January Reads

[Luzifer's right hand]

I am on an Iain Banks kick. Just finished up Player of Games (which i really enjoyed), next to embark upon Use of Weapons to be followed by Excession.

I just added "Matter" to my to read pile and will probably start reading it today.

[Mexal]

I'm about 100 pages from finishing Pillars of the Earth. It's a fantastic read and I was engrossed pretty much the whole way.

I have no clue what is next. I ordered Dorothy Dunnett but I've yet to receive the book so I might have to stop off at Borders tomorrow morning and find something else.

ETA: I just reserved The Game of Kings by Dorothy Dunnett so that will be my next book.

[pat5150]

I had relatively high hopes for this newest Kitty adventure, and Carrie Vaughn didn't disappoint! As was the case with its three predecessors, Kitty and the Silver Bullet is a very entertaining read.

Fast-paced, the only problem is that you reach the end too quickly. Despite being the fourth volume in this series, the Kitty novels remain fun, fresh, and engaging. Yes, Carrie Vaugh has done it again!

Check the blog for the full review.

Patrick

[swedeheadchris]

I had relatively high hopes for this newest Kitty adventure, and Carrie Vaughn didn't disappoint! As was the case with its three predecessors, Kitty and the Silver Bullet is a very entertaining read.

Fast-paced, the only problem is that you reach the end too quickly. Despite being the fourth volume in this series, the Kitty novels remain fun, fresh, and engaging. Yes, Carrie Vaugh has done it again!

Check the blog for the full review.

Patrick

I need to get around to reading those books. Cheers for the heads up.

I've just finished Darwin's Paradox:

The title, Darwin's Paradox, is not some lame marketing ruse to draw in New Earth Creationists, Intelligent Design-ists, or basically just general evolution deniers (the few that are left), and indeed, Nina Munteanu's book is well grounded in science, though without venturing into hard sci-fi territory; Darwin's Paradox is the name of a strange -- intelligent -- virus which has conspired with a powerful and influential intelligent machine to do it's nasty stuff worldwide.

which I quite enjoyed, though I had my fair few problems with it, such as certain characterisations ringing false -- but there were elements I liked...

Review here!

An uncertain what to read -- but there's luckily a diverse range to choose from (some werewolf poetry, novel-in-verse, I think...) -- ~Chris

PS: I'm enjoying Matter quite a lot so far, and on Viking novels would recommend the funny Viking novel by one of the Python's ... forget the name and author, but Google will find it

[Isis]

Then I started to read The Secret Books of Paradys but the first novella in the first book (The Book of the Damned) was really slow, so after finishing the novella, I put it aside for a bit ...

Yeah, I think you have to really like Lee's style to enjoy the series. She has written much better stuff, that's for sure. I think that with Paradys (and Viriconium) I like the setting as much as the stories that take place there.

[Fastia]

Yeah, I think you have to really like Lee's style to enjoy the series. She has written much better stuff, that's for sure. I think that with Paradys (and Viriconium) I like the setting as much as the stories that take place there.

I did enjoy her writing style; it's just that story was so slow. I've heard that the other two novellas in the first book are better, though.

What would you consider to be the better stuff that Lee has written?

[Larry.]

I'm starting to be in the mood for re-reading Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day for the first time in almost 10 years. Probably will give into it shortly. First, however, I want to finish McKillip's Riddle-Master trilogy and Liliana Bodoc's Los días del Venado.

[Apollo2113]

Well, I finally finished Marco's Trilogy of Tedium. I just started Erickson's Gardens of the Moon, and hear that it's a love/hate kinda thing, so I'm going to have to wait and see. Thankfully, this time, I got them from the library instead of buying it, so I won't be depressed about the waste of money as I did with Marco if it doesn't turn out well.

[Ratatoskr]

I just finished Dan Simmons' Summer of Night, a horror novel with a premise not quite unlike King's It. Although not exceptionally original, and at times a tad predictable, I found it to be a thoroughly entertaining and enthralling read. The first half might seem a bit slow to someone who only enjoys fiction that is fast-paced and action-packed from page one, but I thought it served well to develop the characters and the setting and build up suspense. The pace picked up considerably in the second half of the book. So, bottom line: Nothing that really stands out, but a well-written and highly entertaining book. Just try it, if you're into that kind of stuff.

I'm already well into A Winter Haunting, sequel-of-sorts to the aforementioned book. Liking it so far.

After that, I dunno. It's kind of a toss-up between Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, Carey's Banewreaker, Niven's Ringworld, Stross' Glasshouse, Wilson's Spin and Haldeman's Old Twentieth.

Hey, any of you good people out there wanna pick one for me?

[lessthanluke]

I started reading Hyperion but then I left it in my girlfriends house so now I've started reading The Player of Games by Iain M Banks.

[Inigima]

Finished Dresden #5. Back to the Book of Jhereg.

[Budgie]

Just finished Shadowplay - Tad Williams, I like some of the ideas in this but i had a hard time reading & finishing Shadowplay. I had a hard time relating to 2 of the characters and this seemed to make the story drag for me, but overall an ok read.

I am still reading Deadhouse Gates - Steven Erikson, i am about 350 pages in and so far so good, it is structured better then GOTM and i am liking it .

I have also got Before they are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie, but i will try to resist this till i have finished Deadhouse Gates, but then resistance is futile!

[Isis]

I did enjoy her writing style; it's just that story was so slow. I've heard that the other two novellas in the first book are better, though.

What would you consider to be the better stuff that Lee has written?

Well, I like her short stories a lot. Some writers (e.g. Gaiman) seem to come across better in short format. That's not an insult, I think effective short stories are harder to write than novels. I prefer the Dark Dance trilogy to the Paradys series BUT I do like them both. And I like Biting the Sun too, it goes in a different sort of direction to her usual work but it's still enjoyable.

Abandoned 2/3 of the way through: Perelandra. I struggled through the passive prose only to be beaten back by Lewis's need for religion to play an active role throughout.

And so onto Evil for Evil, with a side of The Man who was Thursday. The latter is absolutely cracking me up in a similar way to that of Kafka (in The Castle) or Helprin (in Winter's Tale). I am amused by the ridiculous it would seem.

[williamjm]

I finished reading Zelazney's Chronicles of Amber series (at least, the first five books that were in the copy I got). I've heard the second series goes downhill a lot? I enjoyed the series, although it was often lacking in depth in many places. The intrigue between the princes and princesses of Amber was interestingly convoluted (although I suspect there may be some plot holes if it is examined too closely) but anytime Corwin went off through the Shadows, the various shadows and most of the subplots in them seemed a bit shallow and simplistic. Thinking about it, that does fit in quite well with the series' conceit that Amber is the One True World and all the other worlds are just pale imitations of it.

Next up I'm reading David Gemmel's Legend, because a lot of people have recommended it over the years and I've never read anything by him.

After that, I dunno. It's kind of a toss-up between Bujold's The Curse of Chalion, Carey's Banewreaker, Niven's Ringworld, Stross' Glasshouse, Wilson's Spin and Haldeman's Old Twentieth.

Hey, any of you good people out there wanna pick one for me?

I really liked Spin. The Curse of Chalion is good as well, not read the others.

[raif snow]

Dreamsongs by George RR Martin

The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury

and the Charles Bukowski bio by Barry Miles

[Inigima]

williamjm,

The second set of the Books of Amber are good, but not as good as the first set, and they're very different. You'll also find that they change the rules a lot and I'm not entirely sure it's consistent. The first books flow much more reasonably, the later ones are a crazy roller coaster.

Finished Jhereg today. Quite enjoyed it, so onward to Yendi! I've more or less decided to read them in publication order, partly for the sake of convenience and partly because a friend whose judgment I trust told me he felt that part of the fun was getting the history piecemeal.

[Gojira]

My first post here. This has got to be the best fantasy forum I've found yet, happy to be here.

As for my January reads I am in the middle of The Terror and so far enjoying it. I have also finally gotten to The Lies of Locke Lamora which I should finish up tonight. It has been a great read, I'm just hoping the end lives up to the rest of the book. After I finish that I'll be starting on The Name of the Wind.

[Anomandaris Dragnipurake]

I spent the last two weeks reading three Iain Banks books: Consider Phlebas, Use of Weapons and Look to Windward in this order.

Use of Weapons was the one I liked most, as Zakalwe is a truly bad-ass character. Consider Phlebas was a bit too depressing and, as :

SPOILER: Consider Phlebas

everybody dies in the end except for the machines I felt a little cheated. I wanted Horza to succeed because he went through too much crap to just simply die. Yet Banks just killed him. Not a nice guy this Mr. Banks, but then again that's probably what GRRM would have done too.

Now I've just received Chronicles of the Black Company and read the first chapter which was great, hopefully the rest won't disappoint

[Elfqueen]

well . just finished Karavans and starting DEEp Wood by Jennifer Robinson.i believe is the aiuthors name . good books

[BleatingHeart]

I just read "The name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. I liked the first bit, but when it got onto the school and Kvothe was just brilliant at everything he did, I got so annoyed with it.