Plessiez Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Endings aren't really Macleod's strong point. On that note ... SPOILER: Execution ChannelI'm confused by the ending of this book. A lot. It's ... weird. Definitely not the Dr. Strangelove style ending the book seemed to be building towards. I'm really note sure yet if I think it works, or is just extremely stupid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 2, 2007 Share Posted May 2, 2007 Sorry for being dense. What do you mean? What books are you talking about? The Prefect by Alastair Reynolds. It's the seventh book set in his Revelation Space universe (following on from Chasm City; the trilogy of Revelation Space, Redemption Ark and Absolution Gap; the novella collection Diamond Dogs, Turqoise Days; and the short story collection Galactic North) but it's also the first book chronologically in the sequence, and a lot of the stuff that's history in the other books is being set up in this new one. That's why it's like Midnight Tides. And like Midnight Tides I think it's equally rewarding to read this book before the others (as stuff in the other books makes more sense when you read them) or read it after (as stuff in this book makes more sense when you've read the other ones). Hope that clears that up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Astra Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Hope that clears that up Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 I just finished Colleen McCullugh's First man in Rome. This was not a bad read. It had some simularities with Martin's series so it was an ok substitute. May is going to start of on a Scifi/Fantasy note. Up first I checked out Legends to read the Hedge Knight. I started this last night so far so good. Legends has lots of stories including one from Goodkind which according to the other posters here is an entertaining read . I also hope to read Gaiman's Anansi Boys and if I still thirst for fantasy I'll read Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Martin Silenus Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 ... and if I still thirst for fantasy I'll read Dr. Strange and Mr. Norrell. Now that would be a hell of a book. The forecast for May (and for last April for that matter) is Nabokov Nabokov Nabokov: next up, The Defence. Excuse me while I fire up some old Murray Head albums. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Freshwater Spartan Posted May 3, 2007 Share Posted May 3, 2007 Oops meant Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel. Need to hire an editor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moot Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Just finished The Big Over Easy by Jasper Fforde. Entertaining in a fluffy way. But I long for more Thursday Next books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fantasy Book Critic Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Just finished "The Court of the Air" by Stephen Hunt - great read in my opinion - and I'm hoping that I get a copy of "Reaper's Gale" soon from the publisher. If not, I have it on pre-order and will get it eventually. In the meantime, I also have "The Orphan's Tales" by Catherynne M. Valente and Joel Shepherd's "Breakaway" to review, but first...Brian Lumley's "Necroscope: The Touch". Robert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lokisnow Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 Special Topics in Calamity Physics is pure awesome, I read it straight for nearly 3.5 hours last night, and I had no reason whatsoever to be up until 4AM. wonderfully written, clever and a terrifically fun read. and with the 'chapter' system it has... just brilliant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nous Posted May 4, 2007 Share Posted May 4, 2007 I'm still on a Clavell binge. I finished Shogun, read Tai-pan and Noble House. Now I've started reading Gai-jin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Werthead Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Now reading Reaper's Gale by Erikson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 I finished reading "Chronoliths" by Robert Charles Wilson. It had a very interesting and imaginative premise (huge monuments start spontaneously appearing in various places around Earth, all commemorating victories at the points by a warlord named Kuin, and all dated some 23 years in the future) and the main plot regarding the Chronoliths themselves is good and has quite a clever resolution. On the other hand, the plotlines of the various characters in the book felt a bit lacking at times, the characterisation was fairly bland and for the most part they're fairly passive spectators of what is going on around them. Also the worldbuilding didn't really feel like it had any depth to it as time passed. I thought "Spin" worked better than "The Chronoliths" did, it probably had similar strengths and weaknesses but overall worked a bit better - the "Spin" and its effects evolved more over the course of the books than the "Chronoliths" did, they just tended to show up in more places and were sometimes a bit larger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MuthaHydra / Lord Jo Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 I picked up Boudica by Vanessa Collingridge and I am loving the fact that it starts with a handy timeline , two groovy maps and a quick overview of the founding of Rome up 'til the occupation of Britain . Tasty . I think I'm going to enjoy it . I also got The Lords of the North ( AKA Uhtred does Iceland ) - by Bernard Cornwell . The third and final book in his Saxon/Viking series . Nice . I've been waiting to read it for a while . Wreaking havoc in Iceland FT badass W Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 Having finished Before They Are Hanged, I have moved on to less pleasant fare, namely, Caesar's Women. To be honest, reading Ms McCullogh's books is a chore for me, but its just until my copy of Ysabel arrives. I know many people admire the Masters of Rome series, but for me it is turgid reading so far. I don't like giving up a series in the middle, so I will plod on through until the bitter end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas Posted May 5, 2007 Share Posted May 5, 2007 I'm mostly reading books for my science fiction course now. It's nice to pick up some old classics that I've missed before. The Space Merchants by Frederik Pohl and C. M. Kornbluth. This is a high paced and entertaining satire set in a future where capitalism has gone wild and ad agencies run everything. I really liked this one. Its satire is sharp and funny (and I'm generally not a person who likes satires) and less dated than most books from the same period and it has a very nice thriller plot that kept me up reading late into the night. Recommended. Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury. I really should like Bradbury more than I do. The man can obviously write well, but there's just something shrill about many of his stories (and this one in particular) that just puts me off them completely. This one turned out to be a complete snoozefest. It's not that I disagree with the man and it's not that I can't appreciate what he is trying to do stylistically, but MAN it's boring. I still have ten pages to read and no real wish to finish it. The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin. I finished this one earlier today and I haven't really processed it yet. I liked it I guess, even it it was fairly slow at times. I can see why it must have made such an inpact when it was first released and it's definitely worth reading though. I thought it was going to be more polemic on the whole gender issue, but it turned out to be very nicely handled. Now it's on to The Female Man by Joanna Russ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Hi! Just finished Ian McDonald's Brasyl and it blew my mind! Even better than River of Gods, which, for me, is saying something! Hands down one of the best SFF novels of the year! Check the blog for the full review... Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RedEyedGhost Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Rounding out April I finished Fugitives of Chaos and Titans of Chaos by John C. Wright. It dragged a little at the end of Fugitives and beginning of Titans, but picked up and finished very strong. Overall the series was my least favorite by Wright, but don't get me wrong it is a quality series. It was research very well, and I enjoyed all of the mythology I learned while reading it. Then I started Abercrombie's Before They Are Hanged. Unfortunately I've been really busy and have yet to sink my teeth into it (I'm about 100 pages in), but I'm going to conference this week and should get lots of reading done at the airport and on the planes. I can't wait because I've liked what I've read so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plessiez Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Lots of things about The Anubis Gates shouldn't work. Time travel, evil clowns, Egyptian mythology, Romantic poets, werewolves, floating magicians ... Certainly, they shouldn't work together. Fortunately, they do; Powers keeps everything moving along at a good pace and (with one or two minor exceptions) manages to tie everything together neatly by the end. A very entertaining book, and - considering it was published in 1983 - often surprisingly modern in tone. Definitely recommended. Slightly embarrassed to find I had a copy of Vinge's Rainbows End lying around that I must have been putting off reading for months - not quite sure why. (Though really not at all shocked that this will be the first of this year's Hugo nominees I read). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Lots of things about The Anubis Gates shouldn't work. Time travel, evil clowns, Egyptian mythology, Romantic poets, werewolves, floating magicians ... Certainly, they shouldn't work together. Fortunately, they do This is one of Powers' strengths, taking a crazy array of often surreal ideas and tying them together in a coherent plot that almost seems strangely plausible. Slightly embarrassed to find I had a copy of Vinge's Rainbows End lying around that I must have been putting off reading for months - not quite sure why. (Though really not at all shocked that this will be the first of this year's Hugo nominees I read). I read Rainbows End a few months ago. There are plenty of good ideas in it, it has a detailed and largely plausible-sounding explanation of how computer use might evolve and the characterisation is good in it as well. On the downside the actual plot is adequate but overall a bit unexciting, particularly when compared to Vinge's previous books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davk Posted May 6, 2007 Share Posted May 6, 2007 Finishing off the last 300 or so pages of The Bonehunters, then, on to Reaper's Gale! When it arrives, that is(orderd from amazon.uk) May also read: Ironfire, David Ball Sandman vol 1 Great Expectations, Dickens Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.