January Reads - Into 2014 and beyond!

[RedEyedGhost]

Finishing up the Felix Castor novels by Mike Carey. Great fucking books. Surprised they aren't more popular. (seems like I say that a lot)

I'll be reading 2-6 over the course of this year. The Devil You Know was great.

[Deedles]

Yeah, I got about half way into The Devil You Know, and put it down and forgot about it. It's not that it was bad, just that it didn't hold my attention. I intend picking it up again, sometime, but amn't in any great hurry to it.

Currently,

I picked up The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst after a hiatus of a few months. It is beautifully written and I fell back into it. About half way through and enjoying the journey again.

Listening to a "reread" of Late Eclipses by Seanan McGuire, read by Mary Robinette Kowal. I'm enjoying listening to these very much. McGuires progress as a writer is fairly clear. She'll (probably) never write the next great novel, but she does write very entertaining urban fantasy and medico thrillers.

Nearly finished The Hundred Secret Senses by Amy Tan. I expect to finish out today. It's been enjoyable without being memorable.

About 20% of the way through Midnights Children. I'm loving it, but I can't read it when I'm tired or in microchunks. It demands my attention and engagement and so, it's a somewhat slow read.

[deleted01]

Picked up Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue last night - there's something about Victorian London that just grabs me, and I really like her style of writing.

[Rooster]

I read the last three novels in the second LoA omnibus of PKD: Now Wait for Last Year; Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said; and A Scanner Darkly. I have to say I liked them all, especially Last Year and Scanner. Last Year was the closest [i'd seen] PKD come to space opera, and I'm a sucker for that kind of stuff. It was easier to ignore some question marks about the plot and some characters since there was so much else to the ride. Flow My Tears was enjoyable as well, though I was slightly let down by the end. There's just something about a PKD character in plight that I have endless fascination reading about. Lastly, Scanner was perhaps the best of the three. I think this was his strongest character-wise. Very intimate.

In general, having now read the first two omnibuses composed of a total of 9 novels, I'd say the order of quality of the novels in each is the inverse of their appearance. Well, except for Last Year and Flow. They ruin my nice rule.

I also finished the Last Chronicles of TC at the end of last year. I don't care to say much else than that while SRD can always write a kick ass scene, it was - on the whole - a disappointment to me.

[Procrastimancer]

I haven't been able to finish a book since October due to lack of interest/focus so I am pretty much trying to read a bunch of things and hoping something will stick. Right now:

In Persuasion Nation by George Saunders

Almost Dead by Assaf Gavron

The Rose of Sarifal by Paulina Claiborne (Paul Park)

The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham

Ice by Anna Kavan

[Eponine]

Midnight's Children is the epitome of the type of books I hoped to discover on the SFF rec list. So far it's wonderful.

[Snowborn]

I started the year finishing the last hundred pages or so of Dust, by Hugh Howey. I had a hard time getting into it. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I expected, it didn't feel as fresh as the first one. The ending was somewhat predictable, there were few surprises.

Then I read Reaper's Gale, my eighth Malazan book. It was very good, but some scenes were difficult to read,

Janath in prison and the child molesting guy ones. I enjoyed the return to Letheras, that city is fun, even though its inhabitants are douchebags for the most part. I loved Tehol and Bugg as usual, I rarely laugh when I'm reading, but their interactions always make me chuckle. Hellian is also hilarious. "If you don't obey, I'll cut off my left tit." :rofl: And the part where she thought everyone was playing a joke on her with the white hair and polished armour... I love Hellian.

Despite the humour, this was a very dark book. The descriptions of the prisoners, the journey of the Seren and Silchas Ruin group (particularly the ending to that, god, poor Fear and Kettle, and Trull, why did you have to die?! He was an annoying crybaby at times, but he was adorable, badass, loyal, honorable, and some of his scenes with Onrack were touching.)

(edit: I wouldn't be surprised if he came back to life somehow. He was the Knight of Shadow after all, I wonder whether he was close to ascendancy.)

I liked that the Bonehunters finally saw some direct action and that they feel more confident now. I still don't trust Tavore.

Now I started Return of the Crimson Guard but I can't get into it yet, and I'm 15% into it. I miss Erikson's style, characters and plotlines.

[Leofric]

Finished Prince of Thorns, liked it a lot and will pick up the rest of the trilogy. I didn't know going in that it was a Post- Apocalyptic setting, but the reinforced concrete, plasteek sheeting and the female Pope in Roma clued me in, with the Night of a Thousands Suns suggesting all out nuclear war.

About a third of the way through Dangerous Women, reading the stories in order, saving GRRM's story for last. Up to "Neighbors". "My Heart is Either Broken " is amazing, the best story so far.

Also just started Consider Plebas, my first Iain Banks story. Been meaning to read them for a while, but wasn't sure where to start. Saw this in the local used book store and decided to dive in. Also picked up Feersum Endjinn for later.

[Kaminsod]

Finished Deadhouse Gates, which was a vast improvement over Gardens of the Moon. Approximately 60% through Memories of Ice, which is a further improvement over Deadhouse Gates, though it gets quite disturbing and graphic at times

The Children of the Dead Seed in particular are the most disturbing concept I've come across in Fantasy

[Darth Richard II]

Finished Deadhouse Gates, which was a vast improvement over Gardens of the Moon. Approximately 60% through Memories of Ice, which is a further improvement over Deadhouse Gates, though it gets quite disturbing and graphic at times

The Children of the Dead Seed in particular are the most disturbing concept I've come across in Fantasy

Haha, read some Bakker then get back to me!

[Kaminsod]

Darth Richard,

How in the hell do you get worse then children spawned from the rape of dying soldiers?!

[Procrastimancer]

Darth Richard,

How in the hell do you get worse then children spawned from the rape of dying soldiers?!

It has been a while, but I seem to recall masochistic rape aliens carving new holes to fuck when they get tired of the old ones.

[Kaminsod]

Procrasimancer, well, it looks like when I'm done with the Malazan series, I'm going to explore my masochistic side and read some of Bakkers works...

[Darth Richard II]

Haha, yeah what he said there.

[nickg]

January has started off well for me. Abbadon's Gate was really, really enjoyable and put me in the mood for some more sci-fi.

I read Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie next after the cover caught my eye. Read the synopsis which was intriguing enough that I bought it and tore through it in a day and a half. Pretty much blew away my expectations, it was fantastic. Anyone itching for some sci-fi should definitely check it out.

After that I re-read Passage at Arms by Glen Cook, and I just finished Shadowline, the first book in his Star Fisher trilogy. I'm tempted to re-read The Dragon Never Sleeps once I'm done with those and then move on to some new stuff. Cook's Sci fi is so underrated and up there with my favorites.

If I had to choose, I might say Ancillary Justice is tops so far, it really was surprisingly good ( I usually strike out with my random purchases ).

[deleted01]

Almost done with Slammerkin, and although I want to find out how Mary ends up, I almost don't want the book to end. Really enjoying it.

Afterwards I think I'll read Abercrombie's story in Dangerous Women. Still need to start QBVII, but it just doesn't look that interesting.

[Isis]

So I persevered with The Maze Runner despite its torturous clunky prose and lack of editing because I wanted to know what happens. I'm about 35% done with it and it looks like there is going to be some ACTION at last. Hopefully it's going to be based on some super awesome clever idea that'll make me go 'OOOOH! I must see this film.'

Still making my slow way through Guns, Germs, and Steel. So thought-provoking. I'm almost 1/4 done so I might finish it this month, even. :)

[Rooster]

Cook's Sci fi is so underrated and up there with my favorites.

Seconded with a vengeance. I haven't read the Starfishers stuff, but Dragon and Passage are both excellent.

[nickg]

I'm almost certain Passage at Arms and The Starfisher trilogy are loosely connected ( I believe Passage is set just before Shadowline ) but with no related characters. The trilogy is definitely worth a read though.

[SkynJay]

Pantomime by Laura Lam is the best YA I have read in a long time. But it got bonus points immediatly for being set within a circus.

Blackbirds by Chuck Wendig was good, with a snarky potty mouth protaginist, but perhaps it got built up by people I know too much. Eh, still pretty good, and a damn fast read.

Now I am re reading God's War because it has been a few years and I saw it got a UK release which reminded me I haven't read the third book in the series..but can't remember what happened in the first two. So here I am.