May 2011 Reading Thread

[lady narcissa]

I really thought a line like "he touched the perfect stubble on his perfect jaw with his perfect hand" was untoppable. I mean, I don't even have the first clue how to actually parody that.

Oh no it gets much better. Just wait till you get to the one where the Higlander hero has been slumbering in a cave for 500 years under a curse...which is only broken when the heroine falls through a hole and crashes down on top of him, cuts herself and bleeds, and exposes him to sunshine. (Blood and sunshine were required to break the curse.) (This is not really a spoiler for the novel.)

[Grack21]

I'm trying to read Sidebottoms Fire in the East, and the action scenes are TOP NOTCH, but there's some blatant homophobia that cropped up a few times that I find kind of off putting, Sure the main character is a barbarian from Germany, and might have those views, ok, but I'm pretty sure everyone in Rome in 200AD or so didn't think that way. Also the author has a disturbing tendency to describe all the female characters by breast size. Don't know if I want to continue reading this one...

[williamjm]

I'm about half way through The Cryptonomicon. It's been a great read so far, although I find the WW2-era portions (particularly the bits with Sergeant Bobby Shaftoe) more interesting than the 1990s Internet Start-up portions, and not just because the WW2 bits have more explosions.

Theres three more books, and a fifth to be published, apparently, but i'm having a hard time figuring out how stand alone any of them are from the internets without getting spoilered. The fourth one is a prequel, so i'm assuming the first three at least make a coherent (and already published) trilogy.

The two sequels to The Year of Our War do build on some of the plot points and character development in the first novel, but they're still largely stand-alone stories. I enjoyed the first book a lot although it does have some flaws - I seem to remember the ending feeling a bit rushed.

[murphy]

I've also been reading, for a value of reading that means 'skimming between sex scenes' a couple of bodice ripper type romance novels ('Beyond the Highland Mist', which has our heroine time travelling to 16th c Scotland, and the most risible alpha-male hero i've ever read, and 'Love Slave to the Sheikh', which despite the preposterous title is actually set in Australia and includes one tame mention of utterly vanilla bondage.) For the sake of research into my increasingly involved 'Highland Sheikh' parody. I need to find a book with an actual Sheikh with actual harem girls - the romance novel 'sheikh' category seems to feature mainly 'glamorous' oil tycoons living in Europe with a thing for horses. Don't tell anyone the 80's are over!

For books about the sheik, you need to read the original:

http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/h/e-m-hull/sheik.htm

Women fainted in the aisles when Rudolph Valentino played this part.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I really enjoyed Wintertide by Michael J. Sullivan and disappointed that I have to wait until Jan 2012 to read the last book of the Riyria Revelations series.

The Shelters of Stone by Jean M. Auel is next. So shoot me....

Edit: spelling

[Grack21]

I really enjoyed Wintertide by Michael J. Sullivan and disappointed that I have to wait until Jan 2012 to read the last book of the Riyria Revalations series.

The Shelters of Stone by Jean m. Auel is next. So shoot me....

Hey don't fell bad, I;m about to catch up on my Star Wars Novels :P

[SkynJay]

Hey don't fell bad, I;m about to catch up on my Star Wars Novels :P

I just recently finished Allegiance, by Zahn. Hated it, and I love Zahn, both in Star Wars and his other stuff. Scraping the barrel now, man, leave it for a while.

And I have kept up with all the post empire books myself, up to Vortex. As always, glad there are at least two of us on this board :thumbsup:

[Grack21]

I just recently finished Allegiance, by Zahn. Hated it, and I love Zahn, both in Star Wars and his other stuff. Scraping the barrel now, man, leave it for a while.

And I have kept up with all the post empire books myself, up to Vortex. As always, glad there are at least two of us on this board :thumbsup:

He's got a sequel to Allegiance coming out in June I think. I haven't gotten to it yet, it's been sitting here on the Grack needs mind candy pile for a while. I just try to keep up with the post empire stuff, like you said, cause well, I'm a giant Star Wars nerd.

[Greg]

I just completed the ASOIAF re-listen I started when GRRM gave us a firm ADWD publication date.

I am currently reading Paul Fussell's Wartime, John Keegan's A History of Warfare, and E.B. Sledge's With the Old Breed:At Peleliu and Okinawa.

[TheEvilKing]

Have you tried Harlan Ellison?

No, who dat? Do tell.

Meanwhile I have begun reading Inside Straight, the first Wild Cards novel edited by GRRM. Promises to be a fun read.

[beniowa]

I haven't posted for a while so I have a few books to talk about.

First up is The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington. Enterprise fixes the pacing problems that tripped up Brothers Grossbart making for a more seamless narrative. Also, the main characters are not nearly as despicable, though they do suffer from some other characterization problems. It was a good story. I figure if you liked Bullington's first book, you'll like this one too.

After that I read Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch. I had pre-ordered this one from BD.com, but they seem to be suffering some supply problems so I broke down and bought the American version. I'm glad I did because I loved it every bit as much as Rivers of London. If Aaronovitch can maintain the quality, he ought to become a big name in SFF.

Finally, I read Catherynne Valente's new book, Deathless. Her latest is set in Russia prior to and during WW2 and takes a very intimate and dark look at a Russian fairy tale. Although they were good, Palimpsest and Habitation of the Blessed didn't grab me that much. I felt Deathless was probably Valente's strongest work since The Orphan's Tales.

I'm now trying a historical mystery called The Alehouse Murders by Maureen Ash.

[Lummel]

Mainly been reading non-fiction lately. Finished rereading An Imperial Possession about Britain in the Roman Empire by David Mattingly - it's not overwhelmingly optimistic and upbeat about what it was like in Roman Britain and quite plain about the massive impact of the army and the disconnect between the continuation of pre-Roman ways and romanised zones along side each other. Also reread Death in Hamburg about the impact of cholera epidemics on 19th century Hamburg by R J Evans, its story of a political system dominated by the wealthy holding off on raising money to spend on public health preferring to stress the need for self discipline on the part of the poor instead continues to seem oddly contemporary, can't think why. Good books with plenty to mull over.

On the fiction side I read Warriors I, the first volume in paperback of the anthology edited by GRRM. Apart from the Dunk and Egg story and the GRRM introduction to the collection I was underwhelmed. All of the stories were well enough written and I liked the set up of the Robert Silverberg story in particular, but in my mind a good short story needs a punchline, some kind of twist or sudden realisation that changes the way I think or leads me to engage more deeply with what I've just read and I missed that in these stories. On the other hand a mere five british pounds for a Dunk and Egg story that I read twice in two days seems a very equitable exchange.

[RedEyedGhost]

After that I read Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch. I had pre-ordered this one from BD.com, but they seem to be suffering some supply problems so I broke down and bought the American version. I'm glad I did because I loved it every bit as much as Rivers of London. If Aaronovitch can maintain the quality, he ought to become a big name in SFF.

I emailed them about the hardcover, because (just like the first book) I would sign up for the notification of when it was in stock, I would get the email, and even if I went to the site immediately it would still be listed as unavailable.

They said they can't sell that version here because there is a competing US version (I can try and dig up the actual email on my computer, but it's been deleted off my phone). Yet they still sell it on abebooks.com at a marked up price to US customers (I know because that's how I got the first book). It's very frustrating, as the UK covers are so much nicer than the US covers. I think another book in my wishlist on that site looks to have the same issue, but I can't recall which one at the moment.

[kcf]

I'm still trying to keep up and doing OK with it. I read Embassytown by China Mieville a couple of months ago, but just posted my review of it. I've also read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan but still need to write up reviews for them. I'm currently reading Hounded by Keven Hearne (UF set in Arizona, where I live) and am enjoying it so far.

[murphy]

I'm still trying to keep up and doing OK with it. I read Embassytown by China Mieville a couple of months ago, but just posted my review of it. I've also read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan but still need to write up reviews for them. I'm currently reading Hounded by Keven Hearne (UF set in Arizona, where I live) and am enjoying it so far.

Just ordered that yesterday, along with one of the two followups---Hexed, which will be released June 7, followed up by Hammered on July 5.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Finished Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. Fun satire as usual. Lords and Ladies remains my favourite Discworld so far though.

[pat5150]

With GRRM's ADWD coming out in a few short weeks, I finally read A Feast for Crows! The worse ASOIAF volume, to be sure, but not as bad as many made it sound to be.

Check out the blog for the full review. :)

Patrick

[SkynJay]

Finished Guards! Guards! By Terry Pratchett. Fun satire as usual. Lords and Ladies remains my favourite Discworld so far though.

Are you going in order, meaning this is the first Vimes book you read?

[beniowa]

I emailed them about the hardcover, because (just like the first book) I would sign up for the notification of when it was in stock, I would get the email, and even if I went to the site immediately it would still be listed as unavailable.

They said they can't sell that version here because there is a competing US version (I can try and dig up the actual email on my computer, but it's been deleted off my phone). Yet they still sell it on abebooks.com at a marked up price to US customers (I know because that's how I got the first book). It's very frustrating, as the UK covers are so much nicer than the US covers. I think another book in my wishlist on that site looks to have the same issue, but I can't recall which one at the moment.

That doesn't make much sense as I had already paid for it! What the heck? Well, I'm not paying for a third copy.

Anyway, thanks REG.

[palin99999]

Finished:

The Wise Man's Fear - 7/10 - I liked the first half but once it got to

Felurian

I felt the quality of the story worsened. Also I don't think I've wished for the death of character more than

Denna. With her gone some of problems with the series would end.

Starting:

The Ice Dragon by GRRM

Snitch Jacket by Christopher Goffard