215 replies to this topic

[Grack21]

I gotcha.

[DanielAbraham]

Might break your heart because it sucks so bad. I mean, clearly I don't think so.  But you never know.

[Starkess]

Picked up Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett for a quick read. Love me some TP.

[RedEyedGhost]

Arbur Goldarelli, on 28 February 2012 - 03:39 PM, said:

I don't know how it will make me feel.  I haven't read it yet.  I dislike being told how I'm going to react to a book before I read it, because now I'm going in expecting my heart to be broken, which takes a little bit away from my own reading experience.

It didn't break my heart.

ETA: except that it was so well written, and unfortunately it was over

Edited by RedEyedGhost, 28 February 2012 - 07:30 PM.

[Arbor Goldson]

RedEyedGhost, on 28 February 2012 - 07:26 PM, said:

It didn't break my heart.

ETA: except that it was so well written, and unfortunately it was over

  well I will find out for myself soon enough...decided I couldn't wait and didn't want to take a break, so I just started it.  

[Guinevere Seaworth]

A Brief History of Fighing Ships was well... a book about brief history of fighting ships.  I was hoping for more detail but the author just covered 1793-1815 period.  He took a topic that I'm passionate about and made it exciting as watching paint dry.  Not recommended!
In the meantime to stave off boredom, I'm a third into Voyager by Diana Gabaldon.  This series is so addictive!

Edited by Guinevere Seaworth, 28 February 2012 - 09:59 PM.

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished City of Dreams and Nightmare by Ian Whates on Tuesday, and I really enjoyed it.  It's not a very craftily plotted book, but the setting and characters more than make up for that.  Basically the plot is Tom, a young street-nick (petty teenage criminal in City-Below) witnessing a murder in the Heights of a massive, mountain-sized city, and his attempt to make it safely home.  He's being chased by Tylus, a member of City-Above's elite Kite-guard who is put on Tom's trail by the murder.  Along the way many obstacles are thrust in the way of both Tom and Tylus.  Both characters have their own distinct voices, as does another POV character, Dewar, that is also searching for Tom.

The setting itself is extremely interesting with the distinct parts of the city, the magic, a separate race of lizard people, demon-like creatures, cyborg-mutant-animals, ex-gladiators, etc., etc.  As I was reading it, it really reminded me of Felix Gilman's Thunderer, in a very good way.  It's not quite as good as Thunderer, and has more clichés but they do really feel a lot alike.

Being my first Angry Robot book, I was extremely pleased, and I would definitely recommend it (especially at the ebook price of $2.99).

SkynJay, on 24 February 2012 - 08:20 AM, said:

nickg, on 24 February 2012 - 01:49 AM, said:

I bought City of Dreams and Nightmare as well. I'm only a couple of pages in though. Not sure when I will get back to it

That does look good.  As it is still on sale,  I eagerly await updates.  There are still a couple of those I thought about trying.  A little reluctent to go into it blind again as Roil was so iffy for me.

The first few pages had me falling asleep a bit; whether it was because they were not as good as the rest of the book or because I was pretty tired when reading them... I think it was probably the latter, but I'm not sure.




Up next I think a read a story or three out of Jim Butcher's Side Jobs.

[TheEvilKing]

About 400 pages into 2666 by Roberto Bolano and I've had to drop it. It's just not engaging me. Which I'm pretty peeved about as I've invested so much time into the damn thing, but I just can't bring myself to slog through another 500 pages when I think there'll be very little payoff.

So now I'm returning to the quest for the Dark Tower with Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla. It's been about a year and a half since I finished the last book, but ten pages in and I'm already glad to be back in Mid-World. General consensus says that this is where the series takes a turn for the worse, but whatever. I'm approaching it with an open mind.

[Mark Lawrence]

TheEvilKing, on 29 February 2012 - 08:32 AM, said:

About 400 pages into 2666 by Roberto Bolano and I've had to drop it. It's just not engaging me. Which I'm pretty peeved about as I've invested so much time into the damn thing, but I just can't bring myself to slog through another 500 pages when I think there'll be very little payoff.

So now I'm returning to the quest for the Dark Tower with Stephen King's Wolves of the Calla. It's been about a year and a half since I finished the last book, but ten pages in and I'm already glad to be back in Mid-World. General consensus says that this is where the series takes a turn for the worse, but whatever. I'm approaching it with an open mind.

I liked Wolves of the Calla all the way until the 'final showdown' which felt a bit lame. Strong writing througout though, I thought. I think maybe the turn for the worse lies in the space between this book and the next. That said, there was plenty that was good about the remaining books.

[Petyr Baelish the First]

Finished Deadhouse Gate. Brilliant ending but the other parts were not as strong as in Gardens. Now started The Left hand of Darkness. I was lucky to find it for free translated for my kindle.

[SkynJay]

I finished a reread of Abercrombie's The Heroes.  Damn, now I have to resist doing a full reread of First Law.  He gets loved, he gets hated, he is my favorite author currently not named Pratchett.

Bought the omnibus of Eli Mornpress for my Kindle, looking forward to starting the first book in it.

[Grack21]

Kearny's Hawkwood and the Kings is rocking my socks.

[Myshkin]

Mark Lawrence, on 29 February 2012 - 08:43 AM, said:

I liked Wolves of the Calla all the way until the 'final showdown' which felt a bit lame. Strong writing througout though, I thought. I think maybe the turn for the worse lies in the space between this book and the next. That said, there was plenty that was good about the remaining books.

I agree with this.  Wolves of the Calla was a pretty good book, if not as good as the first four in the series.  Song of Susannah is where it really starts to go downhill.  Although I guess you can say the groundwork for the concepts that almost ruined the series was laid in Wolves of the Calla.

[Ser Plissken]

Have finally gotten round to Abercrombie's The Heroes.

I have to say that Dow's first major assault on the hill is probably the best battle scene I have ever read.  The way Abercrombie switches POVs, taking the reader on a brutal and bloody relay of death is quite, quite brilliant.

Edited by Ser Plissken, 29 February 2012 - 09:43 PM.

[Durckad]

The 'chain of death' sequence is so awesome. I've been pimping The Heroes to my friend (who's reading Best Served Cold right now) and I can't wait till he reads this so we can fanboy out together.  It will be glorious.

[Vrana]

TheEvilKing, on 29 February 2012 - 08:32 AM, said:

About 400 pages into 2666 by Roberto Bolano and I've had to drop it. It's just not engaging me. Which I'm pretty peeved about as I've invested so much time into the damn thing, but I just can't bring myself to slog through another 500 pages when I think there'll be very little payoff.

Hahaha, the varied tastes of this board. Man, I loved 2666 with the kind of love one should really only reserve for one's first-born. Good reminder, it's time for a reread.



I've been reading heaps of swedish stuff that goodreads doesn't have, among them the biography of Olof Palme by Kjell Östberg, and Göran Tunström's Travels in India. Now on to Naomi Klein's No Logo.