A cosy science-fiction/romance book to unwind to.

If you have a hankering for English murder mysteries set in the West Country during the early 50s, then look no further than Andrew Taylor's Lydmouth series. The first two were good fun.

Book haul from Readings. 50-75% off!

A few more books found cheap at my local stationery store. Some steampunk, which is not a genre I'm very well versed in, and a bit of SF. I've always enjoyed reading Mr Scalzi's blog more than his novels, but I'm game for giving this a try, especially at 100 rupees each (about 60 cents).

Another book haul. Which would you recommend I start with?

This was something of a nostalgia read in a beautiful oversized hardcover edition. The story holds up surprisingly well!

Finished reading the Ancillary trilogy and loved it. It's grand space opera but its also an intimate and subtle story of relationships. It subverts the tropes of grand space opera but somehow sustains the excitement and tension usually associated with the genre. Assassins, warships, AIs, a space tyrant and alien races confront each other but matters are best resolved... over tea? Loved this.

Special Delivery! My retail therapy continues unabated.

Currently reading...

Book haul! My collection of Asimov's has become quite beat-up and when I saw these elegant new editions, I thought, why not upgrade? Never read Chris Beckett before. If you have, let me know what you thought in the comments!

Powerful, gripping and thought-provoking stuff. This is a collection of 4 novellas, 2 by each author, set in the same fantasy setting. I couldn't put this down.

Light fantasy entertainment. Essentially a standard urban fantasy but set in a fantasy world rather than the contemporary world. Doesn't stand out but more than fits the bill if you are looking for a mild diversion.

I've read two of Amanda Downum's book before. Those were atmospheric, imaginative blends of high fantasy and horror and I enjoyed them a great deal. Here Ms. Downum turns to urban fantasy. The result is disappointing. The structure of the book is unruly, and the first 50-60 pages particularly unengaging. Once the story starts taking shape it becomes more engaging but all in all its not a particularly memorable book.

New Book haul! What should I read first?

First fantasy doorstopper I've read in a while and it's a good one! Excitement and adventure from the high seas to lost cities in dense jungles. Great fun!

It took me a little while to get into this but the exquisite writing drew me in and eventually I fell in love with the characters. The author writes with formality and warm humour - a rare combination.

Exciting, exhilarating stuff. This has been a great science fiction series and I can't wait till the final, ninth installment.

Another book haul. Cooped up indoors is giving me a book buying itch. All were discounted and I've very little idea what they're about.

Reading this in the midst of a pandemic gives the creepy body horror vibe of the first half just that additional frisson of uneasiness. Many people dislike Bear's clinical style of writing and the structure of the book but I enjoyed it. This is the second book I've read in the Gollancz SF Masterworks series this year and Ive challenged myself to read at least ten.

A short read but a good one. One of Le Guin's lesser known works but has occasionally been cited as the inspiration behind the movie Avatar. This is obviously less bombastic and more thoughtful.

New books haul!

The final book in The Lost Stars series that wraps the story up in an entertaining and satisfactory fashion.

The final book in the Temeraire series brings a worthy end to the saga. If reading about Napoleonic wars and hijinks around the world in an alternate regency era with dragons sounds interesting these are well worth checking out.

The Temeraire series is great fun and this is one of the stronger entries.

Still fun, but I have to say the dialogue really can become overly ponderous and repetitive from time to time. Time to take a break from the series before reading the final installment.

The fourth book in Seanan McGuire's Wayward Children series, though it could probably be read as a standalone too. McGuire's novellas continue to be beautiful, unexpected, compelling and twisted takes on traditional fairy tales. Highly recommended.

Jack Campbell is now my 5th most read author, after Iain Banks, Terry Pratchett, Isaac Asimov and Margaret Weis. That's kind of a surprising stat because I wouldn't rate him in my top 10 authors or even my top 10 SF authors. But I guess light comfort reads go a long way!

The second book in Jack Campbell's 'Lost Stars' military SF series. Still as readable as ever with lots of SF derring do. But this one also has a fair amount of personal drama. Highly entertaining stuff.

Hilariously entertaining read about the Soviet leader's ultimately doomed attempt to 'thaw' out the Cold War in 1959 by inviting VP Nixon to Moscow and then visiting the US a few months later. Khrushchev (abbreviated to K in newspaper headlines) was a larger-than-life figure and journalist Peter Carlson captures him in all his buffoonish glory. This is history lite but also history at its most entertaining & surreal. Fact stranger than fiction.

A collection of long short-stories, most of them very good and the final one truly excellent. The Witcher is now of course hugely famous due to the video game and now the Netflix series. The books are unusual in that they defy many conventions of sword and sorcery while still dealing in well-worn fantasy tropes. The emphasis on characterisation, the understated humour, the philosophising round out the stories of a monster-hunter. Good stuff!

Jack Campbell's books have become a kind of comfort read for me. At the tail end of every school year when I'm burnt out and need to escape with some brain candy I turn to another one of his series. This first book in his 'Lost Stars' spinoff is just what the doctor ordered in these troubling times.

Yeah, no. This was very poorly written. Very trite. I didn't bother to finish it. The way the characters behaved and spoke was so implausible. On the plus side it's an easy, short read, so the agony doesn't last too long.

A great concept but the whole thing feels slightly undercooked. We never develop a good sense of the characters as individuals, and so the inherent drama of 3 housewives becoming fully fledged gangsters after their husbands are incarcerated, is kind of lost.

On my shelf at Cedar.