draNgNonJul 8, 2023

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Under Alien Skies_ by Philip Plait, PhD. It bounces back and forth between and imaginary future tour of various extraterrestrial locations and a layman explanation of why these would be your experiences.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Under_Alien_Skies/mGSNEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

Under Alien Skies

A rip-roaring tour of the cosmos with the Bad Astronomer, revealing the sky as never seen before—from everywhere but Earth.How would Saturn’s rings look from a spaceship sailing just above them? If you were falling into a black hole, what’s the last thing you’d see before your spaghettification? What would it be like to visit the faraway places we currently experience only through high-powered telescopes and robotic emissaries? Faster-than-light travel may never be invented, but we can still take the scenic route through the universe with renowned astronomer and science communicator Philip Plait. On this lively, immersive adventure through the cosmos, Plait draws ingeniously on the latest scientific research to transport readers to ten spectacular sites, from our own familiar Moon to the outer reaches of our solar system and far beyond. Whether strolling through a dust storm under Mars’ butterscotch sky, witnessing the birth of a star, or getting dizzy in a technicolor nebula, Plait is an illuminating, entertaining guide to the most otherworldly views in our universe.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonAug 9, 2023

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Aerie_ by Mercedes Lackey. It's the final book in The Dragon Jousters series.

Whilst cataloguing the books in our collection, I tripped across these books my partner owned and thought I'd try something that wasn't in the world of Valdemar. I got up to the intro to this book and set it aside, given the surprising lack of challenge the protagonists experience in solving all problems thrown in their path.

Now I'll finish it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Aerie/vFiJEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Aerie

Kiron has secretly gathered an army of dragon riders to seek refuge in the abandoned desert city they have named Sanctuary, where they join with other dragon riders to rid their world of both war and magical domination. But now it is time to build a new society in Aerie: an ancient city that seems to have been designed for dragon riders and their dragons.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonAug 27, 2023

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Legacy of Yangchen_ by F.C.Yee.

I missed this book coming out in July as I was otherwise occupied, but I love the Avatar world and got it as soon as I realized.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Avatar_the_Last_Airbender_The_Legacy_of/bP21EAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Legacy of Yangchen (Chronicles of the Avatar Book 4)

From the New York Times bestselling author of Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Rise of Kyoshi and Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Shadow of Kyoshi comes a thrilling new chapter in the Chronicles of the Avatar series and page-turning follow-up to Avatar, the Last Airbender: The Dawn of YangchenCommon enemies make for strange friends . . . Avatar Yangchen has succeeded in bringing a measure of stability to Bin-Er, but her successes have been limited to a single city, and rumors concerning Unanimity—a weapon capable of total obliteration—have led to increasing tensions among the Four Nations. Desperate to restore diplomacy, Yangchen attempts to de-escalate hostilities between heads of state. But in the wake of a brutal assassination and the freeing of Unanimity, Yangchen is forced to bring Kavik—the trusted former companion whose betrayal crushed her—back into her fold. As the Four Nations teeter on the brink of conflict and she begins to unravel the power-hungry Zongdu Chaisee’s true agenda, Yangchen is forced to measure the worth of humanity, and how much can be sacrificed in the name of balance. This taut and provocative fourth installment in the Chronicles of the Avatar series follows Avatar Yangchen as she charts the course of her legacy, finally making peace with her choices and facing Avatarhood with the courage it demands.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonSep 12, 2023

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Security Chaos Engineering_ by Kelly Shortridge & Aaron Rinehart.

Of course the name is appealing to me and it seems relevant enough to my job and interests.

I have a physical copy; I'm not just skimming a pdf.

EDIT: I had to pause this reading; I started taking a set of "Cybersecurity" courses in Coursera and I realized I would be more entertained and catch more references if I read this book after I finished.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Security_Chaos_Engineering/bn-2EAAAQBAJ?hl=en

Security Chaos Engineering

Cybersecurity is broken. Year after year, attackers remain unchallenged and undeterred, while engineering teams feel pressure to design, build, and operate "secure" systems. Failure can't be prevented, mental models of systems are incomplete, and our digital world constantly evolves. How can we verify that our systems behave the way we expect? What can we do to improve our systems' resilience? In this comprehensive guide, authors Kelly Shortridge and Aaron Rinehart help you navigate the challenges of sustaining resilience in complex software systems by using the principles and practices of security chaos engineering. By preparing for adverse events, you can ensure they don't disrupt your ability to innovate, move quickly, and achieve your engineering and business goals. Learn how to design a modern security programMake informed decisions at each phase of software delivery to nurture resilience and adaptive capacityUnderstand the complex systems dynamics upon which resilience outcomes dependNavigate technical and organizational trade-offsthat distort decision making in systemsExplore chaos experimentation to verify critical assumptions about software quality and securityLearn how major enterprises leverage security chaos engineering

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonOct 20, 2023

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Ninefox Gambit_ by Yoon Ha Lee

The worldbuilding in this book is _amazing_, I must say; but does mean I can't just blast through reading it in a sitting, so I'm posting it here unlike the last 4 speculative fiction books I read.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ninefox_Gambit/elAEDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Ninefox Gambit

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR – NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES – WINNER OF THE 2016 LOCUS AWARD – NOMINATED FOR THE HUGO, NEBULA AND ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDS. When Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for her unconventional tactics, Kel Command gives her a chance to redeem herself, by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles from the heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake: if the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next. Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fortress. The bad news is that Jedao went mad in his first life and massacred two armies, one of them his own. As the siege wears on, Cheris must decide how far she can trust Jedao–because she might be his next victim.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonFeb 4, 2024

I was going to say I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter_ by Theodora Goss...

...but I just finished it. I liked it a lot, it was wonderful, and even exposed me to a gothic short story I had not known about, "Rappaccini's Daughter" by Nathaniel Hawthorne.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Strange_Case_of_the_Alchemist_s_Daug/LicvDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter

Based on some of literature’s horror and science fiction classics, this “tour de force of reclaiming the narrative, executed with impressive wit and insight” (Publishers Weekly, starred review) debut is the story of a remarkable group of women who come together to solve the mystery of a series of gruesome murders—and the bigger mystery of their own origins.Mary Jekyll, alone and penniless following her parents’ death, is curious about the secrets of her father’s mysterious past. One clue in particular hints that Edward Hyde, her father’s former friend and a murderer, may be nearby, and there is a reward for information leading to his capture…a reward that would solve all of her immediate financial woes. But her hunt leads her to Hyde’s daughter, Diana, a feral child left to be raised by nuns. With the assistance of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson, Mary continues her search for the elusive Hyde, and soon befriends more women, all of whom have been created through terrifying experimentation: Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherin Moreau, and Justine Frankenstein. When their investigations lead them to the discovery of a secret society of immoral and power-crazed scientists, the horrors of their past return. Now it is up to the monsters to finally triumph over the monstrous.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonFeb 6, 2024

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Seven Mercies_ by Laura Lam & Elizabeth May

I keep reading book #1 of books with sequels, and now I have decision paralysis with 4 very interesting (and several less so) sequels to choose from. so I decided to do it FIFO. I read _Seven Devils_ early in the pandemic and never did read the sequel.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Seven_Mercies/5FaJEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Seven Mercies

The second book in a feminist space opera duology that follows the team of seven rebels who will free the galaxy from the ruthless Tholosian Empire--or die trying.After an ambush leaves the Novantae resistance in tatters, the survivors scatter across the galaxy. Wanted by two great empires, the bounty on any rebel's head is enough to make a captor filthy rich. And the seven devils? Biggest score of them all. To avoid attacks, the crew of Zelus scavenge for supplies on long-abandoned Tholosian outposts.Not long after the remnants of the rebellion settle briefly on Fortuna, Ariadne gets a message with unimaginable consequences: the Oracle has gone rogue. In a planned coup against the Empire's new ruler, the AI has developed a way of mass programming citizens into mindless drones. The Oracle's demand is simple: the AI wants One's daughter back at any cost.Time for an Impossible to Infiltrate mission: high chance of death, low chance of success. The devils will have to use their unique skills, no matter the sacrifice, and pair up with old enemies. Their plan? Get to the heart of the Empire. Destroy the Oracle. Burn it all to the ground.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMar 7, 2024

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Harbinger of the Storm_ by Aliette de Bodard.

I read its prequel, _Servant of the Underworld_, last year and really liked it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Harbinger_of_the_Storm/zTBYCwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Harbinger of the Storm

The second book in the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy:The year is Two House, and the Emperor of the Mexica has just died. The protections he afforded the Empire are crumbling, and the way lies wide open to the flesh-eating star-demons--and to the return of their creator, a malevolent goddess only held in check by the War God's power.The council should convene to choose a new Emperor, but they are too busy plotting against each other. And then someone starts summoning star-demons within the palace, to kill councilmen...Acatl, High Priest of the Dead, must find the culprit before everything is torn apart.REVIEWS:‘Political intrigue and rivalry among a complex pantheon of divinities drive this well-paced murder mystery set at the height of the Aztec Empire in the late 15th century. De Bodard reintroduces the series hero Acatl, high priest of the dead, immediately following the death of the Tenochtitlan leader. One of the council members in charge of choosing a successor has been brutally murdered in what looks like an attempt to influence the decision. But the deaths continue and the political situation grows more complex, while the empire looks to be increasingly at risk of invasion by malignant powers. Acatl must go face-to-face with the most powerful god in his world and put the good of the empire above his antipathy for is rivals to achieve the uneasy succession. De Bodard incorporates historical fact with great ease and manages the rare feat of explaining complex culture and political system without lecturing or boring the reader.’ —Publishers Weekly‘Another thing that intrigues me here is the whole fact that historically we know that the real empire died out mysteriously and completely and as such there is always that thought in the back of my mind that the author could choose to bring about the end of days. That highlighted sense of possible doom is something that is missing from too many novels. The way the story is told in this book is very impressive, the plot is both mature and seductive, twisting and turning like a weather vane in a force 9 gale while the action is both bloodthirsty and imaginative. The world building is fantastic and we get to learn even more of this rich culture and the many gods and creatures of the dark. I really can’t fault this book at all and recommend it to one and all but if you haven’t yet read Servant of the Underworld I suggest that you get them both and read them in order, you won’t be disappointed.’ —SF Book Reviews‘Bodard’s writing is polished and striking, as she convincingly fills in the colorful elements of the Aztec culture–even if those colors tend to be of blood and bile as well as flowers and hummingbirds... beautiful, grimy, breathtaking, and morbid. 5*’ —Examiner‘Aliette de Bodard has done it again. Harbinger of the Storm is an action packed Aztec mystery opera with magic, interventions from the gods and more twists and turns than the first book. It even has a love story with amusing snippets here and there... The story is self contained and can be enjoyed standalone, but you will not want to miss out on the first. I wish it was 2012 already even if the world is going under while I read the final Obsidian & Blood.’ —Cybermage

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMar 17, 2024

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Master of the House of Darts_ by Aliette de Bodard.

I just last night finished the second book in the Obsidian and Blood trilogy, _Harbinger of the Storm_, and really liked it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Master_of_the_House_of_Darts/7y9YCwAAQBAJ?hl=en

Master of the House of Darts

The conclusion to the critically acclaimed Obsidian and Blood trilogy:The year is Three Rabbit, and the storm is coming.The Mexica Empire now has a new Emperor, but his coronation war has just ended in a failure: the armies have retreated with a paltry forty prisoners of war, not near enough sacrifices to satisfy the gods. Acatl, High Priest for the Dead, has no desire to involve himself yet again in the intrigues of the powerful. However, when one of the prisoners dies of a magical illness, he has little choice but to investigate. For it is only one death, but it will not be the last.As the bodies pile up and the imperial court tears itself apart, dragging Teomitl, Acatl's beloved student, into the eye of the storm, the High Priest for the Dead is going to have to choose whom he can afford to trust; and where, in the end, his loyalties ultimately lie...REVIEWS:‘Like the previous books, the third in the Obsidian and Blood series abounds with suspects and red herrings. It’s a twisty and colourful tale filled with strange gods who demand sacrifices and pain for the least favour. I liked the way Acatl is beginning to question the way things are, and the first stirrings of doubt are awakening in him. He’s always had misgivings about his own suitability as High Priest, but in this novel his eyes are opened to some of the deeper wrongs done in the name of the empire, and in the name of people’s unswerving loyalty to the gods.’ —WarpCore SF‘I found this to be the best book of a very good series. The same positives from the first two books are still present, a very easy-to-read writing style (easy to read but not simple or dumbed down), a quick pace, and some incredible world building, incredible accessibility despite the lesser know pantheon and names. Even though the second book dealt with a possible end to the world, MASTER OF THE HOUSE OF DARTS took a similar fate and did it better. Perhaps this was because in many ways it felt more like a fantasy book than a mystery book, which lends itself better to the “save the world” type story. The magic felt more organic here, it was never used as a crutch, or perhaps it was just better explained. There was a bit less travelling this time around, which also led to a tighter story. The ending involved several confrontations that were tense and believable, including some between people who are supposed to be allies... a great end to the series.’ —Fantasy Review Barn‘Whether you take it as historical noir or as a highly accurate fantasy, it’s hard not to enjoy the Obsidian and Blood books—it’s a perfect fit for those looking for something different from their usual fare, but still exciting in ways they’re used to.’ —Guys Lit Wire‘Acatl, is very much at the heart of the story, more so perhaps than the plot. He slowly grows into his position as the High Priest of the Dead throughout the trilogy, while the author moves along a parallel path, her narrative growing into its teller and inhabiting his mind with increasing comfort and self-assurance. Acatl is both the hero and the author’s avatar as she explores her ideas of what a hero can and should be. Perceptive readers will find Acatl to be a very different kind of hero than we are accustomed to reading about, but the action and the mystery proceed so smoothly that some may never notice the gleeful contrariness that lurks below the surface... Acatl is not, and this is apparent from much earlier in the trilogy, a typical action hero. He is not even a typical mystery solver, at least not in the Western idiom... The entirety of the Obsidian & Blood trilogy gets high marks... for creativity, execution, and gentle subversion. Not just recommended, but, to paraphrase Demi Moore in A Few Good Men, strenuously recommended.’ —Two Dudes in an Attic

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMar 21, 2024

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Raven Strategem_ by Yoon Ha Lee.

I read _The Ninefox Gambit_ last October and thought it was amazing, then started this one; but became caught up in very serious life events after. Now I am finally returning to it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Raven_Stratagem/8CKPDQAAQBAJ?hl=en

Raven Stratagem

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR – NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 HUGO AWARD FOR BEST SERIES – WINNER OF THE 2016 LOCUS AWARD – NOMINATED FOR THE HUGO, NEBULA AND ARTHUR C. CLARKE AWARDS. WAR. HERESY. MADNESS. Shuos Jedao is unleashed. The long-dead general, preserved with exotic technologies as a weapon, has possessed the body of gifted young captain Kel Cheris. Now, General Kel Khiruev’s fleet, racing to the Severed March to stop a fresh enemy incursion, has fallen under Jedao’s sway. Only Khiruev’s aide, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, is able to shake off the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao. The rogue general seems intent on defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev—or Brezan—trust him? For that matter, can they trust Kel Command, or will their own rulers wipe out the whole swarm to destroy one man?

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMar 29, 2024

I'm #CurrentlyReading _European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman_ by Theodora Goss

I found the first book delightful, and thus far so is this one, and this book seems to be just what I need right now.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/European_Travel_for_the_Monstrous_Gentle/muqODwAAQBAJ?hl=en

European Travel for the Monstrous Gentlewoman

In the sequel to the Nebula finalist The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter, Mary Jekyll and the rest of the daughters of mad scientists from literature embark on a madcap adventure across Europe to rescue another monstrous girl and stop the Alchemical Society’s nefarious plans once and for all.Mary Jekyll’s life has been peaceful since she helped Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson solve the Whitechapel Murders. Beatrice Rappaccini, Catherine Moreau, Justine Frankenstein, and Mary’s sister Diana Hyde have settled into the Jekyll household in London, and although they sometimes quarrel, the members of the Athena Club get along as well as any five young women with very different personalities. At least they can always rely on Mrs. Poole. But when Mary receives a telegram that Lucinda Van Helsing has been kidnapped, the Athena Club must travel to the Austro-Hungarian Empire to rescue yet another young woman who has been subjected to horrific experimentation. Where is Lucinda, and what has Professor Van Helsing been doing to his daughter? Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, and Justine reach her in time? Racing against the clock to save Lucinda from certain doom, the Athena Club embarks on a madcap journey across Europe. From Paris to Vienna to Budapest, Mary and her friends must make new allies, face old enemies, and finally confront the fearsome, secretive Alchemical Society. It’s time for these monstrous gentlewomen to overcome the past and create their own destinies.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonFeb 26, 2025

so I got partway through _The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl_ by Theodora Goss, set it aside becuase I became too busy to read, then picked it back up, and the villains were too relevant and had to put it down again.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Sinister_Mystery_of_the_Mesmerizing_/1eesDwAAQBAJ?hl=en

The Sinister Mystery of the Mesmerizing Girl

Mary Jekyll and the Athena Club race to save Alice—and foil a plot to unseat the Queen, in the electrifying conclusion to the trilogy that began with the Nebula Award finalist and Locus Award winner The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter.Life’s always an adventure for the Athena Club...especially when one of their own has been kidnapped! After their thrilling European escapades rescuing Lucina van Helsing, Mary Jekyll and her friends return home to discover that their friend and kitchen maid Alice has vanished—and so has Mary's employer Sherlock Holmes! As they race to find Alice and bring her home safely, they discover that Alice and Sherlock’s kidnapping are only one small part of a plot that threatens Queen Victoria, and the very future of the British Empire. Can Mary, Diana, Beatrice, Catherine, and Justine save their friends—and save England? Find out in the final installment of the fantastic and memorable Extraordinary Adventures of the Athena Club series.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonFeb 26, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Singularity Sky_ by Charles Stross

I had _Iron Sunrise_ for years, then got fed up having not read the prior book, bought it, and it sat on my shelf for a couple years. Now I need to sit calmly with a physical book, so here I am.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Singularity_Sky/K9pSfEQU0VgC?hl=en

Singularity Sky

In a technologically suppressed future, information demands to be free in the debut novel from Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross.In the twenty-first century, life as we know it changed. Faster-than-light travel was perfected, and the Eschaton, a superhuman artificial intelligence, was born. Four hundred years later, the far-flung colonies that arose as a result of these events—scattered over three thousand years of time and a thousand parsecs of space—are beginning to rediscover their origins.                The New Republic is one such colony. It has existed for centuries in self-imposed isolation, rejecting all but the most basic technology. Now, under attack by a devastating information plague, the colony must reach out to Earth for help. A battle fleet is dispatched, streaking across the stars to the rescue. But things are not what they seem—secret agendas and ulterior motives abound, both aboard the ship and on the ground. And watching over it all is the Eschaton, which has its own very definite ideas about the outcome...

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonFeb 28, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Iron Sunrise_ by Charles Stross

I've had the book ever since it came out in mass-market paperback, and read it then. But now I've read _Singularity Sky_, I am catching more references. And of course it's been so long I might as well be reading a new book.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Iron_Sunrise/mJ2GbkWR-RgC?hl=en

Iron Sunrise

“[Stross] has the ability to superimpose an intriguing take on contemporary events over an imaginative story peopled by bizarre characters.” – The Kansas City Star                A G2 star doesn’t just explode—not without outside interference. So the survivors of the planet Moscow, which was annihilated in just such an event, have launched a counterattack against the most likely culprit: the neighboring system of New Dresden.                              But New Dresden wasn’t responsible, and as the deadly missiles approach their target, Rachel Mansour, agent for the interests of Old Earth, is assigned to find out who was. Opposing her is an unknown—and unimaginable—enemy. At stake is not only the fate of New Dresden but also the very order of the universe.                And the one person who knows the identity of that enemy is a disaffected teenager who calls herself Wednesday Shadowmist. But Wednesday has no idea what she knows…

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 15, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Toll of Honor_ by David Weber

I visited the Baen website today and it was suggested to me, possibly because I have all the other Honorverse books.

https://books.google.com/books?id=Wcn9EAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=toll%2Bof%2Bhonor&hl=en&ovdme=1&sa=X&q=toll%20of%20honor&f=false

Toll of Honor

A NEW SOLO NOVEL IN DAVID WEBER'S NYT BEST-SELLING HONORVERSE“It is our duty to pay for our liberty with our own blood. The freedom that we shall win through our sacrifice and exertions, we shall be able to preserve with our own strength.” —Subhas Chandra BoseLieutenant Brandy Bolgeo has come home from the Battle of Hancock station wounded in both body and spirit. She will need months to regenerate her lost leg, but how long will it take to heal her heart?She’s come home to find that her wounds, her ship’s brutal damage, the deaths of so many friends, were the fault of an arrogant, aristocratic coward who broke and ran in the face of the enemy. Who left her ship to pay the price for his craven desertion under fire. And whose powerful political allies are determined to protect and preserve him at any price.They have held hostage the declaration of war until Lord Pavel Young escaped the consequences of his cowardice. They didn’t care what it cost the Navy. They didn’t care what it cost the entire Star Kingdom of Manticore. Their tactics have cost the Royal Navy the priceless initiative as revolution and military purges wrack the People’s Republic of Haven, and that lost window of opportunity will cost the Star Kingdom seventeen years of bloody warfare and hundreds of thousands of deaths.Now Young is free to seek vengeance on the people he feels have “wronged” him. People like Paul Tankersley and Honor Harrington. Paid duelists, smear tactics, hired assassins in public restaurants . . . nothing is beneath Pavel Young. But Captain Harrington can look after herself, and Pavel Young is about to face the fury of the woman the newsies call the “Salamander.” Yet who will save the Star Kingdom from the repercussions of his actions?Women and men like Brandy Bolgeo are about to pay the toll for the Star Kingdom of Manticore’s honor.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 16, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Salvage Right_ by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

since I'm nursing a hurt shoulder I'm in need of brain candy science fiction, and the Liaden Universe® almost always fits that bill. It is why I went to the Baen website yesterday

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Salvage_Right/6hyjEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Salvage Right

A NEW NOVEL IN THE NATIONALLY BEST-SELLING LIADEN UNIVERSE® SERIESA door never closes, but a window opens . . . With origins in the Old Universe, the malevolent, acquisitive intelligence of Tinsori Light sought to infect others with itself and send those agents out into the wide new universe to infect even more.For centuries, two heroes stood between Tinsori Light and the vulnerable universe—Light Keepers Jen Sin yos'Phelium and Lorith of the Sanderat.Just when it seemed that they—merely human—must fail, Tinsori Light, enfeebled by aged systems, succumbed to the stress of a unique spatial event—and died, leaving the station a shell.Luckily, the light keepers have back-up. A mismatched team of arcane specialists are on-station, working nonstop to preserve the Light, build trustworthy systems, and open the refurbished station for business.In fact, ships are already incoming, and it becomes a matter of urgency to sort friend from foe. In particular, the Lyre Institute wishes to acquire Tinsori Light, and will do anything, spend anyone, to achieve that goal.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).Praise for Dragon in Exile:“. . . sprawling and satisfying. . . . Space opera mixes with social engineering, influenced by Regency-era manners and delicate notions of honor. . . . it’s like spending time with old friends.” —Publishers WeeklyPraise for Necessity’s Child:“Compelling and wondrous, as sharp and graceful as Damascus steel, Necessity's Child is a terrific addition to Lee & Miller's addictive series.” —Patricia BriggsAbout the Liaden Universe® series:“Every now and then you come across an author, or in this case, a pair, who write exactly what you want to read, the characters and personalities that make you enjoy meeting them. . . . I rarely rave on and on about stories, but I am devoted to Lee and Miller novels and stories.” —Anne McCaffrey“These authors consistently deliver stories with a rich, textured setting, intricate plotting, and vivid, interesting characters from fully-realized cultures, both human and alien, and each book gets better.” —Elizabeth Moon“. . . delightful stories of adventure and romance set in a far future . . . space opera milieu. It’s all a rather heady mix of Gordon R. Dickson, the Forsythe Saga, and Victoria Holt, with Lee and Miller’s own unique touches making it all sparkle and sizzle. Anyone whose taste runs toward SF in the true romantic tradition can’t help but like the Liaden Universe.” —Analog“. . . the many fans of the Liaden universe will welcome the latest . . . continuing young pilot Theo Waitley’s adventures.” —Booklist on Saltation“. . . aficionados of intelligent space opera will be thoroughly entertained . . . the authors’ craftsmanship is top-notch.” —Publishers Weekly on Lee and Miller’s popular Liaden Universe® thriller I Dare

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 17, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Fair Trade_ by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

since I'm nursing a hurt shoulder I'm in need of brain candy science fiction, and the Liaden Universe® almost always fits that bill.

I won't finish this one as fast as the prior, since I'll resume working on the morrow.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Fair_Trade/WF9oEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Fair Trade

Jethri Gobelyn has risen far: from despised youngest on a Terran family Loop ship to second trader on premier Liaden tradeship Elthoria under the guidance of his unlikely foster-mother Norn ven’Deelin Clan Ixin. Master Trader ven’Deelin has taught Jethri much, and she expects great things from him. Indeed, one might say she demands them.Jethri has inherited a mission from his father, a plan that will allow family Loop ships like the one he grew up on to survive the encroachment of Rostov’s Dust. In this, he’s backed by several prominent Looper families who are scheduled to meet and plan at the South Axis Trade Fair.In what seems to be a fortunate pairing of missions, Master Trader ven’Deelin sees Jethri become lead trader on his own small ship, which is scheduled to arrive at the South Axis Fair.Unfortunately, that “fortunate coincidence” may instead be a test of Jethri’s loyalties, as he’s thrust into a tangle of gray-trading, mistaken identity, misinformation, and galactic politics . . .At the publisher's request, this book is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).About Dragon in Exile:“. . . sprawling and satisfying. . . . Space opera mixes with social engineering, influenced by Regency-era manners and delicate notions of honor. . . . it’s like spending time with old friends.”—Publishers WeeklyAbout Necessity’s Child:“Compelling and wondrous, as sharp and graceful as Damascus steel, Necessity's Child is a terrific addition to Lee & Miller's addictive series.”—Patricia BriggsAbout the Liaden Universe® series:“Every now and then you come across an author, or in this case, a pair, who write exactly what you want to read, the characters and personalities that make you enjoy meeting them. . . . I rarely rave on and on about stories, but I am devoted to Lee and Miller novels and stories.”—Anne McCaffrey“These authors consistently deliver stories with a rich, textured setting, intricate plotting, and vivid, interesting characters from fully-realized cultures, both human and alien, and each book gets better.”—Elizabeth Moon“. . . delightful stories of adventure and romance set in a far future . . . space opera milieu. It’s all a rather heady mix of Gordon R. Dickson, the Forsythe Saga, and Victoria Holt, with Lee and Miller’s own unique touches making it all sparkle and sizzle. Anyone whose taste runs toward SF in the true romantic tradition can’t help but like the Liaden Universe.”—Analog“. . . the many fans of the Liaden universe will welcome the latest . . . continuing young pilot Theo Waitley’s adventures.”—Booklist on Saltation“. . . aficionados of intelligent space opera will be thoroughly entertained . . . the authors’ craftsmanship is top-notch.”—Publishers Weekly on Lee and Miller’s popular Liaden Universe® thriller I Dare

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 19, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Ribbon Dance_ by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller

I feel like I'm making up for lost time on speculative fiction, as I blew through a re-read of its prequel _Trader's Leap_ over the last day or so.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Ribbon_Dance/yBcEEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Ribbon Dance

NEW ENTRY IN THE BEST-SELLING LIADEN UNIVERSE® SERIESOn a world where cake is a necessity, it takes the Grid to protect the civilized and the deaf from the dire influences of the ambient and to keep the chaotic Haosa at bay.Having arrived at recently Dust-bound Colemeno, Trader Padi yos’Galan is essential to Master Trader Shan yos’Galan’s plan to recoup Clan Korval’s fortunes by establishing new routes for the clan’s tradeship. Shan’s inner Healer insists Padi come to terms with her as-yet unplumbed psychic abilities, which might place her in the top tier of dramliz, if she can learn control.Padi yearns to concentrate on trade, but Colemeno’s fey ambient and deadly long-term politics combine to bring her face-to-face with the Haosa, and in particular with the mysterious and untouchable Tekelia, as Korval’s trade mission’s necessity of a port audit collide with a cruel history of murder, deception, and brutality. Amid the dangers, Padi unexpectedly finds herself eagerly exploring her dramliz side when faced with the unspoken powers of the ambient, the sky-filling energy of the ribbon dance, and Tekelia’s mutable eyes.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 21, 2025

I gotta say, _Ribbon Dance_ was fantastic. I ploughed through the newly-released sequel, _Diviner's Bow_, which was darker and a bit less crisp, with POV shifts that sometimes befuddled. But, their relevance was all clear in the end.

On that note, I've caught up on the Liaden Universe® ... and have my arm in a sling for 5 more weeks. Hmmm

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Diviner_s_Bow/Y6AwEQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

Diviner's Bow

NEW ENTRY IN THE BEST-SELLING LIADEN UNIVERSE® SERIESA world divided cannot stand.A people divided cannot thrive.The Oracle has Seen the end of Civilization, and the end of the Haosa, too. Reactions to this are—mixed.On the one hand, foresight is a notoriously erratic Gift. On the other, can Civilization—or the Haosa—afford to assume that the prophecy is an error?And if the Oracle has Seen truly—is it possible to alter the future?While well-meaning people struggle to implement change that might, at least, mitigate a disaster, others are looking toward the profit they can make from the end of the world.In the meantime, the Tree-and-Dragon Trade Team has concluded its whole port inventory, and is about to propose Colemeno as a trade-hub and anchor to a brand-new route. Padi yos’Galan is preparing to step into new roles, personally, and in trade.And the lives of two small children may be the thread that binds the future—or unravels it.At the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).Praise for the Liaden Universe series:“I love the Liaden Universe books for their complex weaving of cultures and manners and the dangers of space travel. I was fascinated by Ribbon Dance’s focus on the careful work of establishing trade with a long-isolated world where psi powers are common. At play are the differences between offworld procedures and the traditions and suspicions of the planetary society. And an elderly, politely demanding norbear.” —Kathryn Sullivan, Talking to Trees“Time spent with the Tree and Dragon is always a joy. Ribbon Dance is a marvelous tale, a feast for Liaden fans. And everyone should be a Liaden fan.” —#1 New York Times Best Seller Patricia Briggs“Space Opera as finely crafted as a Tree-and-Dragon trade deal. Lee and Miller always deliver the goods.” —Jack Campbell, author of In Our Stars and Implacable“Breathtaking, innovative, and absolutely charming!” —Lawrence M. Schoen, award-winning author of Barsk: The Elephants’ Graveyard“A brilliant entry in the Liaden series, with romance, intrigue, new friends and old, and a new world to test Clan Korval!” —Ryk Spoor, author of Choosing the Players and the Demons of the Past trilogy“Starts fast and runs hot and true. Perhaps Lee & Miller’s strongest work to date. Space opera the way it should be.” —James D. Macdonald, coauthor of The Price of the Stars“Deftly written, with politics, passion and power winding together to create an incredibly satisfying story that spans generations, cultures, and worlds. What a treat. Sure to satisfy long-time readers and newcomers alike!” —C.E. Murphy, author of The Walker Papers series

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 21, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _A Deadly Education_ by Naomi Novik

Someone mentioned it in a thread a few weeks ago, and I decided it was compelling. After consideration I bought the beautiful hardcover edition. I did not feel an ebook would do the diagrams justice. Then I was too busy to read them.

Now it's time...

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Deadly_Education/0YDJDwAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0

A Deadly Education

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From the author of Uprooted and Spinning Silver comes the first book of the Scholomance trilogy, the story of an unwilling dark sorceress who is destined to rewrite the rules of magic.FINALIST FOR THE LODESTAR AWARD • “The dark school of magic I’ve been waiting for.”—Katherine Arden, author of the Winternight TrilogyI decided that Orion Lake needed to die after the second time he saved my life.Everyone loves Orion Lake. Everyone else, that is. Far as I’m concerned, he can keep his flashy combat magic to himself. I’m not joining his pack of adoring fans. I don’t need help surviving the Scholomance, even if they do. Forget the hordes of monsters and cursed artifacts, I’m probably the most dangerous thing in the place. Just give me a chance and I’ll level mountains and kill untold millions, make myself the dark queen of the world. At least, that’s what the world expects. Most of the other students in here would be delighted if Orion killed me like one more evil thing that’s crawled out of the drains. Sometimes I think they want me to turn into the evil witch they assume I am. The school certainly does. But the Scholomance isn’t getting what it wants from me. And neither is Orion Lake. I may not be anyone’s idea of the shining hero, but I’m going to make it out of this place alive, and I’m not going to slaughter thousands to do it, either. Although I’m giving serious consideration to just one.With flawless mastery, Naomi Novik creates a school bursting with magic like you’ve never seen before, and a heroine for the ages—a character so sharply realized and so richly nuanced that she will live on in hearts and minds for generations to come.The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Last Graduate and The Golden Enclaves“The can’t-miss fantasy of fall 2020, a brutal coming-of-power story steeped in the aesthetics of dark academia. . . . A Deadly Education will cement Naomi Novik’s place as one of the greatest and most versatile fantasy writers of our time.”—BookPage (starred review) “A must-read . . . Novik puts a refreshingly dark, adult spin on the magical boarding school. . . . Readers will delight in the push-and-pull of El and Orion’s relationship, the fantastically detailed world, the clever magic system, and the matter-of-fact diversity of the student body.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 23, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Last Graduate_ by Naomi Novik

The prior book was a joy to read, even if it was a reminder of how young people adapt to the most horrific conditions.

Am looking forward to reading this one, but it's longer and I'm busy with work, entirely slowed down by my hurty shoulder.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/wxuOEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjv3-r2t-2MAxUrCTQIHfqYHt4Q7_IDegQIHhAE

The Last Graduate

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The specter of graduation looms large as Naomi Novik’s groundbreaking, New York Times bestselling trilogy continues in the stunning sequel to A Deadly Education. “The climactic graduation-day battle will bring cheers, tears, and gasps as the second of the Scholomance trilogy closes with a breathtaking cliff-hanger.”—Booklist (starred review)HUGO AWARD FINALIST • LOCUS AWARD FINALIST • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Polygon, Thrillist, She Reads In Wisdom, Shelter. That’s the official motto of the Scholomance. I suppose you could even argue that it’s true—only the wisdom is hard to come by, so the shelter’s rather scant.    Our beloved school does its best to devour all its students—but now that I’ve reached my senior year and have actually won myself a handful of allies, it’s suddenly developed a very particular craving for me. And even if I somehow make it through the endless waves of maleficaria that it keeps throwing at me in between grueling homework assignments, I haven’t any idea how my allies and I are going to make it through the graduation hall alive.    Unless, of course, I finally accept my foretold destiny of dark sorcery and destruction. That would certainly let me sail straight out of here. The course of wisdom, surely.   But I’m not giving in—not to the mals, not to fate, and especially not to the Scholomance. I’m going to get myself and my friends out of this hideous place for good—even if it’s the last thing I do. With keen insight and mordant humor, Novik reminds us that sometimes it is not enough to rewrite the rules—sometimes, you need to toss out the entire rulebook.The magic of the Scholomance trilogy continues in The Golden Enclaves

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 26, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Golden Enclaves_ by Naomi Novik

...I'm really enjoying this series

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Golden_Enclaves/7qBSEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

The Golden Enclaves

#1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER • Saving the world is a test no school of magic can prepare you for in the triumphant conclusion to the New York Times bestselling trilogy that began with A Deadly Education and The Last Graduate.FINALIST FOR THE HUGO AWARD • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: Paste, Publishers WeeklyThe one thing you never talk about while you’re in the Scholomance is what you’ll do when you get out. Not even the richest enclaver would tempt fate that way. But it’s all we dream about: the hideously slim chance we’ll survive to make it out the gates and improbably find ourselves with a life ahead of us, a life outside the Scholomance halls. And now the impossible dream has come true. I’m out, we’re all out—and I didn’t even have to turn into a monstrous dark witch to make it happen. So much for my great-grandmother’s prophecy of doom and destruction. I didn’t kill enclavers, I saved them. Me and Orion and our allies. Our graduation plan worked to perfection: We saved everyone and made the world safe for all wizards and brought peace and harmony to all the enclaves everywhere.Ha, only joking! Actually, it’s gone all wrong. Someone else has picked up the project of destroying enclaves in my stead, and probably everyone we saved is about to get killed in the brewing enclave war. And the first thing I’ve got to do now, having miraculously gotten out of the Scholomance, is turn straight around and find a way back in.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 26, 2025
oh my goodness, and now I am reading it Again.
Show threaddraNgNonApr 27, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Provenance_ by Ann Leckie

I am sure it will be a marvellous read...

but I must digress to whine about the physicality of the book.

it's the softcover on the Orbit imprint with the stylized blue cover. it sure looks like they took a font and layout intended for mass market paperback and blew it up for the softcover/trade paperback size so they could charge more. I could probably read it from 5' away and it's more paper than it needed to be.

I wanted physical copies of Imperial Radch for a while now – the Ancillary books are superb, but I was unhappy when I read them as ebooks and lacked the ability to flip back and forth easily – but this situation bugs me, I generally don't prefer trade-sized softcover fiction, they wear out too easily, but mass market paperback was not to be found.

anyhow, I am reading it, long overdue. my cracked scapula has 4 more weeks to go. I got nothing else to do really, other than work and read and faff about online.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Provenance/B2CHDgAAQBAJ?hl=en

Provenance

An ambitious young woman has just one chance to secure her future and reclaim her family's priceless lost artifacts in this stand-alone novel set in the world of the award-winning, New York Times bestselling Imperial Radch trilogy. Though she knows her brother holds her mother's favor, Ingrid is determined to at least be considered as heir to the family name. She hatches an audacious plan -- free a thief from a prison planet from which no one has ever returned, and use them to help steal back a priceless artifact. But Ingray and her charge return to her home to find their planet in political turmoil, at the heart of an escalating interstellar conflict. Together, they must make a new plan to salvage Ingray's future and her world, before they are lost to her for good.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 28, 2025

at long last, I'm #CurrentlyReading _Translation State_ by Ann Leckie

I am sure it will be a wonderful read...all my friends who've read the book adore it.

I'd held off getting it becuase I wanted it in mass market paperback format. then I gave in and got the trade paperback anyhow, but was too busy to read it, and then I read all these other books in the last 2 weeks since hurting my shoulder.

Maybe I'll re-read _Ancillary Justice_ after this. ...maybe.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Translation_State/q3KSEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

Translation State

The mystery of a missing translator sets three lives on a collision course that will have a ripple effect across the stars in this powerful novel from a Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winning author. "There are few who write science fiction like Ann Leckie can. There are few who ever could." —John Scalzi  Qven was created to be a Presger translator. The pride of their Clade, they always had a clear path before them: learn human ways, and eventually, make a match and serve as an intermediary between the dangerous alien Presger and the human worlds. The realization that they might want something else isn't "optimal behavior". It's the type of behavior that results in elimination.  But Qven rebels. And in doing so, their path collides with those of two others. Enae, a reluctant diplomat whose dead grandmaman has left hir an impossible task as an inheritance: hunting down a fugitive who has been missing for over 200 years. And Reet, an adopted mechanic who is increasingly desperate to learn about his genetic roots—or anything that might explain why he operates so differently from those around him. As a Conclave of the various species approaches—and the long-standing treaty between the humans and the Presger is on the line—the decisions of all three will have ripple effects across the stars.   Masterfully merging space adventure and mystery, and a poignant exploration about relationships and belonging, Translation State is a triumphant new standalone story set in the celebrated Imperial Radch universe."Leckie’s humane, emotionally intelligent, and deeply perceptive writing makes this tautly plotted adventure feel fundamentally true while also offering longtime fans a much anticipated glimpse into the Radch’s most mysterious species. Readers will be thrilled." —Publishers Weekly (starred review)"Another of Leckie’s beautiful mergings of the political, philosophical, and personal." —Kirkus (starred review)

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 29, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Tainted Cup_ by Robert Jackson Bennett

it feels familiar, a fantasy-setting murder mystery, but the MO and settings are novel to me.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tainted_Cup/-YK9EAAAQBAJ?hl=en

The Tainted Cup

A Holmes and Watson–style detective duo take the stage in this fantasy with a mystery twist, from the Edgar-winning, multiple Hugo-nominated Robert Jackson Bennett“Great fantasy detective stories are too rare, but Bennett—[a] rising star of fantasy—more than delivers.”—Charlie Jane Anders, The Washington Post“A thoroughly satisfying delight from start to finish.”—Amal El-Mohtar, The New York Times Book ReviewNOMINATED FOR THE EDGAR AWARD • A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, NPR, Elle, BookPageIn Daretana’s greatest mansion, a high imperial officer lies dead—killed, to all appearances, when a tree erupted from his body. Even here at the Empire’s borders, where contagions abound and the blood of the leviathans works strange magical changes, it’s a death both terrifying and impossible.Assigned to investigate is Ana Dolabra, a detective whose reputation for brilliance is matched only by her eccentricities. Rumor has it that she wears a blindfold at all times, and that she can solve impossible cases without even stepping outside the walls of her home.At her side is her new assistant, Dinios Kol, magically altered in ways that make him the perfect aide to Ana’s brilliance. Din is at turns scandalized, perplexed, and utterly infuriated by his new superior—but as the case unfolds and he watches Ana’s mind leap from one startling deduction to the next, he must admit that she is, indeed, the Empire’s greatest detective.As the two close in on a mastermind and uncover a scheme that threatens the Empire itself, Din realizes he’s barely begun to assemble the puzzle that is Ana Dolabra—and wonders how long he’ll be able to keep his own secrets safe from her piercing intellect.By an “endlessly inventive” (Vulture) author with a “wicked sense of humor” (NPR), The Tainted Cup mixes the charms of detective fiction with brilliant world-building to deliver a fiendishly clever mystery that’s at once instantly recognizable and thrillingly new.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 30, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _A Drop of Corruption_ by Robert Jackson Bennett

...becuase @piebob liked it 🙂

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Drop_of_Corruption/fVEZEQAAQBAJ?hl=en

A Drop of Corruption

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The eccentric detective Ana Dolabra matches wits with a seemingly omniscient adversary in this brilliant fantasy-mystery from the author of The Tainted Cup.“Wonderfully clever and compulsively readable . . . another winning blend of fantasy and classic detection.”—Publishers WeeklyIn the canton of Yarrowdale, at the very edge of the Empire’s reach, a Treasury officer has disappeared into thin air—vanishing from a room within a heavily guarded tower, its door and windows locked from the inside. To solve the case, the Empire calls on its most brilliant and mercurial detective, the great Ana Dolabra. At her side, as always, is her bemused assistant Dinios Kol.Ana soon discovers that they are investigating not a disappearance but a murder—and one of surpassing cunning, carried out by an opponent who can pass through warded doors like a ghost. Worse still, the killer may be targeting the high-security compound known as the Shroud, where the Empire harvests fallen titans for the volatile magic found in their blood. Should it fall, the Empire itself will grind to a halt, robbed of the magic that allows its wheels of power to turn. Din has seen his superior solve impossible cases before. But as the death toll grows and their quarry predicts each of Ana’s moves with uncanny foresight, he fears that she has at last met an enemy she can’t defeat.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonApr 30, 2025

I suppose what I ought to read is _The Dracula Tapes_ by Fred Saberhagen. after all, it's almost Walpurgisnacht.

maybe that's next.

Show threaddraNgNonMay 4, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _A Dead Djinn in Cairo_ by P. Djèlí Clark

this is not a full-length novel by any means, but the novel from a few years later was recommended to me by a friend, so might as well get a feel for it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Dead_Djinn_in_Cairo/RsHVCwAAQBAJ?hl=en

A Dead Djinn in Cairo

Alex Award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark, A Dead Djinn in Cairo is a Tor.com original historcal fantasy set in an alternate early twentieth century infused with the otherworldly. Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and a plot that could unravel time itself.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMay 5, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _A Master of Djinn_ by P. Djèlí Clark

it was recommended to me by a friend, who was in my RPG session tonight and said he thought it was good I'd read the short story first.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/A_Dead_Djinn_in_Cairo/RsHVCwAAQBAJ?hl=en

A Dead Djinn in Cairo

Alex Award-winning author P. Djèlí Clark, A Dead Djinn in Cairo is a Tor.com original historcal fantasy set in an alternate early twentieth century infused with the otherworldly. Egypt, 1912. In Cairo, the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments and Supernatural Entities investigate disturbances between the mortal and the (possibly) divine. What starts off as an odd suicide case for Special Investigator Fatma el-Sha’arawi leads her through the city’s underbelly as she encounters rampaging ghouls, saucy assassins, clockwork angels, and a plot that could unravel time itself.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMay 6, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Tyranny of Faith_ by Richard Swan

or I'm trying to anyhow. I got the Prevnar 20 pneumonia vax this afternoon and between that and the shoulder I might not be up for reading anything more sophisticated than Dr Seuss for a day or so.

I read _The Justice of Kings_ ages ago though, and rather liked it, even if it was rather dystopic for a fantasy setting.

(scans the timeline of these threaded posts) I really am tearing through them, heh. two more, then I'll slow down / diversify the reading, I think.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Tyranny_of_Faith/N2xzEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

The Tyranny of Faith

Action, intrigue, and magic collide in the second book in an epic fantasy trilogy, where Sir Konrad Vonvalt’s role as an Emperor’s Justice requires him to be a detective, judge, and executioner all in one—but these are dangerous times to be a Justice . . .   A Justice’s work is never done.    The Battle of Galen’s Vale is over, but the war for the Empire’s future has just begun. Concerned by rumors that the Magistratum’s authority is waning, Sir Konrad Vonvalt returns to Sova to find the capital city gripped by intrigue and whispers of rebellion. In the Senate, patricians speak openly against the Emperor, while fanatics preach holy vengeance on the streets.     Yet facing down these threats to the throne will have to wait, for the Emperor’s grandson has been kidnapped - and Vonvalt is charged with rescuing the missing prince. His quest will lead him – and his allies Helena, Bressinger and Sir Radomir – to the southern frontier, where they will once again face the puritanical fury of Bartholomew Claver and his templar knights – and a dark power far more terrifying than they could have imagined.  "Richard Swan's sophisticated take on the fantasy genre will leave readers hungry for more." – Sebastien de Castell on The Justice of Kings “A fantastic debut.” – Peter McLean on The Justice of Kings  Also by Richard Swan:The Empire of the WolfThe Justice of Kings The Tyranny of Faith

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonMay 10, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _To End in Fire_ by David Weber and the late Eric Flint.

I've been intending to for ages, afaik it's the only Honor Harrington book I have not read.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/To_End_in_Fire/D5RFEAAAQBAJ?hl=en

To End in Fire

THE CROWN OF SLAVES SAGA CONTINUES. ADVENTURE AND INTRIGUE IN HONOR HARRINGTON’S STAR KINGDOM FROM NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHORS DAVID WEBER AND ERIC FLINT.The Solarian League lies in defeat, crushed by the Grand Alliance of Manticore, Haven, and Grayson.Obedient to the Alliance's surrender demands, the League is writing a new Constitution, to prevent the reemergence of out-of-control bureaucrats, like the "Mandarins" who led it to disaster. Frontier Security has been disbanded, the outer worlds have regained control of their own economic destinies, and multiple star systems will soon secede from the League entirely.Yet the League is—and will remain—the largest, most economically powerful human star nation in existence, and despite the overwhelming evidence that their unelected political leaders were the driving force behind the war, many League citizens deeply resent the fashion in which their star nation—the Solarian League—has been humbled. And those who most resent the Grand Alliance continue to blame Manticore for the nuclear bombardment of the planet Mesa after its surrender. They refuse to accept that the League—and the members of the Grand Alliance—could have been manipulated by a deeply hidden interstellar conspiracy called the Mesan Alignment. The Alignment is only an invention of the Grand Alliance, no more than a mask, a cover, for its own horrific Eridani Violations.Those Solarians will never accept the war guilt of the League, because they know the Grand Alliance was just as bad. Because they deeply resent the way in which the Grand Alliance pretends to be the innocent "good guys." And in the fullness of time, those Solarians will seek vengeance upon their enemies.Not all Solarians feel that way, but even some of those who accept that there was an interstellar conspiracy cherish doubts about its origins. But it is still out there, and now defeated Solarians and agents of the victorious Alliance must join forces to find it. Even if they don't believe in it, it believes in them.They must find it and identify it, to prove to revanchist Solarians that there was a conspiracy.And they must find it and destroy it to end its evil once and for all.The Crown of Slaves Honorverse Series:Crown of SlavesTorch of FreedomCauldron of GhostsAt the publisher's request, this title is sold without DRM (Digital Rights Management).About the Crown of Slaves Saga:“Fans of Weber's Honor Harrington series . . . will be delighted with this offshoot in which he and coauthor Flint develop several situations and characters from other stories. . . . This outstanding effort transcends the label ‘space opera’ and truly is a novel of ideas.”—Publishers WeeklyAbout David Weber:“[A] balanced mix of interstellar intrigue, counterespionage, and epic fleet action . . . with all the hard- and software details and tactical proficiency that Weber delivers like no one else; along with a large cast of well-developed, believable characters, giving each clash of fleets emotional weight.”—Booklist“[M]oves . . . as inexorably as the Star Kingdom’s Grand Fleet, commanded by series protagonist Honor Harrington. . . . Weber is the Tom Clancy of science fiction. . . . His fans will relish this latest installment.”—Publishers Weekly“This entry is just as exciting as Weber’s initial offering. . . . The result is a fast-paced and action-packed story that follows [our characters] as they move from reaction to command of the situation. Weber builds Shadow of Freedom to an exciting and unexpected climax.”—The Galveston County Daily News“Weber combines realistic, engaging characters with intelligent technological projection and a deep understanding of military bureaucracy in this long-awaited Honor Harrington novel. . . . Fans of this venerable space opera will rejoice to see Honor back in action.”—Publishers Weekly“This latest Honor Harrington novel brings the saga to another crucial turning point. . . . Readers may feel confident that they will be Honored many more times and enjoy it every time.”—BooklistAbout Eric Flint:“This alternate history series is . . . a landmark . . . ”—Booklist“[Eric] Flint's 1632 universe seems to be inspiring a whole new crop of gifted alternate historians.”—Booklist“[R]eads like a technothriller set in the age of the Medicis . . . ”—Publishers Weekly

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonJun 4, 2025

I'm #CurrentlyReading _accelerando_ by Charles Stross.

I bought a "new" copy a couple years ago(?) as a mass market paperback. the bookseller shipped it to me wrapped in thin paper and cardboard, and it sat in the rain. the front 20% of the pages are wrinkled, and it has sat on the shelf ever since they dried.

anyhow. I'm finally reading it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Accelerando/q7SZWVMS_l0C?hl=en

Accelerando

The Singularity. It is the era of the posthuman. Artificial intelligences have surpassed the limits of human intellect. Biotechnological beings have rendered people all but extinct. Molecular nanotechnology runs rampant, replicating and reprogramming at will. Contact with extraterrestrial life grows more imminent with each new day.Struggling to survive and thrive in this accelerated world are three generations of the Macx clan: Manfred, an entrepreneur dealing in intelligence amplification technology whose mind is divided between his physical environment and the Internet; his daughter, Amber, on the run from her domineering mother, seeking her fortune in the outer system as an indentured astronaut; and Sirhan, Amber’s son, who finds his destiny linked to the fate of all of humanity.For something is systematically dismantling the nine planets of the solar system. Something beyond human comprehension. Something that has no use for biological life in any form...

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonNov 11

so I was going to post

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Reckoning of Roku_ by Randy Ribay

(which has a lot of alliteration there)

but it was a super fast read so I already finished it. it's fun though.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Avatar_The_Last_Airbender_The_Reckoning/pfHhEAAAQBAJ

Avatar: The Last Airbender: The Reckoning of Roku (Chronicles of the Avatar Book 5)

From National Book Award finalist Randy Ribay comes a gripping new chapter—starring Avatar Roku—in the New York Times bestselling Chronicles of the Avatar series, set in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of KorraCurse a world that would provide a friend only to snatch him away . . . Roku never expected to be the Avatar. Even his best friend, Crown Prince Sozin of the Fire Nation, doubts the accuracy of the Fire Sages’ announcement. After all, Sozin is the strongest Firebender of their generation, while Roku struggles to grasp basic airbending principles—even after months of training under Sister Disha, his airbending master. When Sozin requests the new Avatar’s aid in preventing the Earth Kingdom from claiming a remote Fire Nation island, it doesn’t surprise Roku that Sister Disha advises him to decline. Convinced the Earth King’s aggressive expansion of territory points to a more insidious agenda, Roku steals away with the help of an irritating young Airbender named Gyatso. As the reluctant companions delve deeper into their wayward mission, they realize the fog-shrouded island harbors a secret that could lead to catastrophe in the wrong hands. Plagued by self-doubt but eager to confront the dangers ahead, Avatar Roku must learn where to place his trust and what it means to be a spirit of no nation . . . even if the lesson comes at a great personal cost.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonNov 16

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Gormenghast Novels_ by Mervyn Peake

I've had the omnibus book for years and it sat on my shelf as I kept opting for easier reads. I don't have excuses anymore, so here I go. I have no idea how long it will take, but will ping the thread for posterity as I finish each book.

The first one is _Titus Groan_.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Gormenghast_Novels/1M_L0xsABHkC

The Gormenghast Novels

"A gorgeous, volcanic eruption . . . a work of extraordinary imagination" (The New Yorker), The Gormenghast Novels collects Mervyn Peake's classic fantasy trilogy. "The true fantasy classic of our time." --Washington Post A doomed lord, an emergent hero, an array of bizarre creatures, and an ancient royal family plagued by madness and intrigue--these are the denizens of ancient, sprawling, tumbledown Gormenghast Castle. Within its vast halls and serpentine corridors, the members of the Groan dynasty and their master, Lord Sepulchrave, grow increasingly out of touch with a changing world as they pass their days in unending devotion to meaningless rituals and arcane traditions. Meanwhile, an ambitious kitchen boy named Steerpike rises by devious means to the post of Master of the Ritual while he maneuvers to bring down the Groans. In these extraordinary novels, Peake has created a world where all is like a dream: lush, fantastical, vivid; a symbol of dark struggle. Accompanying the text are Peake's own drawings, illustrating the whole assembly of strange creatures that inhabit Gormenghast. Breathtaking in its power and drenched in dark atmosphere, humor, and intrigue, The Gormenghast Novels is a classic, one of the great works of 20th-century British literature. This edition includes introductory essays by Anthony Burgess, author of A Clockwork Orange, and famed humorist Quentin Crisp. The Gormenghat Novels (which includes Titus Groan, Gormenghast, and Titus Alone) has been included in Fantasy: The 100 Best Books, Modern Fantasy: The 100 Best Novels, and 100 Must Read Fantasy Novels as one of the greatest fantasy works of the 20th century. Literary critic Harold Bloom has praised the series as the best fantasy novels of the 20th century and it is often compared to J.R.R. Tolkein's The Lord of the Rings. "His inventiveness, his ingenuity, and his humor are astonishing." --San Francisco Chronicle

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNonDec 10
I got ~200 pages in and ground to a halt becuase life etc. Also it's so Dickensian I find the read laborious even though the vocabulary and rich descriptions are delightful.
Show threaddraNgNonJan 16
I am still ground to a halt, more than a month later. I will put it back on the shelf and return to it when the surrounding life etc is less depressing and thus it's not such a close reflection.
Show threaddraNgNonJan 16

I'm #CurrentlyReading _Is Pluto a Planet?_ by David A. Weintraub

I was talking with my friend's daughter about her upcoming Cosmology 101 class and examining my shelf of astronomy books on that level to see if I had the one she needed. (I did not.) Whilst I was looking, this book stood out to me becuase I do not recollect actually reading it.

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Is_Pluto_a_Planet/ELd-ve_35R8C

Is Pluto a Planet?

A Note from the Author: On August 24, 2006, at the 26th General Assembly of the International Astronomical Union (IAU) in Prague, by a majority vote of only the 424 members present, the IAU (an organization of over 10,000 members) passed a resolution defining planet in such a way as to exclude Pluto and established a new class of objects in the solar system to be called "dwarf planets," which was deliberately designed to include Pluto. With the discovery of Eris (2003 UB313)--an outer solar system object thought to be both slightly larger than Pluto and twice as far from the Sun--astronomers have again been thrown into an age-old debate about what is and what is not a planet. One of many sizeable hunks of rock and ice in the Kuiper Belt, Eris has resisted easy classification and inspired much controversy over the definition of planethood. But, Pluto itself has been subject to controversy since its discovery in 1930, and questions over its status linger. Is it a planet? What exactly is a planet? Is Pluto a Planet? tells the story of how the meaning of the word "planet" has changed from antiquity to the present day, as new objects in our solar system have been discovered. In lively, thoroughly accessible prose, David Weintraub provides the historical, philosophical, and astronomical background that allows us to decide for ourselves whether Pluto is indeed a planet. The number of possible planets has ranged widely over the centuries, from five to seventeen. This book makes sense of it all--from the ancient Greeks' observation that some stars wander while others don't; to Copernicus, who made Earth a planet but rejected the Sun and the Moon; to the discoveries of comets, Uranus, Ceres, the asteroid belt, Neptune, Pluto, centaurs, the Kuiper Belt and Eris, and extrasolar planets. Weaving the history of our thinking about planets and cosmology into a single, remarkable story, Is Pluto a Planet? is for all those who seek a fuller understanding of the science surrounding both Pluto and the provocative recent discoveries in our outer solar system.

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNon3d ago

So I finished the above book a while ago, and was going to post earlier this week "I'm #CurrentlyReading _Revenant Gun_ by Yoon-ha Lee, which I thought I'd already read but oops no" however instead I just read it and it was an excellent work.

https://books.google.pt/books?id=j5ClswEACAAJ&hl=en-US&source=gbs_book_other_versions

Revenant Gun

The stunning conclusion to the mind-bending seriesShuos Jedao is awake... ...and nothing is as he remembers. He's a teenager, a cadet-a nobody-in the body of an old man; a general in command of an elite force. And he's the most feared, and reviled, man in the galaxy. Jedao carries orders from Hexarch Nirai Kujen to re-conquer the fractured pieces of the hexarchate. But he has no memory of ever being a soldier, let alone a general, and the Kel soldiers under his command hate him for a massacre he can't remember committing. Kujen's friendliness can't hide the fact that he's a tyrant. And what's worse, Jedao and Kujen are being hunted-by an enemy who knows more about Jedao than he does himself...

Google Books
Show threaddraNgNon6h ago

I'm #CurrentlyReading _The Color of Magic_ by Terry Pratchett.

I've actually not read any Discworld at all, and got the Humble Bundle, and thought it'd be best to read the first written first, so I would appreciate the improvement in writing craft that comes after an author finds their stride.

That said, running into an equivalent to Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser less than a dozen pages in has already given me pause...

https://www.google.pt/books/edition/_/6QkQ0AEACAAJ?hl=en-US&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwi545rk66eTAxXpUqQEHaemO5MQ7_IDegUIBRCjAQ

The Color of Magic

"A master of laugh-out-loud fiction . . . Pratchett has created an alternate universe full of trolls, dwarfs, wizards, and other fantasy elements, and he uses that universe to reflect our own culture with entertaining and gloriously funny results. . . . Nothing short of magical." --Chicago Tribune In this first novel in the internationally bestselling comedic fantasy Discworld series from legendary New York Times bestselling author Sir Terry Pratchett (and the first in the Wizards collection), the fate of the Discworld depends on the survival of a naïve--and first-ever--sightseer. A writer of brilliant imagination favorably compared to Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, and Douglas Adams, Sir Terry Pratchett created a complex, satirical universe with its own set of cultures and rules, populated with wizards, witches, academics, fairies, policemen, and other creatures both fantastical and remarkably ordinary (including Death himself). Welcome to the Discworld . . . a parallel time and place that sounds very much like our own, but looks completely different--because it's a flat world sitting on the backs of four elephants who hurtle through space balanced on a giant turtle. In this classic fantasy parody, the maiden voyage through Terry Pratchett's ingeniously twisted alternate dimension, the well-meaning but spectacularly inept wizard Rincewind encounters something previously unknown in the Discworld: a tourist! Twoflower has arrived to take in the sights. Unfortunately, he's cast his lot with a most inappropriate tour guide--a decision that could result in his becoming not only Discworld's first visitor . . . but quite possibly, its last. And, of course, he's brought his sentient Luggage along, a companion with feet--and a mind--of its own. And teeth. . . . The Discworld novels can be read in any order, but the Wizards collection includes: The Color of Magic The Light Fantastic Sourcery Eric Interesting Times The Last Continent Unseen Academicals

Google Books
Show threadMatthew Lyon

@draNgNon that's a terrible place to start; even Pratchett recommended people start with Sourcery

I have my own thoughts on the matter: http://localhost:8080/book-recommendations/discworld/#where-to-start

If you're determined to do chronological order, I'd start with Sourcery or Wyrd Sisters

9:26pmWeb
Show threaddraNgNon4h ago

@mattly I'm ~40% in and not happy with it honestly, although I understand how the humour appeals to many.

Your url is, um, localhost

Show threadMatthew Lyon4h ago
@draNgNon ah shit https://lyonhe.art/book-recommendations/discworld/#where-to-start
Discworld

lyonheart