May 2016 reads

[Andorion]

Finished Fall of Light. 

Great read, with a genuinely WTF quotient. Even 12 books in Erikson can still shock me utterly. 

Currently reading Airborne by Kenneth Oppel. Rather simplistic, Mary Sue-ish book but I like it as the story ticks several pet favourite themes

[Mark Antony]

Reading Robert Harris Dictator. Have enjoyed this trilogy immensely. 

[AncalagonTheBlack]

Finished Saint's Blood (Greatcoats #3) by Sebastien de Castell.

Reading now: The Fall of the Dagger (The Forsaken Lands #3) by Glenda Larke

[beniowa]

17 hours ago, RedEyedGhost said:

Now I'm reading Benighted (Bareback) by Kit Whitfield.  The first 15% or so was a bit tough to get into, but it's picked up a lot now (I'm about 1/3 through).  The story follows a Lola May Galley, a bareback, in a world where 99% of the population are lycanthropes.  My main problem so far is that the world feels too similar to ours with such a dramatic difference, it seems as though it has been this way for a long time, back to the Dark Ages at least.  Maybe there will be more of an explanation about that later in the book.  The Kindle price was pretty damn ridiculous at $11.99 for a 10 year old book that is far from a Bestseller. 

Been a little while since I read it, but I think it does explain it a bit more though not in great detail.  The worldbuilding in this one is a little half-assed - clearly thought through some of the changes, but not others - and it was one of my complaints about it. 

[Richard Writhen]

I was advised to finish The First Law Trilogy before committing myself to The Lies of Locke Lamora so I am probably going to do that.

[The Marquis de Leech]

Having lost the internet in my flat earlier this month (I'm reduced to popping in at the library), I've had a productive May in the reading department, since, well, fewer distractions.

My completed May reads so far:

• The Hungry Moon, by Ramsey Campbell
• Incarnate, by Ramsay Campbell
• Mélusine, by Sarah Monette
• The Virtu, by Sarah Monette
• The Mirador, by Sarah Monette

I am currently reading the last in Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths tetralogy.

[Garett Hornwood]

Last Friday finished Jingo as part of my Discworld read-through, I enjoyed it with a 4.5 star rating that leans more towards 4 than to 5.

I'm currently reading Jefferson's America by Julie M. Fenster, a book I received via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

[SkynJay]

9 hours ago, Garett Hornwood said:

 

I'm currently reading Jefferson's America by Julie M. Fenster, a book I received via LibraryThing's Early Reviewer program.

I saw that on Goodreads.  I eagerly await your thoughts because I am on a major early U.S. kick these days.

[Andorion]

I just read Sylvain Neuvel's Sleeping Giants and I really liked it. Not very long, intense, exciting, innovatively written and promising a lot for the future. 

[RedEyedGhost]

On 5/10/2016 at 6:51 AM, Peadar said:

Very tempted to give this a go when I finish with Sharp Ends...

 

On 5/10/2016 at 7:58 AM, SkynJay said:

This sounds incredible.  I must have it.

I hope you guys enjoy it as much as I did!  

 

On 5/10/2016 at 2:56 PM, beniowa said:

Been a little while since I read it, but I think it does explain it a bit more though not in great detail.  The worldbuilding in this one is a little half-assed - clearly thought through some of the changes, but not others - and it was one of my complaints about it. 

That's too bad.  With such a fundamental change, it really should be better developed.  Not a bad book so far, although, oddly, it's not really scratching that werewolf itch that I wanted it to.

[Darth Richard II]

Yeah, I'm going to anger and shock and upset you all, and say that 400 pages in, Dune is boring as fuck.

*ducks rocks*

[The Marquis de Leech]

29 minutes ago, Darth Richard II said:

Yeah, I'm going to anger and shock and upset you all, and say that 400 pages in, Dune is boring as fuck.

*ducks rocks*

My big issue with it is actually Baron Harkonnen. Herbert goes out of his way to make the guy as villainous as possible, to the point where it feels hamfisted. I mean, a fat gay rapist paedophile? 

(Not to mention, the political scheming feels somewhat dated by the standards of modern speculative fiction).

[Darth Richard II]

I just find the whole thing kind of dull, although I least can kind of see why it was such a huge hit back in the 60s. Some classic SFF I read and am just baffled by.

And yeah the baron needs a cat to stroke while he schemes, Dr Evil style.

[mgambino]

I've finished the first three Malazan books recently. I gave it a fair shot, and I didn't hate them, but I'd don't think they're my thing. I like a series that focuses more on characters than the world itself, and characters don't seem to be a strong point.

[polishgenius]

18 hours ago, Andorion said:

I just read Sylvain Neuvel's Sleeping Giants and I really liked it. Not very long, intense, exciting, innovatively written and promising a lot for the future. 

I read this earlier in the week. It's good, smart, and nicely paced, although the structure made it difficult to really engage with the characters and moments so it doesn't get a full five stars from me. Well worth reading, though.

I worry about the movie adaptation. It's not a very long book but the nature of the book makes it very easy to cover a huge amount of time and happening in that space and I don't think a two-hour movie is remotely going to fit it all in. It would be perfect for a TV show.

[williamjm]

16 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

I just find the whole thing kind of dull, although I least can kind of see why it was such a huge hit back in the 60s. Some classic SFF I read and am just baffled by.

If you find the first book dull you definitely want to avoid the sequels.

[Darth Richard II]

10 minutes ago, williamjm said:

If you find the first book dull you definitely want to avoid the sequels.

I plan to, Not as bad as some other "classic" SciFi I've tried to read though.

[JGP]

Of late, I've dropped Fall of Light [too derivative of early works, will probably pick it back up later] and Something More Than Night [just can't get into it] and have instead been picking my way through Otsuichi's stuff again. Goth in particular is a beautiful, haunting, fucked up story. Yet he considers it a comedy... lulz

[HexMachina]

So far this month I've read Masks and Shadows by Stephanie Brugis.

Still reading Sharp Ends by Joe Abercrombie, and The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I'm finding the Buried Giant...odd. It's not bad, but it does get a bit confusing at times with the memory inside a memory inside another memory. I'm around 3/4 of the way through so I will finish it but I'm not really loving the novel all that much.

[Darth Richard II]

2 hours ago, Mandy said:

I'm on my 30th book this year. It's been very slow at work.  I'm spending WAY too much money on books and I've even come back to the board, all caffeinated to hell and jittery. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind essentially getting paid to read, but I end up sitting here, thinking about all the things I need to get done at home that I could be getting done.

Anyway, I've been reading urban fantasy, but I'm getting super tired of crappy genre books repeating the same old plotlines.  I'm sick of vampires, I'm sick of Alphaholes and I'm sick of Were-anythings. I need a new Expanse novel or something as good.

Have you tried Abraham's UF? I heard its good, got the first one sitting here, glaring at me.

Edit: Ha never mind, I see you have.

Um, Max Gladstone's Craft Sequence is awesome sauce.