There is Kobo (which is a Canadian branch of the Rakuten zeibatsu)… but they’re pretty small-time.
Sadly, Amazon doesn’t take competition very well. Or at all. Or ever.
I was on Goodreads the other day and you can configure the Shoplinks they show you. they had a huge selection of shops per country especially the US you might want to check there if there is something more palatable than Amazon. not suggesting using Goodreads but the list seemed like a good resource
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Started Terminal Alliance by Jim C. Hines. I have been a fan of his Goblin Quest and Princess series of novels, which are mostly silly fun, and his Magic Ex Libris series as well, though I have not finished that, so I am expecting good things. I didn’t even know about this series until I saw the third book on the new release shelf at Barnes & Noble this weekend, so ordered the first book. I miss hitting a bookstore every weekend (it was our go-to weekend outing before kids) as I miss out on new works by authors I enjoy.
In any case, as one reviewer said the series was like a mix of Guardians of the Galaxy and MacGyver, with some zombies, my interest is piqued!
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Legend, David Gemmell, it’s been ages since I’ve read it.
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Thanks, that’s a good idea!
@bort Legend is my favorite book by Gemmell. It hits the right spot, I didn’t care as much about the roughly 10 other books of his I read.
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Its great, isn’t it?
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Currently listening to book 2 of the Bobiverse it’s some good so-fi with a bit of ready player 1 flung in for good measure.
Just finished Victories Greater than Death by Charlie Jane Anders. It was pretty good! Very space opera, which I appreciate, but also very “Chosen One,” which I’ve never been a fan of. Handled slightly better than usual, and Anders does a good job of having a spaceship full of diverse aliens that feel alien.
Wasn’t perfect, but my complaints are mostly niggles as opposed to big issues. I’ll probably pick up the other two books in the series at some point.
I think next up we have A Desolution Called Peace by Arkady Martine. I officially know nothing about this one. Looking forward to it!
I loved it, even more than A Memory Called Empire. (But I would definitely recommend reading that first.)
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Ah! I lied. I have read that. But apparently long enough ago that I forgot both the author’s name, and the fact that there is a sequel.
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My trip down to London involved a lot of waiting around (including sitting in a coach station for 7 hours), so I took a book an internet friend has just had published.
Basic jist: Dragonrider is stuck escorting a dragonslayer prisoner across the desert. Various difficulties result in them getting to know each other along the way.
Very good. Highly recommended if you like books about queer women and/or dragons. I especially like that the plot is very focused, so despite packing in a lot of worldbuilding, it’s not your standard 500+ page epic fantasy tome.
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I just finished Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds and before that Redemption Ark.
Enjoyable and the trilogy wrapped up fairly neatly.
Next up the standalone Inhibitor Phase.
Edit: It looks like a lot of folks online were not happy with how the trilogy ended. For me, the main threads got wrapped up reasonably well even if it was left a little open ended, presumably to allow for new stories to be written.
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What were they expecting? Brannigan got about as much redemption as was possible.
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I actually managed to read a couple of books since getting my new ereader device.
- Ruby Fever - Ilona Andrews . Book 6 in the Hidden Legacy series had been waiting for me for a while. I think I‘ll need to reread the series… again. Or at least the second trilogy.
- Yumi and the Nightmare Painter - Brandon Sanderson, #3 of the Secret Projects and I think my favorite so far. Just so lovely for a variety of reason. Less sense of wonder than Tress but more cosmere stuff and also lovely appearance by a certain pair of characters. Hoid and Design.
- Ministry for the Future - Kim Stanley Robinson. I am only halfway through and also I am listening to it not reading it, though on occasion I peek into the ebook to understand a chapter better. I like this one just as much as 2140. Although same as the other one I sometimes have a hard time following everything.
- The City in the Middle of the Night - Charlie Jane Anders. I had attempted to read this one before but it was such a departure from All The Birds in The Sky that I failed on first attempt. This one is a dark sci-fi thing with a failing civilization and weird aliens and … quite unexpected at times. It took a while to get into it but then I couldn‘t stop reading. I have a love-hate relationship with books that reduce the „denouement“ to a single sentence (YMMV it might be a whole paragraph depending on how you count). It‘s great but I hate that it is over so abruptly.
- Started to read Walkaway by Cory Doctorow and the beginning is quite promising but I am only a few chapters in…
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Any of you voting in this years Hugos?
I saw that some stuff that I have already read or am going to read soon is nominated and since I missed last year, I am keen to get back.
The whole website seems a little shaky though and I am not enthusiastic to hand over my credit card data… so I am wondering if any of you have done this?
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I don’t join just to vote, but when I’m going to the Worldcon anyway I make a point of reading as much that’s nominated as I can so that I can make an informed vote. Always remembering that it’s basically a popularity contest, and if you have a strong following in fandom, particularly US fandom, you will do better than otherwise - see all those Hugos for Girl Genius, or indeed for Seanan McGuire, who is very active in Bay Area fandom and a lot of the voters support the person they know.
That said, I’m not supporting the Chengdu Worldcon anyway, what with their various shenanigans, and the two genocide fans among their three guests of honour. (People have been talking about Lukianenjo’s comments about the Ukrainians, but Cixin Liu has said basically similar things about the Uyghurs.)
All that said… Novel, which is the category I usually care most about, falls into three classes for me:
Already read:
- Legends & Lattes, by Travis Baldree (Tor Books): great fun, not in any way Deep or Significant but it definitely works
- Nona the Ninth, by Tamsyn Muir (Tordotcom): doesn’t at all stand on its own, but a glorious continuation of a splendid series.
Really don’t want to read because I’ve read stuff by these authors before and hated it (and I’m not voting so I don’t feel I have to):
- The Kaiju Preservation Society, by John Scalzi (Tor Books)
- The Spare Man, by Mary Robinette Kowal (Tor Books)
Am likely to read at some point:
- The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Del Rey): I quite liked Gods of Jade and Shadow though it didn’t reach my nebulous standard of “Hugo quality”; and I’ve moderately enjoyed her Lovecraftian short stories. So I’ll read this if it comes my way.
- Nettle & Bone, by T. Kingfisher (Tor Books): I’m reading all the Kingfisher novels I can find, chronologically, so no rush.
I feel distinctly edgy about awarding “Series” to a series that hasn’t reached a conclusion. But maybe that’s just me and my memories of Alien³.
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Oh I did not know about the Chengdu shenanigans and the guests of honor, I had not been reading much at all and so stopped following most bookish/SFF news and updates to avoid feeling even worse about not reading. But it seems I am back to it 
I have only read/listened to Kaiju preservation society. I think Scalzi is someone one can easily not get along with, he has a very particular style. I like it. Kaiju was fun but certainly not his best.
I plan on definitely reading
- Nona the Ninth b/c I enjoyed Gideon (I am missing the middle part as well)
- The Spare Man (I liked the Lady Astronaut series a lot so…)
I have to check out some blurbs for the rest.
Short fiction is a little easier a) because it is short 
and b) often on the magazine websites that published it.
I’ll need to consider what to do about the voting. In the meantime I’ll read…
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In several previous years there’s been a voter pack available to all Worldcon members - basically everything the publishers were willing to allow out from behind their DRM gates, which is usually most of the prose at least. I have no idea what if anything is happening about that this year.
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Gosh I love Scalzi, but like Yashima I totally understand when people don’t like him.
But Legends and Lattes up for a Hugo is… unexpected. Lovely, light little romp, but a Hugo… huh.
I also love Kowal, but again, I get that her style is very polarizing.
I haven’t read any Moreno-Garcia or Kingfisher, and my partner raves about the Muir she has read but I haven’t picked up any myself.
As an aside: we are currently working our way through the third Steerswoman novel, and it’s really good, and I’m reading the sublime A Desolation Called Peace which is utterly brilliant. I’m about halfway through that one and it already is making me feel like a hack writer.
Finished All Systems Red, and that was also really good.
Next up is… Target Rich Environment or A Crown for the Prayer-Shy, I think. Which I suspect will be very different kinds of books to each other…
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