SFFKIT - March - Fortune and Glory!

Welcome to the March SFFKIT. This month is Indiana Jones month. In space, in fairyland, in our world, in an alt world. Wherever fortune hunters, diggers up of the past, searchers and seekers go to find artifacts, fortunes and, of course, glory.

https://www.librarything.com/tag/archaeology,+sff

Please remember to update the wiki: https://wiki.librarything.com/index.php/2021_SFFKIT#March:_-Indy_Jones_in_Space....

Oooh, I think I'll take Revenger off the shelf for this. Thanks for the link; I didn't think I had any books for this.

Hmm, on my To Read shelf I have City of Bones by Martha Wells, which sounds very much like Indiana Jones, lol: "a beautiful woman and a handsome thief will try to unravel the mysteries of an age-old technology".

I wonder what else I could dig up....

To Read shelf archaeology has also turned up The Labyrinth Gate by Alis A Rasmussen (Kate Elliott): "Before they can return home, Chryse and Sanjay must uncover a priceless treasure in a buried city...".

oh dear. I'm going to be hit with lots of BBs here.

I'll be reading Firebird by Jack McDevitt and ice Hunt by James Rollins

Interestingly, the tagmash in >1 majkia: turned up I Am a Dalek, by Gareth Roberts, a Doctor Who novel that my library has. I've placed a hold on it.

Oh! I see The City & the City (by China Miéville) on the list! I have only the vaguest idea that it’s about two peoples who live in the same place ignoring each other? It will be interesting to see how it fits in this challenge!

I think I'll read The Lie Tree for this. I've got a ton of James Rollins books that would fit, but they feel less fantasy/sci-fi.

I'm planning to reread Gideon the Ninth, which I listened to on audiobook last year. I liked it but found it hard to keep track of events in that format. After that I'm going to read Harrow the Ninth.

I am thinking of reading The Mermaid's Madness by Jim Hines. I read the first book in this fantasy adventure series last year and really enjoyed it.

A distinct possibility is The Trilisk Ruins by Michael McCloskey

>7 Tanya-dogearedcopy: I read The City & the city and cannot recommend it highly enough.
Though I don't remember how it fits with this theme but I'll look forwards to hear about it from you if you do read it.

Looking at the tagmash I spotted The bards of Bone Plain by Patricia. A. McKillip that seems quite interesting, so I may pick up that one.

I have these as possibilities; The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, Dictionary of the Khazars by Pavic, And The Essex Serpent.

>14 Kristelh: I read The Essex Serpent last month (as my January SFFKit challenge, to be exact!) and really, really liked it.

>15 threadnsong:, maybe I will have to read that one then, thanks!

How about...


Conan of Cimmeria by Robert E. Howard

??

Just a reminder that many of the books for this KIT will also work for this month's GenreCAT - Action & Adventure.

Conan of Cimmeria for example!

>18 leslie.98: :D

I'm just finishing a re-read of Captain Vorpatril's Alliance, which now that I think about it would totally count.

I just finished The Better Part of Valor which was a surprise in that it fits this challenge. It begins with a salvager finding a giant bright yellow spaceship just drifting in space. He claims the prize but then the military gets involved because it is close to the edge of Confederate space and there are aliens to worry about. Lots of fun with multiple alien species on the side of the angels, and a lot of unknowns about the enemy.

COMPLETED The Trilisk Ruins by Michael McCloskey

It fits this month's descriptor but then again it doesn't. The main human characters hope to make their fortune and win glory by smuggling alien artefacts, but the main interest lay in the first encounter story

I'm planning to finish up the Paradox trilogy with Heaven's Queen by Rachel Bach. So far there's been plenty of action and adventure and spaceships!

EDITED TO REMOVE COMMENT ABOUT Beau Geste

Ooops! I’m in the wrong place to be talking about Beau Geste! I keep getting confused between this challenge and the GenreCat challenge of Action/Adventure. I should have planned this one out more efficiently with a title that would have satisfied both challenges!

I am, however in the beginning chapters of The City & The City (by China Miéville) which is on the list for this kit— though to be honest it seems more like a police procedural than a thriller! I’ll have see how this plays out!

I read The Labyrinth Gate, by Alis Rasmussen (Kate Elliott), which was her first fantasy novel, published in 1988. This is definitely Indiana Jones in fantasyland as the story follows an alt-history/fantasy archaeological expedition complete with political baddies, an underground temple, and magical religious items on altars. 3.5*

Quote

"And in the center of the room, on a thin pillar of white stone, stood a cup, a golden chalice. It had no decoration whatsoever, but from it emanated a force that both attracted and repelled the eye."

The bards of Bone Plain by Patricia A. McKillip was an unexpected delight!
I had nver heard of McKillip and chose this book half at random for this challenge (still based on the reviews I read).

The story is about scholars trying to find the key to the links between language and magic, and two stories entertwine, linking the past and the present. It is very beautifully written and I'll certainly read other books by her in the future!

>25 spiralsheep: Oh, that sounds good!
>26 chlorine: Gah! Yet another book bullet.

>27 majkia: I'm glad The bards of Bone Plain caught your attention! I feel like advertising this book everywhere as I think it deserves more attention! :)

I have finished Revenger where ship crews go after "baubles" storing ancient and forgotten technology. It took me a while to settle in this universe, and about a third into the book it takes off in a completely different direction from the one I expected. I haven't mind up my mind yet if I truly buy the heroine's coldbloodedness.

Finished The Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge. It wasn't quite what I was expecting, but it did fit the challenge. Full review written!

Finished Ice Hunt by James Rollins. Rollicking good story. And a surprise of a prize!

I picked up Mastodonia by Clifford D. Simak for this month's topic. A teacher on sabbatical from a small university returns to his old town where he's bought a farm. A visitor from his own past arrives at the same time he uncovers the secret he's been searching for since he was a young lad. There's a way to travel through time but he'll need the help of the town's simpleton and a mysterious creature to accomplish the plans he and his new partner put together. First on the agenda: Hunting dinosaurs! What could go wrong?

I read The Lost World by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle which does fit the Fortune and Glory. This is an expedition to South America to a place where dinosaurs still live. The scientist do go for the glory of it all and some seek fortune as well. A companion read with Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton.

April's thread is up: https://www.librarything.com/topic/330569

>34 DeltaQueen50: thank you!

Whelp, I’m dropping The City and the City (by China Miéville). It doesn’t really seem to fit this challenge— in fact it seems quite the opposite! Instead of an “Indiana Jones” vibe, it feels more... early John LeCarré? Kafkaesque? Not sure; but it’s a police procedural set in a rather dismal future city/state of the Balkans. It’s not bad, I’m just not in the mood for it right now so I’ll re-stack it for another time.

Be sure to list your favorite SciFi books written by women authors here: https://www.librarything.com/list/42911/all/

Some of my favorites weren't listed, you might want to add yours!

This book isn't exactly a fit for this KIT but I have finished Morning Star and the previous 2 books in Brown's series. Darrow isn't hunting for fortune & glory but they tend to find him (along with plenty of hurt)...

I just completed The Mermaid's Madness by Jim C. Hines. Based on "The Little Mermaid", this darker version has Cinderella, Snow White and Sleeping Beauty on a quest to hunt down the mermaid who went mad after being used and abused by her Prince.

>38 leslie.98: Really enjoyable series!

>26 chlorine: I soooo love Patricia A. McKillip and I'm glad you found this work! Now to see if I have it on my shelves . . .
>39 DeltaQueen50: This sounds truly fantastic. Will have to add to my Wishlist.

>26 chlorine: I'm glad to know her other books are good also! Do you have recommendations?

>42 chlorine: Her early works are The Riddle Master of Hed series and The Forgotten Beasts of Eld. I think those were the two I read and re-read for years without really venturing into anything new because how could anything else measure up??

They do. I have read and can recommend Winter Rose as a re-telling of the Tam-Lin story (in a very interesting way), and The Book of Atrix Wolfe and The Tower at Stony Wood are also marvelous.

Enjoy discovering this amazing author!

>43 threadnsong: Patricia A. McKillip is an author who has been on my wishlist for ages. Thanks for this overview of her work!

>44 MissBrangwen: You're most welcome!

I read Revenger by Alastair Reynolds for March's Fortune and Glory. It's been on my TBR for awhile but finally got it read when I saw it noted here (and it's already in the wiki). Haven't got around to reading the rest of the trilogy yet, but maybe for April's series.😁

>43 threadnsong: Thank you so much for the recommendations! It looks like I have many good books waiting ! :)