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October Reading 2018 - The chill in the air, the whisper on the wind.


RedEyedGhost

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On 10/5/2018 at 8:36 PM, Little Valkyrie said:

Finished Miles Cameron's Cold Iron, started Wooding's Ember Blade.  The latter I'm just 5% into, but it's very basic so far, heavy-handed on the portrayal of resentful young men versus culturally distinct and snobby oppressors.  I remember Braided Path taking some very weird jogs and zigs, so I'm hoping for some of that, but right now it's a bit of a lecture.

 

I feel like I need to do a re-read to really comment on it, but Cold Iron in contrast is a lot more subtle but also surprising me, struck me as absolutely and deeply topical/political for 2018, without drawing any crude or direct analogies like fantasy is often wont to do.

I read both and liked Cold Iron much more.Ember blade, unfortunately i did not find it to be good but i persevered and managed to finish it,much too long with lot of filler.Nothing like his previous books,which i really liked a lot.

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8 hours ago, Corvinus said:

I was wondering if Bernard Cornwell had another book released in his Saxon Tales/Chronicles saga, and sure enough, War of the Wolf released on Oct. 2. I just picked it up.

 

8 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Heh, I ad a similar thing, where I was poking at the Cornwell section of the bookstore trying to figure out which Shapres I don't have and I was like..wait what THERE'S A NEW SAXON TALE WHY DIDN'T ANYONE TELL ME.

Ha, adding my own anecdote to this I was walking past Waterstones doing my weekly window browse the other day and did a double take when I saw another Cornwell book out. I should probably try and get back into the series but the longer it goes on the more daunting the prospect of starting again is.

 

anyway, I don’t have a lot of time for leisure reading right now but I am slowly reading All the birds in the sky. It’s...ok? I guess, it’s not holding my attention all that well though

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So far this month I've read The Guns Above by Robyn Bennis, which I really enjoyed, The Lost Ones by Ace Atkins, which was pretty good, and The Grey Bastards by Jonathan French which I'm not particularly enjoying so far after reading about 20% of the book. The Guns Above isn't anything particularly original but it was a lot of fun. The Lost Ones is more in the vein of the first one; a kind of Mississippi Jack Reacher sort of thing. The Grey Bastards feels a bit too much like a Sons of Anarchy rip off and the whole Kiln thing is kind of stupid.

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Finished up Dark Tower 4 yesterday and I think that one's my favorite so far.  I was enthralled with the young gunslinger's story and thought the love story was endearing and not over the top.  The battle scenes were also great.  Felt like it took a pretty hard left turn at the end with the Wizard of Oz references, but it didn't take away from the story as a whole.  Already started book 5.

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On 10/8/2018 at 9:29 PM, aceluby said:

Finished up Dark Tower 4 yesterday and I think that one's my favorite so far.  I was enthralled with the young gunslinger's story and thought the love story was endearing and not over the top.  The battle scenes were also great.  Felt like it took a pretty hard left turn at the end with the Wizard of Oz references, but it didn't take away from the story as a whole.  Already started book 5.

I loved Book 4 and the prequel parts, favourite part of the series. It goes downhill from here.

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3 hours ago, lessthanluke said:

I loved Book 4 and the prequel parts, favourite part of the series. It goes downhill from here.

Yeah, pretty sure I've already spoiled Salem's Lot for myself in book 5.  Also didn't realize there was a book 8 that fits between 4 & 5 that helps bridge the gap a bit.  Oh well, gonna continue in chronological order anyway.  Still enjoying it, but this one is definitely weaker than the previous ones so far.

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5 minutes ago, aceluby said:

Yeah, pretty sure I've already spoiled Salem's Lot for myself in book 5.  Also didn't realize there was a book 8 that fits between 4 & 5 that helps bridge the gap a bit.  Oh well, gonna continue in chronological order anyway.  Still enjoying it, but this one is definitely weaker than the previous ones so far.

I had no idea there was a book 8 either. Will have to check it out. 

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4 hours ago, Mark Antony said:

Just bought the latest Saxon Story from Cornwell. Excited to knock that out then I’m going to decide between reading Accursed Kings or Liveship Traders. 

Both are excellent but I vote the latter, characters are brilliantly crafted, word building is interesting, and the writing is better than Accursed Kings. Well, that could be a matter of translation but the point still stands since I assume you’ll read them in English 

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Just finished Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon, the 2nd in the Matthew Corbett series.  I thought the first book of the series, Speaks the Nightbird, was brilliant and would be difficult to top, but he damn near did it with this book.  In retrospect, the first book seemed more like a prequel, with a different setting (the Carolina colonies), while Queen of Bedlam brings him to New York where it seems like the rest of the series may take place.  Though I could be wrong about that.  In any case, it's a great book using early New York City circa 1702 (with a bustling population of 5,000) as a historical fictional backdrop for a very compelling mystery plot.  McCammon is probably the best "little known" author around in my opinion.

Also, the audio edition, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini is very well done.

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23 hours ago, Darth Richard II said:

Interesting, everyone I know who read that book hated it.

Would love to know why. Themes, structure, characters..?

To me, it does in some way remind me of the part of my childhood where I grew up in Ethiopia. Now, given that I'm white, I cannot claim to be on the inside of local culture. But a lot of the Nigerian scene is recognizable, even from half a continent away. 

May also help that my relationship with the US is from afar. IDK.

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11 minutes ago, Rorshach said:

Would love to know why. Themes, structure, characters..?

To me, it does in some way remind me of the part of my childhood where I grew up in Ethiopia. Now, given that I'm white, I cannot claim to be on the inside of local culture. But a lot of the Nigerian scene is recognizable, even from half a continent away. 

May also help that my relationship with the US is from afar. IDK.

Structure I think. From what I've heard(and I haven't read it myself) it's a bunch of essays/op-ed's poorly disguised as fiction. Also I guess the author was very, um, unprofessional when it came to some of the negative reviews. Worth nothing the people I know who hated it loved her other books.

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1 minute ago, Darth Richard II said:

Structure I think. From what I've heard(and I haven't read it myself) it's a bunch of essays/op-ed's poorly disguised as fiction. Also I guess the author was very, um, unprofessional when it came to some of the negative reviews. Worth nothing the people I know who hated it loved her other books.

Not how I read it, but YMMV. I've enjoyed her other two novels as well, but for me this was a step up.

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I just finished Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski, #1 of The Witcher series.  I found it kind of dull to be honest.  There's a lot of set-up for an epic scope, but very little happens in the opening volume.  The world-building is generic D&D, but thankfully it does not lean too heavily on D&D character attributes to define the POV roles -- I was very worried when the opening chapter mentioned a gathering of halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes and men.  But the characterization is pretty sophmoric, e.g. all enchantresses are feisty, independent, beautiful, curvaceous in tight-fitting dresses with low necklines, and have long, beautiful hair that would make Keri Russell envious; and they're all in love with the same Gary Stu hero, and are all jealous of each each other.  It's one of several echoes of WoT.  The plot is based on prophecies, Chosen Ones, lost prince(ss) in waiting, approaching end of times, etc. 

I can see why it was good material for a fantasy video game, but not why the series was so successful.

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