Science Fiction Reading in October 2018

Hobbit

Hobbit

Cat Wrangler and Reader
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Here's where you tell us about what you've been reading in Science Fiction this month. Good or bad, we want to know what you think.

Mark
 
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A signed copy of Peter F. Hamilton's Salvation was delivered a moment ago, so guess what I'll be reading this afternoon. I started Tade Thompson's Rosewater this weekend. I put Jack Womack's Elvissey on hold a while back when I was distracted by other books (on quantum mechanics). I'll finish these three before moving on to any other fiction.
 
Started the rig by roger levy - interesting premise
Also today is my first visit to a waterstone as I am inside the UK (Edinburgh) the first time ever (outside a few london airport transfers of course) and it's really cool, very different covers from the familiar ones at Barnes noble and the sff selection is heavier on British authors obviously but otherwise the bookstore is very similar to a bn
 
suciul said:
Started the rig by roger levy - interesting premise
Also today is my first visit to a waterstone as I am inside the UK (Edinburgh) the first time ever (outside a few london airport transfers of course) and it's really cool, very different covers from the familiar ones at Barnes noble and the sff selection is heavier on British authors obviously but otherwise the bookstore is very similar to a bn
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There is a good SFF bookshop in Edinburgh called Transreal Fiction. I have only ever ordered signed books through the internet from them, but they seem like a good place for an SFF addict to visit. Never been in Edinburgh myself.

http://www.transreal.co.uk
https://twitter.com/transrealshop
 
Well!

I thought I wouldn't have the chance to read Artificial Condition or Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells for a while -- until the prices went down -- but I did!

I decided to check out Scribd this weekend -- they offer unlimited reading and listening for $9 per month, with a vague caveat that if you overuse the system you may have access to certain books (I'm assuming this means bestsellers) restricted. So anyway, it turns out they have a lot of the audiobooks on my TBR longlist that I haven't purchased yet, and they offer a free month's trial, so I'm trying them out as a supplement (not a replacement) for Audible. I much prefer to own files rather than "rent" them, but I figure if I come across Scribd books that I'm really dying to own, I can still buy them on Audible, hopefully when there are sales. And they had both book 2 and 3 of Murderbot, so I've already saved nearly $20 (each novella is $9.56 on my plan at Audible) on my Scribd free trial. :)

So anyway -- the bot books!

These are both lots of fun, just as book 1 was. The narrative voice is great, and Murderbot really is a delightful character. I frequently found myself laughing at the bone-dry sarcasm, and I enjoy reading how he keeps trying so diligently (but unsuccessfully) to distance himself from his own humanity.

There's a sameness to the overall plot outlines: Murderbot needs to go somewhere, just happens upon really nice humans who need help and happen to be going to that place, and Murderbot tags along and helps them when they get in trouble. But I forgive that, because the point is Murderbot's character and interactions with others, not the plot itself. In that vein I liked book 3 (Rogue Protocol) more than book 2 (Artificial Condition), because there seemed to be more meat to it, with more personal development and investment. But they were both fun reads.

These are all narrated by Kevin Free. I often think he sounds a little wooden, but I have to admit that he gets the dry asides just about perfect. So no major complaints there.

I can't wait for book 4!
 
Currently making my way through Sea of Rust by C Robert Cargill. Enjoying it more than expected, and the more I read the better it gets.
 
Aaaaaaaaaaand Scribd got Exit Strategy sometime late last night (I kept checking throughout the day -- Audible got it long before Scribd did). But I'm in the middle of Binti: Night Masquerade, and then I've got a short one that I've been promising to review for someone, so it'll be a few days before I get to it. But I have it all safe and downloaded on my phone! :):cool:
 
Finished Sea of Rust by C Robert Cargill. Enjoyed it quite a lot and it had a very interesting world and history that led to the extinction of humanity. The ending was also left open enough for more novels, despite being a solid closing to the story.

Have now started Uncompromising Honor by David Weber. Let's see how this one goes!
 
I finished Dogs of War by Adrian Tchaikovsky - set in a future where Bioforms (animals genetically engineered with increased strength, intelligence and augmented armory) are used as weapons in war.

I liked the first half especially - following Rex into combat as he struggles internally with some of his decisions; what is right and wrong. The last part of the story slowed though, as more human characters were introduced and politics are brought into the mix.

Overall a decent read, but I did find the short, basic language the Bioforms speak in a bit repetitive after a time.
 
Hey -- I just finished Exit Strategy, book 4 in the Murderbot novellas, and -- wow. Best yet. I loved many of the scenes with Mensah, especially.

I have nothing much more to say about it. This series keeps getting better, and I can't wait for the full-length story coming out next year!
 
Av Demeisen said:
Very positive review by Adam Roberts of Tade Thompson's Rosewater in yesterday's Guardian. I haven't finished yet, but agree it's pretty great so far. https://www.theguardian.com/books/2018/oct/04/rosewater-tade-thompson-review
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I keep hearing about that. I can't figure out if it's eligible for the next Hugos or not. It's being hyped like a new novel, but I'm seeing all sorts of publication dates for it -- GR says September 2018 and first published in 2016 by a small press, Amazon says published December 2017 and it's a "reissue", and so on. I figure it probably isn't eligible, but who knows?

In any case, I have it on the TBR!
 
Contrarius said:
I keep hearing about that. I can't figure out if it's eligible for the next Hugos or not. It's being hyped like a new novel, but I'm seeing all sorts of publication dates for it -- GR says September 2018 and first published in 2016 by a small press, Amazon says published December 2017 and it's a "reissue", and so on. I figure it probably isn't eligible, but who knows?

In any case, I have it on the TBR!
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I am under the impression the original print run was pretty limited, but Hugo eligibility, no idea. It won the inaugural Nommo Award for best novel in 2017. This year's nominations were announced in April, so I figure Rosewater must have been first published somewhere in 2016.

PS If you look inside the Apex Book edition on amazon.com it says First Edition: November 2016 on the copyright page.
https://www.amazon.com/Rosewater-Ta..._title_2?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1538775635&sr=8-2
 
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I read Sleeping Giants by Neuvel
It was pretty good.
The concept of telling the story through interviews is pretty limiting though and I am no hurry to read the sequel. (the books works fine as a stand alone)
 
Slowly making my way through The Baron of Bland's latest turgid offering Salvation. Lefty tewwowists planning to boom boom capitalist good guys. Yawn.
 
Contrarius said:
These are all narrated by Kevin Free. I often think he sounds a little wooden, but I have to admit that he gets the dry asides just about perfect. So no major complaints there.
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Free's reading performance reminds me a lot of Mark Danielewski. I'm listening to Exit Strategy right now.
 
Started reading The Storm by D. Drake, the sequel to last year's unexpected hit The Spark; while straddling the teritorry between fantasy and sf, the series echoes the Round Table legends in a far future setting where technology is like magic, reality is split between Here and Not Here, humans occupying Here and travelling on The Road between far flung settlements - though as it is hinted throughout the Road twists through spacetime and the settlements are actually far away in space

Like The Spark, this one is first person narration from (now) Lord Pal of Beune, the youngster from the marches who is both Maker (able to partially understand and modify the ancient technology) and Warrior and who travelled to the capital to be a Champion (which is a sort of all inclusive envoy/local governor/troubleshooter of Jon the ruler and Clain his most famous warrior and chancellor, whose prestige and prowess with the magical weapons allows solving most problems without use of armies) and after being initially rejected, managed that and more of course, inclusive getting the ownership of a "boat" - a couple hundred thousand years old self-repairing semi-sentient spaceship that allows fast travel on The Road - and a castle occupied by a monster from the Not Here preying on humans; after he defended the life and honor of Jon's consort in a duel (with powerful magic - ie tech weapons) against a brutal and strong Champion with a grudge against her, Pal has the run of the capital and finally allows Lady May, one of the consort's ladies in waiting who was kind with him when he was just a boy from the sticks, to seduce him though he rejects Lord Jon's offer to serve on the council of humanity and wants only to be sent back to the far flung marches to fight monsters and bring more settlements within the Commonwealth...

And so the adventure continues and The Storm reads so far as the same wondrous novel with lots of cool and unexpected stuff and a very lovable narrator/hero
 
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