nobodymN Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Any early thoughts on Crystal Rain? Well, besides being momentarily confused about which tribe I was reading about in the first dozen pages and and than being completely put back inti 'highly interested' mode when an object came out of the sky, crashing on the planet surronded by its habitants that contained a sole pasanger dressed in gentlemanly garb, merely to inquire what direction to the city that hosts an annual party was at, simply and walk away in that direction. I'm not too far in it, as I suffered from a ghastly broken ankle a couple days ago (and well let me tell you, don't expect much at hospitals here, so I haven't been able to hop up 6 flights of damn stairs to my books in the last couple of days) At this point, I can say I was going to buy it when it came out and nothing I have read has changed that. I will add more in a couple days here, as I expect to make some way in the novel. At this point the setting seems damn interesting, but more in a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Quartet by Geoge RR Martin. As soon as my copies of Taiko and Musashi arrive in the mail, I will start to read them as well, as this Christmas promises to be a quiet one in the cyrano household. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mallory Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Reading "Shelters of Passage" by Auel. It's not very good. I'm starting to think Jean Auel is married to Robert Jordan. Both have become too fond of their characters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted December 21, 2005 Share Posted December 21, 2005 Diablo, Interesting stuff about Memory, sorrow and Thorn, keep us up to date about the your thoughts on the following books. I don't think I would ever trouble to re-read anything by Williams because I have such abiding memories of 'getting through' his stuff. He's just so freakin' wordy and unedited at times. I did like MS&T btw. Although the fact that both this series and the Otherworld one consist of four volumes NOT three one snuck up on me and totally surprised me. And not in a good way. I was annoyed on both occasions! I didn't want it to get any longer than it already was. I'm currently reading a book that, as far as I can tell, is pretty much universally loved, that being Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett. Unfortunately I'm not enjoying it at all. Possibly it's just not my kind of humour, but I find it all very lame sofar. I'm sticking with it though, and hopefully it picks up. I'm not expecting much in the way of plot but at least it should be hilarious. My previous experience with the authors is mixed, I liked American Gods a lot and thought that Gaiman showed some serious wit there, but the one Pratchett book that I tried was not to my taste. I always find them both to be pretty funny guys. Good Omens wasn't so funny that I found breathing difficult or anything but it did amuse me. And you say you didn't find Pratchett to be amusing...well, I don't fancy your chances of enjoying the book then! Maybe your expectatios were just too high. It's very light-hearted stuff. Have just finished ACOK alas my dad had ASOS at the mo. Also read The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett this week. Hurrah for delightful old-fashioned books. The main character is just fantastic; very entertaining, and she comes vividly to life. This book really made me smile as I read it. In fact, it even made me think a bit more about gardening and where the pleasure of having your own garden comes from. Not that I don't have my own garden - I just never do anything with it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merentha Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 I should begin Gormenghast tomorrow. Damn that library. I might read Goethe's Faust too. How did people feel it compares to Marlow's? And I found Good Omens to be hilarious. It had a better ending than American Gods, which just seemed to trail off. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werewolfv2 Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 just started Gary Wassners The Twins Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 Octavia Butler's 'Mind of my Mind' and Beryl Bainbridge's 'An awfully big advernture'. Also re-reading Richard Adam's 'Maia' after finding in a little discussion on another thread that I barely remembered anything about this book apart from the fact that it was wonderful! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophelia Posted December 22, 2005 Share Posted December 22, 2005 I still haven't finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell. Thanks to this board I have just spent £150 on books with beautiful prose , and I want to them all at once. I just have to finish JS&MN first. Grrrr. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Which ones did you buy Sophelia? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
needle Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Hah, Soph, I've just started Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell, and i keep thinking 'must tell Sophie bout the wonderful prose' Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistelten Posted December 23, 2005 Share Posted December 23, 2005 Anyone who is interested in history and/or martial arts, check out Secrets of the Samurai. It's the best, most comprehensive book on Samurai tradition and martial arts, and it has some great illustrations. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
True Blue Mug Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 The Waves. VW is amazing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandiric Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. The movie is one of my top five favorites, much cherished throughout the years. The book is similarly enchanting, though rather different from the film version. Atreyu has green skin! And Bastion is chubby! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blood of the Dragon Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I am about to start The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. Are there any recommendations for epic fantasies for me? I am really bored this break, so I want to get through a lot of books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophelia Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Which ones did you buy Sophelia? Well, I visited five bookshops, and from the top section of my list, I have now bought: Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian Mary Renault The Bull from the Sea Jack Vance Tales of the Dying Earth Patrick O'Brien Master and Commander M. John Harrison Viriconium Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms Donna Tartt The Secret History Roger Zelazny The Chronicles of Amber Steph Swainston The Year of my War Plus a couple of extras. Well, they had Robin Hobb's Assassin Trilogy on special offer - 3 for the price of 2 - and since I'd only read them from the library and need a reread, I treated myself, and to Janny Wurts Curse of the Mistwraith (for the interesting prose, not the story). Plus I bought Vathek, by the eccentric William Beckford, because it's an entertaining piece of pulp fantasy written in the eighteenth century, apparently it is "the first Oriental Gothic horror novel in English Literature". Oh, and I bought the board game 'Settlers of Catan' as a Christmas present for my best friends. So, taking into account the ones already in my possession, the only authors/books on the list I have not yet acquired I either wasn't in the mood to buy, or couldn't find in any of the bookshops (no McKillip, Tanith Lee, John Crowley etc., and only one Kay). I am accumulating an amazon order. I've peeked at a few of my purchases, of course. Cormac McCarthy's Blood Meridian really does look amazing (his prose is cruel and compelling - a sort of literary Paganini or Rasputin - he uses the whole variety of language). I haven't got to the fantasy yet in Zelazny's Amber series, so it is unnervingly contemporary in style. It reminds me of the style of some detective stories, or Ian Fleming perhaps - efficient, precise, yet quivering with implications - but I've only read a few pages. I've read the first chapter/section in Virconium, a setting which seems to mix many periods of the past and future, in a place which is very distinctive yet unlike anything I have come across before. I am in turns fascinated and set on edge by it - and will read on with wonderment and apprehension, for I have a feeling this will not be a book with much happiness in it. In contrast I sunk quickly and comfortably into the lush and rotting scenery of Jack Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth, though I've only read a chapter and a half so far. I like the exaggerated colours and texture of the settings, against which the characters and events seem as insubstantial as the lead holding together panes of stained glass. Those are my first impressions of a few of my purchases. I have a feeling I'm going to overindulge on rich books over Christmas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandiric Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 ...a sort of literary Paganini... That is a perfect description of the prose in Blood Meridian. Nicely done Sophie my dear! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Arvernian Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I'm about halfway through The Bloody Crown of Conan, volume two of Del Rey's three volume collection of fully illustrated Robert E Howard. The bulk of the book is The Hour of the Dragon, the only true Conan novel. On the whole the quality of the writing is better then in the first volume (The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian), which lapsed into very formulaic stories after the first six or so, but the quality of the art is not as good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nobodymN Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 Cormac McCarthy Blood Meridian Mary Renault The Bull from the Sea Jack Vance Tales of the Dying Earth Patrick O'Brien Master and Commander M. John Harrison Viriconium Ernest Hemingway A Farewell to Arms Donna Tartt The Secret History Roger Zelazny The Chronicles of Amber Steph Swainston The Year of my War Any shopping list that includes McCarthy and Harrison is a winner Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Agulla Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I finished reading two more books: Monstrocity by Jeffrey Thomas: absolutely thrilling lovecraftian tale in a sci-fi setting. The Great Old Ones in Punktown. The only problem I found, a very small one though, was that it had a Derleth approach to the Mythos, but this is a matter of tastes. Other than this, that's a book that I can only recommend. Iron Sunrise by Charles Stross: the second book of Timelike diplomacy. I liked this one more than the previous Singularity Sky. There are echoes of Vernor Vinge's A Deepness in the Sky and a nod to Henlein. A good read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted December 24, 2005 Share Posted December 24, 2005 I loved Good Omens when I first read it more than ten years ago but when I reread it recently I found that, like a lot of Pratchett's work, it had aged badly. Pratchett still writes good stuff but I just find that his jokes date quickly. Soph, do post your thoughts on JS&MN when you finish. There was a cool thread on it on the old board in which opinion was very divided. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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