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[reading] What have you read recently? (encore again)

Based on the many good reviews here I picked this up today:

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Also spotted the following shelf so will add the ones I don't have to my birthday wish list for next month ;)

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I continue my attempt to read at least one book a month (alternating between 'serious' books and 'magic, muskets and mass drivers') and in February I was mostly reading What We Can Know by Ian McEwan.

Sold to me as 'science fiction, without the science' this was a tale of academics in a future where ecological and nuclear disaster means that the history of our present can only be patched together by looking at the electronic record of our existence. The academics are obsessed with the reading of a poem at a party - a poem that has since disappeared - and finding said poem. In the first half of the book, we look at their search, and in the second half we see what actually happened.

The book calls into question our understanding of history, and the extent to which gaps can be filled and the limits of 'what we can know'. It also, as almost a side salad, has some really interesting world building about how the disasters happened and what the after effects were. However, for me, this was wholly under-developed in favour of a lot of really intricate and particular discussions of the activities of people in the past (our present) and their interactions.

I'll be honest, I don't think I'm clever enough for this book. I found it a very hard read until the author kicked in with some actual dialogue, when the book sprang to life. Sadly too much of the book was a past tense narrative of things which had happened, rather than a telling of them as they happened, so dialogue was rather sparse. It's an interesting book and really got me thinking about how historical research must be painfully difficult - and about the degree to which my life would be reflected by piecing together my online missives.

Onto something a little less taxing!
 
I doubt it's lack of intelligence.
There's a mindset for introspection and there's nothing wrong in not having it. Indeed, many might say a benefit.
 
Returning from my holidays, I have smashed my 'Book a Month' by knocking off four in one month (unknown for me!)

A Close Run Thing and The Nizam's Daughter by Allan Mallinson were both re-reads for D&H research. Cornet (although that doesn't last long) Matthew Hervey is the Regency hero your mother wants you to marry. He follows orders, fights with honour, stands up for the downtrodden and is utterly faithful to his men, his horse, and even his betrothed. The first book takes place mostly in the period between Napoleon's exile to Elba and Waterloo, and the second is a super-secret mission to mess with things in India for Wellington. In a world where Napoelonic heroes appear to have the morals of backyard cats, Hervey is a breath of honourable fresh air.

Foundation by Isaac Asimov - you might of heard of him? Little known writer... I was drawn to this as I enjoyed the TV series and wanted to experience the base material. There's not a lot of what's here in the TV show but that wasn't a bad thing. The basic plot about Seldon Crises was interesting and the ideas of psychohistory certainly got me thinking. The writing is drier than a dry thing in dry land, and has a lot of period quirks (everyone seems to smoke) but I polished it off in a day, which doesn't feel like it outstayed it's welcome.

The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie - OK, let me tell you about the Expanse TV show. I have watched the first episode about half a dozen times, but it just never sticks. I'm convinced I'm not giving it the right respect. Well, my literary version of The Expanse is the First Law trilogy. I know, intellectually, that I should love the iconic grimdark setting, the politics, the visceral combat etc. but I have failed to penetrate this book so many times before, it has become an annoyance. I am SO glad I took it on holiday with me and gave it the respect it deserves, because I absolutely love it - to the point that on the plane home, when the cabin crew turned off the lights when I was in the middle of The Contest, I outwardly swore and huffed, until I realised there was a reading light. An extraordinary read and definitely something I am glad I finally got around to.
 
In preperaion for Cork Bord I am about to be reading a load of Nordic Noir. However, i first need to finish reading Ravenor for 40k inquisition reasons.
 
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Neil Gow said:
Foundation by Isaac Asimov - you might of heard of him? Little known writer... I was drawn to this as I enjoyed the TV series and wanted to experience the base material. There's not a lot of what's here in the TV show but that wasn't a bad thing. The basic plot about Seldon Crises was interesting and the ideas of psychohistory certainly got me thinking. The writing is drier than a dry thing in dry land, and has a lot of period quirks (everyone seems to smoke) but I polished it off in a day, which doesn't feel like it outstayed it's welcome.
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It's a thing of its time, and the ideas were the strong point. Although Foundation is one of my early influences for SF, I was glad when they chose to use the ideas rather than follow the plot slavishly with the TV series. Otherwise it'd be a lot of cigar chomping men in back rooms with the odd atomic blaster thrown in when planetoid.
 
Also, the stories would need adjusting anyway for a different medium... what works as a series of loosely-connected short stories in a magazine doesn't necessarily work for a TV series. Like any form of "presentation", you need to consider the audience and the medium as well as the content you want to get across.
 
Picked up The Sword Garden by Peadar O Guilin on a whim at a science fiction convention. Despite having "sword" in the title, it's science fiction rather than fantasy and I thoroughly enjoyed it. YA feel to it - reminded me of the Andre Norton I re-read recently. Lots of lovely plot twists. Slow start then reaches breakneck speed as various plot threads collide.
https://wizardstowerpress.com/books-2/books-by-peadar-o-guilin/the-sword-garden/
 
Mordew
Alex Pheby

A Dickensian fantasy, set in a manufactured city where stratified power ensures a crafted control. The corpse of God lies below, inducing a living magic that bubbles to the surface, most powerfully held by a very select few. Strong storytelling, gothic and inventive. The book, first of a trilogy, has an extensive glossary that lays out the cosmology and particulars, iron scaffolding to the magical narrative.

I found an oppressive powerlessness in the text, as the main actor moved forward to a limited understanding of his place in the world.
 
Did you like it enough to read the next one?
 
Dom said:
Did you like it enough to read the next one?
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I've just finished it. I've been a little put off by the reviews of the narrative development of books two (600 pages) and three (1000 pages). So, for now, I think I will leave it there.
 
My tablet killed my Kindle and took its stuff years ago. Now wondering whether I can be bothered to download my Kindle library from Amazon and try to convert it to a useful format, or use this as an opportunity to find out what I like enough to buy again.

Time was they used the MobiReader format and you could just change the file type. Good times.
 
Already moved across to using an iPad mini as my ebook reader (and converted my Kindle library to ePub using Calibre. A good thing to bear in mind for my wife's Kindle when it goes end of life ;)
 
dpmcalister said:
Already moved across to using an iPad mini as my ebook reader (and converted my Kindle library to ePub using Calibre. A good thing to bear in mind for my wife's Kindle when it goes end of life ;)
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Do it now. Apparently, Amazon are already applying stealth updates to Kindles that result in un-DRMable content even to those that aren't having the plug pulled on them.
 
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Conan: Blood of the Serpent
S.M. Stirling

Conan wanders about Stygia, killing and shagging. Complains about the weather. Wants Valeria's arse.

Tosh.
 
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