Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson.

I finished Seveneves: A Novel. I would give it 4 out of 5 stars. It's a long book that dragged at a couple points, but was also intensely gripping through most of it.

I was referred to the book by Martin Ralya's website. He's been reading all of the Hugo Award nominees and blogging about it. I'm playing catch-up with him. It's sometimes hard to find good new books. Going through the stacks at the local Barnes & Noble feels more like selecting which book hired the best cover artist. Targeting the Hugo nominees is proving an effective way to find some good material.

I'm currently reading Uprooted by Naomi Novik and loving it. It's just fantastic through about 50% of the way through. Highly, highly recommended. After that I'll check out another nominee, The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin.

I read a really good sci-fi novel last August, but can't remember if I plugged it here. It's Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. 4.5 out of 5.

Re-reading the Dresden Files and may run a campaign of this using Amazing Adventures for my group (if I get characters all statted out, that is).

It's one of my all-time favorite book series, so I'd give it a bunch o' stars.

Since I like FATE, and therefore the FATE version of Dresden Files, I had not thought about using AA to run such a game, but now that you mention it, I think it could work.

Glad to hear that it gets a recommendation as it's sitting on my bookshelf, awaiting its turn to be read.

Currently, I'm reading through The Geek Feminist Revolution as my downstairs book (I seem to have developed a system of reading a downstairs book and an upstairs, before bed, book). Not fiction, but it has some great ideas for how to approach world-building and is useful reading regarding inclusion in fantasy and science fiction. Upstairs, it's Lord of the Rings, which I've never read in its entirety. I remember reading Fellowship of the Ring as a kid and being somewhat stymied by the writing style after getting through The Hobbit, but now that I find the writing style really enjoyable.

I finished Uprooted this morning. It's the best fantasy novel I have read in a very long time. And it has the added bonus of being an actual stand-alone novel. No waiting for a reluctant author to get around to writing the next 9 installments of his/her epic masterpiece.

I found one of Hurley's essays here: http://aidanmoher.com/blog/featured-art ... on-hurley/ Now I want to read more. Great writing. I can see why she won the Hugo.

I hadn't read anything of Hurley's before picking up the Feminist Geek Revolution and now am looking forward to reading some of her fiction, starting with the Mirror Empire.

Just finished Agent of the Imperium. It does a nice job of touring the reader through some major events between the 200s and 700s in the Third Imperium, through the eyes of a quarantine agent, serving the Empire from Anguistis through Margaret I, backed by the power of Edict 97, and making full use of it.

I imagine people better versed than I am in Traveller lore would find a lot of familiar events. I had to look them up on a wiki as I went, but it was pretty enjoyable and makes a good introduction to the Traveller universe, at least the problems of the military and nobility in the Imperium.

Finally, finished reading Empire of the Imagination.

Great book, but for mebbe more could have been said about TLGs LGGC I, II & III, GenCON 40, where Gary was the guest of honor and finally ~ the 2 Winter Dark CONs.

Winter Dark II occured about a week or 2 before the superbowl mentioned in the book when Frank is over watching it.

I think it would have been poignant for the author to have mentioned WD II . . and he didn't know this, but I did ~ that was the last time Gary gamed.

Finished reading - Belgravia by Julian Fellows (Downton Abbey, Gosford Park). Excellent book. Action takes place in the Belgrave Square section of 1840s London. More upstairs than downstairs, but well done as the same.

Dianetics.

I need to break through my Wall of Fire.

!

I'm reading "The Andanuth" by Stephen Chenault.

About half way through the Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell. The BBC series the Last Kingdom is based on these.

I picked up a new complete set of the Harry Potter paperbacks on Ebay. Reading the first book. I loved the series and expect it should be interesting to re-read them after all the tidbits/hints that Rowling and Potter fans have pointed through the years.

Just finished Manly Wade Wellman's first "Silver John" book, "The Old Gods Waken". Some say Silver John is an inspiration for the D&D bard. Maybe. This particular book pits the bard against druids. Takes place in folksy Appalachia.

Also reading Winter Tide but Ruthanna Emrys, which is told from the point of view of the poor Dagon and Cthulhu worshippers thrown into concentration camps in the first paragraphs of Shadow Over Innsmouth. So far I like it a lot.

Slowly making my way through Steven Erikson's Malazan series. I'm on "Toll the Hounds" (book 8) right now.

I'm working my way through the Dresden Files for the first time.

Lots of comic books at the moment

Hatim's Tales. Basically folklore and mythology of India.

Goosebumps Goosebumps a LOT of Goosebumps

Christmas stories . . .

Adventures of the Blue Carbuncle!

For gaming stuff I just finished Codex Germanium and Monsters of Myth.

In the straight fiction realm it's [i]Vostok by Steve Alten, which is about discovering a Mesozoic pocket of life under the ice in Antarctica. It builds on his novels about finding megalodon sharks and other prehistoric creatures deep in the ocean. They've given me ideas for an aboleth civilization I want to create based on the descriptions in Lovecraft's Beyond the Mountains of Madness. Since I have the massive Cthulhu module based on it, I think I can work it up for C&C.

I finished the Dresden Files and moved on to a brutally long history of England written by David Hume. Very interesting read. After much reading, I've made it to the Braveheart period where King Edward is sticking it to the Scotts.

I finished reading the Wheel of Time series and American Gods this week. I'm looking for something I haven't read yet to jump into, but until then, I just started reading Orson Scott Card's Alvin Maker series again.

R-

Translated Japanese Light Novel: I'm a NEET but when I went to Hello Work I got taken to another world.

Long title but fun read. Goes into PC development, training, questing, and all that. LOT of adventure ideas to be mined from this as well as world building ideas.

Just finished The Complete Western Stories of Elmore Leonard, then dove into and read Zane Grey's The Lone Star Ranger. Love the Westerns!

An announcement that Steve Jackson (the GURPS guy) got back the rights to The Fantasy Trip.

That could mean something interesting in the near future, especially if there is finally something new for the game.

But, otherwise, I was flipping through a book on James Bond... from the 60s, which was somewhat insightful as they tackled the character from a fashion and 'what role does he really play?' angle. The fashion thing was... different. Yeah. Not sure I fully grasp it as that's never been my Twig. I might have to finish it just because. The title escapes me at the moment.