April 2016 Reads

[Isildur's Mane]

Finished reading The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis.

So that is now 8/20!

It was ok. 

It started off good but it was a bit too religious-ey for me. I also didn't like how Susan wasn't in it and how that was treated. 

I'm glad I read the books. I wish I had read them when I was younger. I'm glad it's over now. 

[Jo498]

I finished "Small Gods" a couple of days ago and this may be the best Pratchett I read so far; now I am about halfway through "The fifth elephant" which is not quite as distinctive but pretty good nevertheless (a little slow in the beginning) with nice interweaved story lines (unlike the silly secondary plot in e.g. "Reaper Man").

[Maia]

On 19.4.2016 at 2:19 AM, HelenaExMachina said:

I also finished up A Gathering of Shadows by VE Schwab. This was, well, really bad actually. The first book (A Darker Shade of Magic) was alright, not brilliant but enough there to convince me to read on.

Thanks! My impression of the first one was the same as yours, but a lot of people seemed to like/love it. Now I can drop the series with a clear conscience.

On 22.4.2016 at 8:18 AM, polishgenius said:

If the one left is Broken Monsters, you're in for a treat (well, you're in for a treat anyway but this might be her best so far).

Yep, that's the one. So far I love "Zoo City" best among her novels, but really, all 3 of them (that I have read) are great, IMHO. Too bad that she currently seems to be busy with a horror comic, rather than writing more books... I wasn't impressed with the issue (trade pb) of the "Fairest" comic that she wrote and that somehow madeit's way into our library system.

As to Erikson's "Willful Child", it was mildly amusing in a "check out of the library if you have nothing better lined up" sort of way. I got the first half of that right, at least. It is a quick read, though, so no harm done. I'd really like Erikson to try his hand at straightforward SF/spaceopera, though, it might be worthwhile.

 

On 23.4.2016 at 6:10 PM, mashiara said:

My second read was The Skull Throne by Peter Brett, which I finally managed to finish tonight, after slogging through it for what felt for forever. I was really disappointed -not that the previous installment was stellar in any way, but this one just kept making me roll my eyes.

Is it the last installment of the series, or is there more to come? Too bad about the series, it had some really interesting ideas to begin with, even though it was becoming steadily worse and it's portrayal of female characters was always problematic. Well, if it makes it's way in my library system, I guess. I am still somewhat curious re: how it is all going to end.

[mashiara]

5 hours ago, Maia said:

Is it the last installment of the series, or is there more to come? Too bad about the series, it had some really interesting ideas to begin with, even though it was becoming steadily worse and it's portrayal of female characters was always problematic. Well, if it makes it's way in my library system, I guess. I am still somewhat curious re: how it is all going to end.

No, it's not the last one. I don't know how many more there are still to come, and I don't particularly care, to be honest. I will probably eventually read them because, same as you, I'm curious as to how it will all end and that's been the reason for continuing with series long after they've become bad reading, but I will be in no hurry.

I've had a couple of days of fun reading. I read the Galillee Falls Trilogy by Jennifer Harlow, Justice, Galilee Rising and Fall of Heroes and it's been very entertaining, so much I went straight from reading each volume to the next one, without a break, reading until very late at night. It's not that parts of the books weren't entirely predictable and transparent at times, they were just so quirky and fun to read, even when you could see all their faults. And it was a completely different approach to superheroes, focusing on "collateral damage" more than their achievements. Just what I needed right now, many thanks to Lady N. for bringing them to my attention.

My next read is going to be The Fifth Season, by N.K. Jemisin. It comes highly recommended by half a dozen people here whose opinions I respect, so I have great hopes for it.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I ended up having to put aside Mistress of the Empire by Raymond Feist and Janny Wurts due to a surprising influx of non-renewable ebooks that I had put on hold months ago.

I found Leviathan Wakes by James Corey ok.  I liked the concept of the near future of humanity colonizing the solar system. Feels like the space version of the Wild West.  Gritty, tough and yet resourceful. I have never been a fan of zombies in any way or a hard boiled detective novel. Plus I never really liked Miller or Holden.

Caliban's War was much better.  Loved the characters of Avasarala and Bobbie.  And the humour!  Avasarala had some of the best quotes that left me laughing.

Now trying to finish Abaddon's Gate before the ebook library expiry date.

[Darth Richard II]

I think there is one more Brett novel. I dropped that shit like a hot rock after The Rape er Desert Spear

[Richard Writhen]

On ‎4‎/‎26‎/‎2016 at 9:31 AM, Isildur's Mane said:

Finished reading The Last Battle, by C. S. Lewis.

I'm glad I read the books. I wish I had read them when I was younger. I'm glad it's over now. 

 

I enjoyed all of them, never read them as a kid.

[Garett Hornwood]

It's been one of those months.  I finished Rick Perlstein's The Invisible Bridge about the fall of Nixon and rise of Reagan, it thought it was a great book in Perlstein's continuation of his series on the rise of modern conservatism in the U.S.  Also since my last post I read Blood Stain (Volume One) by Linda Sejic, a graphic novel adaptation of a webcomic of the same name.

I've now started one book and one graphic novel.  The first is Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll, the nice Barnes & Noble Classics edition.  The second is Oddly Normal Book 3 by Otis Frampton.

[RedEyedGhost]

I finished The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey yesterday.  It was pretty good, especially the last 25-30%.  The chapters were very short, and this made the rotating POVs a bit frustrating at the start of the book, but at the end it made things very intense.  I had been thinking I would read The Passage soon, because the final book is released next month, but I think I'm apocalypsed out for the near future.

Now I'm reading The Incorruptibles by John Horner Jacobs.  25% in and it's very good, and extremely reminiscent of Felix Gilman's The Half-Made World / The Rise of Ransom City. 

[all swedes are racist]

Wha

[Darth Richard II]

1 hour ago, RedEyedGhost said:

I finished The Girl with All the Gifts by Mike Carey yesterday.  It was pretty good, especially the last 25-30%.  The chapters were very short, and this made the rotating POVs a bit frustrating at the start of the book, but at the end it made things very intense.  I had been thinking I would read The Passage soon, because the final book is released next month, but I think I'm apocalypsed out for the near future.

Now I'm reading The Incorruptibles by John Horner Jacobs.  25% in and it's very good, and extremely reminiscent of Felix Gilman's The Half-Made World / The Rise of Ransom City. 

I need more Gilman! I'm almost out

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished off Wolf Winter. It was one of those depressing books that you want to like, but end up getting disappointed by - one cannot sustain a 400 page novel by atmosphere alone, especially considering that the plot only really got going towards the end.

Next up is The Hungry Moon, by Ramsey Campbell.

[Peadar]

I enjoyed Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three. Very much a kid's book -- like Lord of the Rings with all of the details sucked out. I like the development of the main character.

Up next? Not 100% sure. Something more recent... Maybe I'll finally read Ancillary Mercy since it's up for the Hugo.

[Richard Writhen]

6 hours ago, Peadar said:

I enjoyed Lloyd Alexander's The Book of Three. Very much a kid's book -- like Lord of the Rings with all of the details sucked out. I like the development of the main character.

 

I love Prydain to death. Very dense worldbuilding with minimal book length.

[Jo498]

I think I am going to skip "Soul music". I hardly care for popular music and find books heavily relying on references to such stuff annoying (frankly I also often find books relying too heavily on references to music or literature I love annoying...). (There is another such joke in "Thief of Time" but it is a very minor side track).

I am breezing through a German translation of "Guards! Guards" to review the beginning of the Watch books but there is quite a bit lost in translation (and/or this is not as good as I remembered).

[HexMachina]

Finished Necessary Evil, bringing the Milkweed Triptych to a conclusion. Very good trilogy, though the middle book was stronger than the conclusion for me. Left satisfied by the ending, which wasn't all sunshine and roses, but was happy enough that I didn't leave feeling bleak. Some great character work by Tregillis, and what I particularly liked in this book were

Gretel's interludes, especially after she has failed to kill Liv and is becoming unhinged

 

I'm now even more excited for the conclusion to the Alchemy wars.

[The Marquis de Leech]

I actually consider Soul Music to be the funniest of all the Discworld books. Not the best, and certainly not the most profound, but for sheer unashamed silliness, you can't beat it. I certainly prefer it to Moving Pictures.

[LongRider]

"Music with rocks in!"  Yes, a good read.     

I'm currently reading "The Wise Man's Fear." 2nd Kingskiller Chronicle and it's really quite a boor.  I don't know if I'll finish it.  The main character, I can't decide if he's naive, stupid, or just what, exactly, and I'm tired of him whining about not having any money.  My understanding is that the third book hasn't been published yet, well, OK, I think I can get along without it. 

[The Marquis de Leech]

29 minutes ago, LongRider said:

"Music with rocks in!"  Yes, a good read.     

I'm currently reading "The Wise Man's Fear." 2nd Kingskiller Chronicle and it's really quite a boor.  I don't know if I'll finish it.  The main character, I can't decide if he's naive, stupid, or just what, exactly, and I'm tired of him whining about not having any money.  My understanding is that the third book hasn't been published yet, well, OK, I think I can get along without it. 

Have you hit the faerie sex section yet?

[LongRider]

Just now, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said:

Have you hit the faerie sex section yet?

In Kingkillers?  No, nothing as interesting as that yet.  Is it worth reading?