May - Reading 2018 - Have another?

[Luzifer's right hand]

31 minutes ago, williamjm said:

I agree that the setting was starting to get a bit stale. It looks like he has moved to a new setting for his latest series.

I'm looking forward to it although I think nothing will top the first Commonwealth series.  Maybe he should give the alien threat a bigger POV again as MLM is still my favorite character. 

Looks like he will return to proper interstellar conflict which sounds good to me. I like that kind of story but sadly most such books are complete and utter garbage(mostly self puplished eBooks nowadys). 

[Infidel]

So, years and years ago, I quit on Malazan after Memories of Ice, running into a serious case of the Eight Deadly Words.

Recently, I picked up and finished Dancer's Lament, on the strength of Werthead's recommendation, and found that I really enjoyed it. I don't know if it is a story that in smaller in scope, a tighter focus on a few enjoyable characters, or that I've just mentally adjusted to the superhero fantasy (TO THE EXTREME!!!11one1) milieu of the setting. But for whatever reason, I'm looking forward to finishing Deadhouse Landing and the concluding volume.

My eye also begins to wander back over the the doorstop that is Gardens of the Moon....

[Darth Richard II]

GotM is a doorstop? My copy is pretty thin.

Also, what is the case of Eight Deadly Words?

[Infidel]

Ah...only 209,000  words, I see. Looks like MoI is where they starting getting big.

The Eight Deadly Words : I don't care what happens to these people. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothy_J._Heydt

 

[Errant Bard]

Ah, I hit that wall at the start of Reaper's Gale, but saw it coming in the Bonehunters.

Anyway, I'm currently reading The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter, and it is very good: entertaining, with an interesting narration, and it even has something to say about our society. Entirely deserving of the Nebula nomination so far.

 

[Hello World]

I'm starting Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames. The early chapters reminded me so much of the First Law.

[Kyll.Ing.]

Started reading 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster. Haven't come that far in, yet, but I can already tell that this books is one of the rare ones that makes you want to meet the author in real life...

...and grab him by the collar, cling him up against the nearest wall and shout "FULL STOPS! THEY ARE THERE FOR YOU TO USE THEM! THE PERIOD KEY DOES NOT BITE YOU!"

I think it's a writing technique used to convey some sort of running-train-of-thought-feeling or something, but man do those ungodly long sentences make the book an absolute chore to read. There can be three sentences to a page, each with a dozen-odd commas. From what I can tell it's written like that throughout the entire book. It has taken me two weeks to get fifty pages in, with sizable breaks to read other, less obnoxiously punctuated books in between. I'm usually not one to not finish the books I read, but I may be willing to make an exception for this. After reading three more pages today, I think I'll read the next Discworld novel before attempting to brave the book again. The cover promises an intriguing story, at least, so I think I'll try for a hundred and see if any semblance of a plot shows up before deciding whether to put the book to rest on a shelf somewhere.

[Mr. X]

On 5/17/2018 at 11:16 AM, Mr. X said:

I decided to do a re-read of the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham, which I last read as they were being released. Started book 2 (A Betrayal in Winter) today. I knew these books were good, but I forgot just how good they are.

Enough time has passed since I first read this series that even though I remember most of the broad strokes of the plots, I have forgotten a lot of the details. It's been great getting back into this world.

And holy shit, the prolog of book 3 (An Autumn War) is just fantastic. 

Also, today I happened to look over at one of our bookshelves and noticed that the Long Price Quartet hardcovers were out of order for some reason. Jumped right up and fixed it, or it would have irked me all evening.

[Jaxom 1974]

I don't read through these threads enough...picked up some recommendations and I thank you all for that...

Been reading The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter by Theodora Goss. It's fun. Not complicated. I just love books that do a really decent job of pulling together various Victorian stories into a cohesive universe...

[Corvinus85]

I've read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. The first Kay book I've ever read. I liked it for the most part. I found his prose really good, though the plot sometimes slowed down too much. I have to say, though, that Kay managed to pull off a story in one novel, that many other writers would have done it in a trilogy.

Not sure if I should try another one of his books. Currently looking at Cook's The Black Company. I'm trying to jump around in styles for a bit.

[Mexal]

I just finished Wrath of Empire, the 2nd book in the new trilogy from Brian McClellan. If you liked any of his other books, you'll like this one. Really solid book that's well paced and super entertaining. 

[Darth Richard II]

10 hours ago, Corvinus said:

I've read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay. The first Kay book I've ever read. I liked it for the most part. I found his prose really good, though the plot sometimes slowed down too much. I have to say, though, that Kay managed to pull off a story in one novel, that many other writers would have done it in a trilogy.

Not sure if I should try another one of his books. Currently looking at Cook's The Black Company. I'm trying to jump around in styles for a bit.

That is one big jump in style righ there, that’s for sure.

[aceluby]

Just finished up Heroes Die and really enjoyed it, so I started up The Blade of Tyshelle this morning and so far so good.  Also finished up listening to The Plague of Swords yesterday and can't wait to start up The Fall of Dragons next.

[HexMachina]

Finished The Spider’s War, an excellent conclusion to Dagger and Coin. Based on how much I enjoyed this series and the praise it gets around here, I think I may try Long Price Quartet next

[aceluby]

2 hours ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Finished The Spider’s War, an excellent conclusion to Dagger and Coin. Based on how much I enjoyed this series and the praise it gets around here, I think I may try Long Price Quartet next

This probably goes in the unpopular opinions thread, but I thought the LPQ was significantly weaker than D&C.  

[End of Disc One]

46 minutes ago, aceluby said:

This probably goes in the unpopular opinions thread, but I thought the LPQ was significantly weaker than D&C.  

I agree but I thought LPQ had the better ending.

[Garett Hornwood]

I'm still making my way through City of God by St. Augustine, currently 77% through the whole book.

However that has been my primary read, but I've been reading several books at home.  Foremost has been the rest of Sam Campbell's Living Forest series as I read Beloved Rascals, Sweet Sue's Adventures, and Calamity Jane over two weekends in the middle of the month.  The latter two books were a completely different format than the other 10 books Campbell wrote, but no complaints about them.

The only other book I finished over the course of the rest of this month as by Tacitus, Agricola and Germany, a book that contains his first two written works that happens to be the only works of his that survived completely.

Overall 7 books completed over the course of the month, see earlier posts in this thread to know the other three.

[Infidel]

4 hours ago, aceluby said:

This probably goes in the unpopular opinions thread, but I thought the LPQ was significantly weaker than D&C.  

Exactly the opposite for me.

[Astromech]

1 hour ago, Infidel said:

Exactly the opposite for me.

Completely agree. The Long Price Quartet is my favorite fantasy series. But I'm also a sap that loves when authors tug at my emotional strings. While I enjoyed D & C, it lacked the emotional ride of TLPQ.

Almost finished with Jemisin's The Fifth Season. Interesting world-building and story, but the "twist" or reveal was obvious from the start.

[aceluby]

10 hours ago, Astromech said:

Completely agree. The Long Price Quartet is my favorite fantasy series. But I'm also a sap that loves when authors tug at my emotional strings. While I enjoyed D & C, it lacked the emotional ride of TLPQ.

Almost finished with Jemisin's The Fifth Season. Interesting world-building and story, but the "twist" or reveal was obvious from the start.

I had almost zero attachment to the characters, so when he tried to tug anything resembling emotion, it completely fell flat.  The characters didn't come alive for me.  Like at all.  Those books were such a slog.