nobodymN Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Good Lord, man! I had no idea there were actually other people who read Tim Powers. He's one of my absolute favorites, and criminally under-recognized if you ask me. Funny, I thought everyone read Tim Powers! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enoch Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Funny, I thought everyone read Tim Powers! I've only met one other person who knew of him. All of the other Powers fans I know are people I showed his books to. It would not surprise me if people who like GRRM (and similar authors) also to like Tim Powers; they share the same sort of contrarianism towards their respective genres, even if they're radically different as writers. However, most of the people I know are into academic lit, or comics, or cyberpunk, or Eddings-type fantasy, and haven't read GRRM either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingslayer Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I'm reading Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xray the Enforcer Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Good Lord, man! I had no idea there were actually other people who read Tim Powers. He's one of my absolute favorites, and criminally under-recognized if you ask me. Ha. yes. he's a diverting read. I had to read Earthquake Weather twice just to figure out what the hell happened (and get the chronology). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Tim Powers rules. It is known. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enoch Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 Ha. yes. he's a diverting read. I had to read Earthquake Weather twice just to figure out what the hell happened (and get the chronology). I was disappointed by Earthquake Weather - a great basic idea, but burdened by some very poor storytelling decisions. Everything else I've read has been fantastic though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I was disappointed by Earthquake Weather - a great basic idea, but burdened by some very poor storytelling decisions. Everything else I've read has been fantastic though. Yes, along with "Expiration Date" it is probably his weakest Fantasy novel, still quite good though. EW did suffer a bit from the attempt to merge two different sets of characters and two seperate type of magic/mythologies (from "Last Call" and "Expiration Date" respectively), and some of the characters or concepts from the previous books ended up not having much to do. Allegedly (although I've not read them), his first couple of science fiction novels ("Forsake The Skies" and "Epitaph In Rust") aren't as good as his Fantasy books, but I'll still them a try because even second-rate Powers is probably reasonably entertaining. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rhaco Posted January 11, 2006 Share Posted January 11, 2006 I just finished Sanderson's Elantris. While I liked it, I think my expectations were a little too high after reading all the glowing reviews. The Elantris parts and most of the concepts were great, but I would've liked a little more depth in the politicking and some of the character interactions. Definitely an author I'll be keeping an eye on for future releases, though. A few pages into Murakami's Hard-boiled Wonderland & the End of the World now. Bizarre but interesting so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pellegrina Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Have given up on the awful Kevin J. Anderson, and picked up a recommendation from the forum instead: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book. I'm enjoying it a lot, although whether I would have started it if I'd realized that SPOILER: Doomsday Bookit was all about a pandemic deadly flu virus in a town I used to live in, and the Black Death, when the news is full of bird flu in a country were I've got a holiday booked in two months' time is another matter entirely... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterfella Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 On Doomsday Book: Just wait, it gets better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Baelish Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Ring by Koji Suzuki, the book that spawned the movie. It's a good read so far, even though I already know what happens. Plus a reread of Deadhouse Gates, because it's been a while and The Bonehunters is out soon anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumer Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 To the Tim Powers' fans here (seems like quite a lot!) - what's your favorite book? after the Gates of Anubis, of course! For me it's a tie between Last Call and Declare. Stress of her Regard is also good, and also Drawing of the Dark - which suffered from being his first book, IMO. it's not as.. polished as his other books, but shows glimpses of the awsomeness that is Tim Powers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 To the Tim Powers' fans here (seems like quite a lot!) - what's your favorite book? after the Gates of Anubis, of course! For me it's a tie between Last Call and Declare. Stress of her Regard is also good, and also Drawing of the Dark - which suffered from being his first book, IMO. it's not as.. polished as his other books, but shows glimpses of the awsomeness that is Tim Powers. I'd probably say The Anubis Gates then Declare then On Stranger Tides, Last Call, The Stress of Her Regard, The Drawing Of The Dark, Earthquake Weather, Expiration Date, although the books in the middle of the list are pretty close together. I've also got "Forsake The Skies"/"The Skies Discrowned", "Epitaph In Rust", "The Devils in The Details" and "Dinner At Deviant's Palace" by him, but I haven't got round to reading them yet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maia Posted January 12, 2006 Share Posted January 12, 2006 Good Lord, man! I had no idea there were actually other people who read Tim Powers. He's one of my absolute favorites, and criminally under-recognized if you ask me. Another Powers fan here. His work is always interesting and his best work can be sublime. Ironically, I am about to start "Declare" soon. Read his "Drawing of the Dark", "Anubis Gates", "Dinner at the Deviant's Palace", "Weight of her Regard" and "Last Call". Of those "Anubis Gates" is my favourite with "Drawing of the Dark" and "Last Call" as runners-up. "Weight of her Regard" is very uneven IMHO - great in parts, flat in others. It did move me to read Byron's biography though . "Dinner" is my least favourite, although the setting is quite inventive. In the end, the characters didn't click with me and plot didn't convince. Regarding Willis's "Doomsday Book", the time travel segments are good, but the modern ones are plagued by the "idiot plot" trope, which I can't abide. For that matter, the idiot plot seeps into the time travel parts too, because really even I would know that wearing brightly coloured clothing would be terribly conspicous and clash with the time period and that the protagonist needed to look much scruffier, dirtier, etc. and I am no professional historian. This book irritated me to no end, although yes, the medieval segments are emotionally very powerful. Anyway, I am currently reading complete Sherlock Holmes and even though I have read a lot of stories previously (although in translation), and though I generally don't read a lot of detective fiction, I am enjoying it a lot. The stories have lost none of their old-fashioned, cosy charm. Have also recently finished "McSweeney's Mamooth Book of Thrilling Tales" edited by Michael Chabon. It was a nice change of pace, since it has adventure and fantastic stories by the authors whom I don't normally read. I agree that passing of the short story as a widespread literary form is quite tragic. I am also quite disappointed that I absolutely hated "Catskin" by the much lauded here Kelly Link. It started enticingly, but then just became pointlessly gross, IMHO. Does anybody know if the second book was ever published and whether Chabon ever completed his "Martian Agent" sequence? It was quite sadistic of him to include the story which is essentially a prologue that hints at bigger, greater things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cen0taph Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Have given up on the awful Kevin J. Anderson, and picked up a recommendation from the forum instead: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book. I'm enjoying it a lot, although whether I would have started it if I'd realized that Connie Willis is one of my favorite scifi writers. Firewatch ranks up there as one of the best short stories ever written. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lumer Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Anyway, I am currently reading complete Sherlock Holmes and even though I have read a lot of stories previously (although in translation), and though I generally don't read a lot of detective fiction, I am enjoying it a lot. The stories have lost none of their old-fashioned, cosy charm. I've also read a lot of Sherlock lately - I read a lot of his stuff when I was a kid, and returned to it now (in english mostly). I don't have a complete works edition, but I'm picking it piece by piece... I think Holmes is not your typical detective stories. First, the descriptions of late 19th cetury London are fascinating, to me. Second, It's the storytelling nature of the books, and mostly the emphasis on Sherlock's character, whom we get from an observer and not firsthand, which makes the books really special. Plus the fact that it's mostly short stories, which doesn't burden you with a book-full of characters and details to remember and try to keep up with. Short and to the point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thiazyl Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 Just started Doomsday Book myself. Only about 35 pages into it but so far so good. This is my first introduction to Willis so if I like this I'll try some of her other stuff too. I also just picked up the first chronicles of Conan (by Del Rey), so whenever I feel like a change of pace I'll read a little REH. The nice thing about Conan is that the stories are quick reads. thiazyl Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IheartTesla Posted January 13, 2006 Share Posted January 13, 2006 I am about to start Romance of the Three Kingdoms, and am approaching it with some trepidation because I just flipped the book open and there seems to be a surfeit of information. I need some context, so I might do some pre-reading of the era before tackling it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doppelganger Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 Currently reading Dark Tower 7. I will then read 'Darkness that comes before' by R Scott Bakker. Then hopefully if the Mass paperback is out, I will get 'The warrior prophet'. I think I will also read 'The Great Hunt' soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Multaniette Posted January 14, 2006 Share Posted January 14, 2006 I finished Marguerite de Valois by Alexander Dumas and Something From the Nightside by Simon R. Green yesterday. Currently reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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