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What we're reading in July 2006


Calibandar

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Yes, your eyes are not deceiving you. I have indeed read a Forgotten Realms novel, TWILIGHT FALLING. Heck, I can't quite believe it myself! Jay Tomio made a lot of noise about Paul S. Kemp's The Erevis Cale trilogy. Last winter, he contacted me, offering up a possibility to set up a contest for that trilogy. Yet, since I never endorse authors/series/books I've never read or heard about, I politely declined. But Jay persisted, clamoring about the quality of Kemp's series on his blog. In addition, Alrin did the same on hallofworlds.net. And in the end, I had to see what this was all about. The author got Wizards of the Coast to send me review copies, so here we are.

Kemp is a competent author who seems to have a clear idea of what he is trying to accomplish. And as such, Twilight Falling is a good effort. As for me, I'm curious enough to read the rest of the trilogy. I'm eager to discover what has gotten Jay so excited about this series. :D

For the full review, check out the blog! I was reading that book at work. At home, I'm savoring Erikson's THE BONEHUNTERS, which I'm totally enjoying at the moment!

Patrick

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A couple of days ago I finished reading Guy Gavriel Kay's "The Lions of Al-Rassan", which I liked a lot, although I wouldn't rank it as my favourite GGK book.

Now I'm reading "From Time To Time" by Jack Finney, a sequel to his classic time-travel novel "Time And Again". It is an interesting reading experience because of some of the consequences of the time travel plot - often characters won't remember (and in fact will never actually have done) the things they did a couple of chapters ago because a change has been made to the timeline. I would say Time And Again was better so far, but FTTT is still quite entertaining.

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The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks. Good, but a little bit sick. :sick: A story of an extremely messed up family in a small Scottish hamlet. Gothic psychological horror kinda deal.

The Praxis. Book one of the GRRM-recommended Sci-fi trilogy Dread Empire's Fall, written by Walter Jon Williams. Fun stuff.

The Blade Itself. Book one of Joe Abercrombie's apparently promising new fantasy series, The First Law. Just started it.

The Voyage of the Sable Keech by Neal Asher. His newest Sci-fi yarn set on the ridiculously dangerous planet of Spatterjay. Next on the list. His stuff is usually of the nice, light, action-packed, far-futurish fare.

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Just finished Darkness That Comes Before last night. Now, I'll try again to read Shadowmarch.... (I love Williams, but can't seem to get into this book...)

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Finished off Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pourelle. It was good, definitely. Interesting, well-written. It didn't, however, grab me until right at the end, a few lines in the last chapter aside from the epilogue.

Unfortunately, in clearing off three bookshelves in preparation for moving on Saturday, I forgot to pick out a new book to read during my commute.

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Finished off Lucifer's Hammer by Niven and Pourelle. It was good, definitely. Interesting, well-written. It didn't, however, grab me until right at the end, a few lines in the last chapter aside from the epilogue.

Unfortunately, in clearing off three bookshelves in preparation for moving on Saturday, I forgot to pick out a new book to read during my commute.

Well there is only one solution to that.

Go out and buy something new!

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June was a pretty weird month, having started both The Once And Future King and The Gunslinger, and not finishing either. Couldn't get into 'em. I did read a few stories out of the two Legends books.

Now reading The Dragonbone Chair, a book in a trilogy long overdue for me to read. Dont think I'll read the whole triology straight through though, cuz i had Crime and Punishment burning a hole in my bookcase.

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Just finished the following books:

"the Gold Falcon" by Kerr, mediocre but I`ll continue to read the series.

"Winterfair Gifts" by Bujold, a short story and pretty good but just leaves me wanting more of Vorkosigan :| .

Now I`ll start on the last book in my to-read pile which is "Kalmarunionens tid" by Larsson.

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Finished Christopher Priest's incredibly mind-bending but utterly captivating The Separation. My brain needs a rest, so back to the adventures of Harry Flashman in Flashman and the Mountain of Light.

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I've started reading the Dark Tower series for the first time, and just finished Wizard and Glass. I enjoyed it, but it tended to drag on a bit more than other volumes, particularly in the middle.

SPOILER: DarkTower
Susan's death near the end loses a bit of impact simply because it's fairly obvious that she's going to die unpleasantly from very early in the novel. It was suitably gut-wrenching, but I didn't think it was nearly as bad as death scenes in other books, the Red Wedding, for example.
Agreed. I found that book particularly difficult reading for exactly that reason.
SPOILER: ASOIAF
Red Wedding and Ned's death actually didn't bother me nearly as much because I didn't see them coming. They were much more of a shock afterwards, of course.

I'm currently reading a book on statistical analysis by Earl Babbie for my Research Methods class. Dry stuff, but useful info to have.

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Just finished Y the Last Man: Unmanned, the first trade paperback of this series. I bought it and Fables to see if I could jump on the bandwagon.

All in all, decent but nothing stunning. Art was......ok. Story was........ok. It's not a bad series but the first trade does little for me. 7 out of 10, it doesn't look like I will continue with this series.

Now 60 pages into The Briar King by Keyes, which I am really enjoying, which is nice after three disappointing books in a row. I'll buy Charnel Prince and Blood Knight in HC this month.

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Just finished Ian McDonalds River of Gods, which was AWESOME! :D

Currently reading Ken MacLeod's Learning the World in an effort to complete my Hugo reading. So far,...:unsure:

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I finished the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime early this month, and I adored it. Since I have not yet made my way to a bookstore, I am rereading the Harry Potter books. Because that's how I roll. And because I have nothing better to do in the meantime.

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I finished the Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime early this month, and I adored it.

I LOVE this book, I read it last year and kept annoying everyone to read it. About 5 people had to read it to stop me.

On the other note, I am reading "A Prince of Darkness" by Sharon Penman. It's another one of her medieval mysteries and it's a fine read, as far as I concern.

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