April 2010 Reads

[AprilFool]

Had a week off and got a little reading done.

Did a reread of Enders Game for fun (I wanted to see how the reading experience on the ipad was, and I liked it. The backlit screen did not bother my eyes like the computers does.)

Also read:

The Desert Spear by Peter V Brett - this was very good, in my opinion an improvement over the first book, and this series is quickly becoming a favorite.

The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell - one of the blurbs says it all, the Bourne Identity as written by Neil Gaiman. Very good and quick read. Anyone read Jasmyn by Bell?

Almost finished with Changes by Jim Butcher - Another good addition to the series. As a different thread here reads "Thank God for Jim Butcher". He consistently puts out good, fun to read books.

[beniowa]

So what's the verdict on this one compared to The Blonde and Severance Package, Ben?

I'd say it wasn't quite as good as The Blonde and Severance Package, but then the time travel element felt a little odd compared to his other books. And I thought the previous two were already a step down from The Wheelman. Still, I've enjoyed them all.

[Arlingzen Bill]

Started Imager's Intrigue by Modesitt yesterday.

[aidan]

The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell - one of the blurbs says it all, the Bourne Identity as written by Neil Gaiman. Very good and quick read. Anyone read Jasmyn by Bell?

This one is immediately going on my reading list if that description is accurate!

[Procrastimancer]

Finished John Scalzi's THE ANDROID'S DREAM a couple nights ago. It is pretty much the novel equivalent of a popcorn flick and that was what I was looking for. Proved a nice change of pace that seems to have successfully managed to bring me out of this funk I have been having over the past couple months. An enjoyable read, definitely, and it left me cracking up throughout, so that's a plus, too.

I finished Scalzi's book a bit sooner than I had planned and was unable to get out to the library to pick up the books I had on hold (including the one I planned to read next) before they closed for the weekend, so I was left with nothing more than my overly large to-read pile to choose from. Naturally, I decided to just reread something instead. So, I started reading Warren Ellis' SHIVERING SANDS again. Didn't finish it before Monday rolled around, but since it is a collection of his non-fiction writings, it is not exactly something you need to read through all at once. I'll just save it to read between books. Great book, by the way, if you like Ellis' work.

Started reading Maureen McHugh's CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG after picking it up this morning. Only sixty pages in right now. Zhang hasn't exactly struck me as one of the most interesting of characters yet, with things moving a bit slow in his single chapter, but I've a ways to go to see if his chapters pick up a little more. Angel's chapter, on the other hand, was definitely an upswing. Early on yet, but I like it thus far and that I have read sixty pages in means I am unlikely to quit. Always a positive.

[Xalinor]

Finally finished The Gathering Storm. What I liked about it: the writing was generally very good and the final 150 pages or so made up for the book's inadequacies quite nicely. What I didn't like about it: Little Mat or Perrin and absolutely no Elayne, all important characters in the series; the plot jumped around too much throughout most of the novel. Overall, I would give it a 6/10.

Starting Erikson's Midnight Tides for the first time. It's started off pretty mediocre. Hopefully the rest of the novel is better than the first fifty pages.

[RedEyedGhost]

Another 80 pages into The Warded Man and I'm really liking this book. That crazy one-armed rock demon :love:

I'd say it wasn't quite as good as The Blonde and Severance Package, but then the time travel element felt a little odd compared to his other books. And I thought the previous two were already a step down from The Wheelman. Still, I've enjoyed them all.

Thanks Ben! I think I take a pass on that one.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I finished The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. It wasn't anything new or special but I found it a solid and entertaining read. Shadow's Edge is next.

[The Evil Hat]

Finally finished The Gathering Storm. What I liked about it: the writing was generally very good and the final 150 pages or so made up for the book's inadequacies quite nicely. What I didn't like about it: Little Mat or Perrin and absolutely no Elayne, all important characters in the series; the plot jumped around too much throughout most of the novel. Overall, I would give it a 6/10.

Starting Erikson's Midnight Tides for the first time. It's started off pretty mediocre. Hopefully the rest of the novel is better than the first fifty pages.

I've had a fair bit of trouble starting every Malazan book so far (which is then compensated by speeding up exponentially as I go along), so I'd say that it probably will, if you're a fan of Erikson's writing.

[Eponine]

I re-read The Crying of Lot 49 and I enjoyed it a lot more than the first time I read it. Knowing what was going on (or knowing that I don't know what's going on) let me focus more on the funny and weird bits.

And HORRORS, I'm reading Prince of Nothing because anything that's talked about that much on this board eventually must be read by me. I've read the first book so far, and I suppose that a lot more must happen later on for it to be so thoroughly discussed. I really dislike Serwe.

[BookWyrm]

I'm very close to finishing Swan Song and though it didn't stay as good as I thought the first half was, there's still a few pages left to allow for improvement. So far I would give it a four out of five star rating. McCammon is a very enjoyable author to read, a very creative man. Regardless of how it ends, Boy's Life will be one of the next books I read. I'll finish and post more tomorrow.

[Astra]

I finished The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. It wasn't anything new or special but I found it a solid and entertaining read. Shadow's Edge is next.

We are in the same boat :rolleyes:

A couple of days ago finished The Way of Shadows (Night Angel, #1) by Brent Weeks

Started Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2)

[palin99999]

Finished:

The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett - 8.5/10

Starting:

Jack Wakes Up by Seth Harwood

[murphy]

Now reading D. D. Barant's Death Blows, the second book in the Bloodhound Files series. It deals with the heroine, who is an FBI profiler, being pulled into an alternate universe where the population is mainly vampires, werewolves and magic. Humans only make up about 1 percent of the population in this universe. The book is funny and tells a very good mystery story.

[BookWyrm]

I've finished Swan Song.

The first half of this book was extremely good, but it seems like McCammon lost some of that touch with part two. Swan Song is well-deserving of four stars (out of five) - it's a fun book, and in some scenes quite powerful. Ultimately, however, Robert McCammon just isn't great enough to pull the full five. Some of the things that bothered me about Swan Song were some of the plot devices used. They seemed to be there as decoration to the story and were very interesting in and of themselves, but they just didn't affect the story line at all, for example: the Job's Masks. They appeared randomly after the first half of the book and we're left to assume they're a result of nuclear radiation. There was much time spent talking about the Job's Masks but they simply go away towards the last hundred or so pages without leaving much of an impression on the plot itself.

A rare strength of McCammon's is that he can write such a door-thumper of a book and make the story so light and easy to read without ever letting go of his reader's imagination.

So now that I've finished that monster book I'm looking at War & Peace, Blood Meridian, Pale Fire, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and possibly some Gene Wolfe. I know that's a wide margin of choice but that's my current reality.

[beniowa]

I made quick work of Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. It's a decent urban fantasy about the Fair Folk set in San Francisco. There's a lot of setup and background given on the world of Faerie, but the plot moves along fairly quickly. At a couple points, I was afraid the book was going to turn into paranormal romance. Thankfully, the author did not go down that route. I was actually pleasantly surprised at some of the gritty choices the author made for the main character. I plan to check out the sequels and see where this series goes.

I bought Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay last night and I've started a little bit of it already. Good so far!

[murphy]

I made quick work of Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire. It's a decent urban fantasy about the Fair Folk set in San Francisco. There's a lot of setup and background given on the world of Faerie, but the plot moves along fairly quickly. At a couple points, I was afraid the book was going to turn into paranormal romance. Thankfully, the author did not go down that route. I was actually pleasantly surprised at some of the gritty choices the author made for the main character. I plan to check out the sequels and see where this series goes.

I bought Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay last night and I've started a little bit of it already. Good so far!

McGuire's A Local Habitation is better than Rosemary & Rue. I have hopes for the third book which comes out in the fall. She also writes under the name of Mira Grant and her zombie story, Feed, was just released.

Now reading Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. A pretty good shoot-'em-up.

[Werthead]

Finished Mieville's frustrating but eventually rewarding Kraken. Review forthcoming.

Just started GGK's Under Heaven. First 60 pages are excellent.

[beniowa]

McGuire's A Local Habitation is better than Rosemary & Rue. I have hopes for the third book which comes out in the fall.

Ah, good to know. Thanks murphy. :)

[BookWyrm]

*deep breath*

Okay. I've started Tolstoy's War and Peace. This book is big. 1400 pages big. It's reputation is even bigger. I've heard good and bad stuff about it, but I've never actually read any of the Russian greats yet. That said, it's kicking ass so far.

War and Peace at least, in the very beginning, is interesting. Tolstoy's a far superior writer than most others I've read so it's good in that respect, but I must admit, I'm relieved it's not one of those malleable, surrealistic classics like 100 Years (which bored me to tears).

Pierre is a great character so far, but I think in the first 50 pages my favorite would have to be Prince André Bolkonsky, I guess I relate to him the most.