Weekly Roundup

Only one book review this week. I’ve picked up two new books and finished three! I’ve also got thoughts on four short stories from The Big Book of Modern Fantasy. Read on to find out more.

This Week’s Posts:

Thursday: Book Review: Iron Widow – One of my new favourite books this year, epic, powerful and gripping.

This Week’s Reading:

This week I managed to finish Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. It’s a strange beast, one that clearly values the journey over the destination, and ascribes an intelligence to its readers that I’m not quite sure I achieve. It’s going to be incredibly difficult to review.

I picked up and read Patternmaster by Octavia Butler. It’s a decent sci-fi novella length book with perhaps more lore than befits its length. Much better than Clay’s Ark at least.

I also finished Africanfuturism: an anthology edited by Wole Talabi. I’ve been reading the stories in this one on and off for a while – the last couple of stories were among my favourites. None of the stories completely wowed me, but there are plenty of enjoyable and meaningful reads.

I’ve continued to read The Bone Ship’s Wake by R.J. Barker. The first third of this book is a masterclass in building and paying off tension. I am enjoying this book greatly, and am so terrified to find out how it all ends.

I also read the first few stories from From the Neck Up, a collection of stories by Aliya Whiteley. The first story is a novella called Brushwork and it is SO GOOD. I don’t always get emotional when reading books, and I can love a book without feeling that heavy emotion – Brushwork got me there in a hundred pages. It manages to capture so many themes in such a short space: growing old, the legacy you leave, friendship, memories. I love it, and if the other stories in this collection get close to that good, I’ll be leaving a very good review indeed.

I may or may not be doing some SPFBO reading also.

The Slow Read Through The Big Book Of Modern Fantasy

In which I read and review at least one short story a week from The Big Book of Modern Fantasy, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.

The Circular Valley by Paul Bowles: I loved this one. A lushly detailed story about an incorporeal creature that can inhabit the consciousness of other beings, but never leave the eponymous valley. The way perspective is played with and the tight plotting felt masterful. 4.5/5

Signs and Symbols by Vladimir Nabokov: A story about a Jewish Russian immigrant couple trying to visit a son with ‘referential mania’. The prose was great, but I didn’t get with the story. It was unsatisfying and felt too much like it was trying to be cleverer than the reader. 2.5/5

The Zahir by Jorge Luis Borges: This story is about a man obsessed with the image of a coin, an image that he knows will drive him mad. I liked the imagery and the poetry of the words, but the overly philosophical nature of the plot didn’t really appealed to me. 3.5/5

Liane the Wayfarer by Jack Vance: The story follows a fairly unpleasant thief and raconteur in a magical setting who finds himself on a dangerous quest. The plot is relatively straightforward, but the narrative voice and the setting are so fun that it’s easy to get caught up in. This is one of those stories where you can see the roots of so many later fantasy series. 4/5

Movie Thoughts:

I haven’t watched any movies this week, check back next week and I’ll probably have some thoughts on the movie Reminiscence.

Next Week’s Posts:

I have a litrpg roundup post ready to go, and we’ll see if I have anything else for next week. I’ll need to see if inspiration strikes me enough to get any reviews for my most recent reads done.

Next Week’s TBR Shortlist (Not including SPFBO books):

This week I picked up Patternmaster from the top row of my TBR shortlist.

Here’s a link to my last Weekly Roundup, if you wish to compare the two.

As usual, let me know if there’s anything there you’d recommend!