Reading in September 2012

**suciul** · September 7th, 2012, 03:31 PM

Originally Posted by Danogzilla

Finished it last night. Wow. Big book with a lot going on. Some of it was very unpleasant (as one would imagine for scenes taking place in Hell). Lots of ship content. That's always good in a Culture novel. And really fun reveal in the last word of the book.

To be honest that reveal was telegraphed big time; still an excellent book, was my top sf (and all around for that matter) book of 2010; just waiting impatiently for Hydrogen Sonata

Back on topic, a copy of Fractal Prince is on its way here and should come tomorrow, while I may also continue Empty Space (MJH) or On (A Roberts), or start seriously Hegemony (M. Kalina) or Zero Point (N Asher); I exhausted my epic mood for a few days (with the pretty good Pillars of the Earth) as well as the romantic/historical/suspense mood (with the awesome, blow me away Secret Keeper) so back to sf for a few days

**scumby** · September 11th, 2012, 11:42 PM

I've read two SF books this month.

First, Veteran by Gavin Smith. It was supposed to be a high octane shooter book, and it delivers that way, but I had a hard time relating to the characters. Not a bad story, but I was hoping for better.

The other book I read was Caliban's War by James SA Corey. It was excellent. Better than the first book in the series, which I enjoyed quite a bit as well. This will definitely be one of my top SF reads of the year.

Cheers!

Jeff

**chitman13** · September 12th, 2012, 03:01 AM

I'm putting all my reading time into Great North Road at the moment, not that I have much reading time on an average day. I'm enjoying it and about 2/3rds of the way through, but it really needs to pick up some more pace. After the first few hundred pages focusing almost entirely on a murder investigation it was a nice change to switch to the planet of St Libra, and Hamilton does his usual thorough job of creating a new world. However, I'm just not feeling this one as much as his previous novels, but I'm hoping that the last few hundred pages deliver.

**suciul** · September 12th, 2012, 08:31 AM

I have finished Hegemony by Mark Kalina, a series debut which reminded me a lot of the early Honorverse novels; lots of promise in a fast and engaging read set in a compelling universe; raw thoughts in the book thread in the promotion zone

**Loerwyn** · September 12th, 2012, 12:44 PM

It's about three weeks until Fire Season by David Weber & Jane Lindskold officially releases (not sure if it'll ship early or not), so I decided to take a break from Beardy Martin and go for a re-read of Weber's A Beautiful Friendship.

**Rob B** · September 12th, 2012, 02:26 PM

I jumped into Caliban's Hour by James S.A. Corey a couple of days ago. Liking it a lot.

**Loerwyn** · September 12th, 2012, 02:53 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

I jumped into Caliban's Hour by James S.A. Corey a couple of days ago. Liking it a lot.

I got halfway then stalled. I think it might be better going into it straight from Leviathan Wakes.

**Luke_B** · September 12th, 2012, 05:06 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

I jumped into Caliban's Hour by James S.A. Corey a couple of days ago. Liking it a lot.

Ah, yes. Caliban's Hour, the long awaited condensed version of Caliban's War. I always thought those pivotal sixty minutes of the conflict were begging for a retelling in novella form.

**suciul** · September 13th, 2012, 05:47 PM

Finally received my promised review copy of The Fractal Prince and I plan to read it soon as I am really curious if I will finally get on the Rajaniemi bandwagon after what I felt was an overhyped Quantum Thief...

Also bought another indie, Last City by Nina D'Aleo (this could count as fantasy too from the blurb, but the reviews that made me buy it + the very good Kindle price still on despite only an ok'ish sample, argue it's sf)

Two more huge sf for 2012 remaining for me (Banks and Valtat) but so far a very strong year

**Danogzilla** · September 13th, 2012, 09:43 PM

I'm going to start Weber's The Honor of the Queen tonight. Looking forward to a fun read. I enjoyed the first book in the series and have heard they only get better.

**livens** · September 13th, 2012, 10:01 PM

I started on The Unreasoning Mask by Philip Jose Farmer. A few chapters in and nothing has really piqued my interest. I was especially unimpressed by the first alien race he introduces us too, way too human-like to be believable. But the writing is good and Ramstan seems to be an interesting character. I do sense a lot of religious undertones so far, Im hoping that does not become a central theme of the story.

And I just found a copy of Flood by Stephen Baxter

Ive had the sequel Ark and have been putting off reading it until I got my hands on the first one. I promised myself to finish reading The Unreasoning Mask, but right after Im starting in on Flood.

**scumby** · September 13th, 2012, 11:03 PM

Originally Posted by suciul

Finally received my promised review copy of The Fractal Prince and I plan to read it soon as I am really curious if I will finally get on the Rajaniemi bandwagon after what I felt was an overhyped Quantum Thief...

I'm glad to hear you say that, as it seemed like I was the only person on the Internet that thought Quantum Thief was overrated. I guess after all the glowing reviews and hype I was expecting more. However, I am still planning on reading the Fractal Prince.

Jeff

**suciul** · September 13th, 2012, 11:18 PM

Originally Posted by scumby

I'm glad to hear you say that, as it seemed like I was the only person on the Internet that thought Quantum Thief was overrated. I guess after all the glowing reviews and hype I was expecting more. However, I am still planning on reading the Fractal Prince.

Jeff

Well, there was a little controversy here about the book at the time of its publication - all polite by and large as the forum keeps it and I put up a short review on FBC explaining my issues with it, but I am also eager to see how things go in Fractal Prince as I like ambitious sf

I read only a few pages so far as I am still reading some historical fiction, while I may revisit Quantum Thief too if needed, but I expect I will get seriously into Fractal Prince next; on the other hand the US publication is November and the UK is only at the end of this month, so will see

**odo** · September 14th, 2012, 02:17 AM

Originally Posted by scumby

I'm glad to hear you say that, as it seemed like I was the only person on the Internet that thought Quantum Thief was overrated. I guess after all the glowing reviews and hype I was expecting more. However, I am still planning on reading the Fractal Prince.

Jeff

I also was a bit underwhelmed by The Quantum Thief. I had read some excellent short stories by Rajaniemi and was expecting much more from that novel.

**chitman13** · September 14th, 2012, 04:23 AM

Originally Posted by Danogzilla

I'm going to start Weber's The Honor of the Queen tonight. Looking forward to a fun read. I enjoyed the first book in the series and have heard they only get better.

I'd agree with that statement. I've read up to Ashes of Victory, the 9th book, and after a break from them I'm very eager to get back to the story.

Re: The Quantum Thief. I didn't even finish it, and I can't see me ever picking up a book by Rajaniemi again based on what I read. I understand that many people thought it was the best thing since sliced bread, and based on the sales figures I've seen it was a massive hit, but saying it's not for me is an understatement of epic proportions.

Anyway, still on Great North Road, only 1/4 left to go (which is about the size of an average novel).