Mexal Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 [quote name='poeticfantasy' post='1422860' date='Jul 1 2008, 10.43']Just finished Toll the Hounds a couple days ago, and now I'm reading 'The Religion' by Tom Willocks. It's really really good. EXTREMLY similar to alot of the elements of ASOIAF actually. I honestly belive that if you guys enjoy ASOIAF, you'll love ' The Religion.' It's not fantasy per se, but its a historical fiction about the seige of Malta. Great depiction of life, even 'Grittier' than George, and great action scenes. Obviously, since its a historical fiction there is less wonder and imagination in the world building, but if you're looking for something to read that's similar to ASOIAF this summer, give ' The Religion' a shot. Fans of Bernard Cornwell ( A little more serious) and George Martin should enjoy this.[/quote] I loved it. I will say that there is a lot of unnecessary sex in the book but it didn't bother me at all. Great book though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guinevere Seaworth Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 [quote name='poeticfantasy' post='1422860' date='Jul 1 2008, 08.43']Just finished Toll the Hounds a couple days ago, and now I'm reading 'The Religion' by Tom Willocks. It's really really good. EXTREMLY similar to alot of the elements of ASOIAF actually. I honestly belive that if you guys enjoy ASOIAF, you'll love ' The Religion.' It's not fantasy per se, but its a historical fiction about the seige of Malta. Great depiction of life, even 'Grittier' than George, and great action scenes. Obviously, since its a historical fiction there is less wonder and imagination in the world building, but if you're looking for something to read that's similar to ASOIAF this summer, give ' The Religion' a shot. Fans of Bernard Cornwell ( A little more serious) and George Martin should enjoy this.[/quote] Anyone know if this is (too) similar to David Ball's [i]Ironfire[/i]? I've read this and loved it. This also about the seige of Malta, told with several POV's and lots of action scenes. In fact GRRM has recommeded this novel himself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 [quote name='Mexal' post='1423060' date='Jul 1 2008, 11.25']I loved it. I will say that there is a lot of unnecessary sex in the book but it didn't bother me at all. Great book though.[/quote] Is it true that Kruppe and Pust get it on? ;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eponine Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Recently finished: Day Watch, Sergey Lukyanenko I enjoyed it a lot and it was a very fast read, but the plot twists were too similar to the previous book, Night Watch, for there to be any true surprises. The characters were a bit angsty and emo, but I still found it fairly easy to relate to them- probably would have even more if I could have read these as a teenager. These were good books to choose to translate into other languages, because the author's casual familiarity with his own country let's us be dropped into another culture without too much fanfare but always with a sense of the backdrop of Russian history, as opposed to stories that are so concerned with conveying a culture that they become travelogues. I'm curious about the next two books, but not overly excited. Heart of Darkness, Joseph Conrad I've been trying to spend some time reading "classics" that everyone else had read and I've somehow missed. Probably just as well that I didn't get introduced to some of these books in boring high school English classes. Near the end I started feeling disturbed enough that I didn't want to finish the book. But I did. Currently reading: The Importance of Being Earnest, Oscar Wilde Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell (I had to read any book that was so talked about on the board!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mexal Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 [quote name='Guinevere Seaworth' post='1423080' date='Jul 1 2008, 12.36']Anyone know if this is (too) similar to David Ball's [i]Ironfire[/i]? I've read this and loved it. This also about the seige of Malta, told with several POV's and lots of action scenes. In fact GRRM has recommeded this novel himself.[/quote] Umm, it's about the same events but I don't think it's told in the same way. I haven't read [i]Ironfire[/i] though, just [i]The Religion[/i]. [quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1423171' date='Jul 1 2008, 13.21']Is it true that Kruppe and Pust get it on? ;)[/quote] They'd certainly make a good couple :) But yea, I was talking about [i]The Religion[/i]. I haven't read [i]Toll of Hounds[/i] yet though I have it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bellis Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 Finishing off in June, I read [b]The Day of the Triffids[/b], a post-apo classic which, just to be different, throws in [i]killer plants[/i]. Also [b]Dune Messiah[/b] and [b]Children of Dune[/b]. The philosophical ramblings are somewhat pretentious but it's good to read for the influence on the genre, both in space opera like Star Wars and also fantasy like Prince of Nothing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatoskr Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I'm almost finished with "The Dying Earth". Liking it. Great writing style. Not too easy to read though, for this perpetually exhausted and sleepy non-native speaker without a dictionary, at least. Next up: Toll the Hounds, when Amazon.de finally sees fit to send me my copy. I'll probably squeeze in some stories from 'Dreamsongs' to keep myself occupied in the mean time. Or maybe something from the "Solaris Book of New Fantasy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dark Wolf Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I've finished some comic books, "Beyond" and "Devi/Witchblade", and I'm half way through "Winterbirth" by Brian Ruckley. I plan for this month: "Corsair" by Tim Severin "Promise of the Wolves" by Dorothy Hearst "Mind the Gap" by Christopher Golden & Tim Lebbon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deornoth Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 I'll buy pretty much anything by Glen Cook and this really paid off when I found me a copy of 'The Tower of Fear', a tale of machinations and resurrections in an occupied city under enemy rule. It's a little dry in places, and I thought the ending was rushed, but it's well worth a look if you're a fan. Cook is doing what he does best! :thumbsup: A full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url]. I've got 'Toll the Hounds' on the go right now plus a couple of other books that are a little easier to read on the train... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AprilFool Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Reading [u]The Court of the Air [/u]by Stephen Hunt. I'm 204 pages in and it is pretty good. Hunt has some pretty cool ideas in this book, but it is a little bit of a Young Adult book. Still, seems worth finishing. I like the semi-victorian world combined with magic and technology(the steam men are very interesting). I hope it finishes well. Next up [u]Baltimore[/u] by Mike Mignola and Chris Golden. This looked like an interesting horror story, and I love Mignola's work and liked some of Golden's stuff. Anyone read it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duchess of malfi Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 [quote name='AprilFool' post='1424602' date='Jul 2 2008, 11.22']Next up [u]Baltimore[/u] by Mike Mignola and Chris Golden. This looked like an interesting horror story, and I love Mignola's work and liked some of Golden's stuff. Anyone read it?[/quote] I read that last year and I really enjoyed it. :) It was good to see evil vampires rather than sexy ones. ;) Seriously. Where did this current craze for sexy vampires come from anyway???? :stunned: It can be read as either a straight up story (and a good one!), or as a sort of allegory with vampirism standing in for the horrors of WW1 and the following huge flu pandemic. which killed millions. I'm still working my way through Moorcock's Elric series - have recently started [i]Fortress of the Pearl[/i]. When I finish the series, next up will be [i]The Inferior[/i], and perhaps now that [i]Toll the Hounds[/i] will be released in the US fairly soon, I will finally get around to reading [i]Reaper's Gale[/i]. I have been putting that one off because I hated [i]Midnight Tides[/i] and this one supposedly has the same characters and locations that bored me so much in MT. I have actually given very serious thought as to stopping reading Erikson - the quality of that series has fallen so much from the earlier books like [i]Deadhouse Gates[/i] - but on the other hand, I have already read thousands of pages, and the end is fairly close. (Sort of like my feelings for the WOT - yeah, the series devolved as it went, but man, after having read thousands of pages, I might as well finish the damned thing when the last book comes out). edited for typos Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
duckman Posted July 2, 2008 Share Posted July 2, 2008 Just finished the first four (of five) books of Paul Kearney's [i]The Monarchies of God[/i]. The first (Hawkwood's Voyage) was too slow for my liking, but the series definitely picked up in book 2 and just kept getting better. Currently reading [i]Neuropath[/i] which is great so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ratatoskr Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Thanks to the good people at amazon.de, who quite suddenly found out that they need another fortnight to get my copy of Toll the Hounds over from feckin' England (never mind that I preordered in friggin' [b]April[/b]) I can fit in one book or the other before returning to the world of Malaz. Decided to go with Scalzi's [i]Old Man's War[/i]. Am 80 pages in. Fun so far. I like how this shapes up to be some kind of counterpoint to [i]Ender's Game[/i]. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deornoth Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 Just finished reading Pamela Freeman's 'Blood Ties', some really lovely descriptive passages and world building sucked me into the book only to find that various shortcomings and contrivances were doing their level best to throw me straight back out again! A read that was really cool yet bloody infuriating at the same time, I'll probably stick around for the second installment at least and see if things pick up. My full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url]. I'm now reading Naomi Novik's 'Victory of Eagles' and finding it really easy to get back into the adventures of Laurence and Temeraire... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Annelise Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I read Campbell's [i]Scar Night [/i]and [i]Iron Angel. [/i] Sokay, first is better than the second (I ended up skimming that one toward the end). Reading [i]Among the Lowest of the Dead: The Culture of Death Row[/i] by David Von Drehle. It offers an engaging history of the modern Death Penalty in the U.S. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Just finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's [i]The Shadow of the Wind[/i] and I'm speechless. Simply put, this is one of the very best books I have ever read in my life! :D Check the blog for the full review! So I'll be starting Neal Stephenson's [i]Cryptonomicon[/i] on my way to Tallinn, Estonia. . . Cheers, Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry. Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Good thing I pressed you to read that book, huh, Pat? :P Glad to hear you enjoyed it that much :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Calibandar Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 I'm reading Ishiguro's [b]The Remains of the Day[/b], mostly because I'm such a big fan of the film. Sofar it's very atmospheric, and also very slow. Ishiguro's style here is one that takes very long to get to the point, as he wants the narrator ( a sophisticated butler in the 50's) to come across authentically. This sort of style troubles me, but it is a nice story and the images he paints of the world the man lives in are pleasant. Still, with what reading time I have I have not finished more than 50 pages this week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inkdaub Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 [quote name='pat5150' post='1428204' date='Jul 4 2008, 23.36']Just finished Carlos Ruiz Zafon's [i]The Shadow of the Wind[/i] and I'm speechless. Simply put, this is one of the very best books I have ever read in my life! :D[/quote] I felt the same when I read it. This is one of those books that just has 'it'. I remember finishing it and telling the people at work..."I just finished one of the best books I have ever read." Haha...your post gave me deja vu. My name is Patrick as well... When I took a stack of paperbacks to the shop to get trade credit the buyer stopped when he got to Shadow and asked me how I liked it with a knowing gleam in his eye. I told him I loved it and he smirked and said that everyone loves it. I hear Zafon's new book has been released in Spain so perhaps we'll get a translation...for those of us who need it...pretty soon. Anyway...right now I'm reading... The Body of David Hayes by Ridley Pearson Cast in Courtlight by Michelle Sagara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Inkdaub Posted July 5, 2008 Share Posted July 5, 2008 Sorry...double post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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