I’ve put together a collage of some books from last months What are you Reading? post. It’s mostly random, but the more discussion something gets the more it stands out to me. Going forward I’m going to make a new post every month to talk about what people are reading.
Here is last months post. What are you Reading? (July 2023)
At any rate, what are you currently reading or plan to read in August?
You must log in or # to comment.
Frank Herbert’s Dune
Very good decision, congratulations! In my opinion the best space epic ever written. I recommend reading all six Dune books by Frank Herbert, they are different from each other but all are great writing. I also recommend to ignore all “Dune” books by Brian Herbert. They are so bad I will forever regret every cent I spent on them.
Project Hail Mary. Paid more than I liked for a single book but quickly found it is one of my favourite books of all time!
The Bobiverse books were great. Can’t wait for more. I’ve been reading Expeditionary Force which is where the Skippy’s come from. Also Rythm of War by Brandon Sanderson.
4th book was a huge let down. Dragged on and on about really nothing.
I really enjoyed Heaven’s River, but I also enjoy a slice of life book, and really liked all the world building with the otter world, I can definitely see where you are coming from though.
Fuck, Rhythm of War is awesome. I might have to go back and read the whole Stormlight series with my kids.
Currently reading 11-22-63. Pretty bloody grim and depressing in places, but good enough to hold my attention.
Finished Locked In by John Scalzi not long prior. Great thought experiment considering it was written long before covid too.
Read Locked In recently and really enjoyed it! Would recommend it to anyone looking for their next adventure. Police procedural meets sci fi and a very satisfying read.
I got about half way through 11-22-63 some years back. I think King is just too much bloat for me much of the time or I need to be in a different frame of mind to read him. I’ve always said I’d revisit it, but I haven’t.
I find the audiobooks good for long drives when I’ve got time to kill, but can understand you sentiment.
I did used to listen to them back when I often had a long commute. I have a harder time focusing on them if I’m not driving though. But that may be a better way to get into some books that aren’t working for me. Especially if the narrator is particularly good.
Read 11-22-63 recently while on a king kick. Love his ideas and was disappointed in the Hulu show, so I went to the source. Illustrates how difficult it would be as a present day man in the sixties. Modern, tolerant ideals clash with the racism, bigotry, ignorance of that era. With some time travel stuff every now and then to remind you this isn’t just a book about the sixties. Still a believable fantasy and compelling read . “The past is obdurate”
Ooohh I loved 11-22-63. Had to go and read IT as soon as I finished, so I could get some of the references.
Just finished Leviathan Wakes today. Can’t wait for my Amazon delivery of Caliban’s War.
Gave these a go after getting a bit bored of the series and wow, I wish I read them before spoiling the story beats for myself by watching it
Still, once you get past where amazon are leaving the series it gets even better - screw Cas Anvar
Finished the last book and immidately read Memories Legion, which I heartily recommend too, fills in some interesting gaps and interactions that were only lightly touched on throughout the series
I loved the series, but i think the books make the main characters much more relatable while the series makes the secondary characters really shine. I’ve been reading all the books, but have thrown other things in between like LoTR, The Foundation, and Hornblower which has made me excited to start the next Expanse book.
I wish I could forget and reread entire series without knowing how it’s going to unfold.
My favorite series, enjoy your read
Great books, Leviathan wakes was an intense and exciting book you are really in for a treat with the rest of the series.
Children of Time - It’s fantastic. Easily digestable space fair about giant intelligent spiders in their war with ants. Humans are involved but I care little for them. Not going to lie, I’m mainly there for the chapters narrated by the spiders and they are expectional.
I’m 6 books into expanse series, and I’ve kind of lost steam with it. Might need a break. Read bobiverse in full just before it. First children of time book was good but didn’t know if I wanted to read book 2.
Also loved project hail Mary and the dark Forest/three body trilogy.
Any other suggestions?
I have Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars Trilogy on my shelf waiting for me to finish The Expanse series. Maybe that?
Also, book 7 of The Expanse becomes a lot easier because you stop having the TV show to compare to. And let me tell you, you think you know what Duarte is doing on Laconia, but my friend you don’t. The prologue of book 7 has one of those “I’m sorry, WHAT” moments that really launches you into the next story arc
Yes yes yes red mars is amazing. At first I was like oh great another 600 page scifi novel, but Holy shit is that some classic hard scifi that draws you in. The literal world building and charecter development is fantastic.
Thatars trilogy took me by surprise. At first it felt slow and dry, but I kept on. It definitely is a unique perspective on colonization and I really enjoyed it in the end.
I’ve been debating starting the Expanse book series. I was a huge fan of the show but never read the books. Watched the whole series twice now. Is it recommended to star at book 1 or would it be advised to start at like book 7 so it follows the series?
I really think the books up to #4 Cibola Burn are worth the read. The TV series is kind of like a final edit of the books, and it’s really fascinating to see the changes the authors chose to make. But you get a lot more detail about the situations and the larger impact in the books.
That said, I reeeeally struggled with books 5 & 6 for only one reason: I hate Marco Inaros SO. MUCH. Which honestly just demonstrates how good these authors are. It was really hard for me to walk though the Inaros plot after having seen it through to completion in the show.
But now on book 7, I’m flying though the book again because I need to know where all of this is going and how our beloved characters are gonna get themselves out of this one
I very much share this experience with the series. Book 5 and 6 were the low point. I was more interested in the world building and everything related to it, and less so in the human conflicts. Final three books were great again, and eight probably my favourite in the whole series.
The show stays pretty true to the books, but there’s enough differences that I’d recommend starting with book 1.
Biggest change I can think of is Drummer. The show’s Drummer is like 3 or 4 characters from the books rolled into one. Book Drummer had a smaller roll.
I’m currently half way through the third book of the Children of Time trilogy. I LOVED book one. I think having just read “Other Minds” (Peter Godfrey-Smith, great non fiction about the mental processes of [the animal starring in the second book]) a while back made me appreciate the second book even more than I would have otherwise.
The Messengers by Lindsay Joelle is a short story only available on audible (free for members). It kind of reminded me of Children of Time and I really liked it.
Different style, but I liked all the books you listed and also loved Sirens of Titan by Kurt Vonnegut- time/space travel as envisioned in the 1950s.
And I just went: “Children of time trilogy? That one only got 2 books!”
Seems like at some point in 2022 it has grown to a trilogy. Nice! Thanks for pointing that out, I now know what I’ll read next :D
Book 7 was a bit of a drag for me, more so than book 6. Books 8 and 9 are really fast paced and good. It’s all proto molecule stuff. I remember not caring about the free navy and just wanting to get on with the larger series plot during 6 and 7. You may have to trudge through those to get to the good stuff though.
Good to know. Also I mis spoke, I’m mid book 7 and kinda bored at present
Try the revelation space series, they are a little slow at times but I really enjoyed them
Well, if you like space opera try Honor Harrington. The first book is called “On Basilisk Station”
Im halfway through The color of magic by Terry Pratchett, I’ve read a few other discworld books but I thought it was time to start the first book an try to read them all in the “right” order.
Listening to Making Money, read it a few years ago. Pretty good though I’m not a huge fan of the voice actor doing the reading. it’s tolerable though. Pratchett is what got me into sci-fi and fantasy, he’ll always be one of my favorites and always holds up when I go back to something of his.
It’s probably the weakest of the Discworld books (at least from what I read of them). You can tell that he’s still developing the world and it’s much more just a fantasy spoof as opposed to the social satire masquerading as fantasy spoof that those books then more and more turn into.
I read a lot of other Rincewind stories first, and I have to admit that getting the story from “The Color of Magic” explains a lot.
The later books, surprisingly, don’t spoil the main gag, at least in my vague recollection.
I’m about half way through The Fall of Hyperion. It’s great
Just finished Hyperion so I guess that will be soon for me. Might read something else in between first though
I just finished Project Hail Mary and just started The Passage.
Just finished the first three books for Red Rising. Really loved it. Not sure if I want to start the next part of the series. I just want the main character to be happy. Can’t take more of his torture.
Lol I feel this comment in my bones. I’m trying to emotionally prepare myself to read Lightbringer.
Working my way through Dark Age… I don’t think this dude is ever allowed to catch a break
I like how this mentality is still a thing years later. I read the first three as they came out, thought “what a great trilogy!”, and then “Oh no…” when I saw it was going to continue. Even if it’s great, I’m of your opinion, I just want the main characters to be happy already! I still haven’t read the sequel trilogy to this day, lol.
I recently read “A Memory Called Empire” by Arkady Martine. It’s the first book I’ve read by her and her writing style got me good. Her background as an historian shines through in the Empire she crafted. She won a hugo or nebula for the book but I can’t be bothered to look it up at the moment.
I’m on the second book of Hugh Howey 's Silo Trilogy. Loved the show, loving the books even more
I’m about a third of the way through the first book. It has been really hard for me to take time to focus long enough to read, so it’s my first real book in a long time. I’ve missed it.
OMG I loved the books. The show is making me want to go through them again but I have a stack of books I bought last year and still haven’t read. I’ll probably read Silo again though it is so freaking good.
Just about to start Memories of Ice, book 3 of the Malazan Book of the Fallen.
Oooooo baby! I firmly maintain the malazan books are one of the best series but take 3 books for the full shape of things to begin to be revealed. For me, memories of ice and book 4 were the two that drew me into the series. Enjoy!
It’s my second read through so I know how good it is 😁 I did find that I’d forgotten a lot of interesting stuff in the first two books though. Can’t wait to see what treasures I’d forgotten in this one.
The three body problem series is absolutely the best sci fi book series I have ever read. Can’t recommend more. Just finished the last one the other day, and the third book is mind blowing. It was written by a Chinese author so it feels foreign to me as an American, and a lot of cultural differences are very apparent but the translation was masterfully done by the authors son so it stays very true to the original source.
