September 2014 - Reading Thread

[Buckwheat]

Did you miss the explanation that their bodies cannot metabolize the vegetation on that planet? I can't recall if it was just inedible or if it was actively poisonous, I think it was the latter.

Are you sure that was revealed in this book or was it one of the following ones?

I got that the plants on the planet were inedible - or that they people just assumed them inedible. But I assumed it was the insects, called "mossbeasts", living in them that were actively poisonous. Maybe I have misunderstood that.

Still does not explain how they can live purely off meat flesh.

[Peadar]

Are you sure that was revealed in this book or was it one of the following ones?

I got that the plants on the planet were inedible - or that they people just assumed them inedible. But I assumed it was the insects, called "mossbeasts", living in them that were actively poisonous. Maybe I have misunderstood that.

Still does not explain how they can live purely off meat flesh.

Don't worry, Buckwheat, you are supposed to be puzzled by this. You are supposed to find it wrong ;)

Thanks for reading! Much appreciated.

[RedEyedGhost]

Don't worry, Buckwheat, you are supposed to be puzzled by this. You are supposed to find it wrong ;)

Thanks for reading! Much appreciated.

Was there a line in book 1 about it, or did my mind just fill in that gap?

Side question: is Intruders from BBC America available on your side of the pond yet? If it is you should check it out; after three episodes it's reminding me of Harry August - but linear.

[williamjm]

Finished The Inferior this morning.

I like the characters of Stopmouth and Indrani, and it is very action-packed to the point that the story somehow cannot breathe ... but it does not describe a world I would love to visit in my spare time.

I particularly liked the ending with the plan to leave - I really hope Stopmouth manages to escape that terrifying world some time.

I still do not believe living on a diet of meat exclusively is possible. :ack: Please learn to grow vegetables, people.

I just finished The Volunteer, the final book in the series. I thought it was a good ending to a trilogy which managed to keep up a fairly consistent level of quality throughout.

I was initially a bit surprised at following Whistlenose for the first half of the book and at Stopmouth not appearing until the second half but he was a good viewpoint character to follow. In a series full of nasty ideas the Diggers are a particularly nasty idea, they're a very memorable enemy.

Next up I'll read Joe Abercrombie's Half a King.

[mshimmyb1]

Just finished Revelation Space and Im pretty sure that book just altered my psyche. Man that was a dark book, but I couldn't put it down. Devoured it in about 4 days. Might take a break from that universe for a minute for something just a little more upbeat. Probably The Dragon Reborn or might try my first Hamilton: Great North Road.

[Buckwheat]

Don't worry, Buckwheat, you are supposed to be puzzled by this. You are supposed to find it wrong ;)

Thanks for reading! Much appreciated.

Ok. Now I am thinking that they are all genetically modified people programmed to be able to digest only

meat flesh.

I also wanted to mention that the world under the Roof reminds me a lot of the arena in Hunger Games (I only watched the movie there though). A big dome covering some land, a group of people struggling for survival there, under the manipulation of other people in positions of power outside the arena/Roof - for the entertainment pruposes of those people. I do not know which of these books is newer, but I think it is possible that one influenced the other with that image.

And no problem, I enjoyed it. :)

[SilentRoamer]

Well I was reading Heirs of the Blade by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Was finding it hard going - enjoyable but not keeping me really hooked.

Decided to take a break and read something else.

Read Zelazny Nine Princes in Amber in about 5 days as it is a very short book I would have done it in less but left it at work over the weekend! What an odd little book. I think some of the turns of phrase and cultural references were slightly lost on me though I really, really enjoyed this book. It kind of reminded me of a better written and more adult version of Garth Nixs Keys to the Kingdom series. Really hoping I can get paper copies of the rest of the Amber series.

Overall just some really nice prose - rough around the edges but I really liked this book.

[Peadar]

Was there a line in book 1 about it, or did my mind just fill in that gap?

I think there was -- just one line, but I can't remember that far back. I must look it up again.

I just finished The Volunteer, the final book in the series. I thought it was a good ending to a trilogy which managed to keep up a fairly consistent level of quality throughout.

I was initially a bit surprised at following Whistlenose for the first half of the book and at Stopmouth not appearing until the second half but he was a good viewpoint character to follow. In a series full of nasty ideas the Diggers are a particularly nasty idea, they're a very memorable enemy.

Thanks, William!

And no problem, I enjoyed it. :)

The Hungers Games is more recent than my book, but the idea that I influenced it in any way is extremely unlikely. Once a book has been accepted for publication, it takes YEARS sometimes to pop out onto the shelves.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I blew through Komarr. I love seeing the unflappable Miles Vorkosigan being flustered! This series has been so much joy to read. Thanks for the fabulous recommendation board!

Jumping right away into the next book in the series, A Civil Campaign.

[Night's_King]

Just finished Simon Scarrows The Generals (Revolution #2) today and it was nearly as great as the first book. The personalities of Napoleon and Wellington fit perfectly and the historical accuracy is astonishing! But I wished that he had written more about Napoleons rise to power. It felt a little rushed.

I'm also in the middle of Cornwells The Winter King, which is really great so far.

Starting now with Whyte's The Skystone (Camulod #1).

[Peadar]

After somebody talked about it on the board (Maester Llama?), I have started reading Afterparty by Daryl Gregory. Enjoying it so far.

[farseer2]

I just finished book 2 of the Chathrand Voyage tetralogy (The Ruling Sea). It continues right where the first book ended, and they need to be read in order to appreciate the story.

As already happened in The Red Wolf Conspiracy (TRWC), the worldbuilding is masterful, the characters appealing and the story epic in scope and filled with powerful magic and terrible revelations. The plot is tighter and more linear here than in the first book. That is probably for the better, since TRWC sometimes felt a bit scattered.

I'm giving it four instead of five stars because for some time in the middle of the book I felt that the pace was lagging. Things were always going on and there is always some new detail about the world or about the characters to reward your patience, but it seemed that little of consequence happened and the overall plot progressed too slowly. These are massive novels and when you get that feeling you start to think that some stricter editing would have been for the better.

Nevertheless, towards the end of the plot accelerated and the ending is breathtaking. Thankfully I'm reading this when the tetralogy is already complete and I can go straight to the third book.

[Rody]

In the last two weeks of August and in these first two weeks of September I started and finished reading the Mistborn trilogy. The trilogy is very good now I'm reading The Alloy of Law and then I have no idea what to go on next. I either start Way of Kings, Shogun or go back to Joe and read his three stand alone novels.

[palin99999]

I've recently finished the following:

UR by Stephen King - 7.5/10

Fuckload of Shorts by Jedidiah Ayres - 6.5/10

Fierce Bitches by Jedidiah Ayres - 8.5/10

Half a King by Joe Abercrombie - 8/10

The Good Father - Noah Hawley - 7.5/10

Growing Up Dead in Texas by Stephen Graham Jones - 5/10

Currently Reading:

Seven Spanish Angels by Stephen Graham Jones

The Martian by Andy Weir - I'm about 60% through this and it is fantastic.

[Seasick Shrimp]

After having a loooong (six months +) reading dry spell where I just couldn't relax and concentrate enough to lay down and read I'm trying to get some reading habits back. Best way to do this for me is to find a very easy read which doesn't give me any intellectual challenge what so ever. I therefore picked the swedish book Kontorsninja (=Office ninja) by Lars Berge. It is a humorous book, although I don't find it very amusing to be honest. The language is too simple and lacks the comical timing one may find in for example Douglas Adams or John Kennedy Toole. Office ninja delivers some mild laughs, I smiled half-heartedly a couple of times, but all in all the comedy feels outdated by maybe five or ten years or so, and kind of like a rip off of a lot of other stuff although I can't really pinpoint which stuff I'm talking about, It just feels like I've heard or seen or read the jokes and characters before.

But it got my reading going again, which is the purpose it was supposed to fulfill, so I'm pleased. :)

[LordStoneheart]

what is the general reputation of The Belgariad? was thinking of buying it

[Night's_King]

what is the general reputation of The Belgariad? was thinking of buying it

A little childish and cliché. It's a bit of a Tolkien-clone, I think. But I really liked those books. Try the first one (which isn't that long) and then decide if you want to go on.

[polishgenius]

A little childish and cliché. It's a bit of a Tolkien-clone, I think. But I really liked those books. Try the first one (which isn't that long) and then decide if you want to go on.

Tolkien and Star Wars. Yeah, it's pretty derivative.

However it is good fun, although your enjoyment will probably be heavily affected by how much more modern fantasy you've read beforehand.

Not so much Eddings' later books, though. I mean the Malloreon is readable enough, but everything past that is basically the same story retold in increasingly ludicrous ways.

[HexMachina]

I agree. I read the Belgariad and the Malloreon before coming to more modern fantasy novels. They were enjoyable reads then but I doubt I wouod get a great deal of enjoyment out of them now.

I think I preferred the Malloreon to the Belgariad. They are almost the same story anyway, but I felt the Malloreon was slightly better written.

[ljkeane]

I actually didn't mind the Elenium books either but I was about 10 when I read them. The sequel series to those was a bit dubious, everything he wrote after that I've read was just terrible.