March 2009 reads

[Jaxom 1974]

[quote name='Thrashalla' post='1709917' date='Mar 5 2009, 21.29']Next up is Colleen McCullough's [i]First Man In Rome[/i]...an 800+ page monster, so it'll be a while before I hit this thread again.[/quote]

Naw. If you get into it, it'll fly by... :P It has every time I've read it.

[AprilFool]

Just finished [u]The Manual of Decection[/u]. It was a great book, though it did peter out a little toward the end. Still, it looks like Berry is planning on making a series of it (based on the ending) and I am looking forward to reading more. He has a wonderful style of writing that reminds me a little of Carlos Ruiz Zafon.

Next up is [u]Black Blood [/u]by John Meaney. I really liked [u]Bone Song [/u]so I have high hopes.

[Larry.]

If you liked Berry's work, he has a short story in [i]Best American Fantasy 2[/i], which was released a few weeks ago. Pretty good story, if I recall (I'm at work right now, so no chance of me looking at my copy to refresh my memory more).

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Robert Rankin's 'The Da Da De Da Da Code'; a tale of conspiracy theories, mind control and imaginary friends... The jokes are a bit hit and miss but I'm still chuckling to myself as I write this! My full review is over [url="http://www.graemesfantasybookreview.com"]Here[/url].
I've been taking a break from 'Dragonfly Falling', for a bit, so it's back to that now. Hopefully I should finish the book over the weekend...

[MattD]

[quote name='Dylanfanatic' post='1709963' date='Mar 5 2009, 22.18']Read and finished Zoran Živković's latest novella to be translated into English, [i]The Bridge[/i], this morning. I'll comment much more at length on my blog in a week or two[/quote]
N.B. it would be more accurate to say that this is his latest work to be published in an English-speaking country. An English-language edition of the book has been available in Serbia for the past 2-3 years; he's written several books since, including last year's [i]The Last Book[/i]. I think his most recent writing to be published in English is [i]Escher's Loops[/i], although that hasn't been picked up by a publisher outside of Serbia yet.

Anyway, after finishing Catherynne Valente's [i]Palimpsest[/i] (enjoyable, and interesting to read so soon after I read Chris Barzak's [i]The Love We Share Without Knowing[/i] because the two are similar), I'm currently reading Brent Hayward's [i]Filaria[/i], which so far is like a cross between Gene Wolfe's Long Sun books and Jeff VanderMeer's [i]Veniss Underground[/i]. It is the first novel published by Canada's ChiZine Publications. I must give thanks to Daniel Ausema for clueing me in to its existence.

[Larry.]

Yes, I forgot all about the works being published in translation in Serbia first. Perhaps I ought to persuade a female friend of mine there to send me those, so I can read them all the quicker!

And that Hayward book sounds interesting; will have to look into it shortly.

Finished Peter Beagle's latest collection, [i]We Never Talk About My Brother[/i], today. Shamefully, this was the first book of his that I had read. I need to correct that deficiency ASAP, as this was an outstanding collection of stories written mostly over the past couple of years. Quite a few favorites. Will be giving this some praise on my blog later this month.

[Astra]

Finished [i]Islanders[/i] by [b]Yevgeny Zamyatin[/b].
Meh...his style reminded me of American Gods.
But it was a short story, so he is forgiven.

Started re-read of [i]Mad Shi[/i]p ([u]Liveship Traders 2[/u]) by [b]Robin Hobb[/b]

[Procrastimancer]

I'm about 150 pages into The Judging Eye and I am not sure if I like it or not. So far I don't see it measuring up to the first three novels, but I am hoping it picks up soon or at the very least that [i]something[/i] happens. Despite that (and more, but this isn't the discussion thread), I find that I am compelled to read on and so I shall.

[gyrehead]

I've been carefully reading through my borrowed (at tremendous risk from the threats I received should I even crease a corner of a single page in the very slightest) of Martin and Dozois' [i]Songs of the Dying Earth[/i]. Martin's own work is rather good but I have always enjoyed his short work. In fact I liked everything I have read so far. Nice to have something by Paula Volsky again. And Tanith Lee. Actually they picked a raft of authors that fit this theme incredibly well. I'm looking forward to getting my own copy even if I have to wait until the fall to do so.

[delete this account pls]

Finished Hard Revolution by George Pelecanos. Enjoyed it, especially all the little details about like in Washington D.C in the 60s, it really had a great atmosphere. I'll definitely be checking out more of his stuff.

Next up, I'll either try finish the Book of the New Sun, or head down the library.

[Gormenghast]

Finished to "review" [url="http://www.cesspit.net/drupal/node/1870"]Wizard's First Rule[/url], the book everyone loves around here ;)

Consider as always that my review aren't exactly conventional and that english is second language.

Now continuing to read KJ Parker, Martin and John M Harrison. Good stuff. Next week may arrive my first Peter Hamilton book that may replace KJ Parker, as I'm close to the end of that book.

[Dark Wolf]

I finished Mike Carey's "The Devil You Know". I didn't know what to make of this novel before reading it, I heard many things about Mike Carey but I didn't know his style. However, the novel offered me a plesant surprise and I really liked its main character, Felix Castor. He reminded me a lot of some of my childhood heroes (Sherlock Holmes, Hercule Poirot, Inspector Maigret...) although its a different style, but such a interesting investigator. ([url="http://darkwolfsfantasyreviews.blogspot.com/2009/03/devil-you-know-by-mike-carey.html"]my full review[/url])

[mashiara]

I finished [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirteenth-Tale-Diane-Setterfield/dp/0752881671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236443226&sr=8-1"]The Thirteenth Tale[/url] by Diane Setterfield on AG's recommendation and I enjoyed it tremendously. The writing was amazing, I even took out my pencil and underlined a few phrases here and there. The story sucked me in and I had a hard time putting it down. I was sorry when it was over. I thought I had it all figured out but it turned out there were some twists that I hadn't foreseen. I love books about books, especially when they are that good. :)

I also read[i] Summer Knight[/i] and [i]Death Masks[/i] by Jim Butcher, books 4 and 5 of his Dresden files series. Fun books, easy to read. I'll probably pick up the rest at some point.

Tomorrow I'm going to start reading [i]Use of Weapons[/i] by Iain Banks.

[duchess of malfi]

I am the middle of Ian Esslemont's [i]Return of the Crimson Guard[/i]. His writing has, thankfully, greatly improved since the clunky [i]Night of Knives[/i], and I am actually enjoying it more than any of Erikson's stuff since [i]House of Chains[/i]. There is soemthing to be said for just telling the story rather than having hundreds of pages of digressions and navel gazing. ;)

I got an ARC from Amazon of a postapocalyptic YA zombie book called [i]The Forest of Hands and Teeth[/i] by a debut writer named Carrie Ryan. I was really surprised at how well written it was and how much I enjoyed it. Even now I can hear the moans of the zombies, and their fingers scrabbling against the fence to get in and eat us all. :thumbsup: A haunting book, and given the subject matter, an oddly beautiful one.


edited for typo

[Vrana]

Finished [i]One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest[/i], and was completely mesmerized by it, I almost wish I'd been forewarned on how much I'd come to love this book so that I could seek help in functioning properly the following days directly afterwards. :P Smartly written, I cannot believe this was his forst novel, where does these wonderchildren such as Arundhati Roy and Ken Kesey come from?

Re-Read [i]The River of Lost Footsteps [/i]by Thant Myint-U, and I found it even better than I'd remebered.
Speaking of non-fiction, I wonder if any of you well-read boarders have any good books to recommend on the wars in former yugoslavia and surroundings? Preferably handled in about the same way Thant Myint has written [i]The River of Lost Footsteps[/i], by going back a long way into the country's history and reaching several conclusions through different aspects of history.

For being born in Sarajevo I realized I know embarassingly little about my own birthplace, since I'm usually quite interested in worldy conflicts and the like.

Up next is [i]Middlemarch[/i] by George Eliot, gotten about 30 pages into it so far and have not had an urge read it with any heat but I've resolved to finish it so I'll take my sweet time.

[Maia]

Well, they are mostly February or even January reads to be honest, but since I've been lazy:

[b]"The Terror"[/b] by [b]Dan Simmons[/b]

Enjoyed hugely. I have been always saying that there is too little tragedy in SF and that tragedy and failure can be both beautiful and uplifting. Men at their best and at their worst, pitted against impossible, implacable circumstances - this was wonderful and terrifying by turns, but honestly more of the former. Fantastical depictions of cold and ice, too. I have a yen to read about other hare-brained 19th century expeditions now.

I could have wished that the horror/ supernatural element hadn't been explained in the end - IMHO both this explanation and the whole segment it was embedded in felt somewhat tacked on. But on the whole, brilliant.
Now if only more authors had the courage to write stories in similar vein _without_ the crutches of RL historical events.

[b]
"Princeps' Fury" [/b](Codex Alera N°5) by [b]Jim Butcher

[/b]This series is a guilty pleasure of mine. It started out incredibly clichéed and mediocre, then slowly became better (volumes 3 and 4 are not bad at all, IMHO) and with this installment dipped again. Maybe it has to do with decreasing presence of one fairly ambiguous and multi-dimensional character, maybe it is because the world-ending threat came to the fore again.
Anyway, it's about humans, who are clearly descended from the Romans, who somehow found themselves on a different planet with other sentient species and learned to use magic. Their civilization is in turmoil for a variety of reasons, when the usual suspect - a 15-year old orphaned shepherd, who alone doesn't posess the all-important "furycraft" and compensates by cleverness and hard work. Well, it looks more like improbable Deus ex Machina and authorial fiat for the first 2 volumes, but then it became better ;). Thankfully, it is a multi-POV saga and it contains other, more interesting characters, whose path isn't quite so... predictable. And even our hero shines a half-dozen or so years down the line, when he finally finds himself in a military setting.

[b]"Small Favor"[/b] by [b]Jim Butcher[/b]

Another Harry Dresden novel. This one felt a bit slight to me, too. For one thing, Harry keeps accumulating "loot and experience" and attracting attention of the ever loftier entities. For another, I really dislike how the women are handled in this one - they are kept back from the action, artificially re-juvenated to strip them of their magical power (threatening to Harry?) and make them fit love-interests, Murphy keeps waffling about becoming less mundane and more able to actually do something about the escalating supernatural threats, etc. Oh, and Butcher chickened out and didn't kill a character , who should have, by all rights, died. Still quite enjoyable, but one of the weaker installements, on the level of the "Fool Moon", IMHO.


After that, I decided to educate myself a bit more on the subject of that new movement in urban fantasy that I was unaware of until the fateful articles on Pat's hotlist and then elsewhere. My first forays in that direction - the works of Mrs. Saintcrow herself, were somewhat confusing and disappointing.

Therefore:

[b]
"Moon Called", "Blood Bound", "Iron Kissed", "Bone Crossed" and "Cry Wolf"[/b], all by [b]Patricia Briggs[/b].

The former 4 from her [b]"Mercedes Thompson"[/b] series, the latter from her [b]"Alpha and Omega"[/b] series.

Well, they are certainly quick, engrossing reads. Thankfully, they all have interesting "supernatural mystery" plots that don't get derailed by romance. And frankly, most of romance, at least in the Thompson series is relatively decently written. I mean, the sheer number of hopefuls, who suddenly descended on the heroine and started to vye for her attention was a bit ridiculous... but the author candidely explained in the interview appended to the books that "complicated personal life, involving vampires and werewolves" was part of the publisher's pitch to her, so OK.
I also like Mercedes a lot - she seems to posess a good combination of cleverness, adventurousness, stuborness and humor and her talents are mostly used logically. The device of repaying the snow-balling supernatural favors solicited to survive the first supernatural crysis, propelling ever more adventures works well.

Anna, the heroine of "Cry Wolf" is more of a Cinderella figure, struggling with ye olde "lifebond", the mainstay of a many a fantasy romance. Ditto, Charles her co-POV and "prince". However, the plot they get involved in, is engrossing, and the supporting characters are quite vivid.

The author also clearly put a lot of thought into her worldbuilding, abilities and social organization of her supernatural creatures, etc.
There is only one "but" in these otherwise enjoyable books, but for me it is a huge and troubling one. The heroines are Queen Bees. The fictional world is constructed in such a way as to facilitate and enforce this state of affairs. I really can't fathom why modern authors would think this an attractive quality in their heroines or think so little of them that they feel impelled to "protect" them from any competition. Particularly such otherwise strong and well-rounded characters as Mercy Thompson.

[b]
"Dead until Dark" [/b]by [b]Charlaine Harris[/b].

The first in her [b]"Southern Vamp"[/b] series. I liked how Sookie seemed a complete ditz at first, and remains somewhat of one, while being rather pro-active and posessing a mysterious power ;). Generally, there is a lot of humor and good feeling of the setting, I guess. But I have to admit that the whole vampire love thing seems very squicky to me. And of course, a bevy of supernatural guys suddenly competing for the heroine's affections in the end, a more subtle descent into Queen Beedom... I dunno... the mystery was OK, but not as involving as those in Briggs. World-building more sparse. The romance much more central to the narrative. I think that I won't pursue this series. It wasn't bad or anything, but not my cup of tea.

[ThRiNiDiR]

I've finished "This Forsaken Earth" by Paul Kearney and enjoyed it quite a bit (reivew should be coming up soon) and now I'm onto the evocative "Shadow of the Wind" by Zafon. I'm lucky with my picks this year :D

[Morcant]

I am about 1/4 of the way through with Sanderson's [b]Mistborn [/b], and am enjoying it immensely. I will probably follow up with Book 2 afterward. Also, I might start my reread of ACOK since I just reread AGOT last month. I've been dancing around picking up Elliot's [b]Prince of Dogs [/b] for awhile now, but that might have to wait until next month.

In the near future: Keyes' [b]The Born Queen[/b] and Jones' [b]A Sword from Red Ice[/b].

[Astra]

[quote name='mashiara' post='1711726' date='Mar 7 2009, 16.34']I finished [url="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Thirteenth-Tale-Diane-Setterfield/dp/0752881671/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1236443226&sr=8-1"]The Thirteenth Tale[/url] by Diane Setterfield on AG's recommendation and I enjoyed it tremendously. The writing was amazing, I even took out my pencil and underlined a few phrases here and there. The story sucked me in and I had a hard time putting it down. I was sorry when it was over. I thought I had it all figured out but it turned out there were some twists that I hadn't foreseen. I love books about books, especially when they are that good. :)[/quote]

Wow!

Such a passionate review, you got me intrigued.

[williamjm]

[quote name='duchess of malfi' post='1711808' date='Mar 7 2009, 19.22']I am the middle of Ian Esslemont's [i]Return of the Crimson Guard[/i]. His writing has, thankfully, greatly improved since the clunky [i]Night of Knives[/i], and I am actually enjoying it more than any of Erikson's stuff since [i]House of Chains[/i]. There is soemthing to be said for just telling the story rather than having hundreds of pages of digressions and navel gazing. ;)[/quote]

It is refreshing to have a Malazan book that is actually fast-paced with interesting stuff happen all the way through unlike any of Erikson's books since Memories of Ice. Erikson's best bits are probably still better than anything Esslemont has come up with so far, but Esslemont's storytelling is definitely more consistently entertaining.