Aaaah! I envy you encountering Miles & Co. for the first time. I reread a fair bit, but there's nothing like the first time. I admit that I didn't love the series ending, but it gave some food for thought. Bujold is stellar and I would DEARLY love to hear your take on the Penric and Desdemona series. That's an autobuy series for me about a priest and his...helper. If you've read Ursula Vernon writing as T. Kingfisher's Paladin series (and if you have not PLEASE do - cozy feel mystery w/ Ursula's dry but hilarious style and the odd severed head, plus... romance?!) the religious structure within the country is faintly reminiscent...
I love these book posts. Autumn and winter is just the best time for denning up with well-loved books (even books with DREADFUL, ghastly 80's era SF covers, yikes). Happy reading!
Those sound EXCELLENT! Thanks for the recommendations. For the last few years I think the only F&SF I've read has been Octavia Butler, NK Jemison, Becky Chambers, and Travis Baldree. I needed an injection of fresh ideas and I'm super excited to seek these out. Everyone has been warning us about our first Portland winter, but I'm just so excited at the prospect of several dark and gloomy months in front of a fire.
A few other suggestions that will be part of my re-reads this fall:
- Victoria Goddard: The Hands of the Emperor &etc. - I'm also reading through her whole backlist, she writes immersive fantasy set between a series of island nations,
-Anne Bishop: Written in Red, Murder of Crows, Vision in Silver, Marked in Flesh, Etched in Bone, Lake Silence, Wild Country & Crow Bones - this series is part mystery and part post apocalyptic urban fantasy, very satisfying good v. evil stuff,
- Have you read Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor? The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones are sequels, and by the time you finish, the fourth book, The Tomb of Dragons, will be out in March. The Angel of the Crows by the same author is a whole new series: also excellent.
- Ann Leckie's Ancillary series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy)- gives me LeGuin anthropology story vibes and while most people view it as hard SF, you don't have to be science-y to like it. My husband read it aloud to me, and he's piiiiicky about books (whereas I will at least attempt to read just about anything with words on it).
I have so appreciated your book recommendations. I adore Miles Vorkosigan! The series gets better and better. Have you tried David Webers Honor Harrington series? He can be a bit heavy handed on the military details, so I tend to skip some of that, but the female characters are amazing. I want to be 20% as amazing as Honor.
No, but these actually came up for my husband recently as a suggestion for what to read if you love the Aubry/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian. I just added it to my list. Thanks!
Huge Pern fan here! I first read them about 25 years ago and just started re-reading them again last month, can't wait to enjoy them all again. I have not tried Shards of Honor yet, will put those on my list!
Hi Wendy, Sci fi and fantasy are not my jam; but I did just finished reading Love in the Margins and really, really enjoyed her style of writing.and the characters. and the plot. I will definitely look for more of her books. Looking forward to more recommendations.
We must be kindred spirits! The only books I haven't read (and loved!) are the Megan Whelan books. Which of course I must now read. I also particularly love the Harper Hall trilogy. 💞 I was also introduced to Miles by my husband, though we did one of the books as a read aloud together, so I never saw the cover... and I don't even know which book we read...
LMB fan here. Two points about Shards of Honour- the author describes it as half of a story arc, so it is worthwhile tracking down the combined edition and reading the Afterword. In it she mentions her devotion to Star Trek and the germ of the story idea. Her other series are superb, too. Thanks for your newsletters(both parts). Happy reading and sewing!
Aaaah! I envy you encountering Miles & Co. for the first time. I reread a fair bit, but there's nothing like the first time. I admit that I didn't love the series ending, but it gave some food for thought. Bujold is stellar and I would DEARLY love to hear your take on the Penric and Desdemona series. That's an autobuy series for me about a priest and his...helper. If you've read Ursula Vernon writing as T. Kingfisher's Paladin series (and if you have not PLEASE do - cozy feel mystery w/ Ursula's dry but hilarious style and the odd severed head, plus... romance?!) the religious structure within the country is faintly reminiscent...
I love these book posts. Autumn and winter is just the best time for denning up with well-loved books (even books with DREADFUL, ghastly 80's era SF covers, yikes). Happy reading!
Those sound EXCELLENT! Thanks for the recommendations. For the last few years I think the only F&SF I've read has been Octavia Butler, NK Jemison, Becky Chambers, and Travis Baldree. I needed an injection of fresh ideas and I'm super excited to seek these out. Everyone has been warning us about our first Portland winter, but I'm just so excited at the prospect of several dark and gloomy months in front of a fire.
I adore Travis Baldree. So, so fun.
A few other suggestions that will be part of my re-reads this fall:
- Victoria Goddard: The Hands of the Emperor &etc. - I'm also reading through her whole backlist, she writes immersive fantasy set between a series of island nations,
-Anne Bishop: Written in Red, Murder of Crows, Vision in Silver, Marked in Flesh, Etched in Bone, Lake Silence, Wild Country & Crow Bones - this series is part mystery and part post apocalyptic urban fantasy, very satisfying good v. evil stuff,
- Have you read Katherine Addison's The Goblin Emperor? The Witness for the Dead and The Grief of Stones are sequels, and by the time you finish, the fourth book, The Tomb of Dragons, will be out in March. The Angel of the Crows by the same author is a whole new series: also excellent.
- Ann Leckie's Ancillary series (Ancillary Justice, Ancillary Sword, Ancillary Mercy)- gives me LeGuin anthropology story vibes and while most people view it as hard SF, you don't have to be science-y to like it. My husband read it aloud to me, and he's piiiiicky about books (whereas I will at least attempt to read just about anything with words on it).
I have so appreciated your book recommendations. I adore Miles Vorkosigan! The series gets better and better. Have you tried David Webers Honor Harrington series? He can be a bit heavy handed on the military details, so I tend to skip some of that, but the female characters are amazing. I want to be 20% as amazing as Honor.
No, but these actually came up for my husband recently as a suggestion for what to read if you love the Aubry/Maturin books by Patrick O'Brian. I just added it to my list. Thanks!
Huge Pern fan here! I first read them about 25 years ago and just started re-reading them again last month, can't wait to enjoy them all again. I have not tried Shards of Honor yet, will put those on my list!
Oh, one more thing... you should definitely check out Becky Chambers' Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and the sequels.
I LOVE Becky Chambers! I haven't read the fourth one yet - I've been saving it for just the right moment. :-)
Hi Wendy, Sci fi and fantasy are not my jam; but I did just finished reading Love in the Margins and really, really enjoyed her style of writing.and the characters. and the plot. I will definitely look for more of her books. Looking forward to more recommendations.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it!
We must be kindred spirits! The only books I haven't read (and loved!) are the Megan Whelan books. Which of course I must now read. I also particularly love the Harper Hall trilogy. 💞 I was also introduced to Miles by my husband, though we did one of the books as a read aloud together, so I never saw the cover... and I don't even know which book we read...
I hope you love The Thief! My husband read most of the Nero Wolfe books aloud to me. They were our car trip books for many years. :-)
LMB fan here. Two points about Shards of Honour- the author describes it as half of a story arc, so it is worthwhile tracking down the combined edition and reading the Afterword. In it she mentions her devotion to Star Trek and the germ of the story idea. Her other series are superb, too. Thanks for your newsletters(both parts). Happy reading and sewing!
Thanks so much! I'll have to seek that out.