In article <bedf781b-97ba-481b-ae5f-441200b11e85n@googlegroups.com>,
Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 9:51:19 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> In article <ab3cc07f-14da-432d...@googlegroups.com>,
>> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 10:47:46 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>> >> In article <eb83df39-5556-4b97...@googlegroups.com>,
>> >> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> >> >So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
>> >> >that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
>> >> >for the better part of two months.
>> >> >
>> >> >What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
>> >> >Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
>> >> >hop on rasfw to ask:
>> >> >
>> >> >What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
>> >> >later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
>> >> >"The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is
>really good).
>> >> >
>> >> >So what are you reading?
>> >> >- Tony
>> >> I don't know what I will be reading tonight but tomorrow's is
>> >> a Lee Hoffman Price novel.
>> >>
>> >
>> >Interesting - I don't believe I've read anything she wrote.
>> >- Tony
>> Ah, braino: E. Hoffman Price and he was a he.
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Hoffmann_Price
>
>Ah, my bad - I assumed you meant Lee Hoffman
>
>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hoffman
>
>Thanks for the clarification
>- Tony

I don't know that I ever read Lee Hoffman.

--
My reviews can be found at http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/
My tor pieces at https://www.tor.com/author/james-davis-nicoll/
My Dreamwidth at https://james-davis-nicoll.dreamwidth.org/
My patreon is at https://www.patreon.com/jamesdnicoll

On 10/23/2022 8:14 PM, James Nicoll wrote:
> In article <bedf781b-97ba-481b-ae5f-441200b11e85n@googlegroups.com>,
> Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 9:51:19 PM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>> In article <ab3cc07f-14da-432d...@googlegroups.com>,
>>> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 10:47:46 AM UTC-4, James Nicoll wrote:
>>>>> In article <eb83df39-5556-4b97...@googlegroups.com>,
>>>>> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
>>>>>> that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
>>>>>> for the better part of two months.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
>>>>>> Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
>>>>>> hop on rasfw to ask:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
>>>>>> later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
>>>>>> "The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is
>> really good).
>>>>>>
>>>>>> So what are you reading?
>>>>>> - Tony
>>>>> I don't know what I will be reading tonight but tomorrow's is
>>>>> a Lee Hoffman Price novel.
>>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Interesting - I don't believe I've read anything she wrote.
>>>> - Tony
>>> Ah, braino: E. Hoffman Price and he was a he.
>>>
>>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E._Hoffmann_Price
>>
>> Ah, my bad - I assumed you meant Lee Hoffman
>>
>> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Hoffman
>>
>> Thanks for the clarification
>> - Tony
>
> I don't know that I ever read Lee Hoffman.
>
Isn't this where you two started? :P

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

On 10/23/2022 9:28 AM, Tony Nance wrote:
> So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
> that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
> for the better part of two months.
>
> What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
> Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
> hop on rasfw to ask:
>
> What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
> later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
> "The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
>
> So what are you reading?
> - Tony

"Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir

Lynn

On 24/10/22 10:02, Moriarty wrote:
> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 1:28:05 AM UTC+11, Tony Nance wrote:

>> So what are you reading?
>> - Tony
>
> I recently finished Alastair Reynolds latest Revelation Space universe book "Inhibitor Phase".

The first four books were brilliant, my best new author in years, but I
would not recommend Inhibitor Phase. Were you disappointed?

On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
>
> So what are you reading?
> - Tony

I am about half way through book four of Stephen R. Donaldsons' five
book 'Gap Series' which is really just one book of 2,500+ pages. I am
thoroughly enjoying it despite its grimdarkness.
I love the depth of political intrigue generating confusion by the
characters different perspectives and therefore different interpretation
of events. The science is mainly handwavium but he has a great
vocabulary and I enjoy the technology despite incongruencies. Cigarettes
still exist as Nics though all other drugs are delivered otherwise.
There is plenty of action and violence but I don't identify, and feel no
empathy for, these mainly evil and pragmatic adventurers. (I can't
comprehend Morn's abuse and therefore am not as outraged as Donaldson
wishes me to be.)
What I don't want to think about is the coincidence that 30 to 40 people
keep on "bumping into each other" in a future where it is not uncommon
to travel umpteen gazillion kilometres with ease. (Sheckley's Search
Theory?).
But, halfway through book four, characters are losing pragmatism chosing
good over evil so I have no idea what is going to happen in book five.
A compulsive page turner.

In article <eb83df39-5556-4b97-8531-6151047386d2n@googlegroups.com>,
Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:

> So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
> that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
> for the better part of two months.
>

Not a problem for me.

<snip>
>
> What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
> later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
> "The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
>
> So what are you reading?

This years project was digging Lackey's _Elemental Masters_ series out
of the SBR and reading them. Read several other books published this
year as well (besides seven books published by Baen, _Amongst Our
Weapons_ by Ben Aaronovitch, _Resolute_ by Jack Campbell (John G.
Hemry), and _The Golden Enclaves_ by Naomi Novik). I can't remember off
hand what additional books I read as e-books only.

--
"We have advanced to new and surprising levels of bafflement."
Imperial Auditor Miles Vorkosigan describes progress in _Komarr_.
—-----------------------------------------------------
Robert Woodward robertaw@drizzle.com

On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
>
> So what are you reading?
> - Tony

(Hal Heydt)
Not reading anything at the moment. Last thing I read--reread,
actually--was Graydon Saunders _Commonweal_ series. I am
awaiting the next book in the series.

Tony Nance wrote:

>So what are you reading?

Some mystery series and SF anthologies. Next up in the latter category
is Made to Order, an original anthology of robot stories, edited by
Jonathan Strahan. I also have Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty after
that.

Brian

On 24/10/2022 16:10, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
>>
>> So what are you reading?
>> - Tony
>
> (Hal Heydt)
> Not reading anything at the moment. Last thing I read--reread,
> actually--was Graydon Saunders _Commonweal_ series. I am
> awaiting the next book in the series.

As are we all. (Write faster, Graydon!!! :-) )

Cheers,
Gary B-)

On Sun, 23 Oct 2022 07:28:02 -0700 (PDT), Tony Nance
<tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:

<snip>

>So what are you reading?
>- Tony

Reread of complete works of Bob Shaw. On "Vertigo" at the moment.

--
Jerry Brown

A cat may look at a king
(but probably won't bother)

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 1:28:05 AM UTC+11, Tony Nance wrote:
> So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
> that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
> for the better part of two months.
>
> What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
> Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
> hop on rasfw to ask:
>
> What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
> later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
> "The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
>
> So what are you reading?

Just finished Be The Serpent (the most recent October Daye book)
need the next one now...

On Sun, 23 Oct 2022 07:28:02 -0700 (PDT), Tony Nance
<tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:

>So what are you reading?

I just finished a book that my daughter recommended to me: Dogeaters
by Jessica Hagedorn. It was about as far from my usual reading tastes
as it's possible to get, so even though it was only 251 pages it took
me quite a while to slog through it. It's a portrait of life in the
Philippines in the 1950s through the 1970s. It has about a hundred
different characters (with multiple first person narrators) and next
to no plot. Intentionally confusing writing. Not a single character
I could connect with in any way. Must aggressively unlikeable book
I've read in a long time.

As an antidote, I just started Stephen King's 11/22/63 which I picked
up as a hardcover for $4 at a used book sale.

-- Bob

I've been working my way thru The Second Foundation trilogy
('Foundations's Fear' - Gregory Benford; 'Foundation and Chaos' - Greg
Bear; and 'Foundation's Triumph' - David Brin). An "authorized by the
Estate of Isaac Asimov" sequel to his original Foundation trilogy from
20 years ago that I only recently became aware of, they cover Hari
Seldon's life creating psychohistory and the Foundations. Just started
the final book.

--
I've done good in this world. Now I'm tired and just want to be a cranky
dirty old man.

In article <p6nh2j-7vg.ln1@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
Gary R. Schmidt <grschmidt@acm.org> wrote:
>On 24/10/2022 16:10, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
>>>
>>> So what are you reading?
>>> - Tony
>>
>> (Hal Heydt)
>> Not reading anything at the moment. Last thing I read--reread,
>> actually--was Graydon Saunders _Commonweal_ series. I am
>> awaiting the next book in the series.
>
>As are we all. (Write faster, Graydon!!! :-) )

(Hal Heydt)
Having had the chance to observe a writer at work, I'm not sure
I'd wish that any author be exhorted to write faster, much as I'd
like to see the next work in the series. Let him take his time
to write and polish it to his own standards...even if that means
it takes much longer than we'd wish.

On Sun, 23 Oct 2022 07:28:02 -0700 (PDT), Tony Nance
<tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:

>So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
>that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
>for the better part of two months.
>
>What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
>Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
>hop on rasfw to ask:
>
>What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
>later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
>"The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
>
>So what are you reading?

Dumas -- /The Knight of the Red House/ (which the English title for
/Le Chevalier de Maison-Rouge/ -- I would think "The Cavalier of
Maison-Rouge" would be better, as "de Maison-Rouge" is an aristocratic
title. This is last of the Marie Antoinette series. Next is the
D'Artagnon series, which starts with /The Three Musketeers/. There are
a lot more novels (and other items) to read, if they are on Kindle.

Earle Stanley Gardner -- I am currently working my way through the
Perry Mason novels (so far, all are on Kindle, although that may
change). There are lots of other series.
--
"In this connexion, unquestionably the most significant
development was the disintegration, under Christian
influence, of classical conceptions of the family and
of family right."

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 12:27:06 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <p6nh2j-...@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
> Gary R. Schmidt <grsc...@acm.org> wrote:
> >On 24/10/2022 16:10, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >> On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
> >>>
> >>> So what are you reading?
> >>> - Tony
> >>
> >> (Hal Heydt)
> >> Not reading anything at the moment. Last thing I read--reread,
> >> actually--was Graydon Saunders _Commonweal_ series. I am
> >> awaiting the next book in the series.
> >
> >As are we all. (Write faster, Graydon!!! :-) )
> (Hal Heydt)
> Having had the chance to observe a writer at work, I'm not sure
> I'd wish that any author be exhorted to write faster, much as I'd
> like to see the next work in the series. Let him take his time
> to write and polish it to his own standards...even if that means
> it takes much longer than we'd wish.

Under pressure from fans Philip Farmer rushed to finish some of his series.

The result wasn't good.

William Hyde

In article <f541c749-888a-4aae-89eb-81efa17283bbn@googlegroups.com>,
William Hyde <wthyde1953@gmail.com> wrote:
>On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 12:27:06 PM UTC-4, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <p6nh2j-...@paranoia.mcleod-schmidt.id.au>,
>> Gary R. Schmidt <grsc...@acm.org> wrote:
>> >On 24/10/2022 16:10, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> >> On 24/10/22 03:28, Tony Nance wrote:
>> >>>
>> >>> So what are you reading?
>> >>> - Tony
>> >>
>> >> (Hal Heydt)
>> >> Not reading anything at the moment. Last thing I read--reread,
>> >> actually--was Graydon Saunders _Commonweal_ series. I am
>> >> awaiting the next book in the series.
>> >
>> >As are we all. (Write faster, Graydon!!! :-) )
>> (Hal Heydt)
>> Having had the chance to observe a writer at work, I'm not sure
>> I'd wish that any author be exhorted to write faster, much as I'd
>> like to see the next work in the series. Let him take his time
>> to write and polish it to his own standards...even if that means
>> it takes much longer than we'd wish.
>
>Under pressure from fans Philip Farmer rushed to finish some of his series.
>
>The result wasn't good.
>
>William Hyde

Of course the alternative is:

"I love deadlines, especially that cheery whizzing sound they
make as they go past" -- Douglas Adams (maybe?)

and

Q: What do you get when you cross a writer with a deadline.

A: A really clean house.
--
columbiaclosings.com
What's not in Columbia anymore..

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 3:39:19 PM UTC+11, Titus G wrote:
> On 24/10/22 10:02, Moriarty wrote:
> > On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 1:28:05 AM UTC+11, Tony Nance wrote:
>
> >> So what are you reading?
> >> - Tony
> >
> > I recently finished Alastair Reynolds latest Revelation Space universe book "Inhibitor Phase".
> The first four books were brilliant, my best new author in years, but I
> would not recommend Inhibitor Phase. Were you disappointed?

No, I really enjoyed it. A real page turner. Some of the situations were a bit OTT, thinking of the Swine Queen here, but overall thumbs up.

-Moriarty

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 11:12:53 PM UTC+11, Hamish Laws wrote:
> On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 1:28:05 AM UTC+11, Tony Nance wrote:
> > So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
> > that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
> > for the better part of two months.
> >
> > What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
> > Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
> > hop on rasfw to ask:
> >
> > What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
> > later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
> > "The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
> >
> > So what are you reading?
> Just finished Be The Serpent (the most recent October Daye book)
> need the next one now...

It did end with a bit of a cliffhanger.

-Moriarty

On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 9:27:35 PM UTC-4, Tony Nance wrote:
[snip]
> Hadn't heard of the Royal Road Writathon challenge, either...
> the things you learn!

The world of online writing is very different from what I am used to,
but it can be quite lucrative, with some author making hundreds of
thousands of dollars per year on Patreon.

Unfortunately, adding Web novels/serials to our (ISFDB) data model
would be quite difficult. Luckily, many popular serials have been
published as ebooks recently, which makes it easy to enter them
into the database.

-dsr- wrote:

>On 2022-10-23, Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> wrote:
>> So what are you reading?
>
>This morning I started Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man, which is
>a take on The Thin Man in space. At 20% in, I have some ideas about
>whodunnit, but not why.

That sounds like my sort of thing! I've placed a hold at the library.
Thanks.

Brian

On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 5:52:07 AM UTC+11, -dsr- wrote:
> On 2022-10-23, Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> > So what are you reading?
> This morning I started Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man, which is a take
> on The Thin Man in space. At 20% in, I have some ideas about whodunnit, but
> not why.
>
is it a stand alone or part of a series?

On 2022-10-23, Scott Lurndal <scott@slp53.sl.home> wrote:
> Tony Nance <tonynance17@gmail.com> writes:
>>So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
>>that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
>>for the better part of two months.
>>
>>What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
>>Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
>>hop on rasfw to ask:
>>
>>What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
>>later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
>>"The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
>>
>>So what are you reading?
>
> I'm currently finishing the final volume of Nuttall's Magic School
> series (25 of 25). Enjoyable series, if a bit derivative at first.
>
> Kurtz's Adept series is one of my regular re-reads every few years.

I view the Magic School series as an enjoyable "popcorn" series with
an appealing "Mary Sue" heroine that I can't help but think the author
originally wanted to write on a much more serious theme.

This is an isekai series where a modern girl of Earth is transplanted
to a feudal world where the nobles control all magic. She has an
enormous (very unrealistic in time frame) effect on the new world
social structure as she introduces modern science and thought.

But there's a dark subtext running throughout the series, never really
explicitly addressed by the author except through the villains, that
perhaps the long-term impact of the heroine's modern ideas are completely
disastrous for the new world, and that she is the true villain who has
doomed the world.

I really don't know what to make of the series' goal. This
deconstruction of the isekai tropes is definitely there but believing
it's the major intent of the author requires believing that the author
can be more subtle than anything else in the series suggests!

Chris

Hamish Laws wrote:

>On Monday, October 24, 2022 at 5:52:07 AM UTC+11, -dsr- wrote:
>> On 2022-10-23, Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> > So what are you reading?
>> This morning I started Mary Robinette Kowal's The Spare Man, which
>>is a take on The Thin Man in space. At 20% in, I have some ideas
>>about whodunnit, but not why.
>>
>is it a stand alone or part of a series?

That might depend on how well it sells. There's nothing on the
publisher's page about it being a series. Outside of SF, a book like
this would almost certainly be intended to be that.

Brian

On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 10:29:11 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> In article <ceec4382-1858-4916...@googlegroups.com>,
> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >On Sunday, October 23, 2022 at 2:07:13 PM UTC-4, Ted Nolan <tednolan> wrote:
> >> In article <eb83df39-5556-4b97...@googlegroups.com>,
> >> Tony Nance <tonyn...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >> >So real life gets real busy, and you realize with some small alarm
> >> >that you've hardly read any books, or even kept tabs on usenet,
> >> >for the better part of two months.
> >> >
> >> >What do you do? You take aim at both deficiencies by reading
> >> >Sagara's Cast in Shadow (very good, will read more!) and then
> >> >hop on rasfw to ask:
> >> >
> >> >What are you reading now? I'm hoping to start Kurtz's "The Adept"
> >> >later today, and I'm almost finished with Sheffield's collection
> >> >"The Compleat McAndrew" (uneven, but the good stuff is really good).
> >> >
> >> >So what are you reading?
> >> >- Tony
> >> I try to summarize what I've read in posts titled "RI in some month".
> >> I suppose the title could be less acronmymic. Right now I am reading
> >> the final book in Buroker's Dragon Gate Series: _Sky On Fire_. I haven't
> >> finished it, but briefly if you like her in general, I would skip the
> >> first four books, infer the backstory without having to slog through it,
> >> and enjoy the denoument.
> >
> >Yeah, I keep trying to figure out where to start with her -- I think
> >I even asked here -- and haven't decided yet.
> >
> >Tony
> >
> Well, not with this series I would say. It feels like she was trying
> for something bigger than usual, and not quite landing it. I would say
> perhaps _Balanced On The Blade's Edge_, or semi-follow my advice
> above and start "The Emperor's Edge" with "Beneath The Surface" which
> I found worked very well for me.
>

Cool - thanks for the tip.
- Tony