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Pick & Mix challenge 2018
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-07-03 8:18 AM (#17094 - in reply to #17093)
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Location: USA		The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
Adulthood Rites by Octavia Butler
Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey

There, I think that catches me up, and puts me halfway through my modest list just as I pass the midpoint of the year. There's definitely a slim chance I'll hit the mark this year.

I'm going to tackle Sword and Citadel by Gene Wolfe next. Of the books left it is most likely to take some time, if my experience reading Shadow and Claw is any guide. No easy road, as the narrator likes to say. Well, midsummer is when I'm at my sharpest. Now's the time. Onward!

BTW - Pleases me no end to see one of my titles on dustydigger's list. ;-)
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dustydigger
Posted 2018-07-25 2:40 PM (#17134 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: UK		Hi Thomas,good luck with Severian!
I have been having a terrible time getting on here,I just couldnt log in. Then I saw a post by Justified Sinner over on Librarything talking about caches and cookies. I am SSSOOO not computer savvy,its taken ages to manage to get back in here. I did manage it once,then it all went pearshaped again a week ago. I cleared all the caches etc and ended up having to log in to all my fave sites,and over the years I have had a variety of passwords etc,so it was very irritating getting everything sorted - and then WWEnd disappeared again last week Arrgghh!!.I was more careful and selective this time,see how long it lasts.lol.
My reading is minimal these days,I normally read about 120 or more books in the year on here,but I am only at 49 books so far,and have some massive tomes,so things are not going well. Too many real life issues,new babies in the family,health problems,its all never ending.This may be the year that I dont reach my 80 books for the first time in 5 years.Can but try.
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dustydigger
Posted 2018-08-02 10:38 PM (#17160 - in reply to #17134)
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Location: UK		Ha! The next time after the last post I tried to get on here it was back to square one. Eventually I got the Opera Browser and dedicated it to WWEnd,doing private browsing and clearing up at the end of each session and having to log in again each time.We have all got very lazy and looking for convenience and speed,havent we?But Yay! Got on here without difficulty today for the first time in weeks. Thanks for all the work the admin did to put things right we are all very grateful. I really need my WWEnd fix,even if my reading is rather pathetic at the moment.I love my lists.
Right,my books read in July:
Kate Griffin - The Minority Council. This was the last in the Matthew Swift,Midnight Mayor series,about a a sorceror who was murdered,and then resurrected later,who becomes the protector of a magical London against some pretty weird and destructive enemies. I loved this series,because London is almost a character itself. This sort of thing is fairly common among British writers who explore a fantasy London intermingled with the real dirty and dingy one. eg,the Felix Castor books, Benedict Jacka's Alex Verus books,Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere,V E Schwab's multiple superimposed London's in A Shade of Magic,China Mieville's Kraken,Ben Aaronovitch's Rivers of London series etc etc etc.Cant think of many other such cities.
Clifford D Simak's City.is such a sad book. Like so many other authors of the time,Simak seems stunned by the horror of the recent world war,and burdened with despair as the shadow of the bomb looms over mankind.That era produced some great SF,but certainly not optimism or much joy.In much of his work when he feels the burden of flawed humanity's inability to live in peace,he sometimes whisks the hero away from the problems,like in Way Station when the protagonist goes off to the stars in the end,but this time his view of mankind's future is sad and bleak.Impressive,but I still prefer Way Station,since that is a whole novel,not a ''bitty'' fix-up.
I found Moorcock's sword and sorcery tale of the albino king Elric of Melnibone and his quest to find his beloved a bit odd. I am not into this genre at all,but it is an interesting style,rather like old Lord Dunsany style fantasy merged with the norse sense of doom,as I'm sure I got a very strong whiff of Beowulf in there,and even a darker more flawed version of John Carter of Mars! lol.I am too ignorant of the genre to really assess it but it does have an odd sort of charm. I needed to read a Moorcock book for my Worlds Without End Grand Masters of SF challenge to read at least one book from each Grand Master.That makes 33/34,I only have James E Gunn left to read.
I only read Rick Yancey's The 5th Wave because I needed a ''Y'' author for my A-Z author/titles challenge! lol.
I just whizzed through the book,and I dont think it missed a cliche,but I feel quite tolerant about that,the well worn tropes are actually all fresh and new to young teens,and I can see why they all raved over this book.I found the first half of the book much better than the rather farfetched latter bits,but it was still quite an enjoyable read.What is it about dystopias and catastrophes than attracts young people so much. My generation werent catered for with a full blown YA market,but we still reveled in things like 1984,Day of the Triffids,Fahrenheit 451 etc.Young folks just enjoy being depressed or in grim settings,I guess :0). The difference is that back in my day under the shadow of the bomb and WWII,the books mostly had a really dark ending. These days the plucky young kids somehow manage to fight back and even overcome the enemies to some extent - eg Hunger Games,Divergent,Maze Runner etc. An underlying confidence and optimism perhaps,which were in short supply back in the 50s here in the UK at least.
Jasper Fforde's Lost in a Good Book was a light fun read from the Thursday Next series,a clever take on an alternative world where the line between books and reality is so thin people and characters can hop in and out of books,and there are Literary Detectives to stop people changing the plots of books. Oh and genetic engineering has brought back mammoths and dodos.Clever .
Books in progress at the moment,N K Jemisin's The Obelisk Gate,Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312,and Simak's Time and Again,plus some light UF as a change of pace.
The WWEnd problems have severely affected people adding their reads on the Pick N Mix challenge hope that gets sorted soon. We have read 457 books so far this year,hope we can reach 600 by the end of 2018. Get reading and posting Pick N Mixers!
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-08-03 7:42 AM (#17166 - in reply to #16634)
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I've also been having trouble loggin into this site. Meanwhile, I've read a lot and even increased my goal to 40 books. I've also in Mount TBR challenge.

Katharine Neville's the Eight was unfortunately not to my taste. I enjoyed the structure where the story is divided between two timelines: in in 1970s which starts at New York but spreads all over the globe and the other in 1790, during the French Revolution. Lots of different POV characters but not enough mystery for me. I ended up enjoying the historical chapters far more.

Juliet Marillier's Dreamer's Pool was another very hefty tome. I listened it as an audiobook which has three different narrators, one for each POV character, and ended up loving the book. It's a fantasy story with two escaped convicts (well, one of them makes a deal with a faery to get out) and a gentle prince with a mystery.

I also listened Lois McMaster Bujold's two novellas 'Prisoner of Limnos' and 'Penric and the Fox' and enjoyed both of them. Prisoner is continuation to 'Mira's Last Dance' while 'Penric and the Fox' is a stand-alone and sort of sequel to 'Penric and the Shaman' (same characters appear).

Tanya Huff's Fire's Stone is a fantasy story with three POV characters: Aaron is a thief who carries a lot of guilt from his past and from his dad, Darvish is a third prince and therefore a drunken fool, and Chandra is a wizard who is estranged from her father. The trio must get back a very valuable jewel. Light and fun fantasy.

I continue to enjoy Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's war series. I've now listened the second and the third books and I've already gotten the last two.

Finally, Tracey Townsend's the Nine is an impressive fantasy debut. It deals with religion on various levels which isn't often done in fantasy. I liked most of the characters but unfortunately the final pages revealed something about them which took away quite a lot of my enjoyment. Still, a nice read and can be read as a stand-alone.
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-08-03 12:24 PM (#17167 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		I should finish reading Sword and Citadel within a couple of weeks. My pace should improve about then. It isn't a hard book to read, but it takes a lot of attention, and who would want to rush through such prose? It's very good, but then, I knew that from having read Shadow and Claw.
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dustydigger
Posted 2018-08-04 11:07 AM (#17174 - in reply to #17167)
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Location: UK		It was such an intricate story,Thomas. I completed the set last year. The further through I went the more careful I learned to be,because you never knew when some minor character or trifling event would turn out to be significant down the line. Severian himself is an amazing character,complex and mysterious.
But it does move slowly. I would be totally immersed in the story,and then surface to find I had only covered a dozen pages lol.
Also I was reading the massive 4 volume omnibus,beautifully made,high quality paper,and it weighed a ton!Not good with my arthritic fingers,so I could only do it in small sections Definitely a marathon rather than a sprint but a fascinating experience.
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-08-04 7:35 PM (#17178 - in reply to #17174)
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Location: USA		I'm reading the two volume paperback version. A little easier to hold on to. ;-)
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-08-19 8:41 PM (#17210 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		Finished Sword and Citadel sooner than I expected. Amazing book. I really need to read more by Wolfe.

Followed that up with a reread of Where Late The Sweet Birds Sang by Kate Wilhelm. Finished it yesterday. I'd forgotten what chilling tale it is. An interesting examination of the needs of the individual vs. the needs of the group or community. And of the danger to be found in conformity. Tightly and beautifully written, as well. Highly recommended, if you haven't already read this one.

Next up, short stories by Neal Asher, The Gabble and Other Stories.
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dustydigger
Posted 2018-08-20 12:36 AM (#17211 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: UK		I was left a little bemused (ha! tell the truth Dusty,a LOT bemused) by Citadel,it left me with more questions than answers. From what I have gathered about the next book,The Urth of the New Sun,I will NOT be much wiser if I read it. I think a couple of years break from Severian is wise for the sake of my poor dull brain!
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-09-11 6:42 PM (#17294 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		Yes, as much as I like Wolfe's writing, I probably won't read Urth of the New Sun anytime soon.

Meanwhile, The Gabble by Neil Asher impressed me enough that I will begin exploring his Polity universe. But first - The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson.
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-09-21 4:04 PM (#17322 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		Fourteen down, six to go. The Affinities by Robert Charles Wilson was a good read, easily four stars, and did not end the way I might have expected. Very well done. But that, from this author, I did expect.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-09-25 3:06 AM (#18339 - in reply to #17322)
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I finally started reading the Expanse series. I've watched the first two seasons of the show (only two are available here) and the show is very faithful to "Leviathan Wakes" by James S. A. Corey. Great world-building and a mystery plotline. The first book has only the POVs of detective Miller and James Holden.

I also read Hannu Rajaniemi's collected short fiction "Invisible Planets and other stories". I quite liked his Quantum Thief trilogy. Some of these stories are similar to the trilogy: in other words, has science so advanced that it's pretty much magic. But the collection has stories in other styles as well, near-future, mix of science fiction and Finnish mythology and a couple are even modern-day fantasy or horror. I enjoyed them and it's a good place to start reading Rajaniemi.

I enjoyed the Martian by Andy Weir quite a lot a couple of years back, so of course I had to get his next book "Artemis". It's a thriller and a heist story sent on the (only) domed city in the Moon. It's told in the first person so a lot depends on if you like the main character who is an opinioned, prickly, and foul-mouthed. I ended up enjoying it a lot.
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daxxh
Posted 2018-10-01 8:45 PM (#18356 - in reply to #18339)
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Location: Great Lakes, USA		Challenge Update - so far this year I have read:

The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. I am sure that this book was considered groundbreaking when it was written. I loved the time travel part. That was different than most of the time travel books that I have read, but I had a hard time liking the narcissistic main character.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle. I know I read this in elementary school, but I wanted to reread it before I saw the movie. I remembered almost nothing about this book. I guess I didn't like it that much back then and still didn't like it that much now. I have no interest in continuing with the series.

Dreams Before the Start of Time by Anne Charnock. This isn't the type of book I usually read, but I read A Calculated Life by her and enjoyed that one. I liked this one too. It reminded me a bit of Cloud Atlas and Arkwright in that it covers many generations.

Blood's a Rover by Harlan Ellison. I read A Boy and His Dog in junior high. That one almost got me banned from science fiction when my mom picked it up to see what I was reading. That was the best of the stories in this book. How can anyone not like Blood the dog?

The Prisoner by Thomas Disch. TV novelizations can be a little off from the tv show and this one was. I love the tv series! I vaguely remember my dad watching this when I was a kid. I have since watched all episodes and loved them. The book wasn't bad, but Number Six didn't seem to always be in character.

The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard. This is the first story I have read in Bodard's Xuya Universe and I will be reading more. Hope the Tea Master is in more of them.

Those Who Walk in Darkness by John Ridley. I am not quite sure what to make of this one. Perhaps that is the point. It's a cops and criminals urban fantasy, but who is morally right and wrong is definitely in question. There is a sequel and I think I will read it to see how the characters develop.

I have three more books to read to finish my 10. Although I have the three picked out at the moment, that will probably change. I am always finding interesting things to read based on other people's reviews.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-11-07 6:48 AM (#18408 - in reply to #16634)
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I finally read Genevieve Cogman's newest Invisible Library book: "The Lost Plot". This time Irene and her apprentice librarian Kai get tangled into dragon politics and are sent to a world that's similar to 1920s US with gangsters and prohibition in force. Another very enjoyable book in this series.

I also continued Juliet Marillier's Blackthorn and Grim series with the second book "The Tower of Thorns". Just like the first book, it's a lush fantasy inspired by fairy tales.

I finished Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series with "Command Decision" and "Victory conditions". They're a fine ending for the series.

I also started a fun steampunk series with "Romulus Buckle and the City of Founders" by Richard Ellis Preston Jr. It's quite over-the-top series with short chapters which tend to end in cliffhangers and plenty of POV characters.

I also read two Star Trek: TNG books which both ended up focusing on exploration. "Dyson Sphere" by Charles Pellegrino and George Zebrowski explores the Dyson Sphere from TNG's sixth season episode "Relics". It also has two interesting essays about Trek techology. Diane Duane's "Intellivore" is set outside Federation space and Enterpise is joined by two other Starfleet ships to find out who or what is preying on the local starships. Both have slowish plot but I ended up enjoying them quite a lot.
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daxxh
Posted 2018-11-16 1:58 AM (#19424 - in reply to #18408)
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Location: Great Lakes, USA		Finished with my ten with these three.

The Freeze-Frame Revolution - Excellent. A dictatorial AI and people who rebel even though they are awake only a few days in thousands/millions. I think Peter Watts has moved to my list of favorite authors.

Made to Kill - Entertaining. This is the first book in the series of Raymond Electromatic mysteries. I have read all but the latest before I read this one. They are fun reads.

The October Country - I liked all the stories except one, which almost made me not finish it. But, since I like Bradbury, I kept reading.

I have lots of time to read over the holidays, so I might add another ten to this challenge if I can get the rest of my challenges done. I'm looking forward to next year's challenge!
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-11-21 10:41 AM (#19428 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		Just finished reading Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross. On the one hand, it's very good. Well-written, interesting and complicated plot, lots of "out there" technology, and a fascinating interstellar culture. Worth reading, even knowing he does not plan to return to the series. And that's the frustrating part of the book, since the way it ends it is abundantly clear there could be more. I hope he one day reconsiders his decision to stop at two novels in that universe.

Next: Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Having my doubts regarding completing this list before the end of the year.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-11-24 4:21 AM (#19441 - in reply to #16634)
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More tie-in fiction: I got my hands on a Flash/Arrow crossover duology. I love the Flash tv-show and "Flash: the Haunting of Barry Allen" (by Susan and Clay Griffiths) was very much like the show! Barry and the team (Cisco, Iris, Joe, and Caitlin) must face several of the villains from the show at the same time and Barry is seeing glimpses of his older self. Eventually, he calls Oliver Queen for help.
"Arrow: A Generation of Vipers" continues of the storyline while focusing on team Arrow (Felicity, Digg, and Lyla). They go to Markovia to find a cure for Barry. Both highly entertaining for fans of the shows.

I also read Nancy A. Collins's "Right Hand Magic" which the start of a romantic urban fantasy trilogy Golgotham. This world has plenty of magical creatures, like centaurs, dryads, and various werecreatures. The story is set in New York where the creatures live in their own district, the Golgotham. The main character doesn't have any magical abilities but she moves to Golgotham and gets to know the people there, including a very handsome healer.

Next up: Corey's "Caliban's War".
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dustydigger
Posted 2018-12-06 6:18 AM (#19461 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: UK		Ouch! ts been months since I posted on here,though I have been checking in. Thank you daxxh,Mervi and Leyra'an for posting to keep the thread alive while i was embroiled in miserable RL issues which severely limited my online time. Plus reading time too,unfortunately.I am almost 30 SF/F books down on last year's reads I started the year hoping to finish off my marathon trek through the Hugo and Nebula winners,but still have completed only 61/67 Hugos,,49/54 Nebulas.Hope to finish them by the summer,then its on to fill the gaps in my Locus award winners.Got to have a WWEnd list on the go! lol.
But the Pick N Mixers in general have put me to shame
Well done Weesam and Ann Walker for posting 80 books! Diane is on 74,Naomi_uk72 on 70 and Hneite on 67.Great work. And daxxh.JonRuddock,morpheus,piibald and simulacrum all finished their challenges.Awesome!
Wake up ScoLgo,and finish climbing Up the Walls of the World to complete your 40.
Well done Thomas.(Leyra'an) I know you had an intense writing year,so 16 books is really commendable!
And i count Sushicat(24 books) and Momosnyx (22 books) as finishers,as they are both over 20 books.
We only need to add one title to reach 700 books. Really excellent.
I will certainly do Pick N' Mix again next year,and hopefully life will run more smoothly and I wont neglect this thread so much!
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Leyra'an
Posted 2018-12-06 8:27 AM (#19462 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: USA		Finished Red Moon and found it an interesting read,and not so far-fetched in its speculations as some might think.

dustydigger - yes, as always my other priority seriously cut into reading time. That may be easier to juggle next year, though. As of 31 October I'm free of the day job.
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-12-19 3:32 AM (#19490 - in reply to #16634)
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Well, Corey's "Caliban's War" was great, if very long. It introduces three new POV characters and we finally see Chrisjen Avarasarala, UN politican who is great in the TV-show and also in the book.

Juliet Marillier's "Den of Wolves" was a great ending to the Blackthorn and Grim fantasy series.

Another Star Trek: TNG book "Do Comets Dream?" by S. P. Somtow was a good read. The TNG crew is sent to a planet where the main culture/religion believes that it will come to an end every 5000 years and the end is happening in just a few days. The crew finds that a comet is indeed on a collision course with the planet. What to do?

J.Y. Yang's "The Black Tides of Heaven" is the first in a fantasy novella series set in an Eastern setting. The novella follows 35 years in the life of Akeha, one of twin children born to the Protector, who is the tyrant ruler of the Protectorate. They?re the youngest of her children and not political pawns as such. They're raised in a monastery until Akeha's twin Mokoya is revealed to be a prophet and then they're whisked to the court. When they're 18 Akeha leaves. It's a bit choppy because of the quick jumps in the timeline but fascinatingly original.

JY Yang's "The Red Threds of Fortune" is a the follow-up to "the Black Tides of Heaven", set some years after the first book. The main character is Mokoya, who has lost the prophetic visions after a terrible tragedy. Very different in structure and tone, just as good as the first one.

"Night and Silence" by Seanan McGuire is the 12th book in the Toby Daye urban fantasy series and it's still going strong. I love the characters and the various fae races. This time Toby's estragned, human daugther has vanished and Toby must find her.

Only three more to go!
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Engelbrecht
Posted 2018-12-27 2:14 AM (#19502 - in reply to #16634)
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As in years past, I used this challenge to pick my favorite reads of the year.  However, I couldn't quite narrow it down to just ten titles, so this year it's twenty - it must have been a good year!

To (very belatedly!) answer your question about finishing up lists, it's something that's a long-term goal, but not a driving one.  The closer I get, the less wheat and more chaff there is.  Still, you never know what undiscovered gems you might uncover! 

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dustydigger
Posted 2018-12-30 7:41 AM (#19507 - in reply to #16634)
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Location: UK		Hi Engelbrecht,glad you had such good year. After decades out of the genre I have a long long way to go with the lists,so there are so many interesting books still there for me to explore,but,in your case, once you get to the ''chaff'' stage,and there is nothing new under the sun,its got to be more difficult.
I suffer from the inflexibility of old age,I think,I still prefer the old stuff (pre 1980. Cant believe that is almost 4 decades ago!) I happen to enjoy ''white hat'' protagonists,with a wide divide between the goodies and the villains,and in this post modern era everything is murky,often downbeat - and just not FUN.lol. I have the same problem with crime fiction,which used to be my main genre. Now I can hardly bear to read anything post 2000! What with flawed detectives,unreliable narrators,and graphic violence,.sex,and profanity it just doesnt cut it for me.Yep,I've turned into a grumpy old woman tut-tutting at the world. With a host of real life problems and issues,I really dont want to be reading too much dark stuff,I need action,adventure,pace,humour and fun characters
So my plans for 2019 is to try to complete the Nebulas and Hugos and at least 12 of the Locus..Then in 2020 I will finish them off and from then on will be able to pick and mix from the lists. I will consider my marathon journey of award winners as a fitting overview of the SF genre.I always like a time frame,an overview of any genres(and even music and film,) grounding individual items in their proper place illuminated and elucidated by their time and zeitgeist. Afraid it pains me in SF forums when I see people almost frothing at the mouth when they have read a 50s novel and complain vociferously about the mores and gender politics of the time.It was a different erafolks,get over it. Or better still just read books post 2010!
Anyhoo,may I thank everyone who has participated in the Pick N' Mix this year.We read a magnificent 746 books. Well done.
I'll be here again next year (only a few days away actually.) as soon as Dave starts setting up the 2019 challenges.
Getting very impatient for the unrolling of our new site incarnation too.
Here's hoping for an exciting WWEnd 2019. And as for the real world? Sorry,I have so little expectations there - its a crazy world. All the more reason to dive into our SF universe and all the wonders and marvels and great themes it holds!
Happy New Year,people!
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Mervi2012
Posted 2018-12-31 4:32 AM (#19509 - in reply to #16634)
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Thanks, dustydigger! I just managed to complete my goal of 40 books!
"Searching for the Fleet" is the newest book in the Diving universe by Rusch. Sadly, I didn't like it as much as the previous books but the ending promised a lot more excitment in the books to come.

Greg Cox's "Q-Space" is the first book in a ST:TNG trilogy focusing on none other than Q and his family. Recommended for people who like Q. It ends is a big cliffhanger.

Anne Logston's "Shadow" is another first in a trilogy but it can be read as a stand-alone. Set in a fantasy world with elves and humans, it's a fun little story about Shadow, an elven thief.

Happy New Year and I hope you all have great reading adventures in 2019! (That sounds so science fictiony )
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Engelbrecht
Posted 2019-01-03 2:57 AM (#19540 - in reply to #16634)
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Dusty,

I recently read a great book - The Story of Classic Crime in 100 Books by Martin Edwards - it made me think that in another life, I'd be an avid classic crime reader!  You should check it out - I'm sure you've read many of them, but there might be a few gems in there for you.

It also contained some interesting bits about the Detection Club - among other things, the first president was G. K. Chesterton.  The club was founded in 1930, and was apparently very exclusive - no fans allowed!  It's interesting to compare the club to Science Fiction's World Con, founded in 1939, and which was very much fan-centric.  I wonder what things might be like if the approaches to fandom taken by Classic Crime & Science Fiction were reversed...

Good luck with your reading this year! 

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dustydigger
Posted 2019-01-04 5:52 AM (#19547 - in reply to #19540)
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Location: UK		Hi Engelbrecht.Yes I am familiar with the Edwards book. I've only read 20 of them,but recognize many more which I would love to read. Science fiction is much much better at making vintage books available (eg Gateway) but obtaining vintage crime apart from the most famous authors is much more difficult. Libraries in my area poorly represent vintage crime. In the main crime novels tend to be paperbacks to save money and once they start dropping to bits they are discarded and never replaced. I cant afford to buy many books (old wrinklies on a pension with a big family rarely have cash for book buying!) so its often very difficult to come across these old books.
Apparently Edwards' championing of vintage crime has reawakened interest in the books,some have been republished as a result,and even got on the bestseller lists,which cant be bad!
I'm sure the egalitarian,open SF community was much more helpful to keeping alive the classics than the closed shop of the Detection Club!
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