September Reading Thread

[VikingBeard]

I'm reading A Clash of Kings

[Caligula_K]

Time to summarize this month's reading:

On the fiction side of things, I finished my re-read of A Song of Ice and Fire by reading A Storm of Swords and A Feast For Crows. I had always enjoyed AFFC, but it was only with this re-read that I saw how well structured it actually is- in comparison to A Storm of Swords, for example, I find that A Feast For Crows actually fits together much better as a whole, even if it isn't the better book. The same themes, characters and even rumors that appear in one POV are seen in others- indeed, one of the best aspects of the re-read was seeing how the pseudo-Hound pervades nearly all the storylines. And while AFFC does have some things that could definitely be cut out (most noticably the Nimble Dick plotline), the re-read of the series has shown me that each book has scenes that could have easily been cut out.

I also read Imperium by Robert Harris, which was well researched and a lot of fun too. I reccomend it to anyone interested in the late Roman Republic, Roman law or Cicero.

On the non fiction side, I did a re-read of The Histories by Herodotus, which proved as amusing, and at times, insightful, as ever. I read Hesiod's Theogony and Works and Days; I enjoyed both, and read two translations of each- the one that amused me the most was a very informal, vernacular translation of Works and Days which contained such gems as:

(On the creation of women):

"And Hermes imbued her with the mind of a bitch and the heart of a thief."

s

Oh Hesiod... You and your misogyny. In any case, both were very enjoyable poems, especially if you like Greek mythology, of course. Just watch out for the long genealogies in Theogony.

To cap it off on the British side of things, I read R.R. Davies' The First English Empire, a book concerned with the empire of Edward I, why it failed to be a British Empire and was solely a British Empire, and how it influenced the formation of English, Welsh, Irish and Scottish identities. Some very interesting and well argued ideas- unfortunately, it does get rather repetitive towards the end- the book's conclusion is reached about 70 pages before the end of the book, and aside from some interesting information of British colonialism in the Isles, the rest of the book is largely unnecessary. I also read Robert Bartlett's The Hanged Man, about the canonization process of St. Thomas of Cantilupe as it relates to William Cragh, a Welsh rebel who was hanged only to be resurrected, apparently due to the invocation of St. Thomas. An interesting story that provides some great insight in to British Medieval mindset- from the role of saints to how space and time were perceived.

[Talyn]

I just read The Last Green Tree by Jim Grimsly. I enjoyed this book a lot more that the previous book in this series and hope that he will write more of them.

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Chris Bunch's 'The Last Legion' (Full review Here) and I'm afraid to say it was more than a bit rubbish. On the face of it, 'Last Legion' is a 'military sci-fi' much like any other but then you start reading it and are bombarded with far too many typos/spelling mistakes as well 800 pages worth of characters jammed into a book half the size. It's a confusing and awkward read but shows signs that things could improve in the future.

I've currently got Tobias Buckell's 'Crystal Rain' and Patrick Rothfuss' 'The Name of the Wind' on the go right now...

[Anthem]

Books for September:

Re-read Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore. I loved it when I was fifteen, but now I could barely finish it. I detested the prose - I think the author tried too hard to emulate 17th century dialogue and it was so heavy I felt like I was swimming through sludge. I'm over romances set in Britain with swooning maidens and strong, slightly misogynistic men in period costume. 4.5/10

Third Girl by Agatha Christie. Though I love Hercule Poirot, not even he could save this book from the travesty it was. If you've read it, you will understand what I mean by the ridiculous plot twist at the end. I won't give it away, but it was one of the most contrived and poorly explained 'revelations' I have ever seen. There were no clues, no convincing red herrings, and it was laughably bad and lazy writing. Christie jumped the shark on this one. 5/10

Re-read Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley. Now I see the flaws no doubt others are eager to point out. Some of the prose is genuinely beautiful - other bits were cheesier than a Domino's pizza. There were a few plot holes readers were probably not meant to notice, such as the lack of reaction in Arthur's court over Kevin and Nimue's 'elopement'. The female characters were excellent, Gwenhwyfar and Morgause being the stand-outs. However the male characters were dreadful - Lancelet was an emo repressed homosexual who could have been a fascinating character study... but wasn't. And the continual bashing of Christianity throughtout the book was irritating. 7.5/10

[Max the Mostly Mediocre]

Low Red Moon - Caitlin R. Kiernan. Take Neil Gaiman, add some Lovecraft, and you've got the general idea. Good, and proof that 'urban fantasy' don't gots ta be light reading.

[Mr. X]

I reread The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers and in case you didn't know already...

IT

IS

AWESOME!

[Lawrence]

Read Winterbirth in the past three or so weeks, pretty solid novel (link to review in my signature).

Now I have actually two choices. I can either go for a quick read, being Charlie Huston's No Dominion or for the heavy fantasy one, R. Scott Bakker's The Warrior Prophet. Damn, so difficult to choose.

[Cel]

I'm reading Dragon's Fire by Anne McCaffrey and her son It's not very good. I didn't expect much from it though. I just started reading the Dresden Files books. Those are great! I'm waiting for my copy of the third one to arrive. Once it does I'll drop this book.

[WarGalley]

Just finished Thirteen and Red Seas Under Red Skies. Both enjoyable with some flaws (in Thirteen, that one death scene took forever to get through).

Now onto The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Only into the first 50 pages, but man is it depressing.

Next will hopefully be Alternate Carbon or maybe The Blade Itself depending on what's not checked out at the library.

[Bellis]

Red and Black Stendhal. Coincidentally, I had just started this when Varys posted his review, so I had Theon in my head the entire time. yes, Julian is a great character, sympathetic without actually being likeable. The two women are fascinating as well. This was a great book to read the first time, without knowing where it was going or what Julian's fate would ultimately be. The translator's footnotes in the edition I read were also quite amusing, pointing out that many of Stendhal's epigraphs were either incorrectly attributed or entirely fictional. Fascinating.

Same location, fast forward 110 years to Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky. Two novellas set at the beginning of the German occupation of France, c. 1940-41. No inspiring tales of great heroics, evil Nazis or tragic victims. Just ordinary people, weak, sympathetic, struggling to maintain their lives, often collaborating with the Germans, who, as is often mentioned, are just people, after all. Beautifully written, watch all the animals, especially the evil cats. Not your average WWII novel at all - not just the tragic death of the author in a concentration camp, but also the fact that she never knew how the war would end, if Germany would win or not. This latter point, the lack of historical context, makes the story all the more poignant and timeless.

[Isis]

I finished Gaimain's Fragile Things. I don't think I enjoyed as much as Smoke and Mirrors actually. For me the poems seemed to dilute the rest of the book. I suppose I'm not that much of a poetry lover - although the Goblin Market pastiche was quite nice.

Now I'm pressing on with Mark Helprin's Winter's Tale which is weird and enjoyable and flows exquisitely.

[Luzifer's right hand]

I just finished Rebel Fay by Barb and J.C. Hendee.

I enjoyed it less than the other books in the Nobel Dead series.

But maybe it's just because I dislike elves. At least Leesik can't pronounce those silly elven names, just like me.

There were way too many pages for what little happend. The only thing that was even more sluggish than the main plot was the Welstiel/Chane sideplot..

I hope that more happens in the next book.