williamjm Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I'm currently about 50 pages into "Three Days To Never" by Tim Powers. Quite good so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I'm currently reading through the entire Masters of Rome series by Colleen McCullough. Previously I had only read the first. This series is massive, and I may not read anything else for a couple of weeks. Actually, I'm currently doing a re-read of Fortune's Favorites (the third one for any who care), though I think it's my second favorite of the series. I'm actually re-reading it right now leading up to my vacation reading which is going to be a AFFC re-read, Ben Bova's Powersat and Crichton's The Great Train Robbery (which I've never read) then it's on to Stackpole's Cartomancy... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. X Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I am a little over 100 pages into Richard K. Morgan's Altered Carbon and loving it. That doesn't come as a surprise, seeing as I enjoy detective novels and I enjoy sci-fi novels, and this book (to give the most rudimentary description possible) is a sci-fi detective novel . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Jay From your list of recommended top 100's I have come away ordering: Finding Helen-Greenland My happy life-Millet Blade of Tyshalle and Heroes Die-Stover Nekropolis-McHugh Currently still reading the awful Forest Mage by Robin Hobb. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agulla Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Some of the books I've read lately: Nearly People by Conrad Williams. A frightening novella. I wanted to try some book by this author and I decided on a short read just to see. This book has lived up to its expectations. A horror tale of a city inhabited by cannibal mutants, psychopaths and people who just tries to survive. A place under a permanent quarantine where it would seem is impossible to escape from. It's also a tale of hope and love. This novella also appears in the story collection Use then Destroy. Punktown. Shades of Grey by Jeffrey Thomas and Scott Thomas. Punktown, the unofficial name of Paxton is a colony that humans have built in a planet that can only be reached by teleportation. In Punktown humans live with many other strange aliens, it's a crucible of cultures and civilizations and it's also a living nightmare where the always unrestful spirit of Lovecraft lurks in the shadows of the industrial landscape. Punktown is a place I enjoy visiting in a literary sense though I doubt that I would like to spend there my time if I could avoid it. This time, Jeffrey Thomas invites his brother to create his own stories about this apocalyptic city and I'm thankful for this because I've discovered another very interesting author to read. The last part of the book, the so called "Grey Area. Biographical Data" is hilarious. 20th Century Ghosts by Joe Hill. The first impression was breathtaking, the cover art is amazing. What I found inside left me speechless. Each one of the stories was great; each one of them was good. You want a ghost story, scary and yet moving? You have the story that gives the book its title. You want some horror story inside the pattern of the classical American Horror? You have Best New Horror. You want to go back to the times when nuclear tests where carried out on the ground and insects grew larger and menacing? You have You will Hear the Locusts Sing. This book is a classic. After finishing the paperback I did something I couldn't believe I was doing: I ordered the signed hardcover. I should blame Pod but I know better, I blame Stego! Bible Stories for Adults by James Morrow. A funny and witty way to discover a writer. Very good short stories about God and his most annoying creation: Humans. I couldn't stop laughing when I was reading Morrow's accurate version of The Deluge. La torre de la golondrina (Wieza jaskóli) by Andrzej Sapkowski. The guys from Bibliopolis had us waiting for a year and a half for the translation to Spanish of the sixth book of the Witcher series. I'm sure that their dastardly plan was to lead us to insanity but in my case they have failed. I'm already insane. What can I say about this book? Just one thing: I cannot understand why these series have not been translated to English already. The Jennifer Morgue by Charles Stross. The second book in a series is a difficult one. The sense of surprise that the readers feel in the first book is over and the writer has to try something different and not to stray from the spirit of the series at the same time. This is what Liz Williams surely found out in The Demon and the City, and I suppose that Charles Stross was in the same predicament in The Jennifer Morgue. I think that the way that Charles tries to solve his problem has some merit. The Atrocity Archives was a dark book, a Lovecraftian tale in a bureaucratic world of bad lid corridors, obscure government agencies and civil servants that look like what would sir Humphrey Appleby had been if instead of Oxbridge he would have studied in the Miskatonic University. And it has Nazis and there are moments when you feel like playing "Castle Wolfenstein". In The Jennifer Morgue Charles Stross does it different. This book is homage to James Bond and you can imagine that we have exotic locations, car races, stunning women, gadgets and villains with Persian Cats. There is everything that you should expect from a 007 story with some Lovecraft in it. The story is funny and well wrapped, not an easy feat if you ask me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodymN Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Agulla you have a habit of reading some damn fine books! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agulla Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Thank you, Jay. I'm very happy to see that those penguins that had kidnapped you and were holding you for ransom (surely your book collection) have finally let you go. I make a point of reading carefully the recommendations that certain people here give us. By the way. Now I'm reading two interesting books: Punktown. Third Eye. Where Jeffrey Thomas invites a group of friends to play with his beloved Punktown. The Nightmare Factory by Thomas Ligotti: I've been reading this book since September. I find that it's a book that requires a slow reading and it tastes better if you read it during the autumn months, when the light fades and strange things come frolicking between worlds, shapes that we can just glimpse as they cast labyrinthine shadows as we walk by empty streets in medieval towns of the Old Country. Help, help...I think I'm channeling Thomas Ligotti!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuthaHydra / Lord Jo Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 I just got given a pile of books by a friend . They include ; Gene Wolf - The island of Dr Death and other short stories , which I am getting stuck into . Anne McCaffery - Dragon Quest , I have not enjoyed her so far but I will give it a go. Frank Herbert - The Godmakers , looking forward to this one . John Brunner - The Circle of time , ? No idea yet . Samuel R Delany - The Ballad of Beta 2 and Empire Star , looks well cheesy but in a good way . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodymN Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Eveybody should explore the mind of Jeffrey Thomas, Agulla! Good Stuff! I'm still reading Soldier of Sidon and thus far I'm just enjoying being in the hands of an author like Wolfe. We take competence for granted sometimes, anythimg beyond that we tend to treat as if we were dumbfounded by the surprise, but within in the first few chapters Wolfe instantly reconnects with the ambience of the previous books while treading in a different environment and really even a different style (which one assume would be in conflict - but this is Wolfe and he's nice like that). I hate to say more upbeat, and even if I did I wouldn't say better or worse - but on it's own, definitely enjoying it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerol Posted December 2, 2006 Share Posted December 2, 2006 Got no time to read. Too busy writing my own pathetic stuff. Sad now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Indigo - Graham Joyce I'll reserve my thoughts till I finish it, shaping up to be an excellent read though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 From the November thread... astra lestat, Do you mean you quit to read the Black Company series, or just quit to read Silver Spike? I don't intend to go on with the series. I heard about a lame plot twist (I have no details on this tho) in book 6 or so and given how disappointing the Silver Spike proved to be, figured meh, nevermind the rest. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Innominandum Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 I don't intend to go on with the series. I heard about a lame plot twist (I have no details on this tho) in book 6 or so and given how disappointing the Silver Spike proved to be, figured meh, nevermind the rest. Silver Spike is not a book of the Black Company series. It's a spin-off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Silver Spike is not a book of the Black Company series. It's a spin-off. Yeah, I know. Do you mention it because you feel the rest are worth buying? Same quality as the first 3? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceBannon42 Posted December 3, 2006 Share Posted December 3, 2006 Finished up Altered Carbon yesteday. Very good book. Full review on the blog Starting on Tigana by GGK, only about 25 pages in so I havent really formed an opinion of it yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Herbie of High Heart Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 I'm about 200 pages into "Sundiver" by David Brin. First book in the Uplift series. So far a very good read. I'm enjoying the author's descriptions of our sun's workings, properties, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jaxom 1974 Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Anne McCaffery - Dragon Quest , I have not enjoyed her so far but I will give it a go. One of her best! You don't HAVE to have read Dragonflight for it to make sense, but come on! And how can you not have enjoyed Anne! GAH! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Yeah, I know. Do you mention it because you feel the rest are worth buying? Same quality as the first 3? I asked you this question for this very reason. I believe it is worth buying and reading it(IMHO). Don't judge the series on acount of Silver Spike. It has a few odd twists in the future, in my opinion book 7 is a little bit odd but it is very interesting story nonetheless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gildor Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Stumbling around in the mad world of Dunsanys Time and the Gods. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinDonner Posted December 4, 2006 Share Posted December 4, 2006 Ah, Dunsany's fantastic! Still trying to give myself time to catch up on my reviews, so slogging through Antonia Fraser's Mary Queen Of Scots and also Communications - The Next Decade, a rather worthy collection of essays for work, which is actually a lot more interesting than it sounds (no, really!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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