December Reading Thread

[Darth Richard II]

Tarkin. Stupid Apple. And yeah it's mostly his own, and it's mostly pre prequel.

[Gormenghast]

Sometimes it happens I finish a book. This time is The Magus by John Fowles.

Blog business as usual:

http://loopingworld.com/2014/12/15/the-magus-john-fowles/

Now back to Malazan 6, Stormlight 2, Horus 1. Added to the immediate queue: Waveworld by Clive Barker.

Then it's time for Morgan 2, then Bakker 3.

[williamjm]

I've read most of Peter F. Hamilton's The Abyss Beyond Dreams. It's been reasonably good but I'd say not Hamilton's best and parts of it feel a bit too reminiscent of parts of the Void Trilogy which had similar plot points but did them better. I was amused because I had a Facebook conversation with a friend who was reading Great North Road and said she was pleasantly surprised by Hamilton's female characters in it because she'd previously been irritated in Hamilton's by what she described as "the vacuous shallowness of his female characters - all young, all petite, all fiercely independent except for that ONE male in their life they turn to for guidance." While I think it's unfair to described all of his female characters that way, it did amuse that I read her complaint immediately after the book introduced a character who is perfectly described by that summary. I've temporarily paused because Hamilton's hardbacks aren't particularly portable and I didn't feel like carrying it on a 7.5 hour train journey.

Instead I've read about half of Andy Weir's The Martian today. It's a fun read and I like the puzzle of how to survive so long alone on Mars. The writing works OK for the bits written in the main character's logs but struggles a bit with the third-person scenes showing the characters back on Earth trying to help him, Weir's dialogue is clunky enough that I think it's perhaps a good thing most of the book focuses on a character whose nearest human contact is on another planet.

[Tellus Explorer]

Have you read the Hyperion saga yet?

I have not, no

[End of Disc One]

If they're not canon that means they didn't actually happen. Who has time for fiction

[RedEyedGhost]

then what do you suggest for my sci/fi fantasy fix to kick off the new year?

The Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold.

If they're not canon that means they didn't actually happen. Who has time for fiction

:D

[Joey Crows]

Just finished the "Century Trilogy" by Ken Follett. The first book is "Fall of Giants" and it focuses on four families, one English, one Welsh, one American, and one Russian during the events leading up to and during WWI. The second book, "Winter of the World" picks up with those same four families in the years just before and during WWII. The final book, "Edge of Eternity" continues to discuss the four families in the 1960's mostly, dealing with civil rights, the space race, etc.

Really good read for those interested in Historical Fiction.

[Darth Richard II]

If they're not canon that means they didn't actually happen. Who has time for fiction

I just shot Dew out my nose.

They certainly aren't holding back on the publishing front. Local B&N has the re-branded "Legends" books up the wazoo. Even some of the really shitty one's you'd wish would go away.

[Buckwheat]

Finished The Golden Fool last night. I am liking Robin Hobb more and more. I am very eager to read Fool's Fate when I get my hands on it.

Though, am I the only one who feels that the those books have increasingly little to do with their content? The book was still Fitz-oriented (before I started reading the series, I assumed it was going to be narrated by the Fool, as he is the "Tawny Man" and each of the titles mentions the Fool) and Lord Golden did not play such a prominent role in it. But then, nothing did in the sense that it does not have only one important plot, but several (most importantly the Outislanders and the Witted), so well, whatever. Still a very enjoyable novel.

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished Thicker Than Water by Mike Carey today, and damn was it ever fantastic. Although, most of the mysteries in this one were much more apparent than in the previous books. The big reveal was excellent though.

I've read the first 10 pages of Red Rising by Pierce Brown... but all I really want to do is pick up The Naming of the Beasts but I'm worried that it will be too open ended.

@peterbound: Is there any closure at the end of The Naming of the Beasts or am I going to be left wanting?

[Stubby]

I've been reading Joe Hill.

Started with Horns, went on to Heart Shaped Box and I'm currently on NOS4R2. Horns is my favourite of the three so far.

Hill has inherited some attributes of his illustrious father's style: writing the mundane and making it interesting; going into detail about minor characters and running with music themes and pop culture references. All of this adds to the realism IMO.

[Starkess]

Finished Siege and Storm. Bit of a book 2 syndrome, particularly in regards to the romance storyline. It played out pretty much exactly how I figured it would at the end of book 1--after all, no one gets a HEA 1/3 of the way through a trilogy. So the reader has to suffer through cliched teenage relationship drama. Not to mention a huge portion of the book where basically nothing happens and the few things that do happen end up being irrelevant. Anyway, it was still a fun read. I'm finishing up the series with Ruin and Rising now.

[A True Kaniggit]

Finished The Last Full Measure. Now for To the Last Man. I always thought these were Shaara''s best. I never could really get into his WWII novels.

[TheRevanchist]

Oh come on. It's a bit annoying that they've been declared non-canon, but that doesn't mean the good ones aren't good.

Although I certainly wouldn't recommend reading all of them, or even most of them tbh.

Well, the story of the new movie will contradict them. It will be like reading ASOIAF after you watched Game of Thrones, but most of the things are completely different.

Anyway, if someone wants to read them then I would recommend: The Old Republic books (Revan, Fatal Alliance, Deception etc) if they are fans of Kotor/SWTOR; Darth Bane trilogy; Darth Plagueis novel, Kenobi novel; Labyrinth of Evil (not that great but ties some things); novelizations of the movies; novelizations of The Force Unleashed games (if played the games); Thrawn Trilogy (by far the best one). Hand of Thrawn dualogy cannot recommend because it isn't that great and also for the de-canonization reasons. The other either happened before the movies, between the movies or in Thrawn Trilogy (a bit after the movies) so the decanonization won't affect them that much.

What does them being decanonised have to do with anything? If they are good books (I genuinely have no idea, I've never read them) then I see no reason not to read them whether they are canon or not.

Well, it is quite annoying reading 30 books with Jacen, Jaina and Ben but then when you watch the next movie you see that they didn't exist but instead there was a Nomi Sunrider Skywalker or something like that. At-least for me.

[First of My Name]

Well, the story of the new movie will contradict them. It will be like reading ASOIAF after you watched Game of Thrones, but most of the things are completely different.

Anyway, if someone wants to read them then I would recommend: The Old Republic books (Revan, Fatal Alliance, Deception etc) if they are fans of Kotor/SWTOR; Darth Bane trilogy; Darth Plagueis novel, Kenobi novel; Labyrinth of Evil (not that great but ties some things); novelizations of the movies; novelizations of The Force Unleashed games (if played the games); Thrawn Trilogy (by far the best one). Hand of Thrawn dualogy cannot recommend because it isn't that great and also for the de-canonization reasons. The other either happened before the movies, between the movies or in Thrawn Trilogy (a bit after the movies) so the decanonization won't affect them that much.

Deception should be 'Deceived'.

The two Force Unleashed books aren't anything special IMO, particularly the first one.

Why can the Thrawn Trilogy be recommended but not the Hand of Thrawn? They're both going to be completely overwritten by the new movies.

Otherwise I agree. I'd add the X-Wing and Republic Commando if you're a fan of military SF.

[End of Disc One]

I liked Hand of Thrawn more than the trilogy. Vision of the Future is by far by favorite Zahn SW book.

[deleted01]

I've been reading Joe Hill.

Started with Horns, went on to Heart Shaped Box and I'm currently on NOS4R2. Horns is my favourite of the three so far.

Hill has inherited some attributes of his illustrious father's style: writing the mundane and making it interesting; going into detail about minor characters and running with music themes and pop culture references. All of this adds to the realism IMO.

I read all three this year too, and Horns is definitely my favourite, followed closely by NOS4R2. The film adaptation of Horns wasn't great, but Daniel Radcliffe still rocked.

[Darth Richard II]

The first Thrawn trilogy was written specifically to not interfere with episodes 7-9 if they were ever produced. Not sure how much that still holds up.

[First of My Name]

The first Thrawn trilogy was written specifically to not interfere with episodes 7-9 if they were ever produced. Not sure how much that still holds up.

Really? But so many big things happen... Han and Leia are married and have twins, there's a New Republic... I can't see how it could possibly not interfere, if the sequel trilogy tells a different story.

Also, weren't they stated to be the official continaution of the story?

[aceluby]

I have not, no

If you're looking for a SciFi fix I couldn't recommend anything better.