What are you Reading (September 2023)

The first two Discworld books are VERY different from the rest of the series. There is definitely stuff to enjoy there, but Pratchett had not yet found his voice. I'm in my second read through of the series, and it is interesting to see the concepts mature over time. Granny Weatherwax in Equal Rites is almost a different character than Granny Weatherwax in Maskerade.

I've never read any Pratchett, and I just picked up Small Gods on a friend's recommendation. I'm really enjoying it!

My first was Jingo. Picked it up at Value Village to read the first few sentences and could not put it down. Now I've been through the series several times and will surely start over again soon.

Oh man, what a ride indeed. That series really is epic! And just in time for Season 2 of WoT to drop on Amazon!

If you liked that series, and in particular the last 2-3 books, then I'd recommend working your way through Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere, and the Stormlight Archive series in particular. Not classic sci-fi (although I'd argue it still fits on some levels), but an excellent fit after reading Robert Jordan.

I'd say go with the Stormlight Archive or the Mistborn series next. Both are long enough to fill that void.

Highly recommend listening to the Project Hail Mary audiobook rather than reading it. It adds an extra dimension to the story that you miss out on otherwise.

If you like Dresden I would recommend the Alex Verus series by Benedict Jacka.

Diamond Age next!

It’s amazing how many things he’s predicted (or noticed and predicted would become mainstream) over the years.

Bitcoin, metaverse, the importance of cryptography in modern IT, monetized streaming video, …

I was so curious about how that book could work NOT as an audiobook so I snagged a copy from my library to check it out. SPOILERS: >!Rocky's speech is depicted as musical notes. Not nearly as impactful as the audiobook.!<

I almost wish I'd never read bobiverse so I could experience it again for the first time.

I read the first 4 Murderbot Diaries a long time ago and the other day I learned there are at least 4 more. 🤖☠️

I binged as much Murderbot as I could about two years ago. Super fun reads. Plus I think the loosely connected novella format is interesting and makes them all that much bingier.

The Parable series by her get more word-of-mouth, but the series that really stayed with me was her Xenogenesis series. Like the Parable books, it has the Survival as Hero archetype going on, but in this case it's about a species of aliens who saves the last remnants of humans after they destroy themselves and earth, and follows a woman who is seen a "collaborating" with them.

Semi-related, I loved that that spot on Mars where one of the rovers landed was named after her. I wasn't expecting that. I just wish she hadn't died so prematurely and was alive to see it.

I have this one checked out from the library but haven't started it yet!

The translator of Three Body Problem Ken Liu is a native Chinese speaker with exceptional English language skills. I don't believe there are any issues with the translation work itself, but there are some oddities of intentionally reworked plots in the English release due to the book "Ball Lightning" not having been released for the English market yet so the references would not have made sense. I find this to be a poor decision, but you can always read Ball Lightning and about what that subplot was intended to be afterward. The Spanish version would likely have the same issue.

I found The Sea of Tranquility a bit dry but whimsical nonetheless.

In a genre overburdened by books with two dimensional characters and core dumps of exposition, it was an interesting puzzle but it also isn’t making me want to reread it either. 7.5 or 8.

I read this book decades ago when I was a teenager, and it had a huge impact (no pun intended) on me. It’s one of the first novels I can remember that made me sob when it was over. I need to read it again.

This led me to Stranger in a Strange Land which was just wild and gave me a view into relationships that I wasn’t expecting.

It's so good. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea but I love how the story is told based on observations rather than exposition through dialogues. I don't always need to relate to characters and their lives, sometime I just want to know about the weird gravity or atmosphere and stuff. For the longest time people said it could not be made into a movie, but Denis Villeneuve stepped up to the plate and I cannot wait to see what he does with it.

I am reading Leviathan Falls now. The entire series is great. I haven't wanted to put any of them down.

Love Leviathan Wakes!

I'm nearing the second go through of Leviathan Wakes, knowing where the series ends, it's great to revisit it.

Just finished Leviathan Wakes. At first I looked at the length of the book and thought no way am I going to get through it. But then it caught on and I really enjoyed the ride. Although I did feel a bit tired after I finished it.

I would love to read neuromancer again for the first time, excellent book.

In the middle of Absolution Gap. I really enjoyed his one off books (pushing ice, century rain, terminal world and his colaboration with Baxter on Medusa Chronicles) however i finished the "last" book of the Revelation Space series and was very, very underwhelmed.

Three fifth season is really good! I felt the second book was a little “less”, but it sets up the third book really well.

Looks like a good read to get me in the mood for the Starfield game that is coming out soon.

There is a fair bit of quality that can go into making a GOOD purely fun thing, and even when it's pure schlock there's no shame in that. Some times you want a steak, sometimes you want a burger. Both can be good or bad in their own ways, and neither is better than the other.

Have you tried the new Expanse videogame by Telltale? I played the first episode but haven't gotten further into it. Not having read the books, I feel like I'm probably missing out on a lot.

Dune is a really interesting story and universe, but I had such a hard time actually reading the books. I can't keep up with the amount of personal introspection it contains. I would have needed like an abridged version that focused more on getting the story moving.

Love Scalzi but wish he could vary his voice more. I find I have to spread out reading his books as the snark will all blur after a while.

I wouldn't say that the Expanse books are "significantly better" than the show - they're both fantastic, and both have bits where they're better than the others (for example, the books have more characters and storylines, plus the arc of the last three books, while the show is amazingly well adapted and in many ways is a second revision of the overall story).

I'm still holding out hope for seasons 7-9 happening at some point in ~5 years. Assuming it's adapted at the same level as the prior seasons, seeing the final trilogy on screen will be epic!

I enjoyed Neuromancer much better than Snowcrash, I have to say. I’m particularly blown away by how much it still holds up! It could have been written yesterday. While I felt Snowcrash aged more, mostly for the style.

I enjoyed Malazan Book of the Fallen so much, but at a certain point I gave up on trying to figure out which confusing plot elements were due to me forgetting an earlier reference and which were intended to be a mystery and tried to enjoy the story for what was in front of me. Re-reading the series cleared up a lot of my questions but not all of them by any means. It's an enormous story! I think I might hit this series up again after the book I'm reading now.

I'm going through Reaper's Gale. MT is up there in quality for me!

It's a shame the malazan sub didn't move to lemmy, it's the only sub I really miss from there.

I don't even know you but I am stoked for you! I discovered Discworld a few years back as an adult and have been through the series several times since. It's my go-to when I need a diversion and don't have a new book or series that I'm excited for. The series is just amazing.

Yup! You should read Project Hail Mary.

Yeah, Project Hail Mary is excellent!

I absolutely loved The Martian, but I had a hard time getting through Hail Mary. It was a great concept, and engaging science fiction, except most of the characters, including the main one, are completely insufferable. No conversation is believable or even interesting. Just juvenile stuff. Almost put it down 3/4 of the way through because I felt like I couldn't take it any longer. I'm glad that I made it through, but it was really tough, and I'm not gonna read it ever again.

Not trying to discourage you from reading it, just hoping to lower your expectations a bit so that you're pleasantly surprised when it's not the trash fire I'm making it out to be. I hope you enjoy it more than I did!

How's ready player one? I'm curious, but I wonder if it's a good book or not.

The second book was rough. I really had to make myself finish it.

I'm just copy pasting from above because I liked this book and am trying to bait a conversation lol. It was a fun one.

I just finished! I liked it a lot to, although I give it a solid B. Humor was great, there were some really nifty concepts, I just don’t think it was a slam dunk. I think the author will do some really great stuff in the future though. It’s a perfect vacation read: Plot is pretty linear for the most part, it’s not terribly long, and it keeps a solid pace.

I’m going to compare it to a not so great book, but because of the elements about that book I liked: “NeXt” by Chriton. I’m in the biochemistry field, and “NeXt” is really interesting as a capture of where the public (and a lot of professionals) thought the field was going. The human genome project was well underway, everything seemed possible. “Lumpsucker” shoots into the future a bit (“Next” is 100% contemporary), but really captures a ton over the last 5 years that simmers in public consciousness the way Next did. It’s not like the topics both discuss don’t get plenty of headlines, but they both do a cool job capturing a general “vibe” around the topics as opposed to just facts. I found it really cathartic to read, actually.

So all in all, to anyone else, I’d give it a strong recommend. It wont go down as an all time classic but the author put together something beyond competent, and really added some spice here and there capturing something special.

Just bought this book, it's next on my list.

I’m curious what you’ll think of The Mountain In The Sea

I just finished Radicalized too! Just started Walkaway by the same author, might be enjoying it even more. Doctorow and Kim Stanley Robinson are probably my favorite authors this year, I can't stop reading them.

Nice, hopefully Lemmy doesn't take too much of your time. At least you will only get exactly what you search for.

Same here! Just started the 4th audio book. The narrator and production quality is outstanding.

Such a classic!

Just finished that one. I'm loving this series so much.

Love the Stormlight Archive! The audiobooks are great and a new one is coming later next year.

The Mistborn series is also fantastic. The first trilogy is fantasy, but the Wax and Wayne series shows developing tech throughout, giving the books a fantasy steampunk feel.

I also just listened to Alcatraz vs the Evil Librarians and it was silly fun, looking forward to the rest if the series.

Love me some Brandon Sanderson!

Way of Kings was amazing, but Words of Radiance is even better. I wish I had more free time because I'd love to read these all again.