Mexal Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 Just now, RedEyedGhost said: Yeah, but it entertained me about as much as a Michael Bay movie. That's fair. It entertained me significantly more. Thought the first book had some interesting themes and I thought Brown took those to good conclusions throughout the following two books without a drop in quality that you tend to see toward the end of series. If the first book wasn't for you, I doubt you'll much like the others even though they evolve a bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 12 hours ago, Jo498 said: I hardly know anything about steam punk (the only clear candidate I have read is "The difference engine") but strictly speaking, Anubis Gates may not even qualify. It's set in actual early 1800s England, but with some "underground magic" not a beefed up steam engine civilization. The term 'steampunk' was originally coined by K.W. Jeter in a letter to a SF magazine, he suggested it could cover 19th Century fantasies such as The Anubis Gates and other works by Jeter and James Blaylock so it is literally one of the first books to be described as steampunk. Of course, the way the genre has evolved since then means that The Anubis Gates isn't really typical of what we think of as steampunk now. ETA: The story I've heard is that either Powers, James Blaylock, or K. W. Jeter came up with the term as a joke (specifically a play on "cyberpunk") to describe The Anubis Gates and books by Blaylock and Jeter which all came out around the same time and shared Victorian England as a setting. The books predate the term. Powers always describes his work as "secret histories", which is much more suitable as his books are not consistently set in any one era. The majority are primarily set in 20th century California. The three most common recommendations for places to start are The Anubis Gates, Last Call (the Fisher King myth incorporated with the history of Las Vegas and a variant of poker played with a Tarot deck), and Declare (a retelling of Kim Philby's biography with supernatural elements). Those are the three that Powers himself usually recommends in interviews, and who am I to argue with the author? I didn't notice you'd posted this before I said basically the same thing as your first paragraph. I agree the 'secret history' term seems to work better and it's hard to go wrong with any of those three Powers books as a starting point, the zombie pirates of On Stranger Tides are also a lot of fun even if it maybe doesn't have quite as much depth as some of the others. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beniowa Posted February 19, 2016 Share Posted February 19, 2016 I finished The Labyrinth of Flame, which was very good. It was a great capstone to the trilogy. Schafer certainly created enough of a world there's room for more books so I hope she'll write more in the future. Finally getting around to Tregillis' The Rising. 9 hours ago, C Rutherford said: The Devil You Know by K.J. Parker. The next to be released shorter work. Another great Parker read. The only downside is it just makes me want a nice thick full length novel and I don't think there is one on the horizon for this year is there? I'm really looking forward to that one. Yeah, I haven't heard of any novels by Parker this year unless they decide to print The Two of Swords, which is still ongoing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darth Richard II Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 On 2/14/2016 at 1:54 AM, Contrarius+ said: Yassuh, and thanks! I've lost which email and password were associated with the old Westeros account, so I had to start a new one. Still the same on GR, though! Oh hey, I think you're the one that got me to give Steve Brust a try, for which I thank you a thousand, thousand times. Although now I have to wait like the rest of you for the next book. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unJon Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Enjoying Red Rising. Picked it up based on the recs here and before the mixed reviews came in. Agree it's light fare, but good entertainment for me so far. Also finished and really loved Fifth Season. Glad I don't have to wait to long for the next book. Lots of interesting mysteries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barty Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Just finished morning star (red rising 3) - a nice ending. Leaves a bit of room for a sequel but Im fine with where it ended. Moving onto Calamity (Reckoners part 3) right now. Should be fun - Brandon Sanderson's work might never have the quality of a Tolkien or a Martin but it is still entertaining enough. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I found the first 2/3 of The Magician King by Lev Grossman to be fairly slow. But the last 100 pages, wow! I'm glad I had The Magician's Land ebook checked out from the library. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 Finished Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins. An extremely dark and disturbing book, yet brilliant and compelling as well. Anybody else read this? I read it a couple of weeks ago and posted a very positive review earlier in this thread. It felt like Neil Gaiman adapted by Christopher Nolan, plus some additional dark violence mostly off-screen. Red Rising was definitely light fare and my review of the original was exactly that: entertaining light fare, a bit melodramatic but well executed and fun to read. The rest of the trilogy continued that while developing the story through an expanded arc and not repeating itself too much, dragging things out nor bloating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
red snow Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I'm reading "the winter king" by Bernard Cornwell after multiple recs on this forum and listening to "luna: New Moon" by Ian McDonald. Both seem fun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andorion Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 1 hour ago, Iskaral Pust said: I read it a couple of weeks ago and posted a very positive review earlier in this thread. It felt like Neil Gaiman adapted by Christopher Nolan, plus some additional dark violence mostly off-screen. Red Rising was definitely light fare and my review of the original was exactly that: entertaining light fare, a bit melodramatic but well executed and fun to read. The rest of the trilogy continued that while developing the story through an expanded arc and not repeating itself too much, dragging things out nor bloating. My first thought was about Gaiman as well. Gaiman combined with a really good Grimdark author maybe? That books genre is hard to pin down Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SheRa Seastar Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I've just started reading 'Just one damn thing after another' which I am enjoying a lot so far. My friend usually recommends steampunk or things like The Gentlemen Bastards, so this was a pleasant surprise. Ive just bought The Anubis Gates after seeing it mentioned on here, it'd better be good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 4 hours ago, red snow said: I'm reading "the winter king" by Bernard Cornwell after multiple recs on this forum and listening to "luna: New Moon" by Ian McDonald. Both seem fun. The second book was my favourite in the Warlord Trilogy. Cornwell has some really interesting takes on the Arthurian characters Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iskaral Pust Posted February 20, 2016 Share Posted February 20, 2016 I finished Redbreast, the third Harry Hole novel by Nesbo -- Scandinavian noir. Pretty good for a genre change-up. I'd recommend this series to anyone who has enjoyed the Cormorant Strike series so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 On 2/20/2016 at 10:58 PM, Darth Richard II said: Oh hey, I think you're the one that got me to give Steve Brust a try, for which I thank you a thousand, thousand times. Although now I have to wait like the rest of you for the next book. My very existence has now been justified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted February 21, 2016 Author Share Posted February 21, 2016 Me Before You by Jojo Moyes hit all the right sentimental notes, like it was supposed to do, but in the end didn't have the emotional impact I expected it to have. I read another one of the Felix Castor books, book 3, Dead Men's Boots. It was good, but not as good as the first two. Or at least it didn't capture my attention as much, it took me a while to read. I'm going to start reading Sailor to a Siren by Zoe Sumra. It's always exciting to read something written by one of our people here, I'm looking forward to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRevanchist Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Finished Dune and quite liked it. It is far from flawless, but will definitely continue reading this saga. To those who have read it, assuming that I read all 6 Hernert books, should I read the two books that continue his saga written from his son (not the prequels, I don't have any interest on them). Everyone says that they are the worst thing ever written, but I am a sucker for conclusion and won't be happy not having a conclusion after reading 6 books. If there is a conclusion on the sixth book, I'll stop there anyway. Asking this question, cause people were saying the same for Wheel of Time, and then found the final three books very enjoyable, definitely far better than what Jordan did since Lord of Chaos. So, I guess that people might exaggerate on these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Muwhahaha Posted February 21, 2016 Share Posted February 21, 2016 Halfway through Anubis Gates and the Sparrow. Absolutely loving Anubis Gates. Helluva lotta fun. I don't know why I've waited so long to read this one but I'm just glad that I am now. The Sparrow is good. Great character building so far but not a whole lot more plot wise. Still, it's good enough that I'm not put off by the lack of action Listening to Poseidon's Wake. I love the series as a whole but I really don't care much for any of the characters in this one. It doesn't change my overall opinion - some people just suck - but I really wish Ru and some of the others were more likable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sci-2 Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 A Place for Consciousness: Probing the Deep Structure of the Natural World Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Contrarius+ Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 6 hours ago, Muwhahaha said: Halfway through Anubis Gates and the Sparrow. I ****LOVE**** The Sparrow. One of my top books from 2015. But you MUST read Children of God with it -- otherwise you won't get the whole picture, and it's worth getting! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Marquis de Leech Posted February 22, 2016 Share Posted February 22, 2016 Finished Kushiel's Chosen. It has the same problems as its predecessor, but lacks the redeeming features. I found it a chore to finish. Onto Kushiel's Avatar... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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