What are you Reading Now?

I'm about two-thirds of the way through Ben-Hur, which I hadn't read since I was a teen. Despite being extraordinarily long-winded, it's any easy read. But so much relies on unlikely coincidences!

 

Haven't read that in forever. I am currently reading The Unspoken Name. Which involves a very rare thing for fantasy. An orc heroine, of sorts. Well, Assassin and bruiser among other things and quite well learned. Been quite good so far.

 

I must say I am finding Ben-Hur, despite the preposterous coincidences that drive the plot, a textbook on story structure.

 

I am now reading Ian Watson's Space Marine. The first published story involving the everloving grim darkness of the far future of only war. It is, well, it is something for certain. From a Marine named Biff to very verbose language that suddenly slams into stunted pidgen and course word use. And you kind of get used to the marines being spoken of almost lovingly in their buff musculature and the main trio's brotherhood that borders on the homoerotic when in their heads. It's good in it's own way and definitely worth a read for an early look into the slightly more colorful grim darkness.

On the other hand, there's still Stunty's in it and a lot of fighting, as per the course of the universe.

 

While waiting for "Pawn of Prophecy" I'm reading "The Ashes of Heaven's Pillar" by Kim Rendfeld.

 

Well, that sounds fun.

Currently reading Stein on Writing and the guy's pretty pretentious. Keeps name dropping people I've never heard of. Also been skipping the non-fiction parts. Should I skip the non-fiction parts? Been asking myself why I bought this.

Also, don't yell at me, but, Return of the King for the first time. Slow going.

 

I just started Bad Mermaids by Sibéal Pounder. I loved her Witch Wars series so much and figured I give her other books a try.

 

I'm reading Michael Tolliver Lives. It is set in San Francisco around 2007 and follows the lives of half a dozen characters. This is number 7 in a 9 book series. The characters are middle-aged now; one is an octogenarian. The writing is fluid, and the story arc is well handled. The first book in the series is Tales of the City; the author is Armistead Maupin. This is not speculative fiction but is straight up contemporary fiction.

 

Just finished Hyperion by Dan Simmons, and its sequel. Had no idea what to expect going in. It really surprised me. Some of the characters endure such uniquely Sci-fi horrors, and still feel like very human stories.

 

Finally found a thread where I can talk about a great novel I've been reading, and hoping that it becomes a series in the future.

Only I can level up(Solo Leveling) written by Chu-Gong. It is a South Korean web novel published by D&C Media under their Papyrus label. Solo levelings a fantasy/system with a part of game in it.
It's about a young boy who became a hunter to pay for his mother's hospital bills and his sisters school fees. He is considered the weakest hunter by everyone. On one of his dungeon hunts his raid team encounters a duel dungeon. Which is an extremely rare sceneand decides to enter it without consulting the hunters association. (Skipping forward)
Many people lost their lives in the dungeon only a few survived and he was left behind. By the the others and lost a leg. After that incident he woke up in a hospital totally unharmed. He then found a system notification pop up in front of him. Which he keeps a secret from everyone he encounter. This is helps him grow stronger as he starts to increase his strength slowly becoming the stingers hunter.

Im going to stop here not to spoil it any further. But it is a great book and hope people enjoy it as much as I do.

 

One of the aspects of this series is that the author writes a new trilogy from time to time, with the same characters. So they age and go through trials and tribulations, and by The Days of Anna Madrigal (last book in the series) the characters are mostly in their 60's - 90's and have significant health concerns. I really enjoyed this series. Some characters are straight, some gay. The one I liked best was Mary Ann Singleton, who has ambition to burn. Most of the characters are satisfied with little, but she wants to go to the top, and hell yes go for it!

 

For non-fiction I am currently reading Islamic Empires, which is an examination of Islam over 15 centuries. The author, Justin Marozzi, picks one city per century and shows how it is a powerhouse of Islam leadership and military might. The chapter on Jerusalem is to depressing that I could hardly read it through; the Christians and the Muslims go back and forth in bloody massacres. Overall, though, I am refreshed at learning about these different cities and the development of Islam through the ages.

 

I'm in the middle of NK Jemisin's The City We Became. All I can say so far is - WOW!