January Reading 2017

[ljkeane]

I finally finished The Mad Ship. I like the Liveship books but they're not fast paced books and rereading them is pretty slow going. It's going to take me ages to get through The Dragon Keeper books, the first two of which I didn't like last time I read them, at this rate.

For now I'm going to give Senlin Ascends a try as that seems to be getting almost universal positive reviews here.

[Winterfella]

Also starting Senlin Ascends.  Only 50 pages in, but there are some books that you just know are going to click with you very early on.  This seems like one of those.

[stonebender]

Finally finished Cooper's Deerslayer.  Style and some characterization obviously hard to get through by modern standards, but the guy could sure conjure some lovely images of the wilderness.  Next up is either Cornwell's Sword Song or a Moorcock Multiverse volume I have which I believe collects of his earliest SF adventure stories.     

[Jo498]

Finished Larsson's "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". (Mild, generic spoilers below) I have not seen the movies and avoided this for several years despite recommendations from friends but now my brother almost forced a copy into my hands... Now, I understand why this is popular. But despite being partially an entertaining page turner, it is not a good book. Not even a very good mystery/thriller/whatever. It is not well written, as far as I can tell in the English translation, language and style are rather poor. There is way too much boring filling material (the first ca. 250 pages (of 550 in my edition) could have been cut by a third or more), especially what kind of sandwiches everyone eats and which computers they use (iBooks) and the two main story lines are poorly connected. After what most will consider the main (and most exciting) mystery+action has climaxed there are another 100 pages taking up something from the beginning of the book but at least this reader could not really get excited about that stuff.

I also find the characters cartoonish (or pale). The bad guys are cartoonishly, sadistically evil and two of them actually off screen. The protagonist is not very interesting (unless one counts that every female wants to bed him and most do) and the famous Salander starts as halfway believable (certainly somewhat interesting, if over the top) but turns out as a completely unrealistic hyper-genius in the last fifth which is also inconsistent with the persona developed before. Worse, through supernatural hacking abilities she is also a lazy plot device which becomes clear when we contrast how Mikael painstakingly solves the dark secret of the Vanger dynasty with how by Salander's hacking we get huge amounts of important or incriminating info basically for free - she just copied a bad guy's complete harddisc or sth. like that.

Maybe some time later but I am not in hurry to get to the other "Millennium" books...

I swear that I only now found this review but it is spot on

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2011/06/09/moralist-stieg-larsson/

[beniowa]

On 1/9/2017 at 6:45 AM, C Rutherford said:

I had a few issues with Salyards as well.  Thought the first book was a bit rough but promising.  Then he tried to do more sweeping and broad plotting and it just did not work that well for me.  Plus he seemed to contradict himself in many small but annoying ways.  The commander of the military group is supposed to be this fearsome leader.  The military group is seen as a threat by various cabals and conspiracies and those just wanting to maintain power.  And yet every single time there was some kind of action that needed to be taken they stood around and argued and back talked and second and third guessed.  I think Salyards thought it created witty dialogue and built the suspense.  Instead it made the whole thing seem downright silly more often then not.  I think the author worked better doing short and more succinct plot lines like in the first book. 

This was pretty much how I thought too.  The dialogue in the third book is better, but still has way too much of this.  Plotting was better too, though looking back over the series, I think I would have plotted the trilogy differently. 

18 hours ago, SkynJay said:

I will be interested to hear thoughts.  There are very few reviews of this up thus far.

Will do.  I'm not very far into it yet, but it's interesting and creative.  I'm liking it so far.

[Jiriki]

On 1/9/2017 at 10:02 PM, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Almost done with The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams.So great to be back in Osten Ard.Though a short novel, it still feels epic and is highly immersive.Loving it!

I'm halfway through, and I love, love, love it. Glad you enjoyed it, too. : )

[Iskaral Pust]

19 hours ago, Jo498 said:

Finished Larsson's "Girl with the Dragon Tattoo".....

Very close to my impression of the book.  I didn't read any further in the series.

[HexMachina]

Finished Ship of Magic in my Liveships re-read. I love going through the journeys of these characters again. So much love for this series.

After finishing the Ship of Magic last night, I took Shakespeare's Measure for Measure with me on my commute and also read during my breaks. Not my favourite Shakespeare but I did have a few chuckles at Elbow's confusion of words.

On with The Mad Ship next.

[benpeek]

I've been finishing Gemma Files' Experimental Film. It's a dark fantasy novel, set in Canada, and if you're a bit of a film geek, it has a lot of nice things going in it for you. Even if you're not, it's a decent book to check out.

[Andorion]

Finished Janny Wurts's Ships of Merior, pretty great second book, now onto War Host of Vastmark.

Also Finished Gone with the Wind - entertaining book, but had some really poor characters, and one seriously contradictory one. 

Will probably read Ivanhoe from the Classics next

[Astromech]

Steinbeck's, The Grapes of Wrath. I love Steinbeck's works. He and Twain run neck and neck for my favorite American author.

Moving on to Ivo Andric's, The Bridge on the Drina.

[Joe Pesci]

Finished Benjamin Ashwood and Endless Flight by AC Cobble. Started The Queen's Poisoner by Jeff Wheeler.

[Andorion]

Finished Warhost of Vastmark. Excellent read.

Now reading Dragonbone Chair, about 270 pages in. 

[brunhilda]

Reading a particularly odd book ("Off Leash") about people becoming magicians' familiars against their will. It feels very Kevin Hearne/Iron Druid so far, which sadly in my case, is not a ringing endorsement.

[ljkeane]

I whizzed through both Senlin Ascends and Arm of the Sphinx. I'll echo pretty much everyone else it seems in definitely recommending the series. I thought Senlin Ascends was excellent. Arm of the Sphinx was a bit of a change of pace and a bit of a step down for me, there's a lot of stuff which feels like it's setting the scene for the next book, it was still very good though.

[mashiara]

I loved Leigh Bardugo's Crooked Kingdom, could not put it down. Enjoyed every minute of it. Any idea if there's going to be a third one in the series?

I'm currently reading The Sword-Edged Blonde by Alex Bledsoe.

[williamjm]

9 hours ago, mashiara said:

I loved Leigh Bardugo's Crooked Kingdom, could not put it down. Enjoyed every minute of it. Any idea if there's going to be a third one in the series?

No, I think it was just planned to be a two book series, although I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the characters appearing in another book in the future. Apparently her next book is meant to be set in modern-day America so I guess it might be a while before a return to that world.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

The Heart of What Was Lost by Tad Williams was a wonderful re-introduction to the world of Osten Ard.  Loved seeing Sludig and Duke Isgrimmur again.   The Norn viewpoint was interesting but I didn't get the same sense of how different the Sithi were from humans. I still think the Sithi portrayal in fantasy is the best example of a society that is not human in any way.  I admit being caught off guard on the bleak tone of the book.

I am almost done Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey.  I love being back in the world of Terre D'Ange.  I do find the character of Moirin not as interesting as Phedre.

Naamah's Curse is up next.

[beniowa]

Finished Crossroads of Canopy.  This a new fantasy with thirteen kingdoms and thirteen gods in a society living at the top of a giant forest.  Very creative and inventive.  Plus, I have a weakness for forests.  I didn't entirely jive with the author's writing style, but on the whole it's a fairly good debut novel.  I'll be checking out the next book for sure.

Also finished the Bridging Infinity anthology, which was okay, but only a couple of the stories were particularly good.  This is the third Infinity anthology book that I've read and so far they've been a mixed bag for me.  I may not read anymore.

Thanks to Peadar and Mashiara, I've decided to give Tchaikovsky a try again.  I'm already aways into Children of Time. 

[Starkess]

I finished The Bone Clocks. It was...okay? Hard to pin down. I felt like I was never really sure what the actual story was, and the last section really dragged down the whole thing. Mitchell can definitely write like hell, and there were sections I enjoyed a lot, but I'm just not convinced they fit together. This was my first Mitchell book and apparently this is his schtick so fine. I would probably check out another of his books, but maybe not for a long while.

Next up for me is Shadow Magic by Patricia Wrede. I got the whole series in a bundle deal and am looking forward to it. Her Enchanted Forest series are everything I want in YA fantasy so hopefully this will also be a a good read.