Xray the Enforcer Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 I'm also about halfway through Tim Powers' Medusa's Web. It is a very Powers book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 10 hours ago, Ghjhero said: I got a $15 Barnes and Nobles gift card for my birthday and I was hoping someone could recommend a stand alone book that wouldn't have to drag me into an entire series? Uprooted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 Completed thus far in February: Snow Angels by James Thompson Lucifer's Tears by James Thompson A Voyage to Arcturus by David Lindsay* The Listener by Tove Jansson I am currently reading The Winter of the Lions by J.C. Wagner. * Quite unforgettable, even if deeply flawed as an actual novel. Think a Gnostic version of The Pilgrim's Progress, as written by an early twentieth century Scotsman who had somehow got his hands on something resembling LSD. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bjornbert Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 13 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said: Yep, same here, thought the world building was great but the story only average. I'll definitely read the sequel though. And if you enjoyed the World Building like me, you should try the short fiction in that world too. There is one novella, which I think I paid £0.99 for, and three(?) short stories available on Aliette de Boddard website. I'll certainly do. I wasn't aware there would be a sequel, the book read like a standalone to me. I'm not complaining though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 4 minutes ago, Bearbert said: I'll certainly do. I wasn't aware there would be a sequel, the book read like a standalone to me. I'm not complaining though I think there is a planned sequel anyway. I am sure I remember reading about it somewhere, possibly on her website when I was looking at the short fiction. And I can easily see how they would continue the story since many if not all of the characters felt like their arcs/story were incomplete. eta: yep, here is the link about a sequel http://aliettedebodard.com/bibliography/novels/dominion-of-the-fallen/house-of-binding-thorns/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Rutherford Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 If you liked The House of Shattered Wings, you might want to look at Subterranean Press' Fantasy Medley 3 which has a story set in that world as well entitled "The Death of Aguillon'. There is also a really good Jacqueline Carey story that doesn't seem to be related to her Kushiel books in the slightest. Or takes place on the other side of the world. It read as a standalone to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Puntificator Posted February 7, 2016 Share Posted February 7, 2016 3 hours ago, C Rutherford said: If you liked The House of Shattered Wings, you might want to look at Subterranean Press' Fantasy Medley 3 which has a story set in that world as well entitled "The Death of Aguillon'. I already mentioned this yesterday (it's on the previous page) along with the other short stories/novellas set in the same world. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Finished The Library At Mount Char and really enjoyed it. It has a Gaiman-esque feel but tighter pacing and plotting and less reliant on a POV outsider in our world finding themselves in an adjacent fantasy world. Have now started Sorceror To The Crown and already enjoying the Regency style of prose and dialogue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Finished Rebel of the Sands by Alwyn Hamilton. It was alright, though nothing groundbreaking. The characters felt a bit one-note and under-developed, and a lot of stuff was glossed over that could have made the book a lot more interesting in the sense of characters being morally ambiguous. The plot itself seemed fairly standard fantasy fare. I might continue the series, if I'm at a loss for what to read when the next book comes out, but certainly in no great hurry. I've now starred a reread of Assassin's Apprentice and I'm enjoying the details I'd forgotten since my last read. I had forgotten how heavy on backstory and world building the beginning of the first book was, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
C Rutherford Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 Had a burst of reading passion the last couple of days. The Last Days of Magic by Mark Tompkins. Didn't really care for this. I thought the writing was weak and it turned out to be a style of story 'i just did not care for at all. Its a hard line to walk between worldbuilding and mixing it with our own world plus certain mythic elements. It just did not work. Snakewood by Adrian Selby. another miss but a bit lesser in disappointments. There are some nice elements of the author's imagination coming through. But it is also a bit too derivative. This needs a stronger story and story telling ability to lift it up enough past the warrior wronged-group-of-misfits type of tale. I might take a look at his next book though if I feel curious when it comes out. I'm working through Lust & Wonder by Augusten Burroughs (pacing myself to make it last), Tim Blanning's Frederick the Great, and then it I will probably see if I can polish off Lian Hearn's Emperor of the Eight Isands before I tackle Justin Cronin's The City of Mirrors. But I also keep thinking David Anthony Durham's The Risen which I heard is (going to be) pretty good. I have two weeks of work travel by my lonesome so hope to get some more serious reading accomplished. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 I finished The Rising by Ian Tregillis. AMAZING! I wrote about 1000 words about it in its specific thread, so I think that on word is enough for this one. Next up will be Gentleman Jole and the Red Queen by Lois McMaster Bujold, when I've recovered from The Rising. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted February 8, 2016 Share Posted February 8, 2016 On 7-2-2016 at 2:32 AM, Nicomo Cosca said: SPOILERS FOR THE STAND So far of what I read of book 2 its building up pretty strongly on the foundation laid on the first part. The Mother Abragail plot line has so far kept my attention and I like what Stephen King is doing with regards of establishing her as a characters and as a 'meeting point' for the various other characters. Even though I have only read only one *big*' chapter of her I'm already digging the whole scenario. The dark man threat is getting more menazing with each passing chapter. I've felt the classic King-horror element being played up with this character which I find myself really enjoying. But given that I read two responses on this thread of aparently how anticlimatic the whole ending is I'm going to lower my expectations very dramatically. (I feel like King won't even bother explaining what are the forces behind the Dark Man and Mother Abrigail, but I'm kind of expecing that given that he never really explains anything regarding the supernatural, which is absolutely fine by me). Love all the characters btw! ASoIaF-ish in that every time I have to leave a set of characters for a while it makes me kind of mad given how much I like them! I know the *big* chapter yeah, probably the longest in the book. Almost novella-sized IIRC. I was very fond of Abagail too. The characters are great. King manages to fit a lot of memorable and unique ones into the cast. They're the best part of the book. I don't recall any explanations, no, but that's not the issue I had with the ending. The resolution of the conflict is rather unsatisfying, so lower your hopes where that's concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted February 9, 2016 Author Share Posted February 9, 2016 The Bloodletter's Daughter by Linda Lafferty was a disappointment. It seemed like a promising read at first but the writing and the plot kept getting worse. I also read The Devil You Know by Mike Carey, the first in the Felix Castor series. I enjoyed it a lot, dark and fast and witty. I'll know start the second one, Vicious Circle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nicomo Cosca Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 11 minutes ago, Rcollins said: Reading Foucault's Pendulum... I already have a headache. Without getting too spoilery, Flagg and the forces behind Mother Abigail are kind of explained, but you have to have read a lot of King's other novels to get parts of it. At one point, for example, Mother Abigail mentions that her own mother referred to her clairvoyance as "the shining lamp of God," which is a reference to a phenomenon featured prominently in The Shining and Doctor Sleep. The White/Gan/God shows up IT and The Talisman, Flagg in Eyes of the Dragon and Children of the Corn, and both of them in The Dark Tower. I got the reference to The Shining when Mother Abigail said it, but I quickly discarted it because I felt like Dr Sleep happened in like 2011 and I don't know how all that fits into the entire apocalypse scenario, given that it happens in 1990. I guess I'll be Reading Stephen King for a looong time then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 The Stand apparently gets a bad rep. I read it when I was a kid and thought the ending was pretty great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 9, 2016 Share Posted February 9, 2016 I finished Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Blades. I thought it was another good book in the series, for most of the book it feels a bit more mundane and less imaginative than City of Stairs (although that changes towards the end) but I think it maybe feels a bit more focused as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 On 08/02/2016 at 2:23 AM, First of My Name said: I was very fond of Abagail too. Mother Abigail is a raving bigot, with a hatred of Catholics, New Yorkers, and Democrats. She gets treated like a saint, and the one guy who argues that we shouldn't give absolute power to this nut is spitefully killed off. Never mind the ending, The Stand is choc-full of rabid anti-intellectualism too. Anyway, have finished The Winter of the Lions, and am now onto another Wagner book, Light in a Dark House. After that, it's the Jacqueline Carey's first Kushiel trilogy (I've previously read the second/Imriel trilogy). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 1 hour ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: Mother Abigail is a raving bigot, with a hatred of Catholics, New Yorkers, and Democrats. She gets treated like a saint, and the one guy who argues that we shouldn't give absolute power to this nut is spitefully killed off. Never mind the ending, The Stand is choc-full of rabid anti-intellectualism too. Anyway, have finished The Winter of the Lions, and am now onto another Wagner book, Light in a Dark House. After that, it's the Jacqueline Carey's first Kushiel trilogy (I've previously read the second/Imriel trilogy). I was 16 when I read it, I didn't pay a lot of attention to the political connotations. I just enjoyed her as a character. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
End of Disc One Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Nothing wrong with that. As a Catholic at the time, I didn't care either, and I didn't see it as "hatred" either. Just an old person with opinions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted February 10, 2016 Share Posted February 10, 2016 Here's my capsule review of the last book I finished, The Blue Blazes which is an alternate-world urban fantasy set in New York City: The novel I'm reading is not good. It features ham-handed characterization, giant plot holes, physical weaknesses that never actually materialize (our hero just levels up), stilted dialogue, and more. But none of these has actually made me want to quit reading. No. That moment came when our protagonist "took the train to Staten Island." Yes, my friends. Public transport inaccuracy is my fictional dealbreaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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