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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?
My recent reads:
Just about to finish the final book in the Remembrance of Earth's Past Trilogy (Deaths End). Have just picked up The City and the Stars for my August read as Cixin Lui was giving me Arthur C. Clarke vibes with his incredible hard sci-fi epic
Just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie. Loved it for a while, got tired of it by the end. Felt it descended into whimsy
I’m coming up to the crescendo (hopefully) of Termination Shock by Neal Stephenson. I can’t say that I’ve loved it as much as some of his previous work but it’s got 150 pages left to change that.
tower by bae myung-hoon, early days yet.
Last few I've read recently:
Just started Infinity Gate today, actually - not too far in yet, but it'll go quick.
I’m currently reading Sword and Citadel, second half of The Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.
I read the first half, and I have to say, it just did not speak to me. Felt like a mysogynistic Holden Caulfield guest-starring in every segment of the Heavy Metal movie.
Right now I'm listening to Damnation Alley by Roger Zelazny. It's probably an interesting story, but the narrator is awful. Sometimes he reads without any pauses so it feels like you are listening to a wall of text. There is also very little inflection in his voice as he reads so it is hard to stay engaged. I'm going to stick with it if I can, but I'm not holding much hope.
Does Silo counts as Sci-fi, I read the novels after binge watching the series with my wife. After the cliffhanger ending I just need to know the story and proceeded to binge read the whole series under a week.
Is this just for sci-fi or books in general? In July I didn't read any sci fi, just fantasy stuff.
I'm currently on the Liveship series, after just finishing the Farseer Trilogy. Prior to that was Mistborn 1-3, and I only mention the chronology because it all started May 2022 with the WoT series, and that's on the picture up there so I'm lumping the rest of these into science fiction I suppose, despite Mistborn potentially being the only one that you could really call science fiction.
I've read all these series. WoT seemed to drag toward the end and i didnt care for the last few chapters. It felt like there was too much to wrap up with too few pages so it felt rushed and unsatisfying.
I love all works by Sanderson so I've read all mistborn(except the new one from last November #7 I think). Excellent series. Have you read Elantris by Sanderson. I thought that was a very unique one off book that I couldn't put down.
I just started the final set in the farseer/liveship series. I loved the first farseer trilogy. I felt the second trilogy(live ship trilogy) had a significant change of pace and almost skipped it. I really liked the first person view of fitz. In the end it was good and there are a few tie ins to later trilogies.
Just started the Vorkosigan Saga. It's okay. It's growing on me, but I don't think it's anything to write home about. I'll stick it out through the first book and see how it goes.
I'm on book 5 of the Wheel of Time on Audible. I hope the TV series keeps going but it sounds like a lot of people think it's meh.
I'm currently resuming my read through of "John Carter of Mars", with "Warlords of Mars", and continuing through Glynn Stewart's Duchy of Terra series with "Shield of Terra".
I can't help compare Glynn Stewart with Edgar Rice Burroughs, in that they both write such reliably entertaining series.
Though I suppose Stewart is aiming for Asimov in the volume category. As a big reader, I sure appreciate that.
Currently working on book 5 of Gaunt's Ghosts. It's been a few months since I read a chapter though because of busy life has been.
After reading Necropolis, it's gonna be hard for the rest of the series to match it.
I just finished The Deep Sky by Yume Kitasei. It was a decent page-turner that kept me wanting to read the next chapter.
Still haven't decided what to read next. Are there any good newish cyberpunk books?
I've been taking a short break from Malazan Book of the Fallen recently, by exploring some new, lighter books, especially while at work, but I think I'm going to get back into it in August.
I have read and love the top 2 rows you've got there. I think I'm going to have to check out those last three.