Whats everyone reading?

[von Boom]

Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell, Jr. This is the novella that is the basis for the film The Thing. It's a fast read but very suspenseful and tense. I'm having many 'ah-ha' moments when I see where Carpenter pulled certain aspects from the story and altered them for the film. Frankly, I'm a bit ashamed that it's taken me this long to get to reading this. I've also got the extended story, Frozen Hell, on order.

[Mikey]

I'm almost finished with The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.

First novel I've read by him since Anarctica I think. He can still be clunky as all heck at times, and using meeting minutes as chapters makes me twitch a bit, but when it comes to getting across ideas and how he writes about landscape and science (social or otherwise) , he still tickles my pickle.

For a book concerned with the end of things as we know them, it's no surprise some of it is terrifying but he manages to weave hope and clear, practical ideas for possible solutions into the narrative. It's not rip-roaring as such but is a really engaging read.

[broodblik]

Hinterkind by Ian Edginton. As I am a big fan of Ian's work I got this without actually reading what it is about.

The premises are quite simple humankind is doomed and an endangered species. A blight wiped out mots of humankind. Elves, trolls, goblins and all kind a fairy-tale creatures has returned to our world. We are not the dominant species anymore and are hunted by the Hinterkind. 

As with all Ian's stuff this overflows with great ideas and concepts and it is a great read.

[Colin YNWA]

Yeah Hinterkind is a great read - I was lucky enough to get it on launch and its a good read. Its a shame the end had to be contracted (sales and what not) but I chatted to Ian about it once and he said he got pretty much he set out to do in there, just in a condensed way at the end (as I recall)

[Barrington Boots]

I did not enjoy Hinterkind. Great idea and starts off well, but I think you can tell it got rushed at the end.
Ian signed our copies, so even more of a shame!

[broodblik]

I will finish the second and third volumes of Easter weekend. Pity that it ending is rushed.

[Smith]

The Drop Site Massacre was in The First Heretic?  Wow, that book is even more forgettable than I thought.

Don't tell me you forgot how kewl and edgy Argel Tal was. More in the Betrayer,thou.

[pictsy]

Don't tell me you forgot how kewl and edgy Argel Tal was. More in the Betrayer,thou.

Gimme a sec, have to look up who that is...

Oh dear.  This book.  The character from whose perspective the book is told from... I have no idea.  I remember nothing about Argel Tal.  I was under the impression it was told from Lorgar's perspective.  I had to check that this is the Word Bearer book I read and it certainly is.  Wow.  Yet again, even more forgettable than I thought.

[milstar]

I read that long ago. Probably was under the influence of the movie. I am glad that filmmakers were wise to reduce some plot elements of the novella, such as the group counting around forty men and that the thing could read minds, which would make the movie unwieldy. Although, to my surprise, I thought that the gruesome kennel scene is purely the invention of filmmakers, but alas...

[Tjm86]

Bit of a binge at present, working my way through Alastair Reynolds' work, finally getting round to finishing the 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and rounding out Baxter's Destiny's Children with Transcendent ...

The latter was unusual for me from the point of view of Baxter.  Normally I find I really have to work at his books, with a few exceptions (Proxima / Ultima ...).  I do think it was also unusual for Baxter in that it was slightly more optimistic than his writing can be (Proxima / Ultima ...) in which as a general rule everything dies!

Certainly it contains all his usual bete-noir's.  So we have cosmic scale, millennium spanning storylines.  Explorations of post-human evolution.  Environmental struggles ... All linked back to the previous two books.  Not quite sure what had me gripped with this one but for a change I found it virtually impossible to put down.

Covenant has been a long ambition to complete.  Especially when I realised that I hadn't actually ever read the 2nd Chronicles.  Worth it though.  Donaldson creates a fascinating if disturbing world.  The flaws in his core characters are often acute.  There is no simplistic solution.  Final Chronicles lined up now.

... after a segue into Reynolds' future world.  Another interesting experience.  First time I tried Revelation Space I struggled with it.  It took a while, followed by a long interlude before reading subsequent books.  Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap also seemed to be slightly disconnected to the first book in the sequence and I was never entirely sure what the problem was.

Finding Chasm City and re-reading from scratch though ... RS turned into a much more enjoyable read.  RA seemed to fit in far better, even with the intentional disconnections.  Digging into more and more of his writing he has rapidly advanced to one of my favourite of the current crop of SF writers.  Fascinating world, interesting use of many of the current SF tropes, curious story structure that rewards careful attention ...

Century Rain is next along with another stab at Donaldson's Gap sequence.  With a brief segue into Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age (Bereiter) for professional reasons.

[Smith]

Don't tell me you forgot how kewl and edgy Argel Tal was. More in the Betrayer,thou.

Gimme a sec, have to look up who that is...

Oh dear.  This book.  The character from whose perspective the book is told from... I have no idea.  I remember nothing about Argel Tal.  I was under the impression it was told from Lorgar's perspective.  I had to check that this is the Word Bearer book I read and it certainly is.  Wow.  Yet again, even more forgettable than I thought.

Well,I don't know what to say to that.
Anyway,I hope that the next BL literary cycle is about Badab War.

Moving on,Im on book 4 of Black Company. Black Company is an awesome series.

[wedgeski]

Covenant has been a long ambition to complete.  Especially when I realised that I hadn't actually ever read the 2nd Chronicles.  Worth it though.  Donaldson creates a fascinating if disturbing world.  The flaws in his core characters are often acute.  There is no simplistic solution.  Final Chronicles lined up now.

I'll be interested in your view of the Final Chrons.

I'm in the midst of a Gap re-read as it happens. Almost impossible to put down, Donaldson at his best.

[sintec]

Covenant has been a long ambition to complete.  Especially when I realised that I hadn't actually ever read the 2nd Chronicles.  Worth it though.  Donaldson creates a fascinating if disturbing world.  The flaws in his core characters are often acute.  There is no simplistic solution.  Final Chronicles lined up now.

Didn't know there was a 3rd series of Covenant. Might have to track that down and have a re-read of the first 2, it's been a while.

[von Boom]

Bit of a binge at present, working my way through Alastair Reynolds' work, finally getting round to finishing the 2nd Chronicles of Thomas Covenant and rounding out Baxter's Destiny's Children with Transcendent ...

The latter was unusual for me from the point of view of Baxter.  Normally I find I really have to work at his books, with a few exceptions (Proxima / Ultima ...).  I do think it was also unusual for Baxter in that it was slightly more optimistic than his writing can be (Proxima / Ultima ...) in which as a general rule everything dies!

Certainly it contains all his usual bete-noir's.  So we have cosmic scale, millennium spanning storylines.  Explorations of post-human evolution.  Environmental struggles ... All linked back to the previous two books.  Not quite sure what had me gripped with this one but for a change I found it virtually impossible to put down.

Covenant has been a long ambition to complete.  Especially when I realised that I hadn't actually ever read the 2nd Chronicles.  Worth it though.  Donaldson creates a fascinating if disturbing world.  The flaws in his core characters are often acute.  There is no simplistic solution.  Final Chronicles lined up now.

... after a segue into Reynolds' future world.  Another interesting experience.  First time I tried Revelation Space I struggled with it.  It took a while, followed by a long interlude before reading subsequent books.  Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap also seemed to be slightly disconnected to the first book in the sequence and I was never entirely sure what the problem was.

Finding Chasm City and re-reading from scratch though ... RS turned into a much more enjoyable read.  RA seemed to fit in far better, even with the intentional disconnections.  Digging into more and more of his writing he has rapidly advanced to one of my favourite of the current crop of SF writers.  Fascinating world, interesting use of many of the current SF tropes, curious story structure that rewards careful attention ...

Century Rain is next along with another stab at Donaldson's Gap sequence.  With a brief segue into Education and Mind in the Knowledge Age (Bereiter) for professional reasons.

Started Redemption Ark as I want to reread the RS books before the new one is published.

[Angry Vince]

Am four book in with Harry Turtledove's Confederate States (Timeline 191) series.
For alt-history fans, this is one of the best series out there - a what-if the Confederate States had won the American civil war. The series spans the late 1900's, the Great War and WWII. Highly recommended - a gripping story that covers generations and, in spite of some characters who survive the entire series, Turtledove subscribes to GRR Martin's credo that anyone can die*.

Also of note by Turtledove: Joe Steel - an alt history where Joseph Stalin grows up in the USA and become president.


*often in a bloody manner. Only one, maybe two, central characters who die do so of natural causes.