Ser Barry Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I finished Steven Saylor's Catilina's Riddle on January 31. It's the third novel in his mystery series set in ancient Rome, where the detective is called Gordianus the Finder. Saylor seems to me to get better in terms of characterization and his presentation of Roman history as the series progresses. This book was especially good at giving one an idea of the relationship between slaves and masters in ancient Rome. I would recommend the book to anyone who likes "historical mysteries." I still think that Saylor (who got his start as an author of gay pornography) has Gordianus paying entirely too much attention to the physical looks of other men (and too little to that of the female characters) to be convincing as a heterosexual, but as a gay man myself I find that fault in characterization amusing rather than off-putting. :)I just finished Roma, his book following one family (sort of) from 1000BC to the reign of Augustus. It is a collection of a dozen or so short stories really which are linked by Basil Exposition. A weird cross between a text book and a novel which kind of works. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I love Vorkosigan but this is probably the weakest of her compilation volumes. Worth reading but I hope you're reading the others - all of which are free on line as of Nov. 2010 (one novel, Memory, is not available). RobI have read the books earlier in the series than these (if you don't count Falling Free as part of the Vorkosigan series).And personally I cannot imagine ever wanting to read an entire novel online, free or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 Finished The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. Good fun as always. Violence,humour,lust and the invention of the cheese sandwich all add up to undemanding and enjoyable read. And Whirrun is an excellent comic character in the mould of the mad Irishman from Braveheart. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 A little while back I finished Abercrombie's The Heroes, which was very good. I had initially rated Best Served Cold very highly, but revised my opinion over time. I liked The Heroes a bit more.Last night I finished Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, which was also very good. Quite impressive for a debut novel. I looked up the sequel book and apparently it's coming out in only a month or two. I'm looking forward to reading more!Next up will probably be The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
murphy Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 A little while back I finished Abercrombie's The Heroes, which was very good. I had initially rated Best Served Cold very highly, but revised my opinion over time. I liked The Heroes a bit more.Last night I finished Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch, which was also very good. Quite impressive for a debut novel. I looked up the sequel book and apparently it's coming out in only a month or two. I'm looking forward to reading more!Next up will probably be The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon.Aaronovitch has done a bit of writing before:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_AaronovitchMy copy of Rivers of London/Midnight Riot should arrive today. In the meantime, I'm on a Georgette Heyers kick and going through her books like mad. Most of them are very good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kcf Posted February 4, 2011 Share Posted February 4, 2011 I'm slowly but surely getting caught up with reading and reviewing. I posted my review of Antiphon by Ken Scholes and my review of The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie this week. I still have reviews to write for Dark Griffin by K.J. Taylor, The Fallen Blade by Jon Courtenay Grimwood, Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss, and Never Knew Another by J.M. McDermott.I'm currently reading Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Aaronovitch has done a bit of writing before:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_AaronovitchI don't count television or tie-in novelizations. :PBut I take your point, murphy. It's still a very good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 KJ Paker's The Folding Knife, which is excellent. Next up is probably Leviathan Wakes.I'm extremely jealous. About 40 pages from the end of Blood Meridian. Took me a bit longer than I expected to read, and i also got sidetracked by work/school but I still like it. Hawkwood and the kings is on deck. Can't wait to dive in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I caved and bought The Price of Spring. Going to start it today! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I finished the final book of Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series, Victory Conditions. It felt a bit rushed, but I still enjoyed the series overall and would like to read similar sci-fi novels in the future.I'll start the first book of the Coldfire trilogy, Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman today. Never read it before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
palin99999 Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 Finished:Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes - 7.8/10Starting:Brayan's Gold by Peter V. BrettThe Silent Land by Graham Joyce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stone-Made-Soft Posted February 5, 2011 Share Posted February 5, 2011 I haven't been reading as much as I would like because of school and work. I just read Runaways vol. 4: True Believers, Runaways vol. 5: Escape to New York, Runaways vol. 6: Parental Guidance, Runaways vol. 7: Live Fast, and Runaways vol. 8: Dead End Kids. I'm not yet a fan of Whedon's Runaways. Hopefully, it'll improve. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Biter Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Working on both Matterhorn (by Karl Marlantes) and All Quiet On The Western Front (by.... erm that German guy whose name I can't remember). I'm only a little bit into Matterhorn so far, but it seems good. AQOTWF is very good, some translation issues, but most of the time the writing really shines through.Erich Maria Remarque, and I believe I had a similar opinion on the book in question when I read it a few years ago.I'm following Enduring Love, which I really liked, with another McEwan book - On Chesil Beach. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMRobM Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I have read the books earlier in the series than these (if you don't count Falling Free as part of the Vorkosigan series).And personally I cannot imagine ever wanting to read an entire novel online, free or not.The online option includes the ability to download to various reading devices. I believe my brother is reading them now on his new Nook device. So if you have a Kindle or somesuch, you'd be all set. Or just get them in hard copy. Just get them somehow. For me, I have no problem selecting the read in html option and getting a full screen version of the Vorkosigan books. They are not excessively long and I have comfy chairs in front of my computers at work and home. Note that I'm very fond of the next compilation volume - Miles Errant - which has the very strong and exceedingly clever novella Borders of Infinity; the novel Brothers in Arms, which delivers a fascinating new element to the Vorkosiverse; and Mirror Dance, which ties for my favorite tale in the entire series. The next volume, which is not on line at all, is Memory, and it is my co-favorite with Mirror Dance. So you're heading for a string of very good volumes in the tale. In fact, as Bujold got better the more she got into the series, all of the remaining books after Memory are great - note the order, please, as the compilation volumes are not in proper order: Komarr, A Civil Campaign, Winterfair Gifts (novella)[all in Miles in Love], Diplomatic Immunity [in Miles, Mutants and Microbes] and Cryoburn.Rob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobMRobM Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm early in Simmons' Olympos and will move on from there to Stephenson's Anathem, which I just picked up yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Finished Hellblazer:All His Engines by Mike Carey. Pretty light compared to previous Constantines but the idea of minature hells as franchises is an amusingly cynical one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellis Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 Nausea by Jean-Paul Sartre and a collection of plays (No Exit, The Flies, Dirty Hands). It's brilliant, but I need something that makes me a little less likely to kill myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YellowDogJen Posted February 6, 2011 Share Posted February 6, 2011 I'm reading Kraken right now, 176 pages in and loving it so far. I hope it doesn't take me as long to read it as it did to read Iron Council!I have some other books to read, but I am really tempted to get The Heroes - I just can't decide if I want it on my Kindle or if I want the actual book (I love Abercrombie covers - they're so cool, but I love reading on my Kindle! Decisions, decisions!)I would like to read The Price of Spring (is that right? The last book of the Long Price Quartet) but it's soooo expensive!I would also love to get The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding. I really liked Retribution Falls! But sadly, it's not available in the US on Kindle.Well, I dunno. I've got The Way of Kings sitting up on my shelf, and it's giving me dirty looks! It's such a ponderous looking tome, though - I hesitate to start it!Again, decisions, decisions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Screaming Turkey Reborn Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 I bought Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates today. I'm About 100 pages through and it's pretty depressing right from the beginning. Good read though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted February 7, 2011 Share Posted February 7, 2011 Re-reading my collection of "No 1 Ladies Detective Agency" novels. Makes for lovely winter reading to sink into a warm world of bush tea, tiny white vans, cheerful ladies and the old Botswana ways. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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