Peadar Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I have started Adrian Tchaikovsky's Children of Time. Good so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Wun Wun Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I just started Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. Self-published, which I don't usually read. The premise also seemed very Wheel of Time-esque, which I wasn't in the mood for. I only decided to give it a shot because of the number of Amazon reviews (4.8 out of 5, ~100 reviews) it's gotten despite only being out a month, from a new author no less. Reminded me of what happened with Bloodsong years ago, and I loved that book. Only 200 pages in, but I like what I've seen so far. He caught me off guard with some plot developments already...not quite as "light" a fantasy as I was expecting. Despite being self-published, it's polished like a traditional release. No spelling errors, has maps, etc. Even some illustrations of key scenes. A lot of this the author did himself according to his blog. You can tell he put a lot of effort into this. Based on the first 1/3 of the book, I would recommend it. I reserve the right to reverse that if the last 2/3's suck though. I shall know soon enough, I'm really barreling through this one :drool: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 I'm about halfway through David Mitchell's The Bone Clocks now. I think I have mixed feelings about it so far, the writing is very good and the characters still manage to be interesting even if they're not very likeable but the plot often isn't that compelling, the mundane parts of the book are a bit bland and the fantasy elements not explained enough to be interesting. So far I think it's falling quite a long way short of Cloud Atlas (although I did like the little references to his previous book) Finished up with Last Argument of Kings, which I enjoyed. I agree, it did tie the whole thing together nicely - did an overall decent job finding a good balance of action and drama. Despite my personal reservations about character development etc, I enjoyed the ending for the most part. It felt... open. I don't know how closely the stand-alone books and subsequent trilogy are linked to the First Law trilogy, though.The three stand-alones aren't direct continuations of the plot and they follow new POV characters, although in a few cases the POV characters in the standalones were minor characters in the First Law books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted June 5, 2015 Share Posted June 5, 2015 Finished up with Last Argument of Kings, which I enjoyed. I agree, it did tie the whole thing together nicely - did an overall decent job finding a good balance of action and drama. Despite my personal reservations about character development etc, I enjoyed the ending for the most part. It felt... open. I don't know how closely the stand-alone books and subsequent trilogy are linked to the First Law trilogy, though. Next up, Around the World in Eighty Days, by Jules Verne.I'm not entirely sure, but the subsequent trilogy (which isn't actually out yet btw) is sometime after First Law. I can't remember exactly how long, but I seem to recall someone saying most if not all the main characters should be very old or dead by then. But again, I could be wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushroomshirt Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Finished Lies of Locke Lamora last night and it finished as well as it started. Just great from beginning to end. I just started this too. So far so good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teng Ai Hui Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I've been moving through the Vorkosigan Saga lately -- Barrayar, Warrior's Apprentice, and the novella The Mountains of Mourning. Now, I need a bit of a break before jumping into the next Miles book. I'm probably going to read Nemesis Games. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drogon's Personal Trainer Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Have finished 'The Narrow Road to the Deep North'. Another poster here mentioned a couple of coincidences that he felt were a bit much and I agree with that, yet my overall experience of this book is one that will stay with me for a long time. However, I came away from the book needing something uplifting to take my mind off the horrors, so I have started Susannah Clarke's 'Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell', which so far is an absolute joy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garett Hornwood Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 I finished Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow last night. I very much enjoyed it as I did Chernow's biography of Alexander Hamilton that I read about five years ago now. I'm starting We Don't Need Road by Caseen Gaines, it is about the making of the Back to the Future movie trilogy which I loved growing up in the 90s. I received an advance copy of the book through LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aceluby Posted June 6, 2015 Share Posted June 6, 2015 Just finished An Autumn War. Again, I feel like I should like this series more than I am. Starting The Price of Spring to finish out the series now. After that it's either some Homer or pick up something new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winter Queen Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Just finished The Girl on the Train, a little disappointed after all the hype of it being as good as Gone Girl. Reading Queen of the Tearling now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frey Filet Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 Still working on Best Served Cold, although I am finally approaching the end. I feel about it much as I did about The First Law trilogy--it just feels kind of hollow. Like there should be something more to the story, but it's just a bunch of window dressing hanging on nothing. I find myself reading whole pages and not knowing what I just read and having to go back and re-read. I got like three pages into a chapter the other day and realized I had no idea whose POV I was in and where it was taking place. But the writing is good, sometimes interesting things happen, and I'm not one to abandon a book at three quarters. Still, I think it will be mostly a relief when I finally finish it and can move on to something else. Couldn't agree more...something is missing in Abercrombie's works, but I can't quite put a finger on it (his poking fun at typical fantasy tropes aside). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 This weekend I've finished up The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell. Really enjoyed it, as I've come to eexpect. I thought the battle/shiepd wall stuff was particularly well done, and I've become somewhat fond.of Uhtred. Taking a bit of a break before the next book though, as I feel the books could become.quite repetitive if I read too much of them.After checking out the reworked.fairy tales thread on the forum, I decided to read Snow, Glass, Apples by Neil Gaiman. It was a short, creepy, very good play. Was my. Forst time reading Gaiman's stuff, but I've got.some.other stuff on.the waiting list to read, includimg Neverwhere and American Gods.Now I am going to start The Night Lands Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drogon's Personal Trainer Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 This weekend I've finished up The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell. Really enjoyed it, as I've come to eexpect. I thought the battle/shiepd wall stuff was particularly well done, and I've become somewhat fond.of Uhtred. Taking a bit of a break before the next book though, as I feel the books could become.quite repetitive if I read too much of them. Be warned - they do! I really enjoyed the first couple, but each book is the same formula over and over again. They're nice easy reads though, and pass the time. There's certainly a lot worse stuff out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted June 7, 2015 Share Posted June 7, 2015 I found The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell absolutely amazing. I'll be thinking about that one for a while.Now reading a historical fiction by Fiona McIntosh, Nightengale. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farseer2 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I just started Dawn of Wonder by Jonathan Renshaw. Self-published, which I don't usually read. The premise also seemed very Wheel of Time-esque, which I wasn't in the mood for. I only decided to give it a shot because of the number of Amazon reviews (4.8 out of 5, ~100 reviews) it's gotten despite only being out a month, from a new author no less. Reminded me of what happened with Bloodsong years ago, and I loved that book. Only 200 pages in, but I like what I've seen so far. He caught me off guard with some plot developments already...not quite as "light" a fantasy as I was expecting. Despite being self-published, it's polished like a traditional release. No spelling errors, has maps, etc. Even some illustrations of key scenes. A lot of this the author did himself according to his blog. You can tell he put a lot of effort into this. I'm also reading this one. Like you, I read few self-published novels, but I had seen some very enthusiastic reviews from sources I trust, and I wanted to give it a try. I'm very glad I did. It has the feel of traditional fantasy but well-written and with modern sensitivities. A very polished release, as you say, better than most books I read in the same genre from traditional publishers. The characters are compelling and I have found it very easy to get invested in the story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Wun Wun Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I'm also reading this one. Like you, I read few self-published novels, but I had seen some very enthusiastic reviews from sources I trust, and I wanted to give it a try. I'm very glad I did. It has the feel of traditional fantasy but well-written and with modern sensitivities. A very polished release, as you say, better than most books I read in the same genre from traditional publishers. The characters are compelling and I have found it very easy to get invested in the story. I just finished it this morning. I definitely maintain my recommendation for it, this was a great read. The author claims to have already completed the 2nd book's first draft, so it should be out next year. Hopefully this series will have a yearly release schedule. I really can't pin down an apt comparison to any one fantasy novel for this one. There was a little Wheel of Time to it. A little Harry Potter. A little Bloodsong and a little Name of the Wind. All great comparisons obviously. Based on the speed with which this one is racking up Amazon reviews, I think the author has a hit on his hands. He won't be self-publishing for much longer I expect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 In the last week I read Robert Harris' "The Ghost" which was not bad but not nearly up to Fatherland or Enigma (I think, I am going to try his Roman series next, I friend of mine liked them). Also a book with a bunch or Viking sagas my brother gave me. This was a German translation in a rather confusing edition, apparently leaving out quite a bit and not really explaining necessary background. Still quite interesting. 10th century Iceland was an extremely violent society and although they had a kind of basic democratic general assembly (althingi) this of course did not preclude prolonged family feuds. The idea that with a monetary compensation (100 pieces of silver for a free man, 12 or so for a thrall) those blood feuds could be stopped or prevented apparently did not work all that well. Despite receiving the payments and shaking hands one side still held to their grudge and tried to kill one from the other side if the opportunity came. Rinse and repeat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 I found The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell absolutely amazing. I'll be thinking about that one for a while. I hate myself for doing this, but to be true to my principles: Do not trust Gladwell, he writes well-crafted fiction with no basis in anything resembling scientific fact or method. Gladwell writes like an angel, but just try to resist the temptation of thinking that you learned something. You didn’t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seasick Shrimp Posted June 8, 2015 Share Posted June 8, 2015 Just finished The Martian, and it was SO good, such a nail-biting story where the author has thought of every little detail. A great read that I just simply couldn't put down. Amazing! Best read for me so far this year, and I recommend it to everyone who likes stories set in space without them being too unrealistic and sci-fi-ish. Now, on to A heart-shaped box, by Joe hill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 Might there have been a movie where they use a balloon during the 80 days? It never was in the book (and would not make much sense, because slow and unreliable), but I also have the association.And I did read "Five weeks in a balloon", too, as a kid, so I do not think I am confused. (There is a movie based on that one as well). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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