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December book club canceled. Short stories instead!
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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?
Death´s End - Third book of Three Body/Trisolaris series by Cixin Liu. I am positively surprised by the character Yun Tianming. After I really liked the character design of Ye Wenjie in the first book, I was pretty disappointed to find that other characters in the series seem as shallow as cardboard cutouts in comparison to her. However, with Yun Tianming there is a believable and relatable character in this outstanding sci-fi story again. I´m super curious how he and how the relations between humans and Trisolarians will develop. Being in the third book and knowing his style now, it is already clear that Cixin Liu still has some unexpected plot twists in his sleeve!
Empire of Man.
Just listened to the full cast audiobook of Alien: Out of the shadows. Nothing amazing but was a fun listen. Before that was Artemis, not as good as Project Hail Mary imo but still quite enjoyable. I think Recursion is going to be my next read, but I'm open to suggestions.
I loved the swashbuckling style of Artemis! I've had project hail mary on hold for a while and can't wait. If you can get to the three body problem series, it's really good. Don't be turned off by the dumb name, it's other name closer to original translation is "remembrance of earths past". Scifi on the grandest scale you can even imagine.
I don't normally plan my reading much ahead of time but August is an exception on a few counts.
Firstly, Whalefall by Daniel Kraus comes out on August 8th. It's such a goofy idea for a story (think Jonah and the Whale meets The Martian) and I have been so pumped, I've been talking people's ear off about it for months. It's like scientifically accurate Pinocchio.
Secondly, one of the bookclub picks for the Discord server affiliated with !bookclub@lemmy.world is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K LeGuin
And then it's Tropeical Readathon (a semiannual reading challenge thing) again so I have a couple dozen books picked out to cover that, but the only other sci-fi one apart from the above is Under This Forgetful Sky by Lauren Yero.
Last book of the Expanse
The Stormlight archive- Brandon Sanderson
About halfway through Lords of Uncreation, the third book in the Final Architecture trilogy by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
They are to space opera what his children series is to hard science fiction. It has imaginative aliens that resist monoculture stereotypes and ominous, seemingly implacable foes. The technology never descends to Star Wars' (for better or worse), but standard tropes like FTL and gravitic control are all fundamental assumptions. However, once those assumptions are made, everything that follows is consistent and reasonable to the setting.
The cast is diverse, interesting and entertaining and the pacing is nothing short of breakneck.
Recently finished The Expanse series and Three Body Problem series, those were both great adventures. I'm getting started on All Tomorrows now
About halfway through Children or Ruin, the follow up to Children of Time. Really enjoy the series so far. Very impressed with the creativity.
Also read Project Hail Mary while on vacation a few weeks ago. I’m not sure Weir can ever match The Martian, but PHM was very enjoyable.
Just finished Translation State by Ann Leckie. Loved it for a while, got tired of it by the end. Felt it descended into whimsy
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
Not sure if Riot Baby counts, but I just finished that and The Dreaming Void.
I’m tracking my progress through the Hugo award winners, so I’m now reading Rendezvous with Rama and have the Broken Earth trilogy on hand for when I’m done that.
My recent reads:
Just fulinished A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Didn't enjoy as much as A Fire Upon the Deep, but it was still a good space opera. Some uncomfortable sex scenes though.
I just finished Season of Skulls by Charles Stross. 3rd book of the New Management series... a sort of sequel series to the Laundry Files.