mashiara Posted July 14, 2015 Share Posted July 14, 2015 I finished Half The World by Joe Abercrombie which was much fun, as fun as the first one. I know it's YA and not nearly as dark as his other books but I enjoyed the humor and the twists and turns. I'm about to start The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox by Barry Hughart, the immense copy that Beniowa sent me. It's a sure sign that I'm getting old, when I open a book and my first comment is "Oi, small print!!!". :lol: (or it's telling of how much i've come to rely on ereaders and the ability to increase the size of the font, instead of wearing my glasses) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Finished Cibola Burn and fell for the BwB peer pressure to mediately also get Nemesis Games (I keep thinking of it in my head as "Nemesis Gates" or "Nemesis Grates" for no particular reason). So Cibola Burn, fourth in the Expanse series by James SA Corey. Due to its hardback status, it took me a year to finish it. Started it last summer during my annual leave, but since my reading outside of hols is basically commuter reading and I can't lug a hardback around in my work bag, it had to wait for the next long holiday which is now! Remains to be seen if I can finish Nemesis Games/Gates/Grate before the end of the leave or whether it will also have to wait until next year. Hopefully I can cram it in before I go back to drowning in work, kids and everyday bleah. Anyways, Cibola Burn is a great novel, which is somewhat confusing since I also think it's probably the weakest of the Expanse Novels so far. Once I had more than 20 min at a time to read it, I finished it in a day and a half (ok, some night time reading as well, but as I only have to get up around 8 am since holidays and SO can divert the kids for two hours in the morning, this is totally doable.) It's nearly unputdownable, as a matter of fact, which is exactly the same as the other novels in the series. The storyline itself is good, the new characters introduced are as always engaging, but it felt a bit mean to only have Avasarala dump the actual implications of everything in the last few shivering pages, as a setup for the next novel. Also, it needed more Avasarala in general, tbh. It did have a lot of science I actually found both interesting and engaging, although I am still not certain I understand what bichiral organisms are, but that would be a failure in my education. Even though I blame peer pressure for having me spend £26 on ordering Nemesis Games from Amazon, I can't wait to get my hands on it and see where this leads! In the meantime, I raided my dad's book stash and he handed me an old Frederick Forsyth book he thought I should try. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Finished The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis. Loved it. It was overly descriptive at times but kept me intrigued throughout. There was also some really awful stuff happening in there, like: [spoiler]Father Luuk Visser having his brain proved while conscious, then having his free will stripped from him and being forced to renounce his God and murder the Pope [/spoiler] Looking forward to the rest of this trilogy. Up next The Lions of Al-Rassan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 After the slog that was Queen of Fire,i need something good... thankfully, Abercrombie is here to save the day.Half a War is on my e-reader just waiting to be read. :read: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Consigliere Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Finished up 1984 by George Orwell. It was a great read and this one definitely makes it onto my reread list. Going to get started on Abercrombie's Shattered Sea trilogy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 After the slog that was Queen of Fire,i need something good... thankfully, Abercrombie is here to save the day.Half a War is on my e-reader just waiting to be read. :read: I had to go to bed last night with my kindle sitting at 84%. It is killing me to wait for lunch to finish it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peadar Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I really enjoyed Chris Beckett's Mother of Eden. Now nearly halfway through Simon Mason's excellent YA mystery Running Girl. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 I finished Emperor of Thorns by Mark Lawrence, finishing the trilogy. I enjoyed it and would recommend it. This trilogy is Machiavellian grimdark. The best aspect is Jorg's internal observations on people and situations, as well as his shocking willingness to commit violence and atrocities in pursuit of his ambition. But he is not a psychopath: he understands the consequences and impact of his actions, he has just decided they are necessary and justified. There are some parallels to GoT: political maneuvering and war in pursuit of power, but with a supernatural enemy lurking in the background, and Jorg is somewhat similar to Tyrion. There is also some fun world-building, similar to Abercrombie's Half a King series, but it's a larger part of the plot here. The biggest weakness is the necromantic, supernatural enemy, which just did not feel well written to me (mainly in order to keep it mysterious for a foreshadowed reveal at the end) and the fairly abrupt switch away from the early focus of dream-sworn as the antagonists -- the shadowy conspiracy of manipulative magicians disappears abruptly at the end of book 2. Overall, the tone is too bleak and dark to prolong this series beyond three books. But Lawrence has apparently started another series with lighter characters in the same world around the same time. I've bought the first book of this series and will give it a try. Right now I'm reading some non-fiction: Luc Ferry's The Wisdom of Myths looks at the philosophical underpinning of the classical Greek myths. I like his informal discursive style. It feels like a natural follow on from his Brief History of Thought which discussed the history and development and flow of the various schools of philosophy since ancient Greece. I find that I fall asleep much faster at night reading non-fiction. It's interesting and I enjoy it, but it's less gripping for sure (plot, characters and prose). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garett Hornwood Posted July 16, 2015 Share Posted July 16, 2015 Finished Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix yesterday, pretty long...pretty angry...but still pretty good. Harry's continual angst throughout the book got a bit old and a little forced especially as Rowlings used it for the reason he couldn't master Occlumency and thus was able to be tricked by Voldemort to set up the climax. Started Facing Justice by Diane & David Munson. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paxter Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Just finished Breath by Tim Winton. I really enjoyed this novel, even when it takes an unexpectedly dark turn in the second half. Effortless prose from Winton as always. Now need to finish Crime and Punishment. Struggling a bit with the dramatic style but still interesting overall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuncle Stark Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Reading Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel. One of my favorite openings to a story, just beautiful imagery and story to start, quite poignant. Jumps in time after that to after the "big events", and a different main character, then back around and around again, with some interesting connections. A unique post-apocolyptic story so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AncalagonTheBlack Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 I had to go to bed last night with my kindle sitting at 84%. It is killing me to wait for lunch to finish it. ha,nice! My e-reader tells me i've been reading for 2h:20 min and my reading speed is 168 words/min,i'm 21% done.It' been great so far! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corvinus85 Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 After the slog that was Queen of Fire,i need something good... thankfully, Abercrombie is here to save the day.Half a War is on my e-reader just waiting to be read. :read: Oh damn it, again? HaW only to be released on July 28th in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muwhahaha Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Finished Armada by Ernest Clines; totally sucked ass. It's probably my least favorite book I've read in the past year, maybe years. It's the Last Starfighter and a bunch of other 80's movies and stuff mashed together with an absurd predictable plot and...it just sucked. My opinion, I'm sure others will disagree but I can, without remorse, say I did not like it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 Does any one know why Cline's books aren't shelved in SFF? Is it a publisher thing or is he one of those i don't write SFF I write lit people. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted July 17, 2015 Share Posted July 17, 2015 So far in this month: Soldiers Live (Black Company #10) Queen of Fire (Raven's Shadow #3) The Martian Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? Half a War (The Shattered Sea #3) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Cool and rainy weather in a backcountry mountain lodge allowed me to catch up on reading. I loved Kushiel's Chosen by Jacqueline Carey. I just love everything about the series so far. 1493 by Charles Mann was interesting, but it just didn't capture the same level of fascination as 1491 by the same author held for me. I blew through The Blade's Memory by Lindsay Buroker. I thought this one was the best one in the Dragon's Blood series since the first book. Now started City of Thieves by David Benioff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maester Hodor Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Just about finished with Tower Lord by Anthony Ryan. After that I'll finish off the trilogy by reading Queen of Fire. I'm pretty disappointed at the ratings QoF is receiving... hopefully I like it more than other people do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 I wanted to like QoF so bad, but, just, damn. I seriously reccomend not reading it. Read a synopsis if you must. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted July 18, 2015 Share Posted July 18, 2015 Finished Armada by Ernest Clines; totally sucked ass. It's probably my least favorite book I've read in the past year, maybe years. It's the Last Starfighter and a bunch of other 80's movies and stuff mashed together with an absurd predictable plot and...it just sucked. My opinion, I'm sure others will disagree but I can, without remorse, say I did not like it. That sums up Ready Player One too. He's consistent at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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