What are we reading in December?

Another month,another pile of books.What are your plans for December.Are you finishing off any challenges?

Mr Dusty had a fall out in the dark,we searched for him everywhere and some people saw him lying on the ground.He cracked his head hard,cut his forehead,cheek and mouth,splitting his mouth and breaking his front teeth. 88 and he had only one filling and one extraction in his life,and now his mouth is a mess.It was an hour before an ambulance came,so he lay on the freezing ground. He had a water infection which had greatly increased his cognitive problems. But he is home after 9 days in ''prison'',as he terms it,and we plod on as best we can. Reading is again hard to find time for.I need to reread C J Cherryh's Explorer,and possibly some Edgar Allan Poe short stories as and when I can fit them in.

>2 dustydigger: It's at times like these that we realise how inadequate mere words are in expressing how I'm sure we all feel about your situation. Take care and try to find some light reading that might make you feel better about things.

In progress
Lies, Inc.

On deck
Conan: Cult of the Obsidian Moon
Aurora
The Cleft

Ordered/requested
Beyond the Light Horizon

>2 dustydigger: And yet here you are opening the thread as always. I doubt many of us on the thread believe in psionic abilities, but I'm sure we're all beaming well wishes your way nonetheless. I hope you still have the time to find some enjoyment in your reading.

>2 dustydigger: Sorry to hear about your continued travails.

As for this month, I have the following books lined up: Mal Goes to War, Those Beyond the Wall, Road to Ruin, Descendant Machine, and Absolution.

>2 dustydigger: So sorry to hear this.

I’m finishing up Bring the Jubilee. Haven’t decided yet what will be up next. I think I need something akin to a space opera next.

{edited this evening} That was a quick read. Bring the Jubilee is a worthwhile read.

>2 dustydigger: Sending best wishes to you and Mr Dusty. I hope things start to get better.

>4 paradoxosalpha: I so enjoyed the Heechee novels. I see that isn't what you linked so now I am curious.

>11 elorin:

Hm, no ... You were thinking of Beyond the Blue Event Horizon? The book I've requested is the third of MacLeod's Lightspeed Trilogy just recently published.

I've now finished my wade through The Science Fiction Century (see last month's thread for earlier comments).

Frank Herbert - Greenslaves: bio engineering in a Brazilian setting.
Jack Vance - Rumfuddle: reminded me of The Many-Colored Land, in that people are able to locate themselves in any time or place, though the 'cognate' worlds suggest quantum divergence. I found myself getting quite irritated with a couple of the characters in this, but the story resolved itself to my satisfaction, partly because of the identity of one of the players.
John Wyndham - Consider her Ways: interesting take on an all-female society, but severely marred by 1952 attitudes, and not just in the feminism. Because eugenics.
Roger Zelazny - He Who Shapes: the science in this science fiction is psychiatry. Except that it dates from 1967, and I have the feeling that psychiatry has moved on a long way since then. Plus the protagonist is a therapist who uses mind-melding technology to create scenarios in the patient's mind that he can manipulate, and lives a trendy 1960s psychiatrist lifestyle to boot. I lost patience with this and bailed out at about 25%, which is unusual for me.
Bruce Sterling - Swarm: Tale from Sterling's 'Shaper/Mechanist' universe with very alien aliens, and almost as alien humans.
Nancy Kress - Beggars in Spain: This story, about genetically-engineered children who have no need for sleep, I found very engaging. I got the feeling that this might be the sort of story Elon Musk would find very relevant, but one he didn't finish and so never saw the flaws in the plan.
William Gibson - Johnny Mnemonic: I'd forgotten just how persuasive and immediate Gibson's early cyberpunk work was.
Harlan Ellison - 'Repent, Harlequin!" said the Ticktockman: And I was amazed to see this story dated from 1965. It still comes up as fresh.
Chad Oliver - Blood's a rover: this time, the science is anthropology. A good story for 1952 (despite the main character smoking a pipe, as so many protagonists in 1950s SF stories do), marred only by a huge expository lump about two thirds of the way through, when I thought the story was winding down; and then we have a long coda with the main character returning to the story.
Richard A. Lupoff - Sail the tide of mourning: a remarkable tale of Australian tribal people and their role in sailing vast starships. Apparently forms part of the novel Space War Blues, which I haven't read in a very long time.

So: done at last. On the whole, a valuable collection with some really good stories and a few clunkers (though YMMV). I'd say worth acquiring if you see a copy.

Now started on Orbital; a very different proposition!

I’m about a third of the way through Starfarers. I’m enjoying it so far.

Knocked off Mal Goes to War, which impressed me much more than Mickey 7.

Finished The Bridge, started T H White's non-fantasy Darkness at Pemberley, which I'm enjoying so far much more than Innes' similar Death at the President's Lodging that came out 4 years later.

Now posted my review of Orbital.

>17 RobertDay: Thanks; I was initially excited when I read about its premise, but looking a bit closer at the Booker nominees I'd removed this from my list; after it won the Booker I thought I might pick it up anyway, but your review seems to confirm my thoughts.

As for my own sf reading, if I do any this month, it'll most likely be some of the stories in the Hartwell collection that you also just completed!

Finished Lies, Inc. and posted a review.

>2 dustydigger: I am very sorry to hear that. I am sending my best wishes your way.

>17 RobertDay: very good Robert.

Finished Darkness at Pemberley, started Imitation in Death, having been curious for a while about this series of futuristic but not particularly SFnal detective romances.

>2 dustydigger: Very sorry to hear about Mr. Dusty's injuries, I hope he is recovering.

I finally finished The Hydrogen Sonata. I don't think it is Banks' best work. Nice to visit the Culture again, but the plot was mostly missing.

I'm a few chapters into The Water Knife by Bacigalupi. As expected, very noir (VERY), but not as rich or interesting as The Windup Girl which I really liked. Over-the-top gore and cynicism. I'll see if he goes anywhere with it, or if it's just more & more of the same. Certainly the water situation is very plausible.

>24 rshart3: The Windup Girl is on my TBR list.

I finished Starfarers and really enjoyed it. Tonight I started the sequel, Transition.

> 25 I liked Starfarers but it seemed to me to be a very long prologue to Transition. Reviewing my reviews of the series, pacing seems to be the main complaint I had, while the strong female characters and consideration of bigger issues than plot was the main strength.

I've been doing a lot of rereading. For Nov/Dec it's mostly been Dragonflight, Masterharper of Pern, and the Penric and Desdemona series for a book club elsewhere. I've also read the newest Victoria Goddard novella, Weaver of the Middle Desert.

Finished Full speed to a crash landing by Beth Revis for this week's book group. Brief and entertaining. I like the way it's closed by a series of memos and interoffice correspondence.

Having put Cult of the Obsidian Moon to bed (review posted), I've started in on Aurora.

>26 ChrisRiesbeck: I think I agree with your assessment so far of the Starfarers series. I think for me what compels me to finish the novels is that I enjoy spending time with the characters and the setting. It’s a pleasant way to spend an hour or two.

>27 Watry: spending time with the Dragonriders of Pern is always fun.

I read my first John Wyndham novel - The Midwich Cuckoos. A good bit of early cold war ambience with mysterious happenings. Thumbs up.

I'm reading Acorna's People. Not hard sci fi, precisely, but not entirely fantasy.

Wrapped up Those Beyond the Wall, an impeccably written nastygram to modern times in the form of an insurrection in a dystopian multiverse. I didn't find it as gripping as Johnson's first novel, but that's probably par for the course. Still looking forward to the next book.

After reading Ghost of the Neon God last month, I figured I will go back and read 36 Streets. So far, it is quite enjoyable.

Just started Rainbow's End. It's pretty good so far.

Finished Imitation in Death, did one of my random grabs from the shelves and started The Voyage of the Luna 1.

I have finished Aurora and posted my review. I seem to have liked it a lot more than many other reviewers. I'm willing to accept that this might involve a little sunk-cost fallacy on my part, but I'm glad to have found value in what I read.

I started a YA novel recommended by my wife, When You Reach Me. I believe it has some kind of speculative element, but we'll see!

Forty-one years ago, I tried reading 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and gave up. Forgivable, I was ten. Giving it another shot.

I had read that Fred Fordham was adapting A Wizard of Earthsea as a graphic novel for release in spring of 2025, and I was curious about what else he had done. So I put the public library hold fairy on the task, and today she delivered Brave New World: A Graphic Novel.

>40 Cecrow: The right translator can make a huge difference. Most of the original translations butchered Verne badly and those are the ones in used paperbacks. File 770 had a list of recommended translations for many Verne novels.

I'm reading The Ministry for the Future which sure is an odd pick for the holidays.

Knocked off Road to Ruin, a science fantasy adventure undercut by not-well thought out romantic elements.

Picked up 2010: Odyssey Two by Arthur C. Clarke from the library a few weeks ago. It's already renewed once - my very pitiful goal is just to read it before it has to renew a second time. Starting it this afternoon.

I've got Exhalation by Ted Chiang queued up behind Clarke, just not sure if I'll get to it or to complete it before January. Maybe by mentioning it here I'll feel a bit more pressure to get to it sooner ...

I finished and reviewed The Lightning Seed by John R. Durant for the Nov 2024 Early Reviewers group. I'm not into all the relationship stuff one finds in sci fi/fantasy (and this is fantasy more than sci fi, at least so far), and relationships were a definite theme for this first-in-the-series tale. If the characters develop further in future books, it would actually be a decent series. I'm still looking for more of the type of sci fi with lots of science, less of the fantastical.

Still reading fluff..Acorna's Search. The writing improved in the last one so I have high hopes it will be decent in this one.

Finished The Voyage of the Luna 1 and will start Vor tonight.

Very pleased at managing to squeeze in some reads this month between the Xmas preparations etc. Also Mr Dusty had an obsession of wanting to get away to go to town shopping. At one point he pretended to be going for a nap,but crept out of the house and went off without me knowing. It was hours before I realized he was gone,wearing only summer clothes,without ID. He did his shopping but returned in the dark,got off at the wrong stop and wandered around.Found by police but no ID and sadly he cant articulate even his name,and certainly not his address,so police took him to hospital.
I nearly had a heart attack when it dawned he wasnt home,but we have a contact with an agency once I told them what had happened they did all the contact work etc with police and hospital. Now we have a tracker on him if he goes out,we live and learn.
Turns out that his brain platelets had gone sky high and caused much confusion,aggression, deviousness and paranoia. Treatment has now calmed things down,he has been home a whole week without trying out for The Great Escape.Life much calmer and quieter,and I have actually managed quite a bit of reading.
i'll post them tomorrow probably.Now I've got a lot of xmas stuff still to do,but I'll get there in the end! lol

>48 dustydigger: Holy smokes, the things you are dealing with, Dusty!! Very glad to hear Mr. Dusty is safe and things are calming down a bit for you. I hope that trend continues into the new year.

>49 ScoLgo: I'll second that!

A friend has a mother with dementia and she broke out of a window to get away (but was found and all is well). Diseases like dementia are really hardest on the relatives.

So: Merry Christmas to dustydigger .

>48 dustydigger: wow! Talk about living in interesting times. Your life reminds me a bit of the book The Hundred-Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared.

I just finished Transition. I enjoyed it! I may need to place Metaphase and Nautilus on my TBR pile now.

But for now, I must decide what to choose for my Xmas break read. I am torn between Pattern Recognition and Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? I have not read either of them before although they have been sitting on my bookshelf for years. We’ll see how the reading spirit guides me tonight and tomorrow.

>48 dustydigger: Me and my siblings give thanks that while our parents died hard, they kept their minds and senses until the end; my heart goes out to you.

Black Wind F. Paul Wilson

>54 Joligula: The default touchstone points to the Clive Cussler book. Click/Tap on the '(others)' link to find the one you want, (3rd in the list).

I finished my 2024 WWE Challenges this month with a re-read of Linda Nagata's The Bohr Maker. Enjoyed it even more this 2nd time around. First book of 2025 will likely be continuing with her Nanotech Succession series by re-reading the prequel, Tech-Heaven.

Most of December has been non-genre reading as I am going through Josephine Tey's Inspector Grant mysteries and also reading John Le Carré's George Smiley novels. The latter is in preparation for the latest Nick Harkaway book, Karla's Choice, which recently arrived on my shelf.

Also reading The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories. The title tale stands head & shoulders above its source material, especially in writing style. Carter could really turn a phrase.

I finally found a copy of The Anubis Gates at a bookstore and I've started it. Also reading Explorer of the Endless Sea by Jack Campbell on Nook.

The Anubis Gates is on my reading list for the upcoming year.

I have read three novels by Powers. The Anubis Gates was the one with the strongest recommendations, and yet I enjoyed it the least of the three. It may have suffered from hyped expectations. (The best was Declare.)

I have just finished reading Brave New World: A Graphic Novel and posted a review. My next graphic novel reading will be Elric: The Necromancer.

Finished VOR and started Son of the Tree / The Houses of Iszm.

Finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep on Xmas Day. I have read two others by PKD: The Man in the High Castle a couple of decades ago and Ubik last summer. Those two were ok for me. I could understand why people thought highly of them but neither really grabbed me.

In contrast, I found DADOES fascinating. Dick really did a good job of portraying the androids as subtly different lacking empathy. But the thing with Mercer appearing to Deckard while unconnected to the empathy machine I didn’t really understand how that might be possible. Otherwise excellent read. I was impressed that Dick was able to make me, as a reader, feel empathy for a spider.

Now starting Project Hail Mary. I hope I can finish it before classes start again on the sixth.

>59 paradoxosalpha: There is a warm little spot in my cold black heart reserved for The Anubis Gates as it was the first Tim Powers novel I read, (more than 30 years ago!).

Agree that Declare is Powers at the peak of his... ahem... powers. His latest, My Brother's Keeper is also pretty good, especially if one is a fan of werewolf tales and the Brönte's.

Project Hail Mary is amazing. It will make you run around the room laughing and crying at the same time. I think I read half of it standing up. Hope they don't screw the movie up. I am currently putting the finishing touches on my 2025 reading list. My goal a year is 30. I made it to 65 this year and even though I am retired I still work full time. So that is a plus. I am hoping to fit Artemis in there somewhere.

I read the entire (original) Elric series a while back. I have to say they are pretty darn good. Depressing but very good.

>65 Joligula: I read what there was of Elric back in the 1980s, and I have kept up with the Moorcock books--the most recent being The Citadel of Forgotten Myths. But what I am reading now are the French graphic novels, which take some interesting liberties with Moorcock's original texts.

>63 ScoLgo: I enjoyed Medusa's Web too, where the gothic literary grounding is Poe's Fall of the House of Usher.

>64 Joligula: I really like Weir's writing style, too. Congratulations on doubling your goal!!

Finished 2010: Odyssey Two and understand the above comment that each book in the series is a little less *something*, but still enjoyed it. Will be picking up an Ursula LeGuin next, and put off Ted Chiang a couple of days.

It was pretty easy. I got caught up in F. Paul Wilson and Repairman Jack. That in itself as it is mingled with the Secret History of the World is around 30 books.

My review is up for Elric: The Necromancer, and I have checked a copy of Dune out of the public library for my long-anticipated re-read. In sf-adjacent reading I have just started in on Welcome to Mars: Politics, Pop Culture, and Weird Science in 1950s America.

I didn't really have a reading goal for 2025, but I was pleasantly surprised to find in my LT year in review that I had read well over 20,000 pages.

One of the non SF reading projects I had this past month was the Short Story Advent Calendar.

https://www.hingstonandolsen.com/store/the-2024-short-story-advent-calendar

You read one short story each day from Dec 1 to 25. It was great fun for my whole family. This publisher has been publishing a new short story advent calendar every year for the past few years. I got this for my November birthday and enjoyed it. I suspect we’ll do it again next year.

Hope you all had good timesbut not too many headaches from overindulgence :0)
Did you do well getting books or vouchers?.I didvery well with vouchers.
I will probably replacing some of my really tattered old paperback copies with ebooks.
2025 will mostly be year of the rereads,for comfort and nostalgia.
I'm going to attempt my old BOAR - Birth of a Reader - challenge,reading one book or story from each year,1948 to 2025.I'm 77 next birthday this will prob be my last reread of the titles .
I'll post my list in a couple of days. Not going to put a time limit,no idea how much reading time I'll have,but its going to be fun.

I got unusually few books for gifts this year: just one! It is sort of science fiction; it's a game: Four Against Mars.

I intend to continue to exploit my public library in 2025, and I have just started a major re-read, now that I am three chapters into Dune.

Just finished Descendant Machine, a pretty typical space opera but it hit the spot, particularly since I found Powell's last novel only okay.