March Suggestion box

[james_davis_nicoll]

Waiting for the last few books on my to-read list to come in. Open to suggestions, particularly for more recent books.

I cannot recall who asked me to read the Rational Harry Potter but it has defeated me. May I review something else?

Comments

[kithrup.livejournal.com]

Did you ever review Aaronovitch's Rivers of London books?

Looking forward, you should try to get a review copy of The Obelisk Gate so your review can go up around the time that comes out.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Just the first one, which I wanted in the original English English.

[carloshasanax.livejournal.com]

What miscreant wanted to dine on your reaction to Yudkowsky fanfic? Gah.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Lots of people love it but I just bounce off.

[netmouse.livejournal.com]

I'd be interested to know what you think of Andrea Hairston's Redwood and Wildfire.

[lostwanderfound.livejournal.com]

Is Thomas the Rhymer still on your list?

recommendations

[(Anonymous)]

- The Library at Mount Char / Scott Hawkins

- The Rook, Daniel O' Malley

- Nexus (and sequels) / Ramez Naam

- Lonely Werewolf Girl / Martin Millar (heck, anything by Millar; not many people writing like him. Who else writes drug addict or transgender Scottish werewolves?

- Shallow Graves (Kali Wallace)

- Spellbent (Lucy Snyder) or any of Snyder's short story collections

- Imp series (Debra Dunbar)

[dsrtao]

Of these, I think The Rook was the best.

[heron61.livejournal.com]

I rather liked Andrea K. Host's The Pyramids of London, it's also nice to hear someone who bounced off Rational Harry Potter, I heard good things about it, and dear gods was it dull and bad.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

I would second this, and anything else she has written too (tho some of the earlier self pub works are a bit choppy in execution)

[coyotegoth.livejournal.com]

Through the Valley of the Nest of Spiders?

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Should you chose to, James, you can borrow my copy.

[ckd]

I think I have a few sponsorships worth of Patreon queued up, actually....

Paladin of Souls, Lois McMaster Bujold
Silver on the Road, Laura Anne Gilman
Farthing, Jo Walton
Updraft, Fran Wilde

(Two older, two quite recent.)

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Oooh I really enjoyed Silver on the Road - quite different in feel to most other stuff.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

Anything by T Kingfisher tho I particularly love Nine Goblins

Anything by Jodi Taylor - in particular the St Mary's series but if you want a stand alone, The Nothing Girl is available

Charlie N Holmberg - The Paper Magician Series

Alma Alexander - Random (The Were Chronicles ) not your average shape shifter story

Andrea K Host - Pyramids of London

Naomi Novik - Uprooted

Susan Dennard - Truthwitch

Patricia A McKillip - Kingfisher

Illan C Myer - Last Song Before Night

[owlmirror36.livejournal.com]

James has already reviewed three works by T. Kingfisher (http://jamesdavisnicoll.com/reviews/contributor/1507), including Nine Goblins.

[affreca.livejournal.com]

Marguerite Reed's Archangel? I haven't gotten far in it, and my only comment thus far is that describes the grasslands in the newly settled planet like someone who has spent time on the prairie (author is from Kansas, and not the hilly foresty bit I live in).

Kate Elliott's Black Wolves, which I think you'd like better than the last Kate Elliott I suggested (hopefully). This one is points out the problems with monarchy, especially over generations. It is the second book in a sequel trilogy, but I don't think you need to read the first three books to enjoy it.

[thebluerose.livejournal.com]

I found it painfully slow and gave up not even half way thru. Her earlier series relating to it Crossroads? I also DNF the first book. Loved pretty much everything else she wrote tho

[bruce munro (from livejournal.com)]

If you do non-fiction, I wonder what you would think of Prisoners of Geography. http://www.amazon.com/Prisoners-Geography-Explain-Everything-About/dp/1501121464

Others:

Jack McDevitt: Thunderbird

Matt Ruff: Lovecraft Country

Ken Liu: The Paper Menagerie

Greg Bear: The "War Dogs" new series

Ben Peek: the Godless

John Honor Jacobs: The Incorruptibles

And just to enjoy your pain: Stephen Baxter's Ultima :)

[agharta75.livejournal.com]

Second for Ruff and Liu here.

(note that it helps the Liu if you have prior knowledge of the Chu-Han Conflict, just like it helps the Ruff if you know about That Guy. )

[thornsilver]

"Dark Jewels" series by Anne Bishop

[m-danson.livejournal.com]

I'm curious about "the edge of gone" by corrine duyvis.

[ross-smith.livejournal.com]

I know I have at least one Patreon review pending; possibly more, but I'm not sure how to check. Now that I think back, my first two sponsored reviews were both books by women; I didn't plan it that way on purpose but it now occurs to me that it's probably a good habit to continue. So I'll request Uprooted by Naomi Novik.

[sean o'hara (from livejournal.com)]

The Leader by Gillian Freeman - not exactly new, but republished-for-the-first-time-in-fifty-years-and-yet-feels-like-it-was-written-last-Tuesday. It's a black comedy about the rise of a neo-Fascist party in Britain, led by a manic-depressive bank clerk.

The Last Police Man by Ben Winters - the story of a police detective who decides to keep investigating cases even though the world is scheduled to be pulverized by an asteroid in a couple months.

[glaurung-quena.livejournal.com]

As a possible entry in your "MilSF that doesn't suck" series: Valor's Choice, by Tanya Huff.

Or anything by Huff, really.

[malkaesther.livejournal.com]

I second this. She had a new spinoff released in 2015.

[elusis.livejournal.com]

Have you reviewed "Radiance" by Valente? I'm about to finish it and it's been awfully good.

[viktor-haag.livejournal.com]

Again, if you need a copy of this, you can borrow mine, James.

[michaelgr.livejournal.com]

Another vote for Patricia Mckillip's Kingfisher. Really enjoyed it. She mixed fantasy and modern day really well, IMO.

I'd also like to suggest "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders. Just finished it, it's kind of gonzo and very original.

[shark-hat.livejournal.com]

I was just thinking of a book yesterday that I wondered what your review would be like - The Door Into Fire (and/or its sequels, Door Into Shadow/Door Into Sunset) by Diane Duane, which are very out of print but used copies are available at a cent each.
Actually Duane's Stealing The Elf-King's Roses, which is in print as an ebook, would be interesting as well- it's a multi-dimensional science-fantasy mystery. Sorta.

And I second Pyramids of London.

[arkessian.livejournal.com]

Seconding all these suggestions. (Note to self: Patreon time).

[rozasharn.livejournal.com]

Every time you complain about how SF keeps glorifying monarchy and dictatorship, I think of Charlotte MacLeod's mystery The Grub-and-Stakers Move a Mountain, which is primarily concerned with the drama and crucial importance of *a write-in campaign for mayor*.

[nathan helfinstine (from livejournal.com)]

The Watchmaker of Filigree Street by Natasha Pulley. I haven't read it, so I have no idea if it's amazing or terrible. It got a pile of flattering reviews.

[seth ellis (from livejournal.com)]

I don't know if I'd go so far as amazing, but I enjoyed it quite a bit. My opinion doesn't count as much as James', of course.

[agharta75.livejournal.com]

A Richard C. Meredith retrospective!!

[(Anonymous)]

I liked “The Thinking Woman's Guide to Real Magic” by Emily Croy Barker. I read about it on the list of the 2014 Locus Awards Winners where it finished in second place for first novel.

[chrysostom476.livejournal.com]

Have you done Hild yet?

[(Anonymous)]

Yes, Hild!!

xfdryad

[nojay.livejournal.com]

Some time ago you mentioned a desire to review Ashinano Hitoshi's "Yokohama Kaidashi Kikou" but since then, bupkis.

[james-nicoll.livejournal.com]

Ooooo. I did.

Does it break down into volumes or is it one huge thing?