Sci Fi Sunday
Currently Reading:
Jim Butcher’s 13th installment in the Dresden Files series, Ghost Story. This book starts off with a difficult premise — the main character is dead. However, there’s dead and there’s gone and the wizard Harry Dresden isn’t quite gone yet. Dresden is given a chance to come back to his reality as a ghost. He isn’t prepared for the changes he finds — for one thing, a moment dead equals several months in the real world and much has gone wrong. The monsters Dresden and his friends worked so hard to keep out of Chicago are back in full force, and humans have become locked in a bitter battle for survival. To make matters worse, Harry’s magical abilities are weakened by his lack of a corporal body. He must convince his former friends and allies first that he has returned, second that he is who he says he is, and lastly that he is on their side. Ghost Story tugs at the heartstrings for those who have been following the Dresden Files from the beginning, but is not recommended if you’re new to the series. Better to start with the first book, Storm Front, and work your way through the story line. I will say that Ghost Story has a very interesting ending and one that makes a lot of sense if you’ve followed the side plots through the last 3 or 4 books. Worth the read if you’re already a fan.
Currently Watching:
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The third season of Fringe is out on DVD! Close kin to the X-Files, the series follows a crazy but brilliant scientist, his scam-artist son and an FBI agent as they investigate paranormal incidents. There is plenty of suspicion that government and corporate interests are not what they seem, and biohazards, gene warfare and parallel universes abound as the group races to keep our reality intact. Highly recommended if you’re an X-Files fan or a fan of Joshua Jackson and/or Anna Torv. John Noble is mesmerizing as a man who can do complex calculations in his head but can’t remember his assistant’s name. This was supposed to be the final season, but fans have given the show a bit of a reprieve and a fourth season will be returning on Fox. Catch this show if you’re into cerebral science fiction with a sense of humor. Seasons 1, 2, and 3 are available on Netflix.
Posted on September 18, 2011, in Sci-Fi Sunday. Bookmark the permalink. 7 Comments.
lazysubculturalgirl 
I should check out our basement for a few of your suggestions. My husband reads a fair bit of sci-fi (and fantasy/Lovecraft/horror) but I don’t generally unless he particularly pushes it. And yet I like a lot of the programs/movies. Jim Butcher sounds familiar, I’m wondering if he has read that series.
Have you read Charles Stross? The laundry series were pushed onto me (I did exchange for him reading Nora Roberts). It’s fantastic, a nice mix of sci-fi, Lovecraftian horror and a little spy/gov’t agent thing.
I put the first book in the Laundry series on my to-buy list. You’re right, it sounds right up my alley (and they’re on Kindle too)!
Jim Butcher also has a fantasy series called the Codex Alera. The first book is The Furies of Calderon, if you’re more into the fantasy thing.
I love romance, but confess to never having read Nora Roberts (I think I associate her with Danielle Steele and that’s more my mom’s era). Any good books in particular?
Sigh, I typed up a big reply and I’m not sure where it’s got to. If it appears somehow, then my apologies for taking over your comment section.
Nora does not equal Danielle Steele. I’ve read a few Danielle Steele books borrowing from my grandmother-in-law while desparate for material in Manitoba. I haven’t enjoyed them. They are all too perfect, senior VP advertising executive at 24, the best doctor in the world devoting their research to AIDS clinic for the poor.. again, probably only 25. Then they all have their world come crashing down, parapalegic from a horse accident, catching AIDS at the clinic…it’s rediculous.
Nora Roberts rarely leaves me saying “WTF are you DOING?!?!” at her characters. She doesn’t use the Three’s Company plot devise of missed communication or game playing (like angry because they didn’t call when you didn’t pick up the phone yourself). Her characters make mistakes and apologize when they need to.
Books are generally in 3 camps. You can see cover art/synopsis here http://www.noraroberts.com/books/allbooks.html
1. Stand alone romantic mysteries. Tribute, The Black Hills, Three Fates, HIgh Noon, Northern LIghts. They generally have a murderer/stalker issue going on to provide tension. Next book for me is The Search which got an A at Smart Bitches, Trashy Books. http://www.smartbitchestrashybooks.com/index.php/weblog/comments/rita-reader-challenge-review-the-search-by-nora-roberts/
2. Trilogies. These are more likely to have an element of fantasy because she has more time to create the world where an element of fantasy makes sense. It’s generally not full blown LOTR, more there are witches or vampires or evil in this world who just keep it to themselves. My favourites include The Circle trilogy, The Key trilogy, and I’m making my husband read The Sign of Seven trilogy. The kind of cool thing about the last trilogy is that it’s men that create the bond, women are introduced to the group of three men.
3. JD Robb. She writes mysteries as JD Robb, they take place in the future, all focus on Eve who is a kick ass take no prisoners cop who happens to be married to a very wealthy (and handsome) rogue with a sketchy past. No romance to it beyond their undying love for each other.
Muah ha ha.. I’m not smoking crack, those books are in our house. My husband borrowed the first 5 books from a friend. He’s half way through the second and enjoying it so far.
Thanks for the recommendations! I always hear about Nora Roberts (big fan of Smart Bitches also) but I’m intimidated by her huge catalog and I don’t always like straightforward romances — usually prefer romance with a mystery or paranormal side plot. Your synopsis was really helpful, I’m thinking I will like the trilogies and the J.D. Robb stuff.
Ooh, that’s how I got turned on to Jim Butcher too — a friend pushed them on me. We are all such addicts!
If you don’t like straightforward romance novels, I would avoid almost anything she did for Harlequin/Silouette (there are a lot that have been republished into two books as one so it can be sneaky to pick them out) and the recent Bride series. I just finished the last of four books and it would make cotton candy look dense. It was… okay. I’m left feeling a bit disappointed by it probably because I know she could do better more than it was that bad. I would not suggest for anyone not specifically interested in the wedding industry because there is a whole lot of wedding talk that was a bit boring to me. Some of the Harlequin have a mystery angle, but it’s all so formulaic. It’s good for what it is.
All I gotta say about Ghost Story is, I knew it. And I said it a lot, for the year or more. Ha!