older book of his, from 1997, although from the look of things, only newly translated.

Definitely not for those who want sunshine and ponies.

>104 majkia: Glad to see The Abyss Beyond Dreams on your thread! Somehow I managed to skip this one and went on to The Dreaming Void, which I enjoyed very much. I plan to circle back to this one before continuing on. I love Hamilton's sci-fi, its wide ranging and not too advanced while being sufficiently advanced - sometimes I wonder when reading Stross or Wilson or Banks why the AI's don't just ignore us puny humans and move on without us. While his books are epic in length, I always find them a pleasure to read and not a chore.

>106 Karlstar: I agree!

26. The Flanders Panel - Arturo Perez-Reverte


A thriller that follows a restorer, who is working on a painting called 'Game of Chess'. When her old lover is killed, she's driven on to discover what the painting is about, and asks her friends to help her understand the message she finds hidden in the painting, "who killed the knight". The more she delves into the mystery, the more danger she finds herself in.

I enjoyed the complexity of the set up, and particularly the whole lets figure out which piece took the knight and did someone actually kill the knight who is one of the players in the game of chess.

I love puzzles and this was definitely a complex and changing one!

27. Cibola Burn - James S.A. Corey - The Expanse Book 4
- 4 stars

A ROOT and an SF/SFFKIT entry.

Scientists and corporate entities have been beaten through the Ring that opened up new worlds by hopeful folks who want to settle on one of these new worlds. Earth and the OPA approach Jim Holden and the crew of the Rosie and ask them to go through the Ring and act as mediators between the angry corporate ship headed there and the colonists.

Jim has been reluctant to have anything to do with that Ring, but as usual gets back into a corner and maneuvered into accepting the assignment.

Before the Rosie can get there, violence breaks out between the colonists and the corporate security forces so the crew lands in the middle of a fight they'd hoped to avoid.

From there things go even more pear-shaped when the planet decides to blow up.

Then it becomes a question of whether any of them can survive, and can they all manage to put aside their distrust and hatred and work together to do it.

Super series, and this is a solid, if different entry to the series. Excellent characters and world-building, and the series remains one of my favorites as a result.

109> I actually have the first book in the series in my TBR pile right now! An employee at the bookshop recommended it. And I've heard something about there being a TV show?

>110 pwaites: Yes, SyFy tv channel did a 9 or 10 episode TV series last December. They renewed it for this year. I enjoyed it and thought it stuck pretty close to the series.

28. Red Bones - Ann Cleeves Third in the Shetland books


Third entry in the Shetland books. Complex families, stories intermingled with lies, secrets and betrayals. Pasts that rear up unexpectedly, that take over and touch the residents of the Shetland islands. Like everywhere else, really.

The mystery is complex and I confess I guessed wrong about the killer, and never did guess the basic why of it.

I love her ability to make the islands come alive.

TBR Challenge, ROOT, RandomCAT

Yup. Very good books!

29. The Protector's War - S.M. Stirling - Emberverse 2, Nantucket 5



TBR Challenge, ROOT from 2013, AlphaKIT

It is year 8, after The Change. People are trying to survive, relearning how to grow their own food, protect themselves from marauders and warlords. The Bear Killer Clan and Clan Mackenzie are separate but close, with a mutual pact to assist when the self-styled Protector once again sends his forces to conquer them.

Lots of details with regard to primitive survival, and a surprisingly strong emphasis on worship of the Goddess.

Characters are well drawn and strong, and the plot is clear and pointed, with one small exception at the end.

It has cliff hangers though so beware. I'm having to hurry up and read the next book in the series right now!

>114 majkia: I started that series a few years ago and then put it down. I have the first two books and am hoping to get to them this summer. They appealed to me because they started in Corvallis, Oregon, which is where The Husband and I go to watch college football. Hmm, I read the first book before we started going to the games. Now that I know Corvallis, it should be fun rereading it and actually knowing the places.

>114 majkia: That sounds like an interesting one.

30. A Meeting at Corvallis - S.M. Stirling - 3rd of the Emberverse series



Third entry to the Emberverse, finishing up the series about the first 10 or so years after The Change. No one knows quite what happened, but on one fine evening, suddenly machines all stopped working at once. There followed massive upheaval and a few hearty folks who struggled to survive. These three books covered several small enclaves in the Pacific Northwest, and how they managed to put together a follow on civilization.

Lots of interesting learning to make-do, reinvention of primitive techniques for survival and lots of interesting approaches to governance.

TBR Challenge, ROOT

31. The Rainaldi Quartet - Paul Adam - ROOT, TBR Challenge



Admittedly, I have a thing about the forging, stealing, creating, or collecting of works of art. You have only to look at my TBR Challenge to figure this out. ;) This time out, it's all about the violins.

Gianni is a luthier from Cremona. When a close friend of his, another luthier, is killed, he teams up with another close friend, who is the local detective, to find out just why he died and who dunnit.

I confess to knowing essentially nothing, not a damn thing, about violins, well, other than they sound terrific in the hands of an artist. So this was a crash course in fiddle terminology and creation as well as an eye opening treatise on how easily one could forge an Stradivari for instance.

I enjoyed the book, liked the menus and felt envious about them, and found the mystery, more the why of things than the who, kept me entertained throughout.

32. The Chronoliths - Robert Charles Wilson


When monuments somehow displaced from the near future begin appearing around the world, a small cadre of scientists begin trying to figure out how and why it is happening. The story follows this group of people as they try to make sense of the Kuin monuments while the world falls apart around them.

Hard science, intriguing characters and unfortunately believeable human reactions to the situation, make the book fascinating, in an aghast kind of way.

AlphaKIT, ROOT from 2013, SF/SFFKIT

33. Red Rising - Pierce Brown First in the Red Rising Trilogy



Darrow, a Red, is a miner. He and his people are low caste and have little to aspire to, only to survive the harsh mines of Mars. But there is an underground who hopes to overthrow the Golds who control the human worlds. And one day Darrow finds it.

Many folks compare this to The Hunger Games, but the world Darrow occupies is much harsher and less clear. Lies and controls and madness seem to be mixed together to hold the society where it is.

Darrow's struggle to survive, and to find a way to destroy this society is harrowing and appalling in its violence and cruelty. But then, the Golds haven't had to deal with a Hell Diver and they have no idea the chaos one wild uninhibited young man can wreak.

AlphaKIT, SF/SFFKIT

We are spending June and July at Eden Gardens State Park here in Florida, about an hour from home. Jim is volunteering here. Beautiful park, except for the yellow/dog flies that I am badly allergic to. Hopefully they will be gone in a week or so. Meanwhile, slathering up with Avon Skin-so-Soft bug spray.

34. Seventy-Seven Clocks - Christopher Fowler Bryant and May #3


Bryant is his usual irascible self and May his usual long-suffering but accepting self. This mystery begins when a man dressed as if he'd been moved through time from the past, destroys a painting on display. And, as the first act hints, the roots of the crimes are in London's Victorian past.

I really enjoy this series. Refreshing to an elder shown as bright and competent rather than as angry old farts to be got round.

35. Nexus - Ramez Naam



Excellent book of the fairly near future, whee a street drug is enhanced by a young scientist so that it can connect minds. The US government is on a crusade to block this drug and to stop any humans from being changed into enhanced post-humans and goes after the scientist and anyone he cares about or who helps him.

Lots of neuroscience, lots of action, intriguing ideas, characters well-drawn.

Sounds really good!

>123 majkia: I really enjoyed Nexus and its sequel. (Still hoping the library will get the third book.) They'd make great movies.

>125 Sakerfalcon: Oh, I agree. They would make great movies! I have book 2 but probably won't get to it right away.

>124 catzteach: It started out a bit slow, setting things up, but the action really ratcheted up about a third of the way in.

36. Fated - Benedict Jacka -
- ROOT, AlphaKIT

Fun book, and a series I'll continue. Alex runs a 'magic' shop. He's a diviner, rather than a mage, which has it's drawbacks. However, since he can see the future he's in high demand from competing forces looking for a magical artifact.

Told in first person, with lots of humor. Enjoyable all round.

>127 majkia: I almost started reading that one today. Had the choice of 4 urban fantasy books to choose from including Fated but eventually settled on The Rook instead. I will get to it eventually though so it's good to see a positive review for it.

>128 AHS-Wolfy: The Rook is wonderful, so you chose well!

>127 majkia: Another book I really enjoyed! I thought the female characters were better than in some of the other male-focused UF that I've read. I really need to read the next book.

>130 Sakerfalcon: Oh, I agree. He did great female characters!

128> I loved The Rook! I'm in agreement about the female characters being good. Plus I loved all the moments of humor and all the weird powers the characters had.

37. Red Gold - Alan Furst Night Soldiers Book 5



Alan Furst's series is about normal, everyday people stuck in the middle of Hell, when Europe goes to war. Some of them survive, some don't. Some find a way to work in the resistance, some try to escape, some help with that.

He presents the situation, not idealized with brave, beautiful people who are incredible spies, but instead as people who barely manage to find ways to survive, and do what little they can to help the cause of defeating Hitler. Fear is always present and one never knows who is knocking on your door, or who will be knocking it down.

38. The Dreaming Void - Peter F. Hamilton


This is a re-read. I began reading book 2 of the Void Trilogy and realized how much I'd forgotten so went back to it.

Far future sci fi with complex characterization, intricate plotting and fascinating aliens and reimagined human societies.

39. The Temporal Void - Peter F. Hamilton Second in The Void Trilogy



ROOT from 2014, TBR Challenge, RandomCAT

Peter F. Hamilton continues to amaze with his elaborately constructed world-building, and complex imagination. Characters are numerous and deeply drawn and live in a world so different from ours, and yet, still colored by our internal faults, prejudices and hatreds. Still, hope and joy and love are there too, and the desire to strive above what limits us and succeed in changing the universe.

>135 majkia:, you are making me feel guilty about having read The Reality Dysfunction some years ago but not having reached The Neutronium Alchemist and The Naked God yet despite their being on my shelf waiting patiently.

>136 pgmcc: I've got The Reality Dysfunction in the stacks too. Hoping to get to that trilogy sometime soonish.

40. Fortress in the Eye of Time - C.J. Cherryh


ROOT from 2012, SF/SFFKIT

Ambitious beginning to a series, with lots of complex world building and a main character who knows nothing - less even than Jon Snow.

I thought it was awfully wordy, and would have liked less internal dialog and more action. The story itself was interesting and I can see why so many folks like it. Interesting take on magic and sorcery.

EEp. Obviously I've not been keeping up.

Since the last update I've read:

41. The Evolutionary Void - Peter F. Hamilton

August
42. Artifact - Gregory Benford
43. The Fallen Blade - Jon Courtenay Grimwood
44 The Ghost Brigades - John Scalzi
45. Spartan Gold - Clive Cussler
46. Bloodline - James Rollins

September
47. Echo - Jack McDevitt - ROOT, AlphaKIT
48. At the Sign of the Crow and Moon - Mitchell Hogan
49. Crucible of Souls - Mitchell Hogan
50. Hammerfall - C.J. Cherryh - DNF
51. Nemesis Games - James S.A. Corey

I'm counting Hammerfall even if I did not finish it. I hereby give up on Cherryh. I forced myself to finish Fortress in the Eye of Time but couldn't stand another 100 page sojourn through the desert with Hammerfall. One way was enough! I really like her ideas but her writing makes me crazy. It feels/seems repetitive to me, and I just want to get on with the story without pages and pages of stuff that seems overdone. Just my opinion of course.

Also what to say that Nemesis Games was terrific. The best of The Expanse series so far, and it totally blew me away, as it blew away a lot of other things! Talk about following events to their logical extensions. Can't wait for Babylon's Ashes - so aptly named now that I've read its predecessor.

With regard to non-bookly things, we had a death in the family, I went on a 10 day trip to eastern Europe where I took a Danube cruise that was wonderful (except I never ever want to see Heathrow ever ever again), came back with a horrible cold, worked the Florida Primary election (training, early voting, and precinct voting) and we're already beginning to gear up for the Presidential election beginning next week. No promises I'll be updating much with that going on. Our hours will be much much longer for Early Voting (number of days as well as hours worked) so I'll be a lump of exhaustion after November 5th.

Just a quick question for you! @suitable1 was also recommending the work of James S.A. Corey to me last weekend. Is this a set of novels one should read from the beginning? I ask because I know that Leviathan Wakes is the first one in the series. Sometimes it doesn't really matter where you start in a series and sometimes it really makes a difference. Any thoughts?

And there was a time I felt the same way about Heathrow...

>140 jillmwo:
I would say that the series should be read in order. It's a connected story. And. as is too often the case, I liked the earlier books better.

>142 majkia: Definitely in order. Lots of character development as well as action continues to change the world as it goes on. Actions definitely have consequences in this series, even if the consequences aren't immediately apparent.

ETA: there aren't cliffhangers in the series, but you know 'things will change' when each book is over.

What did you think of The fallen blade? I have the whole trilogy on Mount Tbr but have found it very easy to put book 1 down and read something else when I've tried it.

And yes, Heathrow is a horrible place. I always try and use one of the other London airports if I can, but they do have most of the long-haul flights, unfortunately.

>143 Sakerfalcon: I enjoyed The Fallen Blade although it wasn't one of those can't put it down books. But I liked the atmosphere the author painted and thought the presentation of the main character, what he was, what he was like, was different enough to keep my attention.

I think I'll probably continue that series if only because I liked the world he built and want to see where this goes.

Heathrow... Geez. I had little trouble getting to a connecting flight the first leg of my travel, but for the return flights, it took me 1.5 hours to navigate through Heathrow to get to my connecting flight to the states. It was incredible. There has to be a better way to route passengers! Quite a few of the passengers on my cruise missed their connections for the same reason, couldn't navigate the airport to get to their flights on time.

Warchild Karin Lowachee

Rarely do I award 5 stars to anything, but War Child deserves them. A sci fi book that delves into the horrors of child abuse and looks at how it colors their lives from thereon out. There are triggers for child abuse here, certainly, but it is handled carefully and in a non-exploitative manner. Kudos to Karin Lowachee for a masteful job.

Along with the obvious, the tale is a space opera with a lot of action, a complex plot, and incredibly thoughtful character development. No paper cutout characters in this tale.

145> I had the exact same reaction. Warchild is one of the only books that I've given five stars to this year. Karin Lowachee's writing is brilliant, and I really wish the book got more attention. I also think it has one of the best uses of second tense I've seen for that initial thirty page opening.

Are you planning on reading Burndive?

>146 pwaites: Yes, definitely hoping to read Burndive.

I've loved Karin Lowachee's work since the first, this is a criminally underrated author. Beats me why. Same with Sarah Zettel - work is first rate and always delivers.

One brief note about Cherryh's Fortress in the Eye of Time: it gets better as it goes on, Tristan's character continues to develop - I loved it. Understand it may not be everyone's cup of tea.

>148 JannyWurts: I've added a book by Sarah Zettel to the TBR. Thanks for the recce.

Cherryh's concepts and ideas are interesting, and I like her characterization. I gave up on Hammerfall though, because I found the story to drag and more a slog than an eager journey.

For 2017 I'm planning on delving into a lot of SFF by female authors I either haven't tried yet, or haven't read for eons. For quite a few years I was reading pretty much only mysteries. Now trying to make up for that lapse. ;)

>149 majkia: I will admit to secret relief that I'm not the only heretic who gets frustrated with Cherryh. I tried to tackle Foreigner (again) this summer, and eventually also came to the conclusion that I like the ideas more than the execution.

Your 2017 plan is one after my own heart :)

>150 imyril: I was going to set up my TBR Challenge with 12 books (the primary section) with all female authors of SF/SFF. I've ended up doing all 24 (12 primary plus 12 alternate) that way. I had no idea I had that many female authors of SF/SFF already in my TBR and that isn't all of them!

>151 majkia: If you gaze long at your TBR... no wait, where was I?

Brat Farrar - Jospehine Tey.

This year I started reading a mystery series by Nicola Upson that features Josephine Tey as the female lead as she and her friend Archie solve mysteries. The one I finished just before I started Brat Farrar, the second in the Upson series Angel with Two Faces was so very similar to Brat Farrar. They are both about twins, both about mysterious, possibly suicidal deaths, both set in a similar setting (the south of England) and both were very much horsey kinds of tales

I really enjoyed Brat Farrar. Although I'd figured out the mystery very early on, I was still compelled to read onward because I wanted poor Brat to come out of the story with some sort of hopeful ending, and it just didn't seem as if he could manage it.

Both stories were, also, very psychological rather than procedurally complex. I much prefer my mysteries focusing on the people's motivations and thoughts than the murders so I was quite happy about it.

WRT my TBR, I'm afraid this is going to do it for this year. I never did get to the Cornwell series, but oh well.

See you all in 2017.

Brat Farrar - Jospehine Tey.

This year I started reading a mystery series by Nicola Upson that features Josephine Tey as the female lead as she and her friend Archie solve mysteries. The one I finished just before I started Brat Farrar, the second in the Upson series Angel with Two Faces was so very similar to Brat Farrar. They are both about twins, both about mysterious, possibly suicidal deaths, both set in a similar setting (the south of England) and both were very much horsey kinds of tales

I really enjoyed Brat Farrar. Although I'd figured out the mystery very early on, I was still compelled to read onward because I wanted poor Brat to come out of the story with some sort of hopeful ending, and it just didn't seem as if he could manage it.

Both stories were, also, very psychological rather than procedurally complex. I much prefer my mysteries focusing on the people's motivations and thoughts than the murders so I was quite happy about it.

Currently reading Dancer's Lament by Ian Esslemont. It often has me laughing out loud. It is the tale of the young Darin aka Dancer, as a very young man, and his first meeting with Wu, aka Kellanved. Poor Dancer. His frustrations with Kellanved began early on!

One of my irritations with the Malazan Book of the Fallen was how few times we met these two, and how limited we were allowed to see them. I always wanted more of Dancer in particular.

This is a great look at the young men before they become their awesomenesses.

Dancer's Lament - Ian C. Esselmont.

Often laugh out loud funny, we get to see Dancer and Kellanved before they become awesome. And we get to watch them form a team, no matter how reluctant Dancer is about that!

Wonderful addition to the World of Malaz books.

My 2017 thread is here: http://www.librarything.com/topic/244654

Still reading a couple of books I hope to finish this year, so keeping this thread open until I do.

Yearly wrap up:

79 total books
75 ROOTS
35,930 pages

TOP BOOKS:

Long Live Malaz! The Crippled God was the end of the Book of the Fallen. Incredible he was able to wrap up all those threads!

And Dancer's Lament was the start of a new trilogy about a few of the characters in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Wonderful, funny and imaginative.

Also, the best Sci Fi series currently being written IMHO, The Expanse. Latest read, Nemesis Games.

Warchild by Karin Lowachee. Marvelous.

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson was quite the story of an apocalypse.

And last but not least Red Rising by Pierce Brown. Keep rising when necessary, folks!

I liked Seveneves. Only with respect to Stephenson's brilliant oeuvre is it diminished.