Reading, Watching, Playing
Mar. 4th, 2024 03:22 pmReading
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3. Felix Castor 2: Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
4. Felix Castor 3: Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
5 .Felix Castor 4: Thicker than Water by Mike Carey
6. Felix Castor 5: The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
7. Felix Castor 6: The Ghost in Bone by Mike Carey
8. Murderbot Diaries 1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
9. Murderbot Diaries 2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
10. Murderbot Diaries 3: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
11. Murderbot Diaries 4: Exit Stragegy by Martha Wells
12. Murderbot Diaries 5: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
13. Murderbot Diaries 6: Network Effect by Martha Wells
14. Murderbot Diaries 7: System Collapse by Martha Wells
15. The Stranger Times 4: Relight My Fire by C. K. McDonnell
16. Mossa and Pleiti 1: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
17. Mossa and Pleiti 2: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
18. The Midsolar Murders 2: Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty
As previously reported I re-read the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey, enjoying his return to the unfinished ("larger" world-building plot, the smaller "personal" plot was finished in the original five) series, though this was a shortish book for him and an update. Hopefully he'll now go on to complete the world-building plot which goes on top of the personal plot he finished in the original five books.
I then noticed another new book in a series I like, the latest Murderbot book. I like these so much that I just re-read the whole sequence (I re-read the two shorts stories "Compulsory" and "Home, Habitat, Niche, Range" as well). The latest one is a worthy addition. Apple TV are supposed to be developing a TV version of this. I'll be interested to see how they manage. There's various things they could screw up (Murderbot's agendered and completely asexual but caring nature hidden behind self-loathing [hence the self-given name] and sarcasm) and some things I'll be really interested to see how they do (shows-within-shows will be fun if they do them since Murderbot is addicted to future "TV" shows it downloads in an unauthorised manner as part of its general cracker/hacker nature).
Continuing with previous series, the latest The Stranger Times came out. I'm really enjoying this rather different take on urban fantasy.
Malka Older's previous work was very much in my academic area (The Centenal Trilogy). She's written a standalone novel which I haven't tackled yet but I decided to give this "cozy Space opera mystery" series a go, after![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
coth's positive review. Nice Holmes-like set in human settlement on Jupiter. The mysteries are nicely tied in to the setting. The setting is interestingly Victorians-in-Space for moderately adequately hand-waved reasons. The characters are enjoyable. Cozy, but fun. The economics and the worldbuilding are light with a few odd things such as the abundance of energy due to living on a planet of "gas" - but while Jupiter's atmosphere does include a lot of hydrogen and some methane, it's unclear where the oxygen for the humans to breathe and to combust with the H and CH4 comes from). Just don't look too deeply and these are fine.
Another series mystery, with the second of Mur Lafferty's Midsolar Murders. Again, a satisfying SF-nal mystery with the murder being tied to the circumstances and human (and alien) nature. Some nice working with the original setup (which explains how and why someone ends up living like a classic murder mystery character due to alien influence), and some great use of the "Babel-fish" to cause as much confusion as it solves.
I'm now reading "The Warden" by Daniel M. Ford. I went looking for recommendations of Fantasy Heist novels having enjoyed Dragon Age: Absolution and D&D: Honor Among Thieves last year. Halfway through this is not a fantasy heist novel but it's enjoyable and readable. Nice magic system, well-enough explained without getting lost in the detail. Nice characters, probably the setting for a longer series as long as it sells well enough. I'm enjoying it enough to return to the series if it becomes one, even though it wasn't what I was expecting.
I have a couple of series which look like they actually are fantasy heists coming up next.
Watching
Finished NuWho rewatch with $DAUGHTER after completing Capaldi's run (she remembers Whittaker) and then catching the Christmas Special we skipped by mistake (A Christmas Carol). Watched a bit of Echo with $DAUGHTER, and most of the live action Avatar: the Last Airbender. $DAUGHTER has completed her intense prep for junior high school and is less busy but is losing some interest in what she watches with me. Not surprising given her age. She may grow out of, or back into, SF&F. She shows little interest in my other more adult SF&F shows like recent Star Trek. Soon she'll be old enough for Supernatural which she expressed interest in before, but may or may not be interested in when she's a little older.
Watched Pixar's Elemental as a family which was really fun and shared themes with Zootopia so we re-watched that shortly after.
I finished A Certain Magical Index and am now watching the spin-off A Certain Scientific Railgun (internal chronology is a bit confusing, but this is parallel to a lot of earlier Index, but fun enough to watch anyway). There's another short spin-off (A Certain Scientific Accelerator) which I'll watch after Railgun.
I finally watched the second half of "The Nevers". OK, but the second half of the season doesn't live up to the first half. Whether this was due to Josh Whedon's departure or just a flawed payoff from a major reveal in ep 6 I'm not sure. Not terribly disappointed it didn't get renewed.
I re-watched Halo Season 1 and am in the middle of Halo Season 2 as it comes out. Enjoyed Season 1 re-watch. Season 2 is a little slow in moving the plot forwards but has interesting character development.
Playing
A little bit of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, completing almost all of the DLCs and some missed side-quests from earlier in the game. Just the main boss battle to come, really. Stalled on that as I started Portal 2 in local co-op mode with $DAUGHTER who now has time after her JHS entry. I got the Portal/Portal 2 double-pack on Switch so I also played Portal on my own. Completed the main story and optional maps. Now deep into trying to complete the additional challenges. Just remember: "The Cake is a Lie!".
( Read more... )
3. Felix Castor 2: Vicious Circle by Mike Carey
4. Felix Castor 3: Dead Men's Boots by Mike Carey
5 .Felix Castor 4: Thicker than Water by Mike Carey
6. Felix Castor 5: The Naming of the Beasts by Mike Carey
7. Felix Castor 6: The Ghost in Bone by Mike Carey
8. Murderbot Diaries 1: All Systems Red by Martha Wells
9. Murderbot Diaries 2: Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
10. Murderbot Diaries 3: Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells
11. Murderbot Diaries 4: Exit Stragegy by Martha Wells
12. Murderbot Diaries 5: Fugitive Telemetry by Martha Wells
13. Murderbot Diaries 6: Network Effect by Martha Wells
14. Murderbot Diaries 7: System Collapse by Martha Wells
15. The Stranger Times 4: Relight My Fire by C. K. McDonnell
16. Mossa and Pleiti 1: The Mimicking of Known Successes by Malka Older
17. Mossa and Pleiti 2: The Imposition of Unnecessary Obstacles by Malka Older
18. The Midsolar Murders 2: Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty
As previously reported I re-read the Felix Castor series by Mike Carey, enjoying his return to the unfinished ("larger" world-building plot, the smaller "personal" plot was finished in the original five) series, though this was a shortish book for him and an update. Hopefully he'll now go on to complete the world-building plot which goes on top of the personal plot he finished in the original five books.
I then noticed another new book in a series I like, the latest Murderbot book. I like these so much that I just re-read the whole sequence (I re-read the two shorts stories "Compulsory" and "Home, Habitat, Niche, Range" as well). The latest one is a worthy addition. Apple TV are supposed to be developing a TV version of this. I'll be interested to see how they manage. There's various things they could screw up (Murderbot's agendered and completely asexual but caring nature hidden behind self-loathing [hence the self-given name] and sarcasm) and some things I'll be really interested to see how they do (shows-within-shows will be fun if they do them since Murderbot is addicted to future "TV" shows it downloads in an unauthorised manner as part of its general cracker/hacker nature).
Continuing with previous series, the latest The Stranger Times came out. I'm really enjoying this rather different take on urban fantasy.
Malka Older's previous work was very much in my academic area (The Centenal Trilogy). She's written a standalone novel which I haven't tackled yet but I decided to give this "cozy Space opera mystery" series a go, after
coth's positive review. Nice Holmes-like set in human settlement on Jupiter. The mysteries are nicely tied in to the setting. The setting is interestingly Victorians-in-Space for moderately adequately hand-waved reasons. The characters are enjoyable. Cozy, but fun. The economics and the worldbuilding are light with a few odd things such as the abundance of energy due to living on a planet of "gas" - but while Jupiter's atmosphere does include a lot of hydrogen and some methane, it's unclear where the oxygen for the humans to breathe and to combust with the H and CH4 comes from). Just don't look too deeply and these are fine.Another series mystery, with the second of Mur Lafferty's Midsolar Murders. Again, a satisfying SF-nal mystery with the murder being tied to the circumstances and human (and alien) nature. Some nice working with the original setup (which explains how and why someone ends up living like a classic murder mystery character due to alien influence), and some great use of the "Babel-fish" to cause as much confusion as it solves.
I'm now reading "The Warden" by Daniel M. Ford. I went looking for recommendations of Fantasy Heist novels having enjoyed Dragon Age: Absolution and D&D: Honor Among Thieves last year. Halfway through this is not a fantasy heist novel but it's enjoyable and readable. Nice magic system, well-enough explained without getting lost in the detail. Nice characters, probably the setting for a longer series as long as it sells well enough. I'm enjoying it enough to return to the series if it becomes one, even though it wasn't what I was expecting.
I have a couple of series which look like they actually are fantasy heists coming up next.
Watching
Finished NuWho rewatch with $DAUGHTER after completing Capaldi's run (she remembers Whittaker) and then catching the Christmas Special we skipped by mistake (A Christmas Carol). Watched a bit of Echo with $DAUGHTER, and most of the live action Avatar: the Last Airbender. $DAUGHTER has completed her intense prep for junior high school and is less busy but is losing some interest in what she watches with me. Not surprising given her age. She may grow out of, or back into, SF&F. She shows little interest in my other more adult SF&F shows like recent Star Trek. Soon she'll be old enough for Supernatural which she expressed interest in before, but may or may not be interested in when she's a little older.
Watched Pixar's Elemental as a family which was really fun and shared themes with Zootopia so we re-watched that shortly after.
I finished A Certain Magical Index and am now watching the spin-off A Certain Scientific Railgun (internal chronology is a bit confusing, but this is parallel to a lot of earlier Index, but fun enough to watch anyway). There's another short spin-off (A Certain Scientific Accelerator) which I'll watch after Railgun.
I finally watched the second half of "The Nevers". OK, but the second half of the season doesn't live up to the first half. Whether this was due to Josh Whedon's departure or just a flawed payoff from a major reveal in ep 6 I'm not sure. Not terribly disappointed it didn't get renewed.
I re-watched Halo Season 1 and am in the middle of Halo Season 2 as it comes out. Enjoyed Season 1 re-watch. Season 2 is a little slow in moving the plot forwards but has interesting character development.
Playing
A little bit of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, completing almost all of the DLCs and some missed side-quests from earlier in the game. Just the main boss battle to come, really. Stalled on that as I started Portal 2 in local co-op mode with $DAUGHTER who now has time after her JHS entry. I got the Portal/Portal 2 double-pack on Switch so I also played Portal on my own. Completed the main story and optional maps. Now deep into trying to complete the additional challenges. Just remember: "The Cake is a Lie!".
