The Dog Days of August Readings

[Faceless Dude]

Just picked up 3 this weekend. World War Z by Max Brooks, RSURS, and Spook Country by Gibson. Haven't read a good Gibson story in a while, so I'm wondering if it'll be any good.

[IheartTesla]

I am about two-fifths of the way through Harry Potter 7. Didnt like the title of the first chapter, as well as the writing. Since then it has been quite a good read. Still cant shake the nagging feeling that some scenes/chapters have been written with movies in mind.

Still getting through The Blank Slate. Also a decent read, but its a little more anecdotal than I expected (no graphs or anything). Or rather, like an essay. At least I am learning about the issues social scientists and evolutionary psychologists deal with.

[Martin Silenus]

I was the 10th person out of the bookstore, out of 500+, to get my 'arry Potta'... and I took it home and it just sat there. Wasn't moved in the slightest to read it. Also been busy with alot of things, but I try to make time to read. I had been a reading mochine this year, but lost steam by early June. Fatigued by all the effort I put into Lolita, and then I read The Watchmen, and it blew me away. Easily the best book, graphic or otherwise, I've read in years.

Coming back to Harry Potter, about 112 pages in, and it just seems childish to me. I still like it (I want to know what happens), but I don't think I'll be going for juvie fiction anymore. I've been putting off House of Chains too long.

[RedEyedGhost]

Don't know really, I just heard he was an interesting author to read, bit an unconventional (I hope?) but maybe you can tell me where to start. I could just try to get my hands on Dreamside, his first novel. Regarding the Duncan thing, I just plan to find out if his style suits me or not. Can't say anything untill I have actually read Vellum. In an other thread I think Dylanfanatic mentioned that Duncan was inspired a lot by Joyce's writing or style for that matter, so that got me wondering if reading the two back-to-back was a good idea.

I'll be sure to check out your librarything!

Definitely let me (and the board ) know what you think after you've read them both (of course after reading my reply below...).

Lawrence,

If you really want a good Joyce starting point, start with his short fiction, collected in Dubliners. Then it would be Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, which is where his style begins to morph a bit. Then Ulysses and only after all of the others should Finnegan's Wake be attempted. I'd say Duncan is more between the Portrait and Ulysses stages of that type of style, although he does vary a bit from Joyce in theme and on the sentence level (Joyce, I believe, is the better conveyor of emotion and word-thought relationship).

REG,

If you did not like Harrison or Wolfe, then you probably wouldn't like Duncan much as well, although his style is quite a bit different than both of theirs. But I've seen quite a few people in my lifetime, online and in college classrooms alike, loathe Joyce for what they saw as being "linguistic masturbation," although I disagree with that, obviously Sometimes, the best fiction is that which provokes a whole gamut of reactions from people, as witnessed in The Last Temptation of Christ. I still want to read that book before seeing the movie, and although I'm a relatively devout Catholic, I suspect I can find a lot to challenge me there without being offended by it all. All comes down to personal preferences, I suppose.

Looks like there has been a bit of author confusion here. I've been talking about Graham Joyce. I have definitely heard - I haven't read him, yet - that James Joyce is the pinnacle of "linguist masturbation" (and without a doubt I feel that Wolfe and Harrison are striving to reach that point). So, was it James Joyce that you compared to Duncan in the other thread Lawrence mentioned? Anyways, thanks for your input.

[sidenote]Have you read Harrison's Viriconium yet? I think I remember you saying in a post a couple of weeks ago that you've read Light but not Viriconium; of course I could be thinking of somebody else. I would like to hear you thoughts on it if you have read it. I kind of liked the first story, but by the time I had forced myself to finish the collection I was seriously ready to burn it (I would never do that though!).[/sidenote]

[Peadar]

I have just finished Simon Morden's The Lost Art and it's a ripping read. A romp.

Just started Land of the Headless by Adam Roberts and liking it so far. My experience of his books to date is that he has an amazing talent for creating fascinating worlds, but doesn't always end his stories well. We'll see.

[Larry.]

Definitely let me (and the board ) know what you think after you've read them both (of course after reading my reply below...).

Looks like there has been a bit of author confusion here. I've been talking about Graham Joyce. I have definitely heard - I haven't read him, yet - that James Joyce is the pinnacle of "linguist masturbation" (and without a doubt I feel that Wolfe and Harrison are striving to reach that point). So, was it James Joyce that you compared to Duncan in the other thread Lawrence mentioned? Anyways, thanks for your input.

[sidenote]Have you read Harrison's Viriconium yet? I think I remember you saying in a post a couple of weeks ago that you've read Light but not Viriconium; of course I could be thinking of somebody else. I would like to hear you thoughts on it if you have read it. I kind of liked the first story, but by the time I had forced myself to finish the collection I was seriously ready to burn it (I would never do that though!).[/sidenote]

Yeah, it was James Joyce that I was referring to, since he earlier had said he was going to read that just before Hal Duncan in order to compare them better. And yeah, I was the one who hasn't yet read all of Viriconium but has read (and enjoyed) Light). I think it's safe to say that based on your comments about Wolfe that you and I have very different ideas on what makes for a well-written story, since Wolfe is one of my all-time favorites

[ThomasFoster]

I need to finish of China Mieville's Perdito Street Station and hopefully the rest of the series.

I stalled at the end of the Prince of Nothing so I need to get going to on the rest of the series.

Ditto for Neal Stephenson's The Confusion.

Layer Cake has been on my shelf for far too long.

I'm determined to make it through The Stone of Farewell if only because I'm told Green Angel Tower is where the series really kicks in.

And thanks to Mr. X for reminding me about From Hell.

I'll be starting Steven Saylor's Rome books and Patrick O'Brien's Aubrey/Maturin books in the hope of finding a Tube-book to replace Shogun when I finish it.

And that's before the non-fiction.

[Isis]

I'm determined to make it through The Stone of Farewell if only because I'm told Green Angel Tower is where the series really kicks in.

I'd recommend you kick it down to the bottom of your list and leave it there actually. There are SO many other books that are more worthy of your time.

[RedEyedGhost]

Yeah, it was James Joyce that I was referring to, since he earlier had said he was going to read that just before Hal Duncan in order to compare them better. And yeah, I was the one who hasn't yet read all of Viriconium but has read (and enjoyed) Light). I think it's safe to say that based on your comments about Wolfe that you and I have very different ideas on what makes for a well-written story, since Wolfe is one of my all-time favorites

Yeah, we definitely have different ideas of what constitutes "well-written". And I think we both know who is right. Yep, we both are

I would still like to know what you think about the last half of Viriconium (when you've finished it), it may still fall in your classification of "well-written", but it is not good story telling, or maybe I found the prose too nauseating at that point to get the full breadth of it (that's why I want to hear your thoughts).

[RedEyedGhost]

I'd recommend you kick it down to the bottom of your list and leave it there actually. There are SO many other books that are more worthy of your time.

I was so disappointed by the ending of To Green Angel Tower (and a bit relieved that it was also finally over).

[Deornoth]

Just finished reading Glenda Larke's 'The Heart of the Mirage'. It was a slow starter and by the time it got going I'd almost stopped caring Plus, any 'son of the desert' who says "Holy Shit!" will only get my contempt every time... Does show promise for book 2 though. A full review is Here

I'm now reading Paul Kemp's 'Shadowbred'...

[duchess of malfi]

Every year I try to read the five Hugo Award nominated novels. This year the only one I had read was Naomi Novik's His Majesty's Dragon, so right now I am embarked on my annual quest to read the rest.

So far:

I completed Peter Watt's Blindsight over the weekend. It is a "first contact" novel, and the author appears to be really up on a variety of fields, from physics to neuroscience. And he is a truly talented author. But - I found one subplot of the book to be so unrealistic that it kept throwing me out of the story (the vampires). And I did not care for the end. I had no problem with the somewhat bleak Darwinism of it - only with the species that come out on top. So, while the book was well written and gripping in many ways, I thought it was somewhat flawed. The writing is good enough, though, that I would be willing to try something else by Watts.

I am now reading Vernor Vinge's Rainbows End. I tend to dislike cyberpunk, and this book does edge in that direction (The only cyberpunk novel I have ever actually enjoyed was Stephenson's Snow Crash.) So here is this book that has definate cyberpunk leanings, and which features a main character who is a bit of an asshole - two things I usually do not like. And I am gripped and glued! I am in shock that I am enjoying it so much.

When this one is done. I will be heading on to Charles Stross's Glasshouse, then a grand finale with Eifelheim.

And then I have some supposed "fun" books like Jim Butcher's Dresden Files and Scott Lynch waiting for me as a reward for reading the serious ones.

[laoise]

Yesterday I finished The Twilight Watch by Sergei Lukyanenko, the third book of the Night Watch series. I've really enjoyed this series and this third instalment was as enjoyable as the rest. They are so easy to read, everything just flows. I wish I could read them in Russian to see if the translator or the writer is responsible. It would have been handy to have a better (alright, any) knowledge of Russian fairy tales as there are several references made to them but I don't think not understanding took much away from the story.

I've now started on Sasha by Joel Shepherd (who also wrote the Crossover series, which I haven't read). This was an unrecommended impulse purchase and I'm only 30 pages in but so far I'm not loving it. Lines like this don't help: "Sasha did not trust herself to speak, lest some slip of caution unleash the seething in her gut". WTF? Can he try any harder to come across as a pretentious wanker? Especially after the laid back voice of The Twilight Watch, this elitist snob voice is kinda painful. I'm just killing time with this book until Red Seas arrives from Book Depository (which Ser Stubby and I might fight over who gets to read it first! Stubby - rock-off for first read?) so I'll keep going with it and see if it improves.

[Stubby]

I'm just killing time with this book until Red Seas arrives from Book Depository (which Ser Stubby and I might fight over who gets to read it first! Stubby - rock-off for first read?)

Won't need to - I'll be home before you when it arrives so I'll just start it.

[Larry.]

OK, the biggest (and I mean biggest) book outside of the Bible that I've ever owned arrived today. I read a few weeks ago about this newly-published edition of Argentine author Adolfo Bioy Casares' diary to show his recorded thoughts and memories of his friend and collaborator, Jorge Luis Borges, from the 1930s to Borges' death in 1986.

This fucker is 1,663 pages long. In regular hardcover format. Almost four inches in thickness. I think it might take a while for me to finish reading it

[add-on]

I was so disappointed by the ending of To Green Angel Tower (and a bit relieved that it was also finally over).

Pile on!

Definitely not worth it.

[Dr Adder]

currently reading Mad Amos by Allan Dean Foster.

I am finding it an easy read and amusing as Foster puts an unusual spin on the Wild West in this collection of short stories involving eccentric mountain man "Mad" Amos Malone.

[Peadar]

Just finished Land of the Headless by Adam Roberts and I can highly recommend it. Slightly whimsical high concept SF with a good ending.

Next up: Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch.

[Muttering Bill]

I'd recommend you kick it down to the bottom of your list and leave it there actually. There are SO many other books that are more worthy of your time.

Funny, those have been on the bottom of my pile for years. Just above the Otherland books, which I at least tried once (The whole Jack and the Beanstalk thing in the prologue was just ridiculous).

Finished Red Seas Under Red Skies. Loves every moment of it. I thought it was much stronger than TLoLL - which was a little predictable. This time around I had no ideas about where he was going with it. Also, his use of profanities didn't seem quite so overdone this time. Maybe in the next book he'll finally get the balance right.

Now, I'm on to The Name of the Wind.

[Isis]

Funny, those have been on the bottom of my pile for years.

I've read both those series so take it from me: leave them until you have NOTHING ELSE to read.