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November Reading Thread


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Wert

Man I hope you get to these fast, both of them are high on my anticipated buys list for next year. The novel Swiftly is indeed a novel that started with a short story which Roberts published in the Night Shade release that was also called Swiftly.

Hurray for needlessly confusing titles!

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I have finished reading An Ice Cold Grave by Charlaine Harris. It is book three of the series about Harper Connelly. I found it to be the best of the three books to date. Not only is the main plot of the book the best constructed and thought out but the relationship between the two main characters continued to evolve and mature.

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Wert

Man I hope you get to these fast, both of them are high on my anticipated buys list for next year. The novel Swiftly is indeed a novel that started with a short story which Roberts published in the Night Shade release that was also called Swiftly.

Wert, what size are these books? The pagecounts on the Orionbooks websites often make no sense.

The page counts change between ARC and final novel (usually dropping). Swiftly is 406 pages long and The Red Wolf Conspiracy is 539 pages, both in ARC.

That last sentence makes me cringe when reading it, let's hope for the best. Any word about the The Bastards and the Knives release as well? It is on schedule?

As for the UK release date, seems like it is listed on amazon.co.uk for 1 Jun 2008 and I could not find any release dates for the US edition of RoT .. Confusing stuff.

I'd be surprised if Republic of Thieves didn't come out first in the UK (the first two did). The Bastards and the Knives (the UK edition of the novella collection) has been delayed until the end of 2009. The US release through Subterrenean is due for June 2008 (IIRC) and they have an exclusive contract for 18 months, which Gollancz didn't know about.

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I finished reading Jeffrey Overstreet's debut fantasy novel, Auralia's Colors, last night. It was decent to good, but until the end part, I was not really all that emotionally involved in any of it.

Am currently alternating between reading Friedrich Schiller's Don Carlos (in both the original German and in English), Nalo Hopkinson's Midnight Robber, and a re-read of Ignacio Padilla's award-winning Amphitryon (published in English as Shadow Without a Name. Oh, and Hemingway's The Snows of Kilimanjaro and Other Stories as well, before I forget to write it in.

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As a compendium of GRRM's early work, Dreamsongs is a veritable journey through the author's long and celebrated career. Each section begins with an extensive and insightful commentary that permits us to learn quite a lot about the man and his stories. As good as the material is -- and believe me, anthologies don't get much better than this! -- I found Martin's commentary to be at times as fascinating as the tales themselves.

As a matter of course, detractors and haters will bitch and moan about the fact that, once again, this is not A Dance with Dragons, that GRRM is spending too much time working on various other projects instead of focusing on his bestselling series. In all honesty, this might not be the next ASOIAF installment, yet I believe that it's the next best thing. In many ways, I was more impressed by Dreamsongs than by what I've read thus far of the ASOIAF saga. This collection demonstrates just how talented and versatile an author GRRM truly is.

Only rarely does a book make such an impression on me. Truth to tell, I really feel like a dumbass for ever referring to GRRM as the "Wild Cards guy." I've been reading and appreciating speculative fiction for more than two decades, yet I've only just discovered what made Martin the writer he has become today.

Dreamsongs is as engrossing and satisfying as any novel you are likely to read this year.

Check the blog for the full review. :)

Patrick

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I recently finished Lords of Rainbow and loved the prose, the world, and the story. I thought the plot could have been a bit tighter, and there were a couple of times where it was a bit too descriptive, but other than that, I loved it.

After that, I read The Princes of the Golden Cage, which was meh. It really wasn't at all what I'd call a good book, yet it somehow kept me turning the pages to find out what happened next. It was short and fast-paced, and the setting was interesting. It was also in desperate need of an editor, the characters were stupid, and there were way too many coincidences. Basically, I wouldn't recommend it, but I didn't find it boring.

Now I'm reading The Winter King and I'll probably read the first book in Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon trilogy as well.

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Just finished reading 'The Inferior' (Peadar O Guilin), a tale of Darwinism and cannibalism in a future world. Stopmouth's tribe fight for both food and to stay free from the clutches of alien races who are after the same thing. The arrival of a strange woman, from out of the sky, sheds new light on everything (although the big spoiler in the blurb will do that for you :rolleyes: ) 'The Inferior' is a great page turner, there's always something happening although some of the content means that it's hard to work out whether this is a YA book or one for adults. Read it anyway, it's well worth a look. My full review is Here

I'm now reading David Keck's 'In the Eye of Heaven' and I've also got J.V.Jones' 'A Sword from Red Ice' on the go as well.

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Just finished The Terror by Dan Simmons and it was the best novel I've read in quite some time. I dropped some thoughts over in a revived thread about the book.

This was the first Simmons book for me and I am really looking forward to picking up Hyperion or Ilium soon. For a 700 page book, the pacing was excellent. The first 2/3 of the book took me a few weeks of reading, but looking back it seems appropriate. The last third of the book just flew by.

Great cold weather book. Grab a wool blanket and a hot tea and you're set to go.

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I'd be surprised if Republic of Thieves didn't come out first in the UK (the first two did). The Bastards and the Knives (the UK edition of the novella collection) has been delayed until the end of 2009. The US release through Subterrenean is due for June 2008 (IIRC) and they have an exclusive contract for 18 months, which Gollancz didn't know about.

18 months!? Are you kidding me? That is like almost forcing me to buy the very expensive Subpress version.. I'd reckon they probably won't send out any ARCs neither, so there's no way to determine whether the 'new content' is worth the extra sum of money involved. Anyway, thanks for the information.

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I just finished reading Sanctuary, the first in the Elven Exiles trilogy (Dragonlance). This is the first book I am reviewing in my new review format, which is much less opinion, no book grading, and mostly just background info on the story, characters and setting. The goal is to provide enough info to let readers determine if they would be interested in the book (instead of my opinions influencing the decision). If you happen to read it here, let me know if you think this type of review is helpful, or a complete waste of your time. :)

I am still trying to make my way through Devices and Desires. For some reason, its a really slow read for me. I like the book so far, but my reading spead and comprehension on this book seems to be about half of normal. I do plan on reading it in pieces until i finish it.

I want to read The Blade Itself next, but will most likely wait for the 2nd book to be released here in the US (then maybe order the 3rd from bookdepository). Next up is probably Academ's Fury by Jim Butcher

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I'm actually reading what seems to be yet another Mayan-Doomsday-pop thriller called The Crystal Skull. I'm shocked that I haven't found it to be awful and find myself drawn to it and the end of the day. :smoking:

Is that the novelizaton of the new Indiana Jones movie?

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Is that the novelizaton of the new Indiana Jones movie?

If it is I need to really pay more attention when I read (or to forthcoming movies) - because that just blew my mind!

I'm going to go with no (unless Indiana has changed quite a bit since Short Round).

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If it is I need to really pay more attention when I read (or to forthcoming movies) - because that just blew my mind!

I'm going to go with no (unless Indiana has changed quite a bit since Short Round).

I think the new one is called Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - I imagine that you would know by now.

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I started Woman in Berlin by Anonymous today. It is fascinating so far. It is the diary of a female journalist from the end of April 1945 to June 1945. The Russians are approaching and Berlin is ripe with anxiety. After the Red Army defeated the Germans they went on one with largest known binges of mass rape. Her descriptions of life in bomb shelters is fascinating. The Russians have not arrived yet, but the author and the other women are making cryptic comments about what they are going to be facing. I'm not that far into the book, but I wish I had the time to sit down and read it in one sitting.

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I'm 100 pages from the end of Hobb's Golden Fool, and I have Fool's Fate sitting on the shelf at home waiting. I really blasted through these so far...3 days for Fool's Errand and it will only be 4 for Golden Fool . I'm pretty sure I'm going for Abercrombie's The Blade Itself next, but I'm being drawn back to ASoIaF for my first re-read quite heavily right now...so who knows?

Question: Is Hobb's Soldier's Son Tril as bad as I keep hearing it is? I'll read it anyways because I love Robin Hobb and am a completist, but I'm trying to gauge how long I'll put it off. (I've read all 3 Eldering Trils within 3-months, so I'll be taking a Hobb break no matter what for reflection and what not)

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