253 replies to this topic

[Nearly Headless Ned]

sciborg2, on 07 May 2012 - 09:56 PM, said:

Abnett apparently is pretty good, he wrote Authority for awhile I believe.

Abnett's not bad. I've read some of his 40k and it's decent despite the fact I share some of Peterbound's distaste of tie-in novels.
Some of the 40k stuff is really not so good however. Bill King, James Swallow. Not good at all.

[Procrastimancer]

I'm to chapter five in Tululla Rising by Glen Duncan and feel that he should have written the book in third person instead of first. Too much of Duncan shines through to allow for an effective female narrator. It ends up coming across as Duncan in a wig, horny as ever, dialing up the sentimentality. Definitely not the best book to follow up a month of books by female authors.

[Isis]

I liked The Last Werewolf but I think I'll probably just pretend it was a standalone. I have to say that I wasn't very excited to hear about the sequel/trilogy because I think the ending of TLW was fine as it was. So, no rushing to read TR for me.

In other news I've started King Rat because I want to tick off the last couple of Mieville books I've yet to read. Another reading project for 2012. Especially since the new book sounds very interesting. I'm great at starting books, but less good at finishing them.

[Alytha]

I'm reading Romanitas by Sophia McDougall.
As an alternative history, it doesn't make the mistake (in my view, fwiw) that The Years of Rice and Salt made, where we get dragged through the centuries while people invent the same things other people invented in our world. It's just assumed that there are cars, electricity, TV and phones. It would have been nice to have a bit of a timeline or summary of the history of the Roman empire to see why it didn't fail like it did in our world.

That said...it's not that I dislike the book itself, but all the characters seem to be either idiots or arseholes...very difficult to empathise with anyone.

[Vrana]

Having a non-fiction year. Or trying to. I might have sneakily started a reread of Infinite Jest.

Thomas Laird's - History of Tibet, followed by Sanimir Resic's - History of the Balkans (The rise and fall of yugoslavia) an interesting persepctive, and one I thoroughly enjoyed. Been slowly getting through Peter Singer's One World: The Ethics of Globalization.

Now on to Moa Karlén's antology of Feminists and their activism in Sweden.

[Chaldanya]

Still can't quite kick this Urban Fantasy stage that I'm going through so I've just finished Stacia Kane's new book Sacrificial Magic (4th in the Chess Putnam series).  I'm really enjoying the fact that the protagonist is growing and evolving through the series and doesn't seem to have forgotten everything she knows from the previous books (I'm looking at you Rachel Morgan).

Next up the first one in the Riley Jensen Guardian's series by Keri Arthur.  And then I think I might give Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel  a whirl.

N

[Lord of the Night]

peterbound, on 07 May 2012 - 09:21 PM, said:

I'm actually going to head down to my local used book store and pick up some 40k novels and try to read them. It will be like when larry (or was it aiden) slogged through the Stanek novels, i.e. reading terrible books in the name of science!

That way i'll be within the defined perimeters to complain about the books.  Maybe i'll start a thread, or just hook up with the black library nonsense going on already.  
I think i'll start with:
The Eisenhorn trilogy

....

If you don't like something you don't have to read it. You've expressed nothing but a profound dislike of Tie-in novels and insulted me for liking them. So why are you reading them now? So that you can be more precise rather than just saying they are shit, because if so I think you are wasting your time. I don't need to know the key details of Twilight or actually read it to know I really dislike it, I know enough about it to make that choice. And I wouldn't read it for more details if my dislike is that strong. So the only reason I can see why you've decided to read Eisenhorn if you hate tie-ins that much is that your doing it because you want details to abuse the people who read it even more.

But that is my opinion and you are free to read whatever you like, and if you come out of it with a good argument as to why its bad i'll read it. If you just say "its shitty" then I tune out instantly. But in the end we just have to accept that despite the fact we don't like or hate something, there are people who love it. I hate Twilight but I acknowledge that many love it, though most of them are vampire groupies, but they like it and its not my place to tell them what to read and what not to read.

And if you do intend to join the Black Library thread, keep it intellectual and civil. Don't just say "Their shitty" over and over. Calling it nonsense is a good idea of what not to post.

I do have a question for you though Peterbound. You mention you've read some 40k in the past, what exactly have you read?

Nearly Headless Ned, on 08 May 2012 - 04:58 AM, said:

Abnett's not bad. I've read some of his 40k and it's decent despite the fact I share some of Peterbound's distaste of tie-in novels.
Some of the 40k stuff is really not so good however. Bill King, James Swallow. Not good at all.

King's early novels are lighter than most, especially the Space Wolves series. And Swallow is a divided writer, many like him and many don't. His first two Blood Angels novels are the highest source of contention between his readers, you either love or hate them, nothing inbetween.


LotN

Edited by Lord of the Night, 08 May 2012 - 08:53 AM.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Finished Winds of Fury by Mercedes Lackey on the morning commute.  The trilogy was OK.  Too predictable with the evil guys as being evil and the good guys being good and saving their country.  Easily the weakest Valdemar trilogy I have read.  I'm glad these were library reads.
Up next is Diana Gabaldon's The Firey Cross from the library.

[SkynJay]

Antonius Pius, on 08 May 2012 - 01:28 AM, said:

Which edition do you have? I bought the omnibus a year ago, dunno if it has the revised or original last book.

Loved it, though. Also because of the pace, because it keeps on going. And Kearney is as harsh to his characters as GRRM.

Spoiler

What did you make of Corfe at the end? I thought he died and went to heaven, but I read somewhere that he simply went a-wandering.

I had the omnibus.  Apperently he was allowed to make some serious revisions to the final book, which was originally published on a time crunch.  I enjoyed the ending, harsh as it was.

Spoiler

Ya, I kind of seen him in a Heaven or something like it too.  The Saint/Prophet could maybe have the extra long life, but the Murdok warrior should have been dead by then, we never saw any magic in him..

[Peadar]

I've been reading Guy Haley's Champion of Mars. So far, it's a clever cross between William Hope Hodgson and Kim Stanley Robinson. Interesting and fun.

[Antonius Pius]

SkynJay, on 08 May 2012 - 08:47 AM, said:

I had the omnibus.  Apperently he was allowed to make some serious revisions to the final book, which was originally published on a time crunch.  I enjoyed the ending, harsh as it was.

Me too. It was supposed to be harsh too, since that was a central theme of the work. Too mushy, or even upbeat would have been a real letdown.

SkynJay, on 08 May 2012 - 08:47 AM, said:

Spoiler

Ya, I kind of seen him in a Heaven or something like it too.  The Saint/Prophet could maybe have the extra long life, but the Murdok warrior should have been dead by then, we never saw any magic in him..

OK

[Werthead]

The revised version of Ships From the West is really nowhere near as comprehensive as Kearney originally wanted. His original plan was a systematic reworking of the entire novel. In the event, the revisions total a few hundred words. Aside from giving slightly more weight to certain deaths, little else is changed.

Quote

It will be like when larry (or was it aiden) slogged through the Stanek novels, i.e. reading terrible books in the name of science!

Quote

If you don't like something you don't have to read it.

Here's a thought: when a mod closes a thread because it degenerates into bickering between posters over a certain topic, the exact thing you do not do is restart the exact same argument in the replacement thread. Thank you.

Alytha, on 08 May 2012 - 05:56 AM, said:

I'm reading Romanitas by Sophia McDougall.
As an alternative history, it doesn't make the mistake (in my view, fwiw) that The Years of Rice and Salt made, where we get dragged through the centuries while people invent the same things other people invented in our world. It's just assumed that there are cars, electricity, TV and phones. It would have been nice to have a bit of a timeline or summary of the history of the Roman empire to see why it didn't fail like it did in our world.

Interesting. My copy of the book has an appendix featuring a timeline and summary exactly like that you are talking about. The book's website also has one.

[Lord of the Night]

Werthead, on 08 May 2012 - 09:59 AM, said:

Here's a thought: when a mod closes a thread because it degenerates into bickering between posters over a certain topic, the exact thing you do not do is restart the exact same argument in the replacement thread. Thank you.

Apologies. I'm not seeking to cause a renewal of the argument.


LotN

[Sci-2]

Going back through my comics, Unwritten is pretty awesome. Bit of a slow start but once it gets going it rarely falters passed the five issue mark.

[Grack21]

Lord of the Night, on 08 May 2012 - 08:42 AM, said:

And if you do intend to join the Black Library thread, keep it intellectual and civil. Don't just say "Their shitty" over and over. Calling it nonsense is a good idea of what not to post.

LotN

You must be new here. Also, I think what he really took umbrage with was when you said that 40k authors could write circles around Erikson and Martin. I mean, I'll assume you wern't trolling, but saying that around here is asking for a fight.

FIrethorn = still awesome so far.

[Lord of the Night]

Grack21, on 08 May 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

You must be new here. Also, I think what he really took umbrage with was when you said that 40k authors could write circles around Erikson and Martin. I mean, I'll assume you wern't trolling, but saying that around here is asking for a fight.

FIrethorn = still awesome so far.

Not all of them, only Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Graham McNeill and Dan Abnett. And personally I don't care for Erikson, I just could not get into Gardens of the Moon.


LotN

[Starkess]

Finished Feed. Took me a little while to get into it because of the writing (it's written first person from a teenager--blech), but once I did it went very fast. I actually ended up liking it a lot. Some very funny bits of satire and just enough realism to make it chilling. I may have cried a little...

Next up, Sophie's Choice. Never read it, feel like I should, so here we are.

Edited by Starkess, 08 May 2012 - 02:50 PM.

[kcf]

It's been hectic and I'm just trying to stay above the water. But, I did finally get a review posted for Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed - which I really enjoyed. I also read (and loved) Blade of Tyshalle by Matthew Woodring Stover. I'll finish up my review of that one in the next week or so. Last night I finished up Tricked by Kevin Hearne - I didn't like it as much as the other three, but it's still good and these books have become almost a form of comfort read for me. I'm not sure yet what I'll pick up next - too many good books to choose from.

[polishgenius]

sciborg2, on 07 May 2012 - 09:56 PM, said:

Abnett apparently is pretty good, he wrote Authority for awhile I believe.

The Abnett and Lanning comic writing team is generally at the very least solidly entertaining. As well as their run on Authority - they wrote two volumes of the post Worlds' End series before Wildstorm as a separate universe kicked the bucket, and it's good stuff that I was disappointed was cancelled, they used the apocalyptic setting well - they did an enjoyable run on Mr. Majestic, and lately they've been well received as a driving force behind the renewal of Marvel's Cosmic settings. I enjoyed their contribution to Annihilation, anyway, though I've not had the opportunity to go further than that since then.

I've not read anything of his solo or prose stuff though.

[Skunkbelly]

In between books right now. I just can't seem to settle into anything. I looked at our shelves and pulled out Moondogs, but the magic-wielding cops or whatever they were didn't seem my cup of tea. I may try The Coral Thief by Rebecca Stott.

Edited by Skunkbelly, 08 May 2012 - 05:24 PM.