Just started Gene Wolfe's The Shadow of the Torturer after seeing some good reviews about his Book of the New Sun series, going in blind though and it's pretty slow so far. Let me know if you liked it and think I should keep going
I definitely recommend reading the whole series. Agreed that some passages are slow or just obscure due to the style, but I found it quite enriching. I think this is one of these where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts, though.
It's definitely weird, but I did enjoy reading it. I feel like it would make more sense if I read it again, but at the same time, I'm not sure I really enjoyed it enough to read it all again.
I like to fancy myself an appreciator of good writing, but man, Gene Wolfe just didn't quite do it for me. Felt pretty ponderous and self-important, like a Ralph Bakshi animated film meets Frank Herbert meets J.D. Salinger meets the Old Testament, and it was all just too much. I think Wolfe had ambition and intention and was a stylist in a genre that doesn't often reward stylists, but it was all just just... off somehow, and left me feeling yucky. I finished The Shadow of the Torturer and had no desire to deal with Severian or his world ever again.
So far (30% in) it's kind of dry with basically going over numerous item descriptions from an auction for the items gained in the last book. But if you've made it this far in the series that's kind of par for the course, a lot of time is spent describing things I would have skipped as an author. Hasn't been bad enough yet to make me want to drop it though.
I’m just starting Brandon Sanderson’s The Frugal Wizard's Handbook for Surviving Medieval England. Not far enough in to speak on how I like this book specifically, but Sanderson is one of my favorite authors, so I anticipate that it will be a good time.
The hardcovers for the larger Secret Project kickstarter collection of which this book is a part have also been absolutely gorgeous so far, for those here who, like me, are as excited about the design of a book as they are about reading it. There are so many beautiful full-page illustration inserts and little flourishes. The attention to detail is just lovely.
Just finished the Mayo Clinic Guide to Pregnancy . Pretty sound pregnancy book.
Also reading through The Cornish Coast Mystery by John Bude. It's part of the British Libraries Crime Classics which I'm hoping to work through. It's actually a little simple. It shows a piece of evidence and then walks you through all the possibilities and investigators thoughts. Its also telegraphs what happens heavily at the beginning and then red herrings in a very plodding way for the rest of the book. It's really a 1920s police procedural.
I'm also reading a book called The Dao of Montessori but it's a bit heavy for an entry into that teaching philosophy.
The Twice Born by Pauline Gedge. I used to love her books when I was younger and this trilogy sat on the shelf for a lot of years until I finally cracked it open on vacation the last week. There's something that hits right for me reading fiction about ancient Egypt while lying in the summer heat.
Just finished Terry Pratchett's Discworld Book 1 "The Colour of Magic" which I freakin' loved, and now I'm about halfway through John Sandford's "The Investigator" which takes up the story of Letty Davenport, Lucas' adopted daughter. It's a good read and hard to put down.
I just finished the Powder Mage series by Brian McClellen. Entertaining books with an interesting setting and the outline of an interesting magic system, pretty quick read. Everyone does seem implausibly treacherous, however. You can definitely tell McClellen worked with Brian Sanderson, very similar style.
I also finished The Fifth Season, by N. K. Jemisin, which I enjoyed.
I read it ~20 years ago and I agree with the central premise, but I felt like it was still 80% faff. It's very much the musings of someone with a love for math and history. The core argument could have been made in a quarter of the space.
Emily Wilde's Encyclopedia of Faeries by Heather Fawcett. I would recommend it to people who enjoy a fun story that isn't trying to be a masterpiece, just a good 340-ish pages of entertainment.
It takes place in an alternate history where faeries are real, and the main character is a "dryadologist" who studies them. It follows her field work in a small island off the coast of Norway trying to document an elusive species of Fae for the first time.
I just finished reading Bloodchild and Other Stories and Fledgling, both by Octavia Butler.
Bloodchild I'd definitely recommend. I'm still mulling over some of those stories.
Fledgling... probably not. I would have DNF'd if it weren't by Octavia, tbh. I'm trying to reach through all of her published work so I stuck it out, but the sexual elements were a bit much.
I just finished Awaken Online: Armageddon by Travis Bagwell and I'm looking for something new. Armageddon was excellent, though now I gotta wait for the next one :(
My nonfiction/heavy book right now is Hitler’s Northern Utopia: Building the New Order in Occupied Norway by Despina Stratigakos. The evolution of fascism is terrifying.
Neurodharma: New Science, Ancient Wisdom by Rick Hanson (a little dry, but interesting in small doses)
Can't Spell Treason Without Tea by Rebecca Thorne (cozy fantasy, low stakes)
Seasonal Fears by Seanan McGuire (2nd book in a duology, compelling characters)
Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari (Also a little dry, but the audiobook format makes it easy to consume while doing other things)
I'm in the middle of yet another reread of Glen Cook's Black Company series, just finished the 2nd one. Decided to take a break from the series with something I don't normally read - mysteries. Reading Agatha Christie's first Poirot novel and having a great time.
Have you read Cook's Garrett series? They're actually mysteries--think Nero Wolfe in a fantasy setting. Less dark than Black Company. First one is Sweet Silver Blues.
I'm trying Asimov's Foundation series again. I read Foundation and Empire as a teenager, and it took me a long time to get into it. I'm still not really liking it--not a huge fan of political intrigue, but I AM into the kind of longview approach that Marquez and Michener tend to take, where they can sum up long periods of time in a few sentences. I want to like it, but I'm just not into this. I'm waiting on some books though, so I'll keep trying in the meantime.
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