What are you reading?

[Maria]

It took me to the 2nd book before I really got hooked on that series. Probably because it seemed like a simple coming of age story to start with, and I kept expecting events to follow a particular pattern and then they didn't.

[Frelga]

My library has nothing, either, but at least it has a notify me tag on several books, which will let me know if they are ever acquired.

[RoseMorninStar]

The only Nathan Lowell book my library has is Quartershare which is sci-fi, not my favorite genre. I did place a on hold however. I'm much more interested in a few of his other books; Ravenswood and The Hermit from Lammas Wood, specifically.

[Maria]

Oh! I forgot about that one. That series is good, too! Possibly better, really. It felt like a more polished work. I'm going to look up when what was published of his....

Hmmm... it looks like Ravenwood (2011) was published the year after Quarter Share (2010), but several other books were published in 2010- so I guess that rachets up the experience level...

[narya]

I've been complaining, to anyone who would listen (not that anyone did) that I can't find any good hard sci fi, especially non-military hard sci fi. Well, I just found it. Delta-V by Daniel Suarez is a near-future thriller so chock full of physics, chemistry, metallurgy, rocket science, international law, economics, computer hacking, politics, climate change, deep sea diving, spelunking, and the like, that I sometimes forgot it was a space opera, rather than a textbook, about everything that can go wrong to a bunch of relatable characters trying to learn how to be the first asteroid miners. I loved it. I'm now reading the sequel, Critical Mass, which is not as tightly written, but is still entertaining. The narrator of the audio books, Jeff Gurner, does an amazing job of giving a unique voice to each of a dozen main characters, and many minor characters. Not only can he do all sorts of accents from Europe, Asia, Africa, South America, and North America, he can even do a German accent for a deep-sea diver breathing a helium-oxygen mixture (i.e., a German-accented Donald Duck LOL).

I have Suarez's other books in my queue, featuring CRISPR technology gone wrong (a favorite nightmare of mine), unmanned drones gone wrong, malware gone wrong... you get the picture.

[Inanna]

But does each book end well? Is there hope & love? Or is it all despair etc.

[Maria]

"Delta V" in wishlist

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[Jude]

My library has those books, but not in audio format.

[narya]

Inanna, if you are asking about Suarez's books, the first one, Delta-V, has a satisfactory ending. There was hope and despair, in alternating doses, mostly resolved. And as you can imagine with a small number of adults in a closed box for several years, there was some casual liaising, and an extremely strong bonding among the whole crew, but no long term love affairs.

I just finished the sequel, "Critical Mass", and cannot recommend it. It seemed to have been written in haste, after the first, more finely crafted book. The main character was pretty cranky throughout, trying to meet a deadline to build a specific ship that others did not seem to take a seriously as he did. He, in turn, did not take their concerns about the evolving climate catastrophe as seriously as they did. This went on for far too many hours. There was a cliff hanger at the end of the first book, and I had to wade thru the entire second book to find that the cliff hanger was not completely resolved.

[Inanna]

But if there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the first book, then that is not a complete book. (Sulk)

[Frelga]

But if there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the first book, then that is not a complete book. (Sulk)

THIS!

Some of today's most popular SF/F is like this. Like, this is clearly half the book, are you just doing it to make me pay double?

And there are publishing reasons, but plan your story arc so that if fits into the limitations of the publishing requirements.

/rant

In better mood news, I finished Witch King by Martha Wells, and in addition to being enjoyable, it's a master class in providing just enough background information to avoid both info dumping and confusion, without spelling absolutely everything out. (what are the Immortal Blessed? Doesn't matter. They are Immortal and they are presumably Blessed by something, but all we need to know is how it affects the characters and the politics of the story)

[narya]

Witch King is on my list to read. I enjoy Martha Wells' Murderbot series and didn't realize there were 11 more audiobooks available to me in my library!

Really, I do recommend reading Delta V, then asking me privately about the minor cliff hanger, and I'll tell you privately about it, so you don't have to read Critical Mass.

My latest books read include:

I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter by Erika Sánchez. A YA book that gets pretty intense pretty quickly. I saw an interview of the author - this was the book she wished she could find as a younger woman and couldn't find. I read it because it was one of my book club's selection. The women in the senior center book club, all older than me, either liked it or hated it. I liked it, connecting on many levels. My sister-in-law, who also loved it, followed much of the same story when she was a teen, being shipped off to Mexico because her parents couldn't handle her wild behaviour. The book talks about grief, suicide and depression, which I have dealt with personally, and as a volunteer (on the hot line). The fictional portrayal is well done, especially the way that the teen depression expresses as angry and unlikable, rather than very sad. The audiobook was well done. I recommend it.

Now I'm finishing up Ted Chiang's Stories of Your Life and Others. If you like language, math and semiotics (and what Tolkinite wouldn't like semiotics?) then you might like these short stories. I'm not sure what Tolkien would have thought of them, though. One of the short stories was the basis of the movie "The Arrival". I did not see all of that movie - too slow moving. The story is slow moving too, but very nutrient dense.

I have about 5 books I'm half way thru. After months of resisting, I finally fell for Hoopla, another on-line book app thru my library. Instead of offering half a million books, like the Los Angeles Public Library does in the Libby app, with the caveat that it might take up to 12 weeks on hold to get to them, Hoopla just tells you what is available at the moment, lets you download it immediately, and limits you to 7 books per month, and no more than one book download per day. I was able to find three books that were on my recommended reading list, in audio, and not in Libby, so I'm queuing them now. The interface is less pleasing - you can't see the chapter divisions, and it often doesn't start right back up if you pause it for a while, and the tagging is very limited. But it is a good back-up for books I can't find in Libby (like I am short on books, LOL). I found three of Nathan Lowell's books - Ravenwood, Zypheria's Call, and The Hermit of Lammas Wood, a trilogy - and will try Ravenwood. The problem with Hoopla is you have to grab it when you see it, rather than adding it to your 400 book wish list, because it might not be there next week. So many books....so little time in a 24 hour day!

[Inanna]

I read Witch King a few weeks ago (right when it came out) and loved it too. I agree, Frelga, I really enjoy the not-needed long-winded explanations. Neal Stephenson also writes like that. No explanations (other than physics) - you just figure it out as the story unfolds.

[narya]

More on Ted Chiang: Read the link below before you attempt his short stories. Or even if you don't read them. This article explains a lot. He's got 4 Hugos, 4 Nebulas and 6 Locus awards for the handful of short stories he's written, so he must be doing something right. The stories are speculative fiction in the sense that the author is speculating, in a fictional format, about philosophy, language, mathematics, and the nature of God. Just to add to the mix, some of the stories take place in a time frame in the past, where people had different world views about science and religion. This is not light reading.

https://www.newyorker.com/culture/perso ... ce-fiction

[Frelga]

One of my libraries added Zephiria's Call by Lowell. But looks like it's book 2?

[narya]

Yes, Frelga. Try Hoopla.

[Impenitent]

I have Delta-V downloaded but need to read three others on my shelf before the loan expires!

More Martha Wells sounds good!

[Frelga]

Yes, Frelga. Try Hoopla.

It's not like I'm short on reading material! They'll get the rest of the books eventually.

I found several books of short stories based in the Rivers of London universe. Those are fun. The audiobooks are well done, and it's nice to see new or minor characters take the center stage.

[Maria]

One of my libraries added Zephiria's Call by Lowell. But looks like it's book 2?

"Ravenwood" is book one of that series.

[Alatar]

But if there’s a cliffhanger at the end of the first book, then that is not a complete book. (Sulk)

Yeah, that Tolkien guy has a lot to answer for...