September Reading Thread

[Arbor Gold]

Finally dragged my way through RSURS. I realize this is going to be an unpopular opinion up in these parts, but it just didn't do it for me.

Now I'm starting The Emperor's Children by Claire Messud.

[Ser Barry]

Welcome Revie.

[Xray the Enforcer]

Welcome, Revie.

Now get thyself to the Rothfuss thread and defend that book, for Happy Ent's curiosity's sake.

[gyrehead]

I enjoyed Fatal Revenant but for a second book in a series I thought that it lacked a bit more push in plot and characterization needed in a follow-up to Runes of the Earth. I enjoyed both books and actually thought Runes... had an interesting way of kicking off the new series that could make it the best Covenenat series yet. Now I'm not too sure. Still I did like it. I just find it an odd year when a Donaldson book does sit sit near the top of my favorites list.

Just finished Joel Shepherd's Sasha. First book in his first fantasy series (only out in Australia so far). If you like his Cassandra Kresnov series, you might like this. Disaffected female warrior as the central role surrounded by intrigue and politics. Much like Cassadra, Sasha is plagued by the inability to be pro-active much of the time. Mired by her personal dysfunction and her own sense of alienation that stems from an almost overwhelming sense of misperception of her by everyone else.

Shepherd's weakness is that he writes female characters who can pretty much kick everyone else's ass all the time. And he balances this by making them confused troubled and overly vulnerable to always feeling as the outsider. In defter hands this might work. But most of the time Sasha seems more someone stuff happens to in an action packed book then someone who is actually involved in making that action happen. It does work in part because Sasha starts out young and removed from the political center when the book starts out. However she still is the only person to ever be able to figure out the politicla intricacies needed to keep everything warm happy and fuzzy. Which stretches the suspension of disbelief a bit when she out thinks all the schemers and plotters behind intricate power plays. Yet still acts wide eyed and innocent when faced with some of those very cold hard political necessities.

Overall, though, the book works. Relatively fast paced, the world building, though established somehwat clumsily at times, is deft and just enough for the story to rest on without being overly intricate and complicated for what is a decent action novel. Structurally it works much the same as the Cassandra science fiction novels. And like the Cassandra novels, shepherd is skilled enough to entertain. And in the simplistic structuring, the fantasy element perhaps works a bit better for Shepherd as the hurdles that Shepherd employs to keep the main character from just ploughing through everyone in her way seem less contrived and a bit more integral to the various plotlines. And in Sasha Shepherd gives the reader a few strong secondary characters that are as interesting and complex, if not more so, than the main character. Which ends up balancing the main character's weaknesses nicely.

If you like the Cassandra books I definitely recommend this as it very close without being nothing more than a regurgitation of the science fiction series. Or if you like court and battle fantasy but done on a simpler scale than ASOIAF.

[beniowa]

Hunter's Run by George R.R. Martin, et all. I actually finished this last Friday but didn't get a chance to write a review until Sunday. I liked this book quite a bit, which is hardly surprising considering Martin is my favorite author. The aliens in the book are distinctive and fleshed out as is the colony world of Sao Paulo. Though of course the story is really about Ramon Espejo. Ramon is a very gray character that struggles to control his drinking and his rage while among others. Yet anyone who knows the impulses of solitude and wanderlust will understand what drives him to explore. Martin and Dozois are close friends and both influenced Abraham so it’s no surprise that the writing style is consistent throughout the novel. In fact, I found it difficult to tell where one author left off and another began. I’ve never read Dozois, but the nicely ambiguous ending of Hunter’s Run, plus the grittiness of the setting, is quite typical of both Martin and Abraham. I felt that the story’s only real drawback was that it could have been expanded a bit more. The book also includes an afterword covering the history of the story as well as an interview with the three authors. Check the blog for the full review.

I also finished The Book of Jhereg but haven't written a review yet.

Now I'm reading The Guild of Xenolinguists by Sheila Finch. I picked this up on impulse so we'll see how it goes but it certainly sounds interesting.

[Fastia]

I had plenty of time to finish The Wraiths of Will and Pleasure on the long drive to Montreal today, and I started the second Wraeththu Histories book The Shades of Time and Memory. Unfortunately, I don't have the third. Maybe I'll have to go see if I can find a bookstore tomorrow.

If I don't find a bookstore, I'll probably just start reading the His Dark Materials trilogy by Phillip Pullman.

[RedEyedGhost]

I'm about a fifth of the way through The Bonehunters, and I'm pleased to report that I'm enjoying it much more than Midnight Tides (must be the familiar characters - Karsa kicks ass).

[Deornoth]

I spent what seems like ages trying to find a copy of 'Deathstalker Honour' and I finally got it! It's another good read by Simon Green but, at the same time, comes as a bit of an anti-climax after the epic events of the preceding books in the series. If you're already a fan though you will have to have a copy. Hopefully 'Deathstalker Destiny' will be a return to form. My full review is Here.

I'm now working my way through Chris Bunch's 'The Last Legion', not too bad so far...

[Astra]

Finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.

Again a very enjoyable reading, although the last 2 chapters were a bit too much out of line for my liking.

SPOILER: HP3

I mean HP wanted to see his parents so much! I don't belive he would not be tempted and actually seize the time traveling watch and try to teleport back to the moment before his parents got killed and warn them. So easily achieved time traveling thing was far fetched (IMHO)

As a quick read in between HPs, I read All You Zombies by Heinlein

Yesterday, I started Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

[oneeye]

Just read Axis, was ok but I think Robert Charles Wilson should stay away from sequels. His single books seem to have a lot more impact.

[Deornoth]

I'll be straight, I stopped reading Terry Pratchett when he stopped making me laugh (somewhere around 'The Thief of Time')but my wife still absolutely loves him to pieces. So I thought, 'why don't I let her review 'Making Money' instead of me?' Here it is!

[The Wedge]

Finished Armaggedon Rag. It was okay, but trying too hard to convince the reader that the late 60's and early 70's were some kind of Rock n Roll zenith.

Currently reading Guy Gavriel Kay's Last Light of the Sun.

(oh yeah... this is post 699.... one more post and I'll be able to get a custom title.... woot!)

[Arbor Gold]

(oh yeah... this is post 699.... one more post and I'll be able to get a custom title.... woot!)

Actually, I think you might need two more posts...my custom title option didn't become available until I hit 701, IIRC.

[Bellis]

(oh yeah... this is post 699.... one more post and I'll be able to get a custom title.... woot!)

You picked one yet? Which ones are you considering?

i finished Claudius the God. There's quite a bit more than a little bit of Claudius in ASOIAF's Tyrion, and now I'm very curious to see where GRRM takes Tyrion's story arc.

[The Wedge]

Actually, I think you might need two more posts...my custom title option didn't become available until I hit 701, IIRC.

Well, dang it all! How will I ever get to 701??

You picked one yet? Which ones are you considering?

That's a wait and see decision, though I may have stumbled across something vague and useful in my bathroom re-reading of ASOS last night.... (too much information, there, I know.... )

[Bellis]

Well, dang it all! How will I ever get to 701??

Well, you could have answered Arbor and me separately. Sheesh.

[The Wedge]

Well, you could have answered Arbor and me separately. Sheesh.

That would have been cheating.

And I wouldn't have been able to show off my mad quoting skills!

Hey, wait.... 701!

<off to go figure out something clever for custom title.....>

[Calibandar]

I've been reading The Trojan War by Barry Strauss, a nonfiction look at Troy, Bronze Age warfare and culture. It takes Homer's characters for real and goes on to retell the war in "this was what it would it have been like " fashion which was really interesting. It is a short book at 190 pages, but it doesn't need more.

7.5/10 rating.

[VarysTheSpider]

Read a few books this month.

The Red and the Black - Stendhal

Young restoration-era French peasent Julian decides to rise above his station in society by adopting the social hypocrisy he sees all around him. Julian is fantastic. He reminded me somewhat of Theon from ASOIAF, full of ambiguity and contradictions; a man who seems to wish he was a worse version of himself. Eventually his career reaches a climax, and his fate is entirely of his own making. Ironically enough, that was his greatest wish.

Dead Souls - Gogol

Mysterious stranger arrives in random Russian provincial town and presents the local landowners with a strange offer. It's not often I feel sad when reading such an outstanding book, but this was one of those times. Who knows what this could have been had Gogol not lost his muse or burned his manuscripts and he'd written the trilogy as he envisioned. Sigh. Anyway, I loved it. Vivid descriptions of the Russian countryside, a multitude of contrasting characters, and a few moments of hilarity. Sadly what seems to be the real message here, what was wrong with Russia and how it should be fixed, is lost forever.

Started The Master and Margarita this morning. So far so good.

[Lord of Oop North]

The Fourth Crusade and the Sack of Constantinople by Jonathan Phillips.

A surprisingly accessible book on the Crusade that "went wrong." It offers just enough background information to satisfy someone not too familiar with Medieval European History. I would rate it a 8.5 / 10.

Now, I'm going to start reading..

The Perfect Heresy by Stephen O'Shea