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August 2016 Reads


Garett Hornwood

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Finished my re-read of Abaddon's Gate. Turned out I remembered very little of this one. It was good, of course, but probably my least favorite of the first three (the only ones I've read). The new POVs don't do much for me here, and I'm not a big Holden fan, so while the events of the book are interesting, it sucks only having meh characters to see them from. Also a lot of the tension in the book relies on very frustrating turns of events. This is a perfectly legit way to write, I just don't happen to enjoy that much as a reader. But anyway, the book ends on a very open note, and I am excited to move on to the first "new" book, Cibola Burn, which I started today. Although so far, I am surprised to feel a very "oh boy, a colonization SF" (First Landing, ugh), which is a bit strange as I actually really like colonization fic, and have written it myself. I figure it's partly just being introduced to yet another set of POV characters that I don't care about. I understand that this is the MO for the series, but it can really make or break the book (just look at Bobbie and Avasarala vs. Melba and Bull). And the one constant is Holden, who, c'mon. Gimme a break. (At least, I assume Holden appears in this book, I haven't checked!) I am sure once I get more into it, I'll be more energized by the story.

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Finished Cornwell's Lords of the North.  I'm kind of late to the party on him, but I can see why so many fantasy authors I like appreciation his work.  Now I'm on Swanwick's The Iron Dragon's Daughter.  Been interested in this one for years, but it's been out of print for quite a while, only landing in ebook form a few months back.  Not far in but I'm digging it.  Seems to fit in nicely alongside other weird city stuff I like even though I don't recall Swanwick being cited as one of the obvious forbears to all those New Weird names that popped up around the early 2000s. 

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I read, The Night Watch, the first in Sergei Lukyanenko's Watch series. I enjoyed it and loved his take on the light and the dark.

I'll probably squeeze in another, shorter novel before continuing with the series.

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Joe Hill, The Fireman. I enjoyed the read, liked the concept, felt the characters were too stock/genre. Everyone was either a saint or horrible. Worse, he failed to give us the proper earned ending. Seems like he flinched or his publishers felt it wouldn't sell well to the screen. (Remember the difference between Little Shop on Broadway vs the Movie?)

I'm reading Simak's Waystation now.

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Finished Wild Cards 15: Black Trump.  It was fine, but I'm glad to be done with the Card Sharks arc.  Two more to go!  Well, not counting the upcoming High Stakes.

Also read Four Roads Cross.  Great book and I'm happy to say that The Craft Sequence has become one of my favorite series. 

Now reading Penric and the Shaman and Alastair Reynolds' collection, Deep Navigation

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I am still at around 60% at "Royal Assassin". While it took up a little speed, it's still not really grabbing me and I regret that I bought it spontaneously on kindle (because the end of the first book was good) as I could at least gift away a pbck. I am sorry, but this must be one of the most overrated series (it is probably the only Fantasy series from the last 20 years about which I have never encountered negative comments on in this forum) out there.

For diversion I read T.C. Boyle's "Budding prospects" (in German translation) on the weekend. Fairly typical early Boyle, quite funny and before he got into his "routine" that led to repetitions of very similar tropes and characters in some of his novels from the last 10-15 years, not that I have read all of them.

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On 8/14/2016 at 1:45 AM, Iskaral Pust said:

I finished The Last Days Of Jack Sparks, by Jason Arnopp, a very good read and a good rec by SpockyDog.  It's smart and funny, with lots of unreliable narrator, tension and suspense.  It has more horror elements than I would like, but I'd love to find more with this style of writing (just less horror).

Civilian Reader has a nice review. I think they sum up the book perfectly with this quote:

Quote

Jack Sparks is a journalist in the mould of Paul Theroux and Danny Wallace, but only if those two were so very, very narcissistic and had little conscience. There is a dash of Hunter S. Thompson in there, too. In fact, if you were to mash up Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and The Exorcist, you may get something like Arnopp’s novel. 

 

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12 hours ago, Jo498 said:

I am still at around 60% at "Royal Assassin". While it took up a little speed, it's still not really grabbing me and I regret that I bought it spontaneously on kindle (because the end of the first book was good) as I could at least gift away a pbck. I am sorry, but this must be one of the most overrated series (it is probably the only Fantasy series from the last 20 years about which I have never encountered negative comments on in this forum) out there.

 

:shocked:

Sir, I demand satisfaction!

 

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1 hour ago, Darth Richard II said:

:shocked:

Sir, I demand satisfaction!

I struggled a bit with that one too. But that was mainly due to Regal, and the way his ridiculous, over-the-top behaviour went totally unchecked by everyone. 

But it is a great series, definitely one of the best.

 

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Wow! You guys are reading some great stuff! I've had a great reading year so far (37 down, y'all!) and that's mostly due to reading this forum. Anyhow, I read Jack Sparks and loved it, just finished Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and I am just wrecked, it was so good. The characterization is phenomenal. I can't wait for more in the Wayfarer series! Becky Chambers is the author, and I believe it's her debut novel.

I recently read The Suicide Motor Club by Christopher Buehlman. I'd read a couple of his other books, liked them, and Buehlman is a local boy. Scary, scary vampires in muscle cars. Cool. Just bought his The Lesser Dead (more vampires! I'm not crazy about vampires, but I do like Buehlman, so...yeah. I bit. :P)

I came here to see what everyone else was reading, and my heart skipped a beat when I read that The Obelisk Gate was out tomorrow! The Fifth Season was definitely in my top 5 reads last year - maybe top. So, I'm psyched.

Is the next Expanse book coming out soon? If so, I'm gonna re-read the series. I like it so much; I'm a big fan of Daniel Abraham.

I'm jealous of all the folks reading Robin Hobb and Lois McMaster Bujold for the first time. I love all of the Fitz/Fool books, Liveships, RainWilds...Hobb is one of those authors that give me a really immersive reading experience. And Bujold's Vorkosigan Saga? I adore it. Thanks, board! As others have noted, A Civil Campaign is hysterical, but I would read any book concerning the Vorkosigans. Miles is one of my favorite characters of all time. Happy reading, you guys! You're in for hours and hours of excellent entertainment!

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3 hours ago, End of Disc One said:

I've started A Crown for Cold Silver by Alex Marshall.  I have no idea where this book is going, but I'm really enjoying it.  Some POVs are hilarious in an Abercrombie sort of way.

It's SO good, right? So is the next one, A Blade of Black Steel. Cobalt Zosia!

 

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1 hour ago, YellowDogJen said:

just finished Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and I am just wrecked, it was so good. The characterization is phenomenal. I can't wait for more in the Wayfarer series! Becky Chambers is the author, and I believe it's her debut novel.

Is the next Expanse book coming out soon? If so, I'm gonna re-read the series. I like it so much; I'm a big fan of Daniel Abraham.

The next Wayfarer and Expanse books are both coming out in a couple of months.

From the plot summary it sounds like A Close and Common Orbit isn't going to be primarily set onboard the Wayfarer itself, which seems a bit of a shame but I'm still interested in the book.

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9 minutes ago, williamjm said:

The next Wayfarer and Expanse books are both coming out in a couple of months.

From the plot summary it sounds like A Close and Common Orbit isn't going to be primarily set onboard the Wayfarer itself, which seems a bit of a shame but I'm still interested in the book.

Thanks so much! I'm so excited to hear this. Gonna start my Expanse re-read very soon then!

 

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