Posted on December 20, 2019 Posted by John Scalzi 24 Comments
It’s the last stack of new books and ARCs before Christmas (and this year, also Hanukkah). She anything here you’d be happy to unwrap? Share in the comments — and happy holidays!
Taunting the tauntable since 1998
John Scalzi, proprietor – JS
Athena Scalzi, contributor – AMS
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If I may ask, do you generally read these when you get them? Do you even have time?
Every time I see an ARC of Network Effect, I covet it! Can’t wait for that to come out.
Murderbot!
New Martha Wells!
I can’t wait for Harrow the Ninth!
Do I have to make a deal with the devil to get Harrow?
Sorry, I’ll see myself out. But Gideon was awesome.
New Murderbot makes me happy. I can’t wait for Harrow the Ninth, either- Tamsyn Muir writes with profanity of Warren Ellis proportions. My wife got annoyed at how often I laughed out loud while reading Gideon the Ninth in bed.
I DEFINITELY cannot wait to read Harrow The Ninth. I read Gideon The Night last month and absolutely fell in love with the characters and universe (which actually kinda reminded me of Warhammer 40k). I’d love it if she ever manages to get a short-story collection together, as I’ve heard her short fiction is to die for.
AAAAAAAAAAAA Harrow the Ninth!!!!! I can’t talk about Gideon the Ninth without a lot of exclamation points, yelling, and gesturing. I can’t wait to read it!
KJ Parker on a book is enough for me to take a closer look (and TIL that it is a pen name – I would never have guessed Tom Holt)
And I wonder why Kevin Hearne’s Hammered is there – that was maybe 7-8 years ago. Are they re-issuing that series?
Harrow the Ninth.
Some more Murderbot in our lives will be a good thing!
Oh wow. Harrow the Ninth, Murderbot, Matt Effing Wallace, The Heap, assorted Tor.com novellas. That is one jealousy inspiring pile…
Hammered by Kevin Hearne is great and I’m really excited about new Murderbot!! Somebody let me know how Harrow the Ninth is…I read Gideon the Ninth and really liked it, so I’m looking forward to the new one.
Sounding completely like an echo of many of the other comments: I’m excited for both the Martha Wells and Tamsyn Muir. Always ready for more Murderbot and I just finished Gideon the Ninth yesterday and would love to plunge straight into Harrow the Ninth.
Also, that Zen Cho novella looks interesting.
I sound like a dittohead, but… Muir and Wells!
Thrilled to see the Murderbot novel.
Larry Correia fo’ sho’! However, will never read another Martha Wells book as long as I live. Life is far too short. We all have a right to our own tastes!
And another Network Effect fan here.
Harrow the Ninth (Gideon the Ninth was amazing and contained the precious dumbass fictional butch swordswoman of my heart)! Murderbot (best grumpy cyborg)! Zen Cho!
@slhope Subterranean is releasing the series in hardcover
Scalzi — Apologies for making a comment that isn’t related to the post.
I have a really nasty cold so I’ve been staying in bed and reading a bunch. Mostly re-reading old favorites, which is fertile ground for the Suck Fairy.
I turned to Old Man’s War. I wasn’t expecting a visit from the Suck Fairy in this case since it isn’t that long since I first read it (< 10 years) and neither society nor I have changed that much since then. So I was surprised to see that the book had changed: it had improved. All of the smartassery is still there (like the DI who hates each recruit as an individual). The obvious heartstring-tugging stuff still works (sniff). But I see an overall underlying depth that I missed the first time around. The writing now strikes me as deceptively unadorned. The Anti-Suck Fairy strikes!
And to be relevant to the post: I covet the Martha Wells. And I mean covet; if I were anywhere near your town I would think seriously about breaking in and swiping your copy. It will be interesting to see what she does with Murderbot in a longer form. This will help me deal with Charlie Stross's Invisible Sun being moved out to 2021.
I’m also interested in reading something by Tom Kratman. I know that his fans and yours don’t overlap a whole lot, but I’ve read many of his factual postings on social media and have found him intelligent, knowledgable, and witty even though I disagree with him on many things.
Rick K:
Yeah, that first part should have been an email, but thank you very much!
Kratman: I suspect the overlap in our audiences may be larger than you suspect. Sales and experience teaches me that most readers don’t know or care that much about the author’s personal politics, they’re interested in being entertained, and there are enough superficial similarities between what he writes (and what other politically right MilSF writers write) and what I do that there’s crossover.