Reading in SF, September 2024

[ZimFasa]

Finished The Old Guard by G. Stewart second book in the House Adamant series (talked also about the first book, The Exodus Gambit, in this thread); excellent stuff and the only annoying thing is that the next installment will be available in March 2025 only; my Goodreads review:

These sound great and they’re both on Kindle Unlimited! Adding them to my list.

 

[farseer2]

Finished Starship's Mage by G Stewart

I have read that one too, and my reaction was similar to yours. It was fine, but I didn't completely love it. So far I haven't got around to reading any more from the author, although I see you liked other of his series more than this.

 

[suciul]

I have read that one too, and my reaction was similar to yours. It was fine, but I didn't completely love it. So far I haven't got around to reading any more from the author, although I see you liked other of his series more than this.

We'll see about the next book in the Starship Mage series- if it gets less frantic I may continue the series; the Adamant series so far is much more interesting imho.

I also just finished and liked Conviction by Glynn Stewart, the first in the Scattered Stars series - has lots of interesting stuff and potential too, and is also a very sff fan novel for sure (the Equilibrium Institute and its Seldonian analysis is one of the cooler things but there are quite a few) but that is always a plus for me.

However, Deception, the second series book (there are 6 in the main sequence) seems more of the same so I do not feel the urge to read it immediately after the first as I did with the Adamant one which changed quite nicely the tack and setting, so I started a different series too, The Adventures of a Xeno-archaeologist, by Jenny Schwartz which starts with Astray. Will see how it goes as this one has promise too and a different feel.

Blurb for Astray:

Nora Devi is a xeno-archaeologist with a complicated past. She has buried more secrets than she’s dug up. Widowed in the recently ended twelve year war between Capitoline and Palantine, she now makes a living as an independent tagger in border space.
Captain Liam Kimani could be credited with ending the latest royal war. Instead, he’s blamed for it. Dirty commoners aren’t meant to lay their hands on royalty.
He has no regrets.
When Liam and his crew of the battlecruiser RC Genghis Khan are exiled to Capitoline’s border they discover that life in unexplored space can be more dangerous than war, and that their best chance of survival lies with a mysterious, elusive tagger.
The only problem is that Nora’s secrets might destroy the precarious stability of the entire Human Sector.
Astray is a fast-paced, enthralling space opera of lost societies, ancient aliens, rugged warriors and semi-legal pirates.

 

[Diosces]

Been a while since I read some short stories, this looked good so just downloaded for Kindle:
AI Apocalypse: A Collection of Science Fiction Stories
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[blailock]

I finished Persepolis Rising, the 7th Expanse novel. I enjoyed this one a lot. It seems to be setting up the final few novels for an exciting ending.

 

[krisbslick]

I finished Persepolis Rising, the 7th Expanse novel. I enjoyed this one a lot. It seems to be setting up the final few novels for an exciting ending.

I took a few years off from the Expanse after book 6. I was not disappointed with Persepolis Rising. Really excellent entry for me to "jump back in" with. Definitely ranked in my top 3 for the series.

 

[chitman13]

Been away from PC for a couple of weeks while our daughter was born, and also managed to get through a few audiobooks...

All These Worlds by Dennis E Taylor - 3rd Bobiverse book, and it ties off the trilogy nicely. That ending for the Others was spot on.
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey - this was good, but not great. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending for some reason, but will likely check out the sequel to see where things go from here.
Heaven's River by Dennis E Taylor - 4th Bobiverse book, a stand-alone story but it has many threads fromt he first trilogy that continue. I liked this more than when I first read it on release, though not as good as the first three books.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Audible Plus listen, and one I've never got to before. Relatively short, but well done.
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E Taylor - 5th Bobiverse book, and another stand-alone with threads from previous books continuing. I really enjoyed this, on part with the trilogy, and one that leaves things in a place that could lead to some excellent stories moving forward.

Currently listening to The Archimedes Engine by Peter F Hamilton after reading it a while back. Enjoying it more this time through!

 

[Raf]

Been away from PC for a couple of weeks while our daughter was born, and also managed to get through a few audiobooks...

All These Worlds by Dennis E Taylor - 3rd Bobiverse book, and it ties off the trilogy nicely. That ending for the Others was spot on.
The Mercy of Gods by James S.A. Corey - this was good, but not great. I wasn't entirely satisfied with the ending for some reason, but will likely check out the sequel to see where things go from here.
Heaven's River by Dennis E Taylor - 4th Bobiverse book, a stand-alone story but it has many threads fromt he first trilogy that continue. I liked this more than when I first read it on release, though not as good as the first three books.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy - Audible Plus listen, and one I've never got to before. Relatively short, but well done.
Not Till We Are Lost by Dennis E Taylor - 5th Bobiverse book, and another stand-alone with threads from previous books continuing. I really enjoyed this, on part with the trilogy, and one that leaves things in a place that could lead to some excellent stories moving forward.

Currently listening to The Archimedes Engine by Peter F Hamilton after reading it a while back. Enjoying it more this time through!

Congratulations to you and your wife on the new baby!

 

[krisbslick]

Been away from PC for a couple of weeks while our daughter was born, and also managed to get through a few audiobooks...

Congrats!!

Finished the new Exforce novel: Task Force Hammer. Always a fun romp, but more of the same. Not sure why they have to be 600-800 pages long, but whatever.

I also fit in Recursion by Blake Crouch. It might have been slightly too technical for a made up concept, but I still liked it. Saving all 31 audio hours of Hamilton's Archimedes Engine for my plane rides early next month.

 

[Hobbit]

Been away from PC for a couple of weeks while our daughter was born, and also managed to get through a few audiobooks...

Congratulations, M! I hope you're getting some sleep. Having recently become a granddad to a lovely granddaughter, I realise I had partly forgotten how important sleep is.... My reading has taken a knock too, but the benefits outweigh the negatives!

 

[Westy]

Been away from PC for a couple of weeks while our daughter was born

Congrats! Enjoy the early years, my eldest is about to leave high school - seems only yesterday she was a toddler!

 

[tpetty]

listening to the audiobook of the Howling Dark, in the Sun Eater series. Man, these books are a lot of hours! I love the prose.

 

[Gkarlives]

Finished the Chanur Omnibus and started Chanur Homecoming by C J Cherryh, one hell of a writer. In the wings, Shorefall by Robert Jackson Bennett, Children of Ruin by Adrian Tchaikovshy, The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty, and the final, to date, Ethshar novel Charming Sharra by Lawrence Watt-Evans.