The Marquis de Leech Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 7 hours ago, Paxter said: I finished Hannah Kent's excellent Burial Rites. I strongly recommend this one for historical fiction fans - many hours of meticulous research clearly went into it. And it's a beautiful (if bleak) story that makes the most of its rich Icelandic setting. I personally found it a case of amazing research combined with an average story (I mean, we know Agnes is guilty, and what will happen to her - there is no particular tension). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 10 hours ago, Astromech said: Seeing your location, I got a chuckle out of your post Oh, not at all! I live in North Co. Dublin, whereas the book is set in South Co. Dublin -- *completely* different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 13 hours ago, Paxter said: Yeah this is easily my favourite instalment. Unfortunately I think the series loses its way after book two (others don't mind some of the later volumes). I'll be interested to see what you make of books three and four. So I've heard I hope I'll like the rest too. 9 hours ago, Triskan said: I finished King's The Gunlinger and was kind of "eh" on it but am going to give Volume II a shot. Kind of itching to get back to the Expanse releases that I haven't gotten to yet once done with this. Don't worry, book 2 is way better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 8 hours ago, Peadar said: Oh, not at all! I live in North Co. Dublin, whereas the book is set in South Co. Dublin -- *completely* different! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted May 16, 2017 Share Posted May 16, 2017 17 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: I personally found it a case of amazing research combined with an average story (I mean, we know Agnes is guilty, and what will happen to her - there is no particular tension). Yeah I don't disagree with that, although: Spoiler not every reader knows what is going to happen in the end. My boyfriend didn't know anything about Agnes or the book before reading and was expecting her to be pardoned and live happily ever after with Toti! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teng Ai Hui Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 On 5/14/2017 at 7:35 AM, C.T. Phipps said: Just finished The Collapsing Empire. Which reads like an Anti-Dune and I loved it. It's even better with Will Wheaton's voice. I find that phrase Anti-Dune very intriguing. Can you please explain further what you mean by that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 [mod] Just a reminder that everyone's definition of a spoiler is different, and it's better to err on the side of using spoiler tags than not. Thank you. [/mod] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Finished Truly Madly Guilty. Thought it was just okay. Way too much build-up and forced suspense about What Happened. This was my first time reading a Liane Moriarty novel, but I have seen Big Little Lies which had a similar conceit (although much better executed) and it was rather grating. Could have done with some paring down about everyone and their Deep Dark Secrets. Still, an enjoyable enough read and didn't take me long. I think next up I might do a re-read of the first Shannara trilogy. What's with me and re-reading this year? Not sure but I'm on a roll! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Finished Magician. A bit of a slog... while the second half was unquestionably stronger (and in some cases Feist actually ventured into sexuality, which the likes of Terry Brooks wouldn't have touched), it still ran into the problem that I didn't care about any of these characters. Whereas I found Salvatore to be OK story, godawful prose, Feist is OK prose, godawful story. Or perhaps I'm being a bit harsh on account of reading it for the first time in my 30s (I think 15 year old me might have really enjoyed this). Next up is The King in Yellow, by Robert W. Chambers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Finished The King in Yellow. This one was frustrating... some delightfully creepy supernatural stuff in the first half (reaching its pinnacle with The Yellow Sign section), followed by a second half devoted to late nineteenth century Parisian soap opera. I realise the latter is supposed to be read in light of the former, but I wanted more horror, damn it. Next up is Memory of Water, by Emmi Itäranta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richard Writhen Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 On Invalid Date at 11:25 PM, Darth Richard II said: I always felt the first Dark Tower book was just OK. Most people seem to agree it doesn't kick into high gear til book two. It does kick off slowly. I also feel that the tone changes after book three. Wizard and Glass isn't nearly as nihilistic and grimdark as the previous ones IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brunhilda Posted May 17, 2017 Share Posted May 17, 2017 Black Mage: First Year: 'sokay. Black Mage: Apprentice: dire. The entire series feels like the Mitchell & Webb sketch (under 10 minutes) "Are we the baddies?" drawn out for four books. Yes, yes, you are the baddies. Now stop being the baddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 Finished off Memory of Water. Beautiful prose (all the more impressive given that the author wrote the book in two languages, thus literally translating her own book), and interesting premise. A shame that there really wasn't much of a story - as far as science-fiction depictions of natural disasters in that part of the world, Sinisalo's Blood of Angels works much better. Next up is A Cavern of Black Ice, by J.V. Jones. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted May 18, 2017 Share Posted May 18, 2017 I found My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk a real slog to read. I didn't care for the prose or themes at all. I only finished to find out who the murderer was. Now reading a free indie fantasy book, The Book of Deacon by Joseph Lallo. It is OK, Way too much telling rather than showing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 20 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: Next up is A Cavern of Black Ice, by J.V. Jones. Just curious,is this your first time reading this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 40 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said: Just curious,is this your first time reading this? Yes, it is. All my reads this year have been new reads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 3 hours ago, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: Yes, it is. All my reads this year have been new reads. Wonder what you'll make of it.I read this way back in 2009 and i liked it so much that i read the rest of the published books in the series within a couple of weeks.At that time i only had to wait just a few months till the next book came out.Of course since then it's been a very long wait for the new one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 On 17.5.2017 at 1:44 PM, Roose Boltons Pet Leech said: Finished The King in Yellow. This one was frustrating... some delightfully creepy supernatural stuff in the first half (reaching its pinnacle with The Yellow Sign section), followed by a second half devoted to late nineteenth century Parisian soap opera. I realise the latter is supposed to be read in light of the former, but I wanted more horror, damn it. I am not even sure I ever finished that (could there be an edition without all the soap opera?) I also found it a mixed bag and disappointing later on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leofric Posted May 19, 2017 Share Posted May 19, 2017 Finished the sequel to Too Like the Lightning , Seven Surrenders by Ada Palmer. Just as convoluted and intriguing as the first part. I'm sure I didn't understand everything but thoroughly enjoyed it, want to see how the story continues in the next books, since I can't guess what will happen next. Also read Assassin's Fate by Robin Hobb. Great end to the trilogy and the tales of Fitz and Fool. Really enjoyed Bee's parts as well. Now reading Red Sister by Mark Lawrence. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astromech Posted May 20, 2017 Share Posted May 20, 2017 Finished James D. Hornfischer's The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors. An excellent narrative of the battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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