April Reads

[Garett Hornwood]

Finished Assassin's Quest on Thursday, frankly I haven't been so disappointed in the last book of a series. The book itself wasn't bad, but compared to the first two book it was a let down in quality. If I described the plot in it's barest bones and then told myself right after finishing Royals Assassin I would have thought Quest was going to be exciting, instead I got tediousness. On top of the tedium was the massive infodumps that could be been handled better instead of just before the climax. I don't want to hate all over the book because there were some things I liked, especially about the dragons, but even now I'm still so frustrated with the entire experience.

I started A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre (Uncorrected proof advanced copy) on Thursday right after finishing Quest. It's a narrative account on Kim Philby's double life as well as that of his closest friend in British intelligence Nicholas Elliot starting in the 1930s. I am enjoying this book so far, Macintyre has to keep the book focused and can't go into detail about everything (World War II alone!) because he can't write a 1000 page behemoth however what he gives an overview on, Istanbul in particular, is fascinating. I'm only a third of the way through the book and it's just starting on the beginning of the Cold War.

Year-long readings update:

The Bible: I'm currently at Psalms 96, I thought I'd be closer to finishing if not finished but I've had to read only the minimum 3 pages per day a lot more than I expected recently.

The Complete Works of William Shakespeare: I completed King John last week and wasn't particularly impressed, but didn't dislike the play either. The same feeling goes with The Merchant of Venice, Portia was the only character that was entertaining. I started Henry IV, Part 1 yesterday and am through Act I, already Hotspur alone has made this play better than the previous two I've read.

That's all I got to report for now.

[baxus]

I'm reading Clockwork Orange at the moment.

It's not really my cup of tea, but I'll not quit on it.

[Eponine]

GH, I've felt this way about all Hobb's trilogies so far, although I haven't read all of them. The first book is amazing, the second is a little long with much resolution but I'm still majorly invested in the characters, and the third is like its own less interesting hurried story that uses the same characters in the first two but with their personalities a bit simplified.

[Darth Richard II]

On book 4 of the Dresden Files. Really really enjoying these books. Definitely getting more interesting as past actions seem to affect the future plot lines.

I really should give those another shoot, since my offhand comment about it being boring seems to have started World War III. The 3rd one is the one where they start to uh, increase in quality?

[peterbound]

I really should give those another shoot, since my offhand comment about it being boring seems to have started World War III. The 3rd one is the one where they start to uh, increase in quality?

Not really.

He gets into groove, but if you don't like them thus far, you probably won't like them the farther you get down the road.

They really aren't all that great. I have a hard time understanding the devotion to them. Hell, he wrote them in a mocking way towards the genre, in an attempt to prove he could pop out such a book with little to no experience, and have it do well.

The humor is cheesy as fuck, the 'action' scenes are mediocre at best, and the plot progression is limited. I read them, ya, but more for the investment than the pleasure of it.

[Darth Richard II]

Not really.

He gets into groove, but if you don't like them thus far, you probably won't like them the farther you get down the road.

They really aren't all that great. I have a hard time understanding the devotion to them. Hell, he wrote them in a mocking way towards the genre, in an attempt to prove he could pop out such a book with little to no experience, and have it do well.

The humor is cheesy as fuck, the 'action' scenes are mediocre at best, and the plot progression is limited. I read them, ya, but more for the investment than the pleasure of it.

Yes, well apparently calling thiem boring is akin to blasphemy in these parts? I don't get it either.

[peterbound]

Yes, well apparently calling thiem boring is akin to blasphemy in these parts? I don't get it either.

Well, i'll gladly take warning point number 7 for speaking my mind about a book, especially when asked.

Like I said, I read them, mostly for the same reason I tried to finish WoT. I like to finish what I've started. I'm getting better, at my old age, to just let shit go. This might end up on that list.

[SkynJay]

Getting more read than I thought this month, based mostly on long lunches to avoid overtime at work.

Heaven's Queen was a strong conclusion to Bach's Dev Morris trilogy. Answered most the questions. Just like her first series I found a good but silly beginning blossom into a must read series by the end.

Unwrapped Sky by Rjurick Davidson was awesome. Like a more accessible Mieville, some politics and a new weird vibe. A tale about power, not subtle but not really meant to be.

City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett- Blessed to read this one early, it continues a remarkably good run of books I have been on. I know I am due a clunker soon, this run has been too good for too long.

Dealing With Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede - I know everyone read these books years ago but I wasn't reading fantasy in my childhood. It was a five hour audio book with a full cast providing voices. Book was good, audio was great. Plan on buying this one for my shelf, hope to read it to my kid when he grows older. (if my kid doesn't like fantasy when he grows older I just might cry)

[deleted01]

Finished Jamaica Inn. An enjoyable read, and it reminded me why I like her so much.

Started Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde last night - it's incredibly short, which I wasn't expecting, but pretty good so far.

[peterbound]

Getting more read than I thought this month, based mostly on long lunches to avoid overtime at work.

Heaven's Queen was a strong conclusion to Bach's Dev Morris trilogy. Answered most the questions. Just like her first series I found a good but silly beginning blossom into a must read series by the end.

I thought exactly the same thing. I'll have to give the Moonpress books another shot. Really dug the Paradox books.

[wolverine]

Finished Death of Kings in Cornwell's Saxon series. Pretty typical for the series. Uhtred is the only one who can ever figure out what they Danes are up to and how they can be beaten. I still really enjoy the books though.

Just started Tales of Dying Earth. It seems like it might be a little too close to Lyonesse rather than like some of the other novels (that I really enjoyed) for me.

[Mexal]

I really should give those another shoot, since my offhand comment about it being boring seems to have started World War III. The 3rd one is the one where they start to uh, increase in quality?

I don't know if they really get all that much better but I do think they get more interesting. They are just really good books to listen to on way to and from work. Not sure how I'd feel about them if I was reading them.

[Maester Hodor]

Finished Assassin's Quest on Thursday, frankly I haven't been so disappointed in the last book of a series. The book itself wasn't bad, but compared to the first two book it was a let down in quality. If I described the plot in it's barest bones and then told myself right after finishing Royals Assassin I would have thought Quest was going to be exciting, instead I got tediousness. On top of the tedium was the massive infodumps that could be been handled better instead of just before the climax. I don't want to hate all over the book because there were some things I liked, especially about the dragons, but even now I'm still so frustrated with the entire experience.

I totally agree with you. I wasn't a fan of the last half of that book. The ending to Royal Assassin was amazing, Assassin's Quest's ending was a huge let down for me. I still plan on reading the Tawney Man trilogy sometime soon, but I think I will skip the Liveship Trilogy.

As for myself I just finished reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie, and now I'm on to Before They are Hanged by Abercrombie. So far I'm loving this series!

[mgambino]

I just finished Warbound and Neptune's Brood, two Hugo books, and liked both of them. I also read the four Planet of Adventure books by Jack Vance, and they were amazing. I got a copy of David Gemmel's Ironhand's Daughter to read next (the Hawk Queen series is the last Gemmell I left to read), then I'm going to start Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle.

I've also been reading some classic Sci Fi by James Schmitz and Poul Anderson

[MikeRiver]

Starting Finch by Jeff Vandermeer. Also, listening to Saturn's Children.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

The final book, King's Wrath by Fiona McIntosh was the best book in the Valisar trilogy. Given the first book was crappy (standard fantasy tropes and predictable) I'm glad I stuck with it. What were initially good and evil characters became quite grey and the author turned the tropes around.

Still reading Life Ascending by Nick Lane.

[Darth Richard II]

I thought exactly the same thing. I'll have to give the Moonpress books another shot. Really dug the Paradox books.

Yeah you got to make it through book 1 then it starts to really get off the rails.

[Deedles]

Reading "the Garden of Evening Mists" and absolutely loving it. Wonderful imagery and writing.

[mgambino]

Yeah you got to make it through book 1 then it starts to really get off the rails.

RE: Eli Moonpross. I totally agree with this. I really didn't think much of the first book, and I only moved on with the series because I had already bought the omnibus of the first three. I'm really glad I did, because it gets exponentially better with each book.

[williamjm]

I finished Ken MacLeod's Descent today. I think it's probably one of his weaker novels, it wasn't bad but I didn't find the premise to be all that interesting and I was indifferent to the characters. The ending also felt a bit anticlimactic, this is something that has been a problem with other recent MacLeod books but at least they had more interesting ideas in them.