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You need to hunt down my favorite issue as a kid... it had everything, including Marvel's best hero ever: Solo (aka James Bourne).

Making a start on Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (I'm trying to make my way through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Masterwork lists), it's good so far.

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

I have just finished Priory of the Orange Tree. Solid fantasy stuff with good worldbuilding and the themes not diverging into either infantile YA simplifications nor edgy "mature content" stuff, which is welcome.

The plot reminded me of the Kushiel series (which I like very much), being equally divided between intrigue at court with its complicated interdependecies and more action-packed adventure. All in all a very nice holiday read.

Thud!

The book in which, at long last, we finally get to see His Grace, The Duke of Ankh, Commander Sir Samuel “Sam” Vimes…..Go Spare

It’s also an interesting study on multicultural tensions, and how often it’s down to just a mere handful of bad faith actors manipulating things to their own ends and gain.

We also meet Sally for the first time, The Watch’s original Vampire recruit.

I recently read Bury our Bones in the Midnight Soil, by V.E. Schwab.

It's a centuries spanning character study, which presents beautiful imagery and development of characters with a very light plot in the present day. It takes a very long time for the threads to coalesce, and when they do it is messy. It's very atmospheric, but doesn't do much new. If you're a fan of the genre, you'll probably enjoy it.

I have to admit I preferred The Invisible Life of Addie Larue, which went on a really cool adventure with an immortal who couldn't be remembered for more than 20 minutes by anyone. That's a concept I'd never encountered before, and it was executed spectacularly. This one is worth checking out for everyone who likes magical deals and their unforeseen consequences.

 aku-chan wrote:

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

I mean, it does kinda make a bit of sense though. . . when those books were written there were a number of brand new contraceptive options that were quite effective. I've often read in histories of that decade that it was a bit of a "freer" time, and among the corollary reasons for that was those new options. So, it makes sense that an author of the day would want to explore the idea of "what if we had so completely figured all of *this* out to the point where there's zero risk of any unwanted outcome, what would the world and society look like?"

Personally, I am also amused by it, but more because I'm an American, and child of the super conservative 80s, and I find my country's obsession with fleshy organs' existence, and how they MUST be censored out at all turns extremely funny.

 aku-chan wrote:
Making a start on Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (I'm trying to make my way through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Masterwork lists), it's good so far.

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

Do you have a link to the lists you are using? Kind of curious how many I’ve read already.

Cyel wrote:
I have just finished Priory of the Orange Tree. Solid fantasy stuff with good worldbuilding and the themes not diverging into either infantile YA simplifications nor edgy "mature content" stuff, which is welcome.

The plot reminded me of the Kushiel series (which I like very much), being equally divided between intrigue at court with its complicated interdependecies and more action-packed adventure. All in all a very nice holiday read.

I loved that book! Bit of a rushed ending but the journey there was excellent. She's a really good writer. I also really enjoyed the prequel she did, Day of Fallen Night. Totally different characters, but you get to see the priory at a different stage of its history.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
You need to hunt down my favorite issue as a kid... it had everything, including Marvel's best hero ever: Solo (aka James Bourne).

I actually have that one!


Automatically Appended Next Post:

 aku-chan wrote:
Making a start on Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (I'm trying to make my way through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Masterwork lists), it's good so far.

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

Great book. Could totally be adapted to a movie but yeah, they'd want to cut out the sex stuff.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
You need to hunt down my favorite issue as a kid... it had everything, including Marvel's best hero ever: Solo (aka James Bourne).

I mean, I’m reading it on a pirate site because I don’t feel like paying a million bucks for amazing fantasy 15 and hunting down comics from the 60s, but looking at that picture it looks like issue 367, and I’m on issue 117, so I’ll get there!

 Nevelon wrote:

 aku-chan wrote:
Making a start on Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (I'm trying to make my way through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Masterwork lists), it's good so far.

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

Do you have a link to the lists you are using? Kind of curious how many I’ve read already.

This is the Sci-fi one:- https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp

And this is the fantasy one (Which, unfortunately, is nowhere near as long):- https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_fantasy_masterworks.asp

 aku-chan wrote:

 Nevelon wrote:

 aku-chan wrote:
Making a start on Joe Haldeman's The Forever War (I'm trying to make my way through the Sci-Fi and Fantasy Masterwork lists), it's good so far.

I will always be amused by the weird obsession 70's Sci-fi had for compulsory casual sex though.

Do you have a link to the lists you are using? Kind of curious how many I’ve read already.

This is the Sci-fi one:- https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_sf_masterworks.asp

And this is the fantasy one (Which, unfortunately, is nowhere near as long):- https://www.worldswithoutend.com/lists_fantasy_masterworks.asp

Thanks for sharing.

Only about 18 of the Sci-fi, 3 from the fantasy.

Interesting format for a list. It’s a best of list from a particular publishing house, so not comprehensive of the genre, just what they had rights to. Still a reminder that there are a lot of classics out there I’ve not read.

 creeping-deth87 wrote:

Cyel wrote:
I have just finished Priory of the Orange Tree. Solid fantasy stuff with good worldbuilding and the themes not diverging into either infantile YA simplifications nor edgy "mature content" stuff, which is welcome.

The plot reminded me of the Kushiel series (which I like very much), being equally divided between intrigue at court with its complicated interdependecies and more action-packed adventure. All in all a very nice holiday read.

I loved that book! Bit of a rushed ending but the journey there was excellent. She's a really good writer. I also really enjoyed the prequel she did, Day of Fallen Night. Totally different characters, but you get to see the priory at a different stage of its history.

Oh, I didn't know there's a prequel! Thanks for the info, it is on my list now

Cyel wrote:


Oh, I didn't know there's a prequel! Thanks for the info, it is on my list now

No problem!

If you're looking for another suggestion, check out the Realm of the Elderlings series by Robin Hobb. I'm 9 books in and completely mesmerized by her writing.

Robin Hobb is a top writer and her Elderlings world is amazing!

Yeah, The Elderling stuff is fantastic. While I prefer early Fritz it's still just so so good.

Everything wanted to really like a book. Like really, really wanted to enjoy it.

But it just stares at you from the shelf?

You read maybe 64 pages, and you just can't get into it.

Your friends like it. You liked the first one in the series... but this one can't hold your attention.

Jim Butcher's The Olympian Affair is just so heavy... I mean weight wise...

Maybe I'll read more tomorrow.