September 2008 Reads

[Werthead]

[quote name='beniowa' post='1503416' date='Sep 2 2008, 20.56']Dunny, that's because both novellas are limited editions from a small press, [url="http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/"]PS Publishing[/url]. I checked the publisher's site and they still have some unsigned editions available that are cheaper than you can get them from Amazon.[/quote]

Randomly, my local bookshop ordered in copies of [i]Lees[/i], [i]Healthy Dead[/i] and [i]Devil Delivered[/i] (but not [i]Blood Follows[/i], annoyingly) and they're sitting on the shelf next to Erikson's other books. At £10 a pop (for a 120-page book) they're a bit too expensive for me at the moment. Hopefully they'll still be there in a few days/weeks/months when I'm back in work.

[beniowa]

[quote name='RedEyedGhost' post='1504402' date='Sep 3 2008, 10.05']Duny,

If you didn't see it they have a version with all three novellas in one book. [url="http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/bauchelain_and_korbal_broach_1_hc.html"]Here[/url][/quote]
Good eye REG, I didn't even see that.

[Gormenghast]

The collected edition is the one I got and the one I suggest grabbing (and read in order).

[Analu]

Recently dusted off a pile of unread books and started reading the first book in "The Sword of Shadows" seris by J.V. Jones. The world-building is terrific, but I'm finding it hard connecting to any of the main characters. Nor do I find them very likable, which is problematic for me. Still, I have a lot of time to read right now, so I guess I'll keep plowing along.


One thing that really bothered me though:

SPOILER: Rayna

Rayna being raped by her step-son and deciding to keep quiet and marry him for the good of the clan and to keep it united? Yeah, that's horseshit. It doesn't take a genius to realize that you don't want that type of person for a leader, no matter if it momentarily keeps the clan united or not. Sooner or later, someone with the manipulativeness and character of a Mace Blackhail would tear it apart.

Before that, I read "Mistborn" by Sanderson and had a lot of the same problems that I'm currently having with Jones. The magic is second-to-none and really interesting, but I didn't find the two main protagonists to be likable or interesting. In truth, they annoyed the shit out of me.

I feel like there's some kind of fundamental shift going on in my reading habits. The first 21 years of my life, I read everything I could get my hands on. I was a veritable reading monster. But the last year + change, I haven't felt very motivated to read, and the books that I have read (and that have been heaped with praise on this board), I've found immensely disappointing. If this is what getting older's all about, then count me out.

Anyhoo, I'm just going to go back and reread GRRM, Bakker and Cornwell's Arthur series if I can't get into the next couple of books in my stack. At least I [i]know [/i]I love those books.

[Balefont]

I'm re-reading The Lies of Locke Lamora whilst waiting for my order of delicious new books to arrive.

[b]- Shadow & Claw[/b] by Gene Wolfe
[b]- Sword & Citadel[/b] by Gene Wolfe
[b]- Last Argument of Kings[/b] by Joe Abercrombie[b]
- Before They Are Hanged[/b] by Joe Abercrombie
[b]- The Carpet Makers[/b] by Andreas Eschbach

I've been dying to read [b]The Carpet Makers[/b] for ages. Then Mr. Joe's books cuz I just finished [b]The Blade Itself[/b] and enjoyed it. Thank you Mr. Joe.

[Larry.]

Nice selection there, Balefont. I read Eschbach's book last year and really enjoyed it and I hope you do as well.

As for myself, after finishing the Rushdie and Pamuk books, I'm in the middle of the Jeff VanderMeer-edited [i]Leviathan 2[/i]. Pretty good so far. Maybe more later. After this, I plan on reading the reissued edition of Tim Powers' [i]The Stress of Her Regard[/i].

[alguien]

[b]Just finished:[/b]

[i]As I Lay Dying[/i], Faulkner:
Interesting, but depressing as hell. I can see why people think Faulkner is brilliant though.

[i]Stop-Time[/i], Frank Conrad:
Someone, I forget who, gave this to me. A very, very interesting and well-written autobiography.

[i]Crime and Punishment[/i], Dostoevsky:
Brilliant. The middle sort of bogged me down, but the ending... Wow. I literally felt sick from associated guilt while reading this book. Very powerful.

[b]Am in the middle of:[/b]

[i]The Year's Best Science Fiction, 2008[/i] edited by Gardner Dozoiz (I didn't realize Ted Chiang "The Alchemist's Gate" was considered sci-fi)
-latest issue of [i]Harpers[/i]
-latest issue of [i]Realms of Fantasy[/i]
-latest issue of [i]Fantasy and Science Fiction[/i]

[b]Next on the docket:
[/b]
[i]Nervous Conditions[/i], Tsitsi Dangareembga
[i]The Sound and the Fury[/i], Faulkner
[i]Greenmantle[/i], Charles DeLint
[i]Don Quixote[/i], Cervantes

[b]Am very excited and will drop everything else to read:[/b]

[i]Nation[/i], by Terry Pratchett
[i]The Graveyard Book[/i], by Neil Gaiman

[Myshkin]

[quote name='Nadie' post='1505247' date='Sep 3 2008, 21.15'][i]Crime and Punishment[/i], Dostoevsky:
Brilliant. The middle sort of bogged me down, but the ending... Wow. I literally felt sick from associated guilt while reading this book. Very powerful.[/quote]
If you're looking for a powerful ending you need to read Dostoevsky's [i]The Idiot[/i].

[Peadar]

I'm reading [url="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cult-of-Loving-Kindness/dp/B000FCK1R0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1220519915&sr=1-1"]The Cult of Loving Kindness[/url] by Paul Park, last of the Starbridge Chronicles. This guy did for religion what Tolkien did for worldbuilding.

After that, I might try my hand at [url="http://www.amazon.com/Mistborn-The-Final-Empire/dp/B0017098GO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1220519975&sr=1-1"]Mistborn[/url] by Brandon Sanderson for something lighter.

[Dunhallym]

[quote name='RedEyedGhost' post='1504402' date='Sep 3 2008, 17.05']Duny,

If you didn't see it they have a version with all three novellas in one book. [url="http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/bauchelain_and_korbal_broach_1_hc.html"]Here[/url][/quote]

Thanks, I saw that :) I just need to figure if they ship to France and at which cost.

On an update, I'm now half-way through Robert Merle's [b]"La mort est mon métier"[/b] (Death is my trade) which is a romanced biography (written as an autobiography) of Rudolf Höß (renamed Rudolf Lang). I had forgotten how good (and easier, i-e faster) it is to read in French, and the book is really interesting.

I also enjoy reading non-fantasy, I had read only fantasy for the past 2-3 months and in spite of the fact I enjoyed the books I read, I was beginning to have an overdose. So I think I may read another one of the French books I have been planning to read for ages, probably Diderot's [b]"Jacques le Fataliste"[/b]. The atheism thread put me in the mood to read some more Diderot.

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Kage Baker's 'The House of the Stag', the tale of a half-demon foundlings rise to Dark Lord, by way of careers in acting and landscape gardening...
Some of the humour is a little forced and the main character annoyingly invulnerable but, on the whole, I very much enjoyed this book and will be looking for 'The Anvil of the World' if this is any example of Baker's fantasy work. I loved this one to pieces and a full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url].
I'm finishing Lilith Saintcrow's 'Hunter's Prayer' and don't really know what I'll be reading next...

[alguien]

[quote name='Myshkin' post='1505273' date='Sep 3 2008, 23.47']If you're looking for a powerful ending you need to read Dostoevsky's [i]The Idiot[/i].[/quote]

I'll have to check it out.

I read [i]Brothers Karamazov[/i], [i]Notes from Underground[/i], and some of his short stories, including "Dreams of a Ridiculous Man."

He's my favorite Russian author for sure.

[Bellis]

I read a Christopher Priest omnibus with [b]The Space Machine[/b] and [b]A Dream of Wessex[/b]. He's such a brilliant writer, although his execution doesn't always succeed completely. Space Machine especially is a fun romp and homage through classic sci-fi time travel, space travel, alien tropes, most obviously HG Wells stories. This is probably an author whose entire output I'll eventually read.

[Darling]

I'm currently reading [i]The Fountainhead[/i]. I'm about 150 pages into it and, by this point, I expected to be enjoying it much more than I am. The concept is impressive and I'm intrigued by her philosophy, but it's been very repetitive so far. I'm in it for the long haul, so here's to hoping that the story picks up.

Following that will be Nail Gaiman's [i]Anansi Boys[/i], then the book I've been waiting for for past 7 months: [i]The Last Argument of Kings[/i]. (Woo-hoo! :D)

Although I've been finishing about 5-7 books a month recently, this is probably as ambitious as my reading list for September will get. School started this week and I'm still not sure how much reading and work to expect there.

[Marcelo Rebelo Firqoralas]

[quote name='Peadar' post='1505356' date='Sep 4 2008, 11.20']I'm reading [url="http://www.amazon.com/The-Cult-of-Loving-Kindness/dp/B000FCK1R0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=digital-text&qid=1220519915&sr=1-1"]The Cult of Loving Kindness[/url] by Paul Park, last of the Starbridge Chronicles. This guy did for religion what Tolkien did for worldbuilding.[/quote]
Have you read the entire trilogy? What did you think of it?

I've been meaning to read these books for ages, but unfortunately I've never come across any (paper) copies.

[saint777]

Read:

[b]Neuropath[/b] by Bakker: I'll read anything by him. His writing can be a bit dense but some of the imagery he conjures is stunning. Not as violent as I thought is would be but the book is very disturbing. The Argument would have been better served if it wasn't so one sided.

[b]The Battle of the Labryinth(Percy Jackson #4)[/b] : Lots of monsters. Fun take on Greek mythology.

Now reading:

[b]World War Z[/b]: Halfway through and pretty good.

To read:

[b]Last Argument of Kings[/b]

I need to finish [b]Bloodheir[/b] and try to finish [b]Toll the Hounds[/b]. I may need to skim over all the Endest and Spinnock parts(the two worst characters I've ever encountered in Malazan) to get through this one. Those guys showed up and started philosophising before I knew anything about them. Even the Myhbe from [b]Memories of Ice[/b] wasn't as annoying.

[Peadar]

[quote name='firqorescu' post='1506565' date='Sep 5 2008, 10.39']Have you read the entire trilogy? What did you think of it?

I've been meaning to read these books for ages, but unfortunately I've never come across any (paper) copies.[/quote]

I read all of them when they first came out, so this is my second time round. Here's a quote from my [url="http://peadarog.livejournal.com/"]blog[/url] that pretty much sums up my attitude to the books:

[quote]Lucky for me that I kept reading. Paul Park's worldbuilding has blown my mind all over again, and, just for fun, it's kicking the pieces around the ruins of my skull. The author has created an amazing stew of cultures and ethnicities. But his real triumph, is in the manufacture of a fascinating, complex, brutal and beautiful religion based on the worship of a nameless god and his dog-headed prophet.[/quote]

But these books will not please everyone, not by a long shot. You need a lot of patience at the beginning and a love of world-building.

[Deornoth]

I've finished reading Lilith Saintcrow's 'Hunter's Prayer', the second book in her 'Jill Kismet' series of a Hunter who kicks the stuffing out of the undead community in Santa Luz.
There was a change of focus right at the end which I wasn't too happy with, as it almost rendered the finale pointless, but on the whole this was a fun read full of atmosphere and attitude. My full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url].
I'm now reading Karen Traviss' 'Order 66' and Tim Lebbon's 'The Everlasting'...

[kcf]

I finished [i]The Man on the Ceiling [/i]by Steve Rasnic Tem and Melanie Tem a few days ago. I've been struggling to write [url="http://nethspace.blogspot.com/2008/09/man-on-ceiling-by-steve-rasnic-tem.html"]my review[/url] for it for days. It just didn't work for me.

Now I'm reading [i]Return of the Crimson Guard [/i]by Ian C. Esslemont. At 250 pages I can say that it's another good entry in the Malazan world (of which I'm a big fan), but Esslemont still has a ways to go even if this is an improvement over NOK.

[gyrehead]

[i]The High City[/i] by Cecelia Holland
Fifth book in her Corban series (though I'm not sure it qualifies being called that anymore) picks up directly where the fourth book left off. A bit too quick for me considering the direction the story goes. Unlike the first three, this and the previous book, though well-written, just seem a little too slight. This one especially.


[i]Busted Flush[/i] edited by George R. R. Martin
A bit uneven for me. But I've never been an avid Wildcards reader. I do think fans will enjoy it though. Overall, for a non-fan of the superhero milieu, I enjoyed the debut [i]Devil's Cape[/i] and how it approached the matter much better.

[i]The Island of Eternal Love[/i] by Daina Chaviano
There were some glimmers of great writing, but overall the various scattered plot elements that she tried to eventually weave together were just too scattered. For such a slight work that was well translated and had several very readable passages, it just never engaged me.

[i]The Last Paladin[/i] by Kathleen Bryan aka Judith Tarr.
Third in the War of the Rose series. Not bad. Readable. But the elements she introduces hint and almost beg for greater exposition and it just never happens. I can't help but wonder sometimes if the editor insisted on an over-simplification to create a shorter "easier" read. It reads a lot like Michelle Sagara's Cast series. Enjoyable, and well done but something always seems to be missing. True depth and complexity that always hovers just out of reach.

[i]The Singing[/i] by Alison Croggan.
At times a bit too derivative and overally heavyhanded on the element of "evil" and at the looming doom and gloom. But still it ends up working as a good young adult work that pays homage to Tolkien's work the style without being so derivative that it lacks on individual tone or for interesting elements unique to the author.