April 2018 Reads

[Iskaral Pust]

On 4/17/2018 at 4:41 AM, Mexal said:

I liked the idea of Lyria, if only because I think it would have been useful to see the aftermath of "gaining their freedom". The idea of freedom is a lot better than the reality.

I definitely agree with that, I would have just preferred another color.  I guess red was the bottom of the pyramid and therefore the biggest post-freedom story to tell, but we’ve already seen plenty of red.  

[Iskaral Pust]

Finished Traitor’s Blade by Sebastien De Castell, first in the Greatcoats series.  It’s a fantasy (very minor magic, basically just an alternative world version of 17th century France) very similar to The Three Musketeers without D’Artagnian.  The Greatcoats duel with rapiers as they face off against lawless brigands and especially the soldiers of corrupt aristocratic authorities who have undermined the noble ideal of the king’s justice by devolving from an attempt at a centralized monarchy.  It’s almost like propaganda for Louis XIV mixed with a story of nation building.  The evil aristocracy oppressed the people but the rightful king would restore justice and rule of law.

It’s told from a single POV narrated in the first person.  The prose is pretty good but the style definitely tends toward melodramatic anguish to emphasize the righteousness of rule of law.  Characterization is limited outside of the POV.  The three central characters have the comedic by-play of longtime friends without it feeling forced or too modern.

It’s not bad, and possibly even good if it wasn’t a repetitive style after Iron Gold, but it didn’t leave me eager to read the rest of the series. 

[Astromech]

H.W. Brand's The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream. Even though it was broader and not as deep as I expected, it was very good. I initially thought it would be more detailed  concerning the actual experience and events in the mining camps. However, it was really concerned more with the broader effects the California Gold Rush had on both the U.S. and globally, covering primarily the 1840s to beginning of the 20th C. Of course, the author also draws parallels to recent events like the tech boom in Silicon Valley. It was interesting to read just how significant the discovery of gold was, from the acceleration of California's statehood and it's effects on the issue of slavery to the psychological effect it had on the nation and globally. 

[Garett Hornwood]

I finished William Miller and the Rise of Adventism by George R. Knight on Monday, it was really thorough and very enlightening.

Also on Monday I started The Martian by Andy Weir, I'm really into the book and even though I know how it ends (I didn't see the movie but it's really easy to guess how it will) that doesn't diminish how much I'm enjoying the read so far.

This past Saturday I finished Loony Coon by Sam Campbell, which is the eighth book of his Living Forest series.  I'll be starting the ninth, Fiddlesticks and Freckles this coming Friday as my weekend read for the next two weeks.

And today I started Let's Pretend This Never Happened (A Mostly True Memoir) by Jenny Lawson (aka The Bloggess) as my home read, which is I'll read at least 10 pages a day but at home only.  I read Lawson's second book Furiously Happy several years ago and enjoyed it so much I had to get her first.  My current home read of Walt Whitman is non-existent and I need to have a home read that I'm actually progression on, so I decided to just start the next book on my home list.  Whitman is my last book of poetry, which isn't mythological in nature, and whenever I do finish it (probably 2020 at the rate I'm going) it'll be my last.

[Leofric]

I finished the first three books of Christian Cameron ( aka Miles Cameron) Chivalry Series (The Ill-Made Knight, The Long Sword, and The Green Count) .  Excellent fictional account of an historical soldier and knight, William Gold,  making his way through the 100-Years War and the Alexandrian Crusade.   Has all the great detail of military life and fighting Cameron brought to The Traitor Son Cycle, but set in the real world around actual events, rather than in a fantasy setting.    

Now reading The Will to Battle by Ada Palmer, the third book in her Terra Ignota series, and Time Salvager by Wesley Chu, I enjoyed his Tao books so giving this a read.

 

 

 

[williamjm]

I finished Wages of Sin by @Zoë Sumra. The murder mystery plot did get quite complicated at times with lots of people with different hidden agendas, but I thought it all came together neatly at the end.

I'm now about to start The Hyena and the Hawk by Adrian Tchaikovsky. I enjoyed the previous two books in the trilogy, so hopefully this will be a good conclusion.

[Iskaral Pust]

Finished Last Orders by Caimh McDonnell, concluding his Dublin Trilogy that’s actually a tetralogy because you have to read the prequel (published during the trilogy) before reading the concluding novel.  Like the others, this has some great Irish humor as a well-plotted mystery unfolds for the cast of oddballs.  This one does rely on some deus ex machina for the bad guys at the climax, but it doesn’t ruin the book.  

My biggest concern is that Caimh announces at the end that his next book will follow Bunny McGarry as he strikes out on his own from the rest of the oddballs and misfits, basically following the structure and overall arc of the prequel, which was the weakest novel by far.  I’m not sure I want to follow Bunny as a solo or majority POV without the sad sacks Paul and Phil nor the level-headed Bridget (and Nora was a great addition this time), nor do I want improbably powerful American antagonists who can infiltrate the FBI and send assassins.  It’s not Jason Bourne. 

This has been a great series but I wish the author would stick to his strengths.  I can’t imagine Bunny, the hurley-wielding culchie with a Cork accent, working in an American setting. 

But the Dublin trilogy itself is highly recommended.  And the Irish humor is always accessible to other readers, unlike the excellence of Ross O’Carroll-Kelly that would be largely impenetrable to non-Irish. 

[Astromech]

Tony Horwitz's narrative history of John Brown and the raid on Harpers Ferry, Midnight Rising: John Brown and the Raid That Sparked the Civil War. John Brown was a fascinating historical figure. It's interesting learning more about him and the Harpers Ferry raid as well as events in "Bleeding Kansas".

[aceluby]

On 4/17/2018 at 10:00 PM, Triskele said:

Not sure if you saw some of my mentions, but i ended up finishing this one and am still interested in hate-discussing it.  Please let me know if you finish.  

I'm 300 pages in and I can almost guarantee I won't finish this series, even though I flew through his Shadow series.  The magic is boring and the characters are not even two dimensional.  Ugh...  I rarely stop reading a book, but this one is giving me pause.

[Inkdaub]

I started Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts and it's great so far.

[Winterfella]

9 minutes ago, Inkdaub said:

I started Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts and it's great so far.

Loved this book so much.

[ljkeane]

I just finished up Christian Cameron's The Green Count which was pretty good. I'd definitely recommend the series if you like his fantasy stuff as Miles Cameron.

Next up I'll probably go with Adrian Tchaikovsky's The Hyena and the Wolf.

[RedEyedGhost]

3 hours ago, Winterfella said:

3 hours ago, Inkdaub said:

I started Tremblay's A Head Full of Ghosts and it's great so far.

Loved this book so much.

His Disappearance at Devil's Rock is excellent too.

[Lord Patrek]

I haven't read anything by Raymond E. Feist in a decade and I was curious to discover this brand new series unrelated to all his Midkemia stuff. Sadly, King of Ashes is bland and uninspired through and through. A decidedly generic fantasy novel filled with tropes and themes we've seen countless times.

Disappointing. . .

[The Marquis de Leech]

Finished A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess. I'm probably going to cop a bit of flack, but I think Kubrik's version is superior - and Burgess' grumpy Foreword dismissal of both text and film is the most counterproductive authorial commentary I have seen outside a Patrick Rothfuss novel.

Next up is The Story of Kullervo, by J.R.R. Tolkien. (I waited until the thing was no longer priced extortionately).

[SkynJay]

I finished up Live Traders today.  I really like Live Traders, I think I enjoyed it more than the Farseer trilogy.  I may have to jump right into Tawny Man, hope the library has them on e-book so I don't have to wait.

[Darth Richard II]

31 minutes ago, SkynJay said:

I finished up Live Traders today.  I really like Live Traders, I think I enjoyed it more than the Farseer trilogy.  I may have to jump right into Tawny Man, hope the library has them on e-book so I don't have to wait.

*bangs on table*

ONE OF US! ONE OF US!

[aceluby]

12 hours ago, Triskele said:

Does it seem like a setting and dialogue where someone would say "bollocks?"  Not in the least, right?  Well, if you read on long enough you'll see someone exclaim "Bollocks!"  And many other anachronisms.  

#spoilers

#sorry, not sorry

Yeah, the dialogue is Sanderson level of cringe.  Which is fine when I expect it, but I was told this series is significantly better than the Shadow series, and it just isn't.  It's bad.

Spoiler

And you're going to tell me that his fucking fiancee can't tell the difference between him and his brother?  That he had no best friends and even his father couldn't tell the difference.  So dumb.

 

[Centrist Simon Steele]

I've lost my love of reading fiction  All I read now are research articles and things like this. I can't even finish the last Witcher book--a series I absolutely loved. 

I DID get through Slash of the Titans: the Road to Freddy vs Jason over Christmas Break. But I had just had wrist surgery and a good supply of opiates. I think that might have helped.

[Iskaral Pust]

I finished The Perpetual Astonishment Of Jonathan Fairfax by Christopher Shevlin, a humorous British novel in which the titular character feels like a younger version of Arthur Dent, but with less self-confidence or elan.  The story ricochets through multiple POVs, arch bantering dialogue, friendships of various types and a cosy plot that serves the characters and humor just right.  Recommended.