Bran's Muffin Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I just finished Ella Minnow Pea which was very cute. I recommend it for people who like to play with letters and words. Now I plan on finishing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which I keep starting and getting distracted by other books. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KinSlayerImp Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 A little dated but so far a great war/future/political novel called The War of 2020 by Ralph Peters. It was written in 1992 so it's not that dated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fiddler's Green Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 With the holidays and finally being done with college, I had a lot of extra time to read the past few weeks. I 've read: Dragon Masters by Vance The Darkness that Comes Before by Bakker City of Fallen Angels by Berendt Tigana by Kay V for Vendeta by Moore I am currently almost done with Vance's The Demon Princes, about halfway through The Sunne in Splendor, and have Anansi Boys and The Warrior Prophet sitting by my bedside table. It's been a good month for reading. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeliriousEdd Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I'm listening to "The Amber Spyglass" by Pullman. Halfway through the final book (read the 1st, audio for 2nd and 3rd); I'm pretty disappointed by the series as a whole. The plot is interesting and original, the children are written well, having an actual cast for the audio version is mostly nice, and I can't wait to find out how the story ends. But...the characterization of all but Will and Lyra is atrocious, there are more unlikely and forced plot devices than I can count, the witches are extremely annoying, and even the supposedly really smart people do incredibly stupid things. The witches are so bad, in part due to the insistence of using their full names at all times, the sing-song voice used in the audio, and finally because of their horrible dialogue. I finally understood the reasons why the villagers in the Monty Python movie were so passionate about demanding, "Burn the witch!!". I'm disappointed there are so many annoying issues detracting from a very interesting story. I've just started "The Knight" by Gene Wolfe. I've never been a big fan of faerie but I've heard good things about Wolfe and this is the only book of his I could find on the shelves in my small town book stores or libraries. I'm only 30 or 40 pages in so it's too early to tell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterfella Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell last week. Fantastic is all I can say. Probably the best book I've read since A Storm of Swords. You've got to enjoy a Dickensian or Victorian atmosphere to enjoy the book. I was frankly blown away by it. Then I quickly finished another book, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Basically three mysteries from the past that were never solved. The explanations turn out to be pretty simple (maybe too simple), but the writing was good and the characterization was excellent. Kept me awake and reading late into the night. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UberDarkLord Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Consider Phlebas by the all-acclaimed Iain M. Second try, the first time I didn't really get it and quit at about 80p in, but until now it is shaping up nice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Ent Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Now I plan on finishing The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time which I keep starting and getting distracted by other books. Shame on you! You used capitals for the book title. It's obvious you haven't read it yet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
squiddly Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Reading The Darkness That Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bran's Muffin Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Finished Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell last week. Fantastic is all I can say. Probably the best book I've read since A Storm of Swords. You've got to enjoy a Dickensian or Victorian atmosphere to enjoy the book. I was frankly blown away by it. Then I quickly finished another book, Case Histories by Kate Atkinson. Basically three mysteries from the past that were never solved. The explanations turn out to be pretty simple (maybe too simple), but the writing was good and the characterization was excellent. Kept me awake and reading late into the night. I read both of these last year and recommend them as well. Case Histories did wrap up a bit to easily but she has a wonderful style. Shame on you! You used capitals for the book title. It's obvious you haven't read it yet! Ack. I'm only in chapter... oh I forget because of the prime number thing. I want to say 31. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vestrit Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks The jury's still out Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galactus Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 You've got to enjoy a Dickensian or Victorian atmosphere to enjoy the book. I was frankly blown away by it. *nitpick* the Atmosphere in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrel is neither Dickensian nor Victorian.... *nitpick* Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winterfella Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 *nitpick shields activated* Ok, I guess I should have said you have to enjoy a writing style similar to Dickens (or insert dead British author of choice) and a setting sometime in the past of England, in like, the olden days, or something. What can I say? All that old British shit is all the same to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Isis Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Just finished a cute little book - A Very Short Introduction to Jung by Anthony Stevens. This isn't the Introduction series that just has cartoons - this one actually has words in it! I'll be perusing the 'further reading' list and wondering just how much non-fiction I can bring myself to get through in a year soon. Need to learn more about Jung... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matrim Fox Cauthon Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 While trying to find books about Gnosticism, Jung's name actually came up numerous times. Apparently there are parallels with Jungian psychology and Gnostic ideas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Stranger Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I'm reading yet-another-book about Israel/Palestine, this one called War Without End by Anton La Guardia. It's refreshing to read a well-researched book about the conflict by someone with almost no personal connections to the region (he's an Italian reporter). not as informative as Righteous Victims, but a lot less fluffy than Arab and Jew, while still focusing on human elements of the conflict. ...er....I mean I'm reading some awesome fantasy series with dragons and wizardz. While trying to find books about Gnosticism, Jung's name actually came up numerous times. Apparently there are parallels with Jungian psychology and Gnostic ideas. just find Gnosis by Kurt Rudolph. some of it is outdated, but few others have managed to achieve his breadth of focus without devolving into hippie crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mauvka Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 I recently finished the First CHronicles of Amber. The first book was the best of them, and the ending was somewhat anticlimatic, but I loved the series overall. Should I read the next Amber cycle? How do they compare with the first books? Right now I am halfway thorugh the Lions of Al-Rassan by Kay. I heard praise for his writing on this board and this is the first book by him that I read. Its decent, but I am finding many points to criticise. The plots are over described, with sometimes three different points of view showing the same situation and coming to the same conclusions about it. The authorial voice is too clear at times, and the religious aspects of the setting seem forced. Where the author is describing the general thoughts of the nobles, the courtiers seem almost ridiculously dumbed down. Would I like Kay's other books better? I think I heard that Tigana had a different feel to it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mandiric Posted January 25, 2006 Share Posted January 25, 2006 Been away from fantasy for a while. I've finally started Bakker's series. Fifty or so pages into Darkness That Comes... and enjoying it muchly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaceBannon42 Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 I recently finished the First CHronicles of Amber. The first book was the best of them, and the ending was somewhat anticlimatic, but I loved the series overall. Should I read the next Amber cycle? How do they compare with the first books? I'd say read them to be a completist. But in truth they are a pale imitation to the the first series. They aren't bad really, but they dont hold up well to comparison. They are a quick read though so why not unless you have something else burning a hole on your nightstand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Barry Posted January 26, 2006 Author Share Posted January 26, 2006 I started Steven Erikson's GARDENS OF THE MOON yesterday, and it's pretty damn good so far! Patrick Me too, without the Patrick bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jerol Posted January 26, 2006 Share Posted January 26, 2006 I just finished Richard K. Morgan's "Woken Furies". Whoa, what a ride. About to restart Neal Asher's "Gridlinked". And then it's back to Robin Hobb's Liveship series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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