Darth Richard II Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Just now, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: Finally finished Corambis, by Sarah Monette. The final two books in the tetralogy are definitely a step down from the first two; by the time you hit the tail-end of the series, Monette's strengths of characterisation and world can no longer conceal the weakness of plot and pacing. Monette also seems a bit enthusiastic about portraying homosexual male rape, to the point where you start to wonder whether parts were written for straight woman titilation. And Mildmay, poor guy, will never escape the all-consuming black hole that is Felix Harrowgate. Next up is Midnight Sun, by Ramsey Campbell. Yeah I read her and Bears Wolf Porn er A Companion to Wolves and the male rape is...well there's a lot of male rape. Which is a shame because it put me off trying any other of Bear's works for along time and they are all FANTASTIC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KingintheNorth4 Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Earlier this evening I finished reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. It's a very excellent read on the reasons that human societies on different continents went down different paths. Now I'm picking up where I left off when I was reading Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that can't stop talking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 When China Ruled the Seas by Louise Lavathes was a pretty decent snapshot of the Ming Dynasty and Zheng He's treasure ship voyages. The Chinese at that time were so far advanced in nautical technology that it took Europeans several centuries later to duplicate (ie balanced rudders, watertight compartments and dry docks). Now reading Cibola Burns by James S.A. Corey. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JGP Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Not quite a third of the way through Cronin's City of Mirrors, and got to say there's something immanently readable in the way his prose prattles on. I'm finding Zero's story oddly affecting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Cartman Posted May 25, 2016 Share Posted May 25, 2016 Just finished Forge Of Darkness from Kharkanas Trilogy (Malazan universe). Finished #1 and #2 but yet to start on #3 of Long Price Quartet. Not really sure what to read next.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted May 25, 2016 Author Share Posted May 25, 2016 Read and enjoyed volumes 11 and 12 of the Fullmetal Alchemist manga. I'm now continuing my reread of A Game of Thrones, because it's about time that I reread ASOIAF, and something that I've read before will distract me less during my exams. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I just read the first Preacher. Enjoyed it a lot... Book 2 tomorrow, maybe... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 4 hours ago, Peadar said: I just read the first Preacher. Enjoyed it a lot... Book 2 tomorrow, maybe... I don't read many graphic novels anymore. Yet a lot of the hottest properties nowadays are adaptations of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I read Seveneves as part of my Hugo reading. As Contrarius said, it's undeniably a triumph of intellect and I can see why this book would have been on the Hugo list even without the puppies. That being said, I had several issues with it, not the least of which was the infodumping. Normally, that's not a problem for me, but it is when the author explains real basic stuff. Like, what the heck? I don't need to be told some of this stuff. This won't be my last Stephenson, but I won't be in a hurry. I won an ARC of an upcoming release, The Devourers by Indra Das, on Goodreads so that will be my next read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 David Hackett Fischer's Champlain's Dream was excellent. Samuel de Champlain was a fascinating individual. It was very interesting reading about the early years of la Nouvelle France and Champlain's vision for it. Having read history the past two months, I'm eager to get back into some fiction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 27, 2016 Share Posted May 27, 2016 I've started Connie Willis' Blackout, had a long train journey today so read about 200 pages. My first reaction was the most of the time travelling historians who make up the protagonists were quite annoying and also don't seem to be particularly good at their job, there's this odd mix of them not knowing basic history while apparently knowing enough fine detail to blend into the periods they're visiting. I think the book has got more interesting once they stopped talking about time travelling and the focus switched to WW2 Britain. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I finished The High King's Tomb. It was weird because not much really happened for the first half of the book or so, and it was not a short book, but I didn't really mind. I guess by the time you get to book 3 you must be willing to just hang out with the characters for a while! And I currently hate the author for Spoiler the Karigan/Zachary nonsense. I mean the nonsense in that they aren't getting together. The author is so transparently manipulating me as a reader and yet I still don't care and am shipping them so hard. So yeah, I am enjoying the series. Thought I would be able to pick up the next book right away as it is in my library's ebook collection (book 3 wasn't), but somehow someone else checked it out. Random that someone would checkout the fourth book in a series! Ah well. I'm next up on the list, and in the meantime I'll be continuing on with the Dangerous Women anthology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 Finished In the Woods by Tana French, which was a great read. I don't know if I would call it a psychological thriller or a murder mystery or whatnot, but it had some great writing and really broken characters, and I love it when books do that. I'll be reading more by her for sure. I'm now starting The Silver Metal Lover by Tanith Lee with high expectations, based on Lyanna's praise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 So this week I finally got a proper run going on A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James, and it's fantastic. 15 hours ago, beniowa said: That being said, I had several issues with it, not the least of which was the infodumping. Normally, that's not a problem for me, but it is when the author explains real basic stuff. Like, what the heck? I don't need to be told some of this stuff. This won't be my last Stephenson, but I won't be in a hurry. Infodumping is, like, a Stephenson signature. Totally against normal good writing practice, but he normally makes it work (albeit it isn't normally really basic stuff - haven't read Seveneves yet so I can't judge that). Anathem is the bit where it works best coz there's a context that makes it make sense for it to be done and allows him to be entertaining with it. I adore that book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 8 hours ago, mashiara said: Finished In the Woods by Tana French, which was a great read. I don't know if I would call it a psychological thriller or a murder mystery or whatnot, but it had some great writing and really broken characters, and I love it when books do that. I'll be reading more by her for sure. I read all of them over the past six months. They are surprisingly different from each other. French has a very good ear for dialogue, is completely loyal to her various broken characters, and doesn’t get stuck with a winning recipe. I also find some of the books heartbreaking, except maybe for the last one, which was in too alien a setting for me to really emphasize. But Broken Harbour? Man, … Highly recommended, despite the relative (but not complete!) absence of sentient fauna. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mushroomshirt Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I started reading Scott Lynch's Republic of Thieves after disliking Red Seas Under Red Skies. I like it much much better. Republic seems a lot more like The Lies of Locke Lamora to me (which I really enjoyed). Republic of Thieves (like The Lies of Locke Lamora) has the flashbacks to Locke's time in Camorr with Father Chains which is one of the reasons I (so far) like it better than Red Seas Under Red Skies which didn't have them. So far I'm glad I gave it a try. I heard somewhere on these boards that Lynch was alternating every other book with the Camorr flashbacks. If so I probably will not like Thorn of Emberlain when it comes out. (But I will probably give it a try anyway if Republic of Thieves stays so interesting.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunhilda Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I am struggling through the Speed of Dark (Moon) , which so far does not read as an SF book at all. Finished. Bleh. Do not recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 On 5/2/2016 at 6:21 PM, First of My Name said: I'm reading The Long Walk by Stephen King, which has been waiting on my pile for ages (part of an omnibus called the Bachman Books, four novellas King wrote under an alias). Enjoying it so far, the premise is like the Hunger games without any violence. It's a pretty old story but already very typical of King in what he focuses on in the prose. I want to read Rage, the suppressed one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_(King_novel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted May 28, 2016 Author Share Posted May 28, 2016 1 hour ago, Writhen said: I want to read Rage, the suppressed one. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rage_(King_novel I specifically got the older version, which includes Rage, because I was really curious too. It's an interesting but flawed story. You can kind of see why it went on to inspire what it did, but it wouldn't have been as interesting if that hadn't happened, you know? In any case, if you want to buy it look for a second-hand version of The Bachman Books that includes four novellas instead of the three that the new versions have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted May 28, 2016 Share Posted May 28, 2016 I didn't think the rage actually inspired anything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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