Books

I finished Master and Margarita a couple of weeks back - it was great! Surreal and funny, plus a brilliant satire of Russian society at the time. Knowing how certain elements of the plot reflect the author's own experiences make it particularly poignant.

Yesterday I finished reading Old Man's War. Really enjoyed it! An interesting premise, fascinating technology & alien races coupled with some genuinely moving moments. The exploration of the implications of war and life extension were surprisingly well thought out for what I expected to be a comedic/light-hearted novel. I look forward to reading more in the series.

I have just started To Kill a Mockingbird - somehow I've got this far in life without reading it. Will see how it goes!

Halfway done with The Last Emperox. It's the last book in a space opera trilogy. Mankind is spread across the galaxy in an imperial system that forces all settlements to not be fully self sufficient in order to incentive peaceful coexistence. FTL travel doesn't exist and thus trade can only be done with space ships via a complex network of wormholes.

The whole premise is that network is collapsing, which would leave billions of people stranded with a bleak future of them slowly burning through their last supplies. It follows the actions of the emperor's actions taken to save as many lives as possible while trying to fend off assassination attempts from ambitious short-sighted nobles trying to gain the upper hand during the empire's collapse.

The Empyrean series by Rebecca Yarros, I'm not ashamed to admit.

Dungeon Crawler Carl. It’s fun so far, but I’m starting to suspect it’s going to be a bit repetitive.

Still plugging away at The Wandering Inn webserial...now on book 8.

I'm reading Lady Eve's Last Con by Rebecca Fraimow and listening to Roll for Love by M.K. England during commutes. They are both pretty fluffy, but fun so far

I've long adored Social Origins Of Dictatorship And Democracy, so I'm thinking of picking up some of Barrington Moore Jr's other work - ideally,

Injustice: The Social Bases of Obedience and Revolt

and/or

Authority and Inequality under Capitalism and Socialism: USA, USSR, and China.

I'm currently reading Men at Arms (Terry Pratchett), and it's delightful!

I'm roughly 1/3 of the way through all of the Discworld books.

Neuromancer by William Gibson. Slowly realising how many cyberpunk books cribbed his homework.

I just finished Alchemised. Amazing love story set during a civil war, but also a story about the way we see ourselves and the way we're remembered.

Started the second Mistborn book by Sanderson. The first one was good and the second is still holding my interest. I think the plot and lore he's created is top notch but his prose and overall writing style is rather meh. I'm about to start taking a shot of Bourbon for everytime a character rolls their eyes or signs in conversation.

I finished all the Super Powereds related stuff that’s out. The main series and one spin off that may get a sequel in the future. There’s also a potential follow up that happens 20-ish years later.

Fun books in general with a little patience needed for areas where it really could have been tightened up. But I would feel comfortable recommending it to someone. Overall probably high B or low A tier.

Now I’m on to Someone You Can Build a Nest In by John Wiswell. It’s had pretty good reviews and is quite cozy.

I finished Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson this week. Great read! Stephenson is a very long-winded and meandering author but I love it every time.

I just got a copy of House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski because I was inspired by mushroommonk (I don't know how to tag users) here in the comments. Super excited to finally crack this one open.

I am also about to start in on Ursula Le Guin but I dont know if I should start with The Left Hand of Darkness or The Word for World is Forest.

Recently started the second book in the Bobiverse series. Really enjoyed the first one, but I did have to try a couple times to get into it. Once I did though, I couldn't put it down. The audiobook is narrated by Ray Porter who also does Project Hail Mary. Great narrarator.

I'm starting House of Leaves today.

I don't think I'm ready for this wild ride but only one way to find out.

Finished Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir, a little over a week ago, and finally dove into Wind and Truth, Brandon Sanderson. I'd been putting this off since I have a problem with finishing a series, or chunk of one in this case.

While I still love The Stormlight Archive, I think I've come to realize that Sanderson doesn't write believable enough dialogue for me. It comes across as flat and somewhat childish. ¯⁠\⁠_⁠(⁠ツ⁠)⁠_⁠/⁠¯

Only just finished River of Blue Fire, Tad Williams, and will likely finish book three and four of the quartet for my active audiobook.

Working on the new T. Kingfisher, Hemlock & Silver.

__

Read since last time:

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy (fantasy horror, novella) | bingo: creature, minority author, short, LGBTQIA+ lead, alliterative, cover

A wanderer visits an anarchist commune that's protected by a preternatural being.

I think I'd put this in the "fine" category; not sure if I'm interested in the sequels.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard (space opera-ish mystery, novella) | bingo: creature, different continent, minority author, orange, short, award

A prickly detective and a sentient ship discover and investigate an unusual corpse.

Intentional Holmes and Watson vibes. Cute enough, but the mystery felt a bit secondary.

I’m on The Shadow Rising (WoT #4).

The Dragon Reborn was my favorite entry so far I think. I loved Perrin and Mat’s chapters the most. Mat’s choice at the end really made me appreciate the character.

I’m very excited to see where the story goes from here!

I’m already looking forward to rereading the Eye of the World haha.

Edit: removed broken spoiler tag and content.

I'm starting V. by Thomas Pynchon. I'm going in pretty much blind, don't know the author or the book at all. I just saw his name in the news and realized I'd seen this book at the library, so here we are.

I also recently read Solaris by Stanisław Lem. I first read it in my early teens and I liked it then, but I feel these decades have allowed me to appreciate it more deeply. What a wonderful book! I love the idea that alien intelligence is truly alien - not just humans from another planet - to the point of making communication practically impossible. Any recommendations for books like Solaris and Roadside Picnic, which explore this theme, are welcome.

Anathem by Neal Stephenson. Starting slow but it’s kind of intriguing.

Reading "this inevitable ruin" by Matt Dinniman. I don't have much time to read at the moment, so about 1/3rd through after two weeks.

Started the first book of the Culture series, Consider Phlebas, only through the first three chapters, however I'm enjoying it so far -- especially compared to the writing of Red Rising (which was my last sci-fi read, at DNF atm).

I finished The First Three Minutes: A Modern View of the Origin of the Universe by Steven Weinberg and enjoyed it. It's actually remarkable that we as a species can tell such a specific story about the beginning of the universe using science.

I'm currently reading A Century of Fiction in the New Yorker: 1925-2025 by Deborah Treisman, which is an 1100-page long short story collection. So far, I enjoyed "The Weeds" by Mary McCarthy, and "Symbols and Signs" by Vladimir Nabokov.

How Far the Light Reaches: A Life in Ten Sea Creatures by Sabrina Imbler is pretty good at the 45% mark.

Unzipping Gender: Sex, Cross-Dressing and Culture, by Charlotte Suthrell.

Read Rosemary's Baby for the next podcast episode. Honestly, if you've ever watched the (original) movie you almost don't need to read the book, its the most faithful adaptation I've ever seen. Almost word-for-word in a lot of places.

Having finished that, I'm now reading Lake of Darkness by Adam Roberts which, for those unfamiliar, is sci-fi with a speculative edge. I'm about 25% in and it has me hooked.