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Last year (2017), like most, I wasn’t exactly happy with the amount that I read. But hey, that’s how it goes – life often gets in the way and goals get pushed to the side. I was happy, however, that I finally read Dune. It had been on my list for a few years.
I must say, when it comes to this years reading list that I am a bit confused – or, maybe uncertain is a better word – on what to read. I have started way to many series and feel like I should focus and finish a few of them out before moving on to something that involves reading another new series. A Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin is one such book that is on my list to read this year. Should I stop there? Or should a power read straight on through and continue my Game of Thrones journey by immediately starting A Feast for Crows? Like I said, I’m not sure. I love the Martin books but often, when I finishing any book I like to mix things up and move onto a new book and/or new author. Plus these books are often over a thousand pages…It makes me feel exhausted just thinking about it.
Green Mars is another such book series. I read Red Mars when I was in college, so it has been years – years! – since I read it, but I still I remember lots of the detail about that book, which is always a clue to me that I really enjoyed reading it. That’s not to say that I couldn’t go back and read it again and realize that I missed or forgot a lot of things.
Mars Life by Ben Bova is yet another. I read the first two books – Mars and Return to Mars – years ago. More then that, however, is that these series of books are only a part of a broader arc of books known as The Grand Tour series of which there are Mercury, Venus, and Saturn just to name a few. Some of them I have read – and not in order – while still some are at home on my book shelf waiting to be read.
Finally, there are the Han Solo Adventures books by Brian Daily. While I realize that the books that came before Disney acquired the rights for Star Wars are now labeled as non-canon, that doesn’t mean the books aren’t still worth reading. And with the new movie coming out, what better way then to get hyped up by reading something from the Star Wars universe even if it isn’t relevant to the upcoming movie?
Hopefully there will be more books added to this list, and hopefully in the coming year I can do a better job and get off my ass and reading a little more. This could easily be accomplished by putting down my XBox one controller and picking up my Kindle instead. Small steps…small steps.
I’ve had Leviathan Wakes for a while, as well as some of its sequels, for a while. I held off starting the series, however, since there were (and still are) other science fiction series that I want to either start and/or finish. The fact that this is being made into a new series on the Syfy channel pushed me into reading at least the first book before the series begins. I’m assuming that this series will be a lot like A Game of Thrones in that each season will correspond to a single book, and in the case of Leviathan Wakes, I don’t see why it shouldn’t. The book is huge and covers a lot, and I still have a little more than one hundred pages left to go in the book. I do plan on reading its sequel, Caliban’s War, around this time next year before season two of The Expanse starts. Assuming there is a season two.
Now that I have finished reading The Martian (coming to a theater near you in October), I have moved onto reading Childhood’s End by Arthur C. Clarke.
I have been on a “read ’em before the movie/television show comes out” kick lately, hence The Martian and now Childhood’s End which is being made into a show and premiering on the Syfy channel this December. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have always had Childhood’s End in my library and have always wanted to read it, so the fact that it is being made into a television show isn’t the only reason why I’m reading it, but it has certainly lit a fire under my ass to get it read before the premier. Having said that, Foundation by Issac Asmiov is next on the list because that looks like it will be a T.V. show/series premiering sometime in the near future on HBO. After that will be Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey, since that is another show premiering on the Syfy channel this December. After that my schedule is open, but at the rate I read these next books will take me probably to the end of the year.
Just as a side not, I have also been reading a history book on Mark Anthony and Cleopatra which is very interesting so far, even though I am only fifty pages or so into the book. And I am also reading a how-to book on writing and revising and editing, the title escapes me no, but it’s not as boring as I thought it would be and I am actually enjoying it and the suggestions it is giving me to be a better writer. So there you have it!
What I would really like to do is get Jar Jar Abrams and the heads of Disney Corporation in a small room and tell them what worthless pieces of Bantha Fodder they are. Yeah, then I would like to tell them where they can shove their new movie. For real Star Wars fans, you know that the events that took place after Return of the Jedi and even before The Phantom Menace, and even everywhere in between, have all been scribbled out in details in numerous books, comics and even television series. But apparently the powers that be at Disney are considering that massive body of work null-and-void as they plan on re-writting the entire Star Wars universe. I took this to even mean Timothy Zahn‘s Heir to the Empire trilogy, which I have a special place for in my heart. So just so everybody knows there will now be two Star Wars universes – the real one that has been their since the beginning, and the new one that Jar Jar Adrams and his cronies wrote. But I’m not bitter.
There hasn’t been much to get excited about in regards to Hollywood, but for all that disappointment, cable sure seems to be picking up the slack. For example, I have always been one that has been critical of Hollywood‘s choice to do the remake or the comic book story, ignoring the hundreds, if not thousands, of science fiction books that are just waiting to be made into movies. The biggest such one of these books is probably The Foundation series, by Isaac Asimov. The Foundation series has long been revered as possibly the greatest science fiction story ever told, and yet no movie has ever been made of it. Apparently that is all about to change. But don’t look for The Foundation movie in theaters, instead look for it on HBO. That’s right, the channel that brought us Game of Thrones is adapting the books for a series/miniseries/movies. All the details are still unclear, but if done right this could be something truly amazing. After all, HBO has previously brought stories long thought to be impossible to make and made them and found gold.
So yes, it is happening, Ghostbusters III is scheduled to start filming this summer. But don’t look for Bill Murray, instead look for Melissa McCarthy and her all-female Ghostbusters. I’m not saying that it’s a mistake that this movie is going to feature an all women cast, I’m just saying don’t screw it up because given the history of this franchise and the opinions of the fans, this could either be a really great movie or a horrible bust. Given that I’m a big McCarthy fan, I hope it does well, but taking into account of how much I enjoyed the originals, it better be done right.
Seth Grahame-Smith seemed to come out of nowhere with the publication of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. Then a few years later Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter hit the shelves followed by a movie sometime later. I only bring this up because a few days ago I found myself sitting in a doctors office waiting for a family member with nothing but Hollywood Insiders and People magazines in front of me, not my usual reading. Trying to kill time, I picked up one of the magazines that seemed like it would hold at least a little interest to me and started to read. Close to the back was an interview with Seth Grahame-Smith and his “wishlist” of things he would like to do and/or accomplish in the near future. On that list was a re-make (or spinoff) of The Gremlins franchise (I don’t know about any of your out there, but I loved those movies when I was growing up), as well as making a Beetlejuice sequel. Last on the list is a big screen adaptation for Stephen King‘s IT, which out of all of them I am most excited to see happening. I have yet to read the book, but it has been one on the list for a while even though it is a beast to read weighing in at a thousand plus pages. When I dug a little deeper into the filming of IT I found out that filming begins this summer, so I guess it’s time to take that book off the shelf and start reading.
So, like many years in the past few, I fell far short of reaching my reading goal. At list this year I had somewhat of an excuse such as planning my own wedding. And it didn’t help that project after project was piled onto one another at work. But that’s life.
There are, however, some books that I am reading as the year ends that I am hoping I will get mostly finished, if not completely finished, before the year is done. I have been trying lately, and hope to continue into the next year, reading two or three books at a time, but all concerning different subject matters and genres. For example I am currently reading The Human Division by John Scalzi. Scalzi is by far one of my favorite authors to emerge from the world of science fiction in the past few years. Also, in order to try and jump start my writing and creative side, I am reading Outlining Your Novel by K. M. Weiland. And lastly, because I am a history buff I am reading The Plantagenets by Dan Jones.
I find if I read two science fiction book at the same time, or two history book, things can, and often do,
bleed together. At least this way, reading a science fiction/fantasy book; a history book, and a how-to book will keep things at least separated in terms of writing style. And also, I have never been one to pick up a book and read it all the way through before starting the next book. I have always had my fingers in more than one book at any given time.
Hopefully with the end of the year approaching I will have a little down time so I can at least finish one or two of these books before moving onto the next year, but with family and friends in town as well as get-togethers, it remains to be seen how much I will get done. In any event, I hope everybody has a merry Christmas!
It seems the last two months have been nothing but trailers, and to prove it here is another one.
If you have ever wondered what a movie that combined the first Terminator and the second Terminator would look like then wonder no more. I bring you Terminator: Genisys.
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