What Book Are You Reading XV - The Pile Keeps Growing!

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Shoutout to Ajidica’s title. I recently moved a couple of books in my room, you know, a sample of just some of the newer books I have that are on deck and not en the main queue. The stack is 9 books tall.

One of them is of course the Adam Tooze book you recommended on the financial crisis.
 
Takhisis said:
I've just finished Seán Ó Faoláin's The Irish (revised edition, 1980) which is a creative way of telling the history of a people.
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The classic Irishman's dilemma. Do I eat the potato now, or save to ferment and drink later?

Hygro said:
Shoutout to Ajidica’s title. I recently moved a couple of books in my room, you know, a sample of just some of the newer books I have that are on deck and not en the main queue. The stack is 9 books tall.

One of them is of course the Adam Tooze book you recommended on the financial crisis.
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Let me know what you think of Tooze. I like him quite a lot.
 
Eeeh, it certainly is a creative history of Ireland if you hardly mention the drink, eh?
 
Started The Absolute Book by Elizabeth Knox. So far (4 chapters in) it's feeling like something Neil Gaiman might have written (this is a good thing).
 
Georges Remy's Coke en stock (1958).
 
Birdjaguar said:
I just started Dead Silence by SA Barnes. Sci Fi plus horror! The first 80 pages grabbed me and I am pushing along.
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Quite good for a short (300 page) book. I am used to 500+ pages and multi volumes for Sci Fi story so it was over pretty quick. I read it two days.

I've moved on to The Brides of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire. It is the first of three. At 70 pages in it reminds me of the Wizard of Earthsea series from long ago. Fun start!
 
Birdjaguar said:
I've moved on to The Brides of Maracoor by Gregory Maguire. It is the first of three. At 70 pages in it reminds me of the Wizard of Earthsea series from long ago. Fun start!
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After finishing the excellent Brides of Maracoor I am now reading The Dressmakers of Auschwitz. I'm a third of the way through it and it is wonderful. It is a lesser know story of survival in hell.
 
April 2022

Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn (4/5)

Spoiler :
This was an acceptable, though unexceptionable, read. It creates plot holes to prop up the mythos of Thrawn, so it loses some oomph because of that.



Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (1/5)

Spoiler :
My review for the first book was positive but expressed a need for the sequel to build on the basics. This did not meet that need. Everything from the prose to the story took a significant dip compared to the already fairly generic setup from the first novel. An unfortunate DNF.



Greater Good by Timothy Zahn (3/5)

Spoiler :
This was alright. There's a fairly significant plot hole throughout this prequel series that I have not been able to ignore, which is that Zahn goes out of his way to make it clear that the chiss do not recognize aliens as being real people, yet the events of this series revolve around the chiss negotiating with aliens, trading with aliens, allying with aliens, and so on. The entire arc around Thrawn centers around how he isn't like his peers, that he gives aliens the respect and recognition they're due. This is in direct contradiction to the stories being told.

Also: the ending scene for this book was simply silly and obnoxious.



Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn (5/5)

Spoiler :
Good read, although it has a lack of resolution.



Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View by Elizabeth Schaefer (2/5)

Spoiler :
The quality of most of these flash fiction pieces is good enough, but I admit to finding myself not at all interested in the short plots. Most of the perspectives are unnecessary and play into the stereotype of how totally minor, inconsequential characters are given backgrounds in Star Wars.

The story between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was quite nice, though.



Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan (5/5)

Spoiler :

It takes a while to find its footing, but once it does, it's a very enjoyable read. I like every POV character and it's nice to see the various theaters of the realm, each given equal weight and nuance.



Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers by Jane K. Cleland (5/5)

Spoiler :
Despite being overly formulaic and prescriptivist, I do think this is a wonderful resource that a newbie writer, or one struggling to piece together a novel they are truly proud of, can use to develop their perspective on writing large, coherent narratives. While I don't believe this craft book should be followed to the letter for a writer's "real novel," it is excellent at deconstructing other books and in practicing your skills.

Additionally, the final checklist does have utility later on. The TRD/ICE system is iffy, but the final checklist is a series of questions that you should ask yourself about every scene or plot thread. These questions are insightful and can help you determine when your narrative is lagging or needs extra oomph (or if it's even believable).

I largely view this craft book as education on the fundamentals. Utilize it to learn, and then apply its lessons to how you approach future writing.



Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed (3/5)

Spoiler :
The protagonist in this book is a petulant child. It was very difficult to root for him; in fact, I didn't root for him. He does not develop as a character at any point during the narrative and is just generally a brat. The lore for the story is also glossed over and really stretches the suspension of disbelief.

The prose is pretty good. This isn't horror. It's more YA SFF than anything else. I don't see how this could have a sequel, let alone two of them, but I'll give it a go and hope that the structure and premise are improved upon.
 
Synobun said:
Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan (5/5)
Click to expand...
I've read three of his powder Mage books and really liked them but it was some years ago.
 
Synobun said:
April 2022

Chaos Rising by Timothy Zahn (4/5)

Spoiler :
This was an acceptable, though unexceptionable, read. It creates plot holes to prop up the mythos of Thrawn, so it loses some oomph because of that.



Age of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (1/5)

Spoiler :
My review for the first book was positive but expressed a need for the sequel to build on the basics. This did not meet that need. Everything from the prose to the story took a significant dip compared to the already fairly generic setup from the first novel. An unfortunate DNF.



Greater Good by Timothy Zahn (3/5)

Spoiler :
This was alright. There's a fairly significant plot hole throughout this prequel series that I have not been able to ignore, which is that Zahn goes out of his way to make it clear that the chiss do not recognize aliens as being real people, yet the events of this series revolve around the chiss negotiating with aliens, trading with aliens, allying with aliens, and so on. The entire arc around Thrawn centers around how he isn't like his peers, that he gives aliens the respect and recognition they're due. This is in direct contradiction to the stories being told.

Also: the ending scene for this book was simply silly and obnoxious.



Lesser Evil by Timothy Zahn (5/5)

Spoiler :
Good read, although it has a lack of resolution.



Star Wars: From a Certain Point of View by Elizabeth Schaefer (2/5)

Spoiler :
The quality of most of these flash fiction pieces is good enough, but I admit to finding myself not at all interested in the short plots. Most of the perspectives are unnecessary and play into the stereotype of how totally minor, inconsequential characters are given backgrounds in Star Wars.

The story between Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon was quite nice, though.



Wrath of Empire by Brian McClellan (5/5)

Spoiler :

It takes a while to find its footing, but once it does, it's a very enjoyable read. I like every POV character and it's nice to see the various theaters of the realm, each given equal weight and nuance.



Mastering Plot Twists: How to Use Suspense, Targeted Storytelling Strategies, and Structure to Captivate Your Readers by Jane K. Cleland (5/5)

Spoiler :
Despite being overly formulaic and prescriptivist, I do think this is a wonderful resource that a newbie writer, or one struggling to piece together a novel they are truly proud of, can use to develop their perspective on writing large, coherent narratives. While I don't believe this craft book should be followed to the letter for a writer's "real novel," it is excellent at deconstructing other books and in practicing your skills.

Additionally, the final checklist does have utility later on. The TRD/ICE system is iffy, but the final checklist is a series of questions that you should ask yourself about every scene or plot thread. These questions are insightful and can help you determine when your narrative is lagging or needs extra oomph (or if it's even believable).

I largely view this craft book as education on the fundamentals. Utilize it to learn, and then apply its lessons to how you approach future writing.



Beneath the Rising by Premee Mohamed (3/5)

Spoiler :
The protagonist in this book is a petulant child. It was very difficult to root for him; in fact, I didn't root for him. He does not develop as a character at any point during the narrative and is just generally a brat. The lore for the story is also glossed over and really stretches the suspension of disbelief.

The prose is pretty good. This isn't horror. It's more YA SFF than anything else. I don't see how this could have a sequel, let alone two of them, but I'll give it a go and hope that the structure and premise are improved upon.
Click to expand...

For me it's the legends Thrawn books. Don't care about the new ones.
 
Ended The Many-Coloured Land by Julian May.
Good background, properly written, however I did not like too much the main plot, there is a crush of events in the last 10% of the book, while very few things happen in the first 90%

Also ended The Ugly Ducklings by Boris Cyrulnik.
Good essay about resilience, however it did not contribute anything I didn't allready kew

Starting A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursuka K. Le Guin
Also starting another book about resilience, whose title I can not remember, by Jorge Barudy
 
Josu said:
Starting A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursuka K. Le Guin
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Such a great series. I hope they have held up well over the years. I read them when they were new.
 
Birdjaguar said:
Such a great series. I hope they have held up well over the years. I read them when they were new.
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It is okay. I think most of its value is in its history and how formative it was. If you have already read a lot of fantasy content, A Wizard of Earthsea comes across as a middling entry. It was undoubtedly amazing for its time, but these days it is just an average work for the genre, IMO.

(Though keep in mind that I am someone who assigns no value to history when it comes to personal enjoyment. "It was great fifty years ago" or "It inspired most other fantasy" is meaningless to me.)
 
Yesterday I finished reading a book I bought full price from Waterstones

To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

by

Christopher Paolini

which is quite good, but all the hand to hand fighting with the aliens seem to go on for a long time.

It has an interesting annex explaining its theory of superluminal travel.
 
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