Reading in Science Fiction, March 2021

[chitman13]

Finished Unreconciled, the fourth Donovan book by W Michael Gear. Good stuff, and I'm really enjoying this series and the world of Donovan. Looking forward to Adrift later this year.

Now on A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton - managed to get an early audio arc. So far so good, though different to what Hamilton has done before. I can definitely see it fitting into the YA SF genre simply because of the first person point of view and age of the protagonist. It reminds me of Earthseed by Pamela Sargeant and Alive by Scott Sigler, but that's could mostly be because it's a generation ship story with a mystery to it.

 

[mistri]

re. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within

Like her previous novels, the approach is humane and very positive, making them a pleasant change from most of the norm. But on the other hand I found this novel almost too overly cheerful, almost childish/YA to a degree - and when I got to a chapter where they were dancing together it almost got too much!

I read this too and do see what you mean. It took me a while to be won over. It's very cheery and there's not much tension to make you turn the pages. BUT I found the ending so satisfying, and it was during such a dark period of lockdown for me at the time, that I ended up giving it five stars. It's 'lovely' - it just depends whether you want 'lovely' or not

I've also read The Echo Wife recently, which is one of those contemporary suspense thrillers - actually it's not, it's a near-future SF story about cloning *dressed up* like suspense so that people ignore some of the handwavey science and it gets a lot more sales in the meantime. I actually quite enjoyed it but the story ignores so many ethical questions (that would be asked if cloning were really going on) that it lost some points there for me.

Finally just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's One Day All This Will Be Yours which is a time-travel novella about a soldier from a causality war sitting on the edge of time, in a perfect place with no other people around, ensuring that no one else gets past him. A lot of fun with a lot of surprises. Highly recommend.

 

[Westy]

re. The Galaxy, and the Ground Within
It's 'lovely' - it just depends whether you want 'lovely' or not

Yes, agreed - probably also depends on your mood at the time. I've read all her other books, really liked ALWTASAP and loved the novella To Be Taught, If Fortunate.

Finally just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's One Day All This Will Be Yours which is a time-travel novella about a soldier from a causality war sitting on the edge of time, in a perfect place with no other people around, ensuring that no one else gets past him. A lot of fun with a lot of surprises. Highly recommend.

Good to hear, it's on my list to read as well!

 

[chitman13]

Finished A Hole in the Sky by Peter F Hamilton. Enjoyable, though different from his previous novels, and an interesting premise. I'm looking forward to where he goes in the next two books. Full review soon.

 

[Contrarius]

I've finished three books since last I checked in, and two of them were actually (gasp) sf!

Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy -- A mostly very good book, but with issues. It actually has very little genre content; it's set in a near future where almost all fauna have gone extinct, but there is very little advanced tech or dystopianism or anything like that. The MC is a woman who is continually moving, continually seeking, even though she doesn't really know what she's looking for, and she has decided to follow the arctic terns as they make what is expected to be their very last migration. Beautiful vivid writing creates many poignant moments and some wrenching ones centering around ideas of grief, loss, and conversely the drive to keep on surviving; OTOH, much of the biology presented is wrong and some is complete nonsense, which is annoying. Also, the MC is not a realistic representation of an actual human being -- but she's not really supposed to be, I don't think. If you see her more as a collection of primal drives, she fits well into the themes of the book. Good narration by Barrie Kreinik.

The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson. The MC here is a "traverser", a person who makes her living traveling between parallel worlds for a big corporation that collects information and resources from each world. It's an interesting tale, with matter-of-fact, practical prose and lots of twists and turns that I didn't see coming. A lot of the interest comes from comparing the differences between versions of the same people in different worlds and how those differences affect the MC and her plans. It did annoy me that, although these people are traveling between WORLDS, they always seem to go to the same two cities -- like a lot of sff stories, "city" and "world" often seems to get conflated. Why aren't they traveling to all sorts of different countries in these worlds? We don't even know that different countries EXIST. Sigh. Anyway, the story that the author does present is never boring, and I liked that it never seemed to travel a simple, straightforward path. I think this is a debut book, and as a debut it's top notch. Very good narration by Nicole Johnson.

 

[chitman13]

Now on Into the Light by David Weber/Chris Kennedy, the sequel to Out of the Dark. So far so good, though as a co-written novel (honestly not sure what % was written by who) it is clearly a different style in parts to OOTD. Story is okay, and typical Weber in the way the world is rebuilding, though I'm hoping things pick up as the story progresses.

 

[T77]

Working my way through some Larry Niven, I finished World of Ptavvs and A Gift from Earth. I enjoyed both, Ptavvs more so. I have Protector queued up.

 

[Raf]

Have been off for a couple of days...so had time to finish "Into the Light" by David Weber. Outstanding sequel with a cliff hanging ending that makes another novel an absolute necessity. Was wondering all along how he would be able to tie up all the loose ends in the book.

I see others are reading this now as well...so I'll refrain from commenting beyond generalities. I really like this series.

 

[Raf]

Started another David Weber book..."In Fury Born". It is an older novel that I, somehow, missed over the years.

 

[suciul]

Started another David Weber book..."In Fury Born". It is an older novel that I, somehow, missed over the years.

Coincidentally I recently reread this one (as Governor, the first volume in a prequel series, Ascent to Empire, set 400 years before was released as an e-arc with the final version tbp June 1st) and I still greatly enjoyed it; part 2 of In Fury Born was released as Path of the Fury in the early 90's and was the first D Weber book I read; I liked it so much so it made me a fan for life and it really stands well even now almost 30 years after;

In Fury Born was released in the mid 00's with the early years (and events hinted in Path) of Alicia de Vries as the first part of the book and Path of the Fury (slightly expanded) as the second part, so the first half has an episodic feel, while the second part is a coherent whole, but overall I think it works fairly well

 

[Raf]

Coincidentally I recently reread this one (as Governor, the first volume in a prequel series, Ascent to Empire, set 400 years before was released as an e-arc with the final version tbp June 1st) and I still greatly enjoyed it; part 2 of In Fury Born was released as Path of the Fury in the early 90's and was the first D Weber book I read; I liked it so much so it made me a fan for life and it really stands well even now almost 30 years after;

In Fury Born was released in the mid 00's with the early years (and events hinted in Path) of Alicia de Vries as the first part of the book and Path of the Fury (slightly expanded) as the second part, so the first half has an episodic feel, while the second part is a coherent whole, but overall I think it works fairly well

I saw that on Amazon...but the 1992 version was only available in paper for $ 22.00 +/-. So I settled for the Kindle version. Liking it quite a bit right now.

 

[Ropie]

I'm just over a quarter of the way through Fall by Neal Stephenson. 250 pages of scene setting and background, and it seems like we might be getting to the actual premise of the book now. What I've read so far has been interesting at times but I think could have been condensed into 100 pages easily, and lost none of the impact or scale. A book like The Forge of God by Greg Bear, which was absolutely epic - that was completed in just under 500 pages. Fall is just under 900. What I'm saying is: editing could have happened here, but I think a writer like Neal Stephenson is seen as a 1000-page guy and not less (at least not since Snow Crash). I could be wrong but it might be a masculinity thing.

 

[chitman13]

Finished Into the Light by David Weber/Chris Kennedy. Enjoyable once it got going, but I really hope they continue with the series as this is clearly just a stepping stone to future books.

Also read Dean Koontz's Elsewhere over the weekend. A novel of alternate realities, but one done in a personal way. Really enjoyed it. Hopefully full review to follow.

 

[Raf]

Just finished David Weber's "In Fury Born". Just a cracking good story with a cool fantasy twist. Right up there as an all time favorite Weber novel.

I would love to see more of Alicia Devries (MC)...but it looks like when he put this one together, he was right smack in the middle of the "Honor Harrington" series. So maybe he thought the 2 were too similar. Or he just felt the need to finish Honor's story.

I don't know. But I would really like to see him re-visit her story line sometime.

 

[suciul]

Just finished David Weber's "In Fury Born". Just a cracking good story with a cool fantasy twist. Right up there as an all time favorite Weber novel.

I would love to see more of Alicia Devries (MC)...but it looks like when he put this one together, he was right smack in the middle of the "Honor Harrington" series. So maybe he thought the 2 were too similar. Or he just felt the need to finish Honor's story.

I don't know. But I would really like to see him re-visit her story line sometime.

Agree about In Fury Born, very good book and I definitely recommend Governor which chronicles the rise of the house of Murphy in that universe (start of series and shorter, so won't pack what IFB does of course but lots of goodies); afaik DW said that at the end of the book, Alicia and her companions are way too powerful to make for a good story, so I highly doubt there will be further stories there but again who knows

 

[Westy]

I read Wild Seed by Octavia Butler – it’s the story of two immortal Africans; Doro, who kills at will and inhabits other’s bodies, and Anyanwu who can shapeshift into anything. They meet, and Doro convinces Anyanwu to join him in his seed village where he selectively breeds to raise siblings with powers.

The story was a great conveyer of a number of serious themes – slavery, racism, eugenics – with an African setting which would have been unusual when it was written. And Butler’s writing is straightforward but effective, drawing these two atypical characters and pitting their love/hate relationship against each other.

But I didn’t enjoy it as much as the Xenogensis books, I think mainly because the two characters were so unreal in their powers, there was little explanation to the source of this which didn’t allow full investment in the story.

 

[Westy]

I also read One Day All This Will Be Yours, the latest release by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's a ~200 page story about an unnamed protagonist (told in the first person), who is the seemingly sole survivor of the Causality War, occupying a space at the end of time and protecting it from potential usurpers arriving from the past.

This was a fun, light read - plenty of dark humour (from the misogynistic protagonist) and the pacing was great. There's a pet dinosaur called Miffly, and things get really interesting when there are unexpected visitors. Don't think too much about the logistics and science of the time travel (the author doesn't), but go along for the ride. For me this was a return to form for the author; his previous few releases didn't work that well for me.

 

[Agent Cormac]

I also read One Day All This Will Be Yours, the latest release by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's a ~200 page story about an unnamed protagonist (told in the first person), who is the seemingly sole survivor of the Causality War, occupying a space at the end of time and protecting it from potential usurpers arriving from the past.

I'll read this one once I've caught up with the pile on my bedroom floor. Loved Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. It was so different to the space opera I usually read, what with the evolution of a non-human species, yet still one from Earth. The ending was so hopeful, too.
I bought all of Alistair Reynolds''s Chasm City / Revelation Space centred novels a few months ago and have been working my way through them. To be honest, tackling them one after the other has been a bit of a drudge, but I've interspersed reading them with Ken Follett, John Grisham and Frederick Forsyth. I've just finished Reynolds' Aurora Rising which was probably the best in the sequence so far, and a little surprising for me considering my indifference to detective novels.
Good to see that Peter F Hamilton features in this thread, too, who I regard as being the current master of space opera. I recall being a tad dismayed half-way through The Reality Disfunction when Al Capone and other historical characters entered the storyline, seemingly spoiling what had been a tour de force of world building and plot development until then, but you just have to accept that Hamilton does go off on tangents sometimes. And, at the end of the day, he does it so well.
Just realised this is my first post. Do I get a cake, or something?
I've been stopping by for reviews now and then, but now I have a lot more time on my hands I'll chip in more often.

 

[Westy]

I'll read this one once I've caught up with the pile on my bedroom floor. Loved Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. It was so different to the space opera I usually read, what with the evolution of a non-human species, yet still one from Earth. The ending was so hopeful, too.

I really liked it too - probably my favourite of his, and is for a number of others on this forum too (not so much the sequel though).

I bought all of Alistair Reynolds''s Chasm City / Revelation Space centred novels a few months ago and have been working my way through them. To be honest, tackling them one after the other has been a bit of a drudge, but I've interspersed reading them with Ken Follett, John Grisham and Frederick Forsyth. I've just finished Reynolds' Aurora Rising which was probably the best in the sequence so far, and a little surprising for me considering my indifference to detective novels.

Yeah I'm a big fan of mixing up author's novels, and also books in a series, so they don't get stagnant. House of Suns was a favourite of Al Reynolds, though it's been a long time since I first read it so may have to go back to it to see if it stacks up.

Just realised this is my first post. Do I get a cake, or something?
I've been stopping by for reviews now and then, but now I have a lot more time on my hands I'll chip in more often.

Welcome! Always good to hear what another person is reading, looking forward to more!

 

[Westy]

I read Purgatory Mount, the latest novel by Adam Roberts. It has an unusual framing story set up - it starts off with a generational ship nearing an uninhabited planet to investigate a strange megastructure looming from the surface and into space. Then after about 30 pages it switches to the current United States, where war is looming and the story focuses on two friends (Otto and Gomery) who have been captured by the authorities. Then for the final ~40 pages of the novel it switches back to the planet setting.

So after reading the first 30 pages it's a bit of a jolt to the next section, but luckily it was great reading - very fast paced and plenty of wry humour throughout as Otto is captured and processed through various prison systems, while outside the US descends into chaos. While reading this main middle setting I had no idea on how it links to the object on the planet, with only hints coming right towards the end.

But then the ending - I was pretty disappointed overall; not a lot of payoff for such a big lead in, and we don't really find out exactly what the mountain is for. The reveal is more philosophical and metaphysical than a concrete storyline ending, involving links to Dante's Divine Comedy, and addressing issues of atonement and memory. I found it interesting in the afterword that the author explains what he was trying to say (to a degree), purposely making the links between the stories very grey - but to me I found it too grey.

If the main middle section was one novel expanded out a bit, I'd give it 4/5 easy. But for the novel as a whole it's down to 3.5/5 at most I think.