May 2009

[delete this account pls]

The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox - a collection of 3novels by Barry Hughart. This series' major significance is that it's written in English, in the west, but set in pseudo-medieval China instead of pseudo-medieval Europe. The mythology is fascinating, but the mystery-focused plots tend to jump around at the expense of character development. And all the stories follow the same basic plot outline. But it is worth checking out if you're looking for something a bit different.

I think I'll check it out. Heard about it a while ago and wrote the name down, but it's proved hard to find (at my local library anyway)

[BookWyrm]

Dawn Treader is a great one. It's more about the internal struggle, where man is his own worst enemy.

Which worked so much better for me than the Good vs. Evil from the Lion and Prince Caspian.

And yes, Eustace is great!

[Larry.]

Finished reading the just-released Conjunctions: 52: Betwixt the Between: Impossible Realism today. Nice variety to the stories and overall I was impressed with the mixture of "literary" and "genre" writers writing in what the editors referred to as "postfantasy" settings. Might write a review this weekend or next. Although technically a literary magazine, Conjunctions is printed in tradeback form (and usually is around 400 pages) and can be ordered from Amazon and other online retailers. High ratio of good to great stories in the volumes I've read to date (#39, The New Wave Fabulists, #50, 50 Contemporary Writers, #51, The Death Issue, and now #52). If you have $32 to spare, I'd suggest the two-year, four-issue subscription, as it would be $8/book(issue).

[beniowa]

I recently finished Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers (review). It's about a group of superheroes in the corrupt and decadent city of Devil's Cape, built by an 18th Century pirate in the Louisiana swamps. The book is an impressive debut novel featuring a cast of dark, gray characters with impressive abilities. Strongly recommended.

I'm now reading Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias Buckell.

I think I'll check it out. Heard about it a while ago and wrote the name down, but it's proved hard to find (at my local library anyway)

I read this book back in January and I thought it was pretty good. Chronicles is actually the omnibus edition with the most recent release as a limited edition so it might be easier to find the individual books on Amazon. I seem to recall you could get them for a pretty decent price.

[gyrehead]

I can't remember what I last threw out into the void.

The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters

The Sunless Countries by Karl Schroeder

South of Broad by Pat Conroy

Eyes Like Leaves by Charles De Lint

Shadow Magic by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

[RedEyedGhost]

I recently finished Devil's Cape by Rob Rogers (review). It's about a group of superheroes in the corrupt and decadent city of Devil's Cape, built by an 18th Century pirate in the Louisiana swamps. The book is an impressive debut novel featuring a cast of dark, gray characters with impressive abilities. Strongly recommended.

I knew you'd like it :thumbsup: I left you a comment on your blog.

I'm now reading Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias Buckell.

I'm looking forward to your thoughts on this one. My copy arrived a week ago, but I don't think I'll be able to get to it for another month or two.

[TheEvilKing]

Sweet! The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas just came out here today, so I've picked that up - it's one I've been looking forward to for a while. I've postponed The Chosen and my re-read of The Darkness that Comes Before so I can destroy this one.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I just finished Byzantium by Stephen Lawhead. I enjoyed it as you have Viking sea battles, a murder mystery, a Christian monk being an advsior to a Saracen noble and court intrigue in Constantinople. It was a hefty book (870 pages) and there was several parts that dragged.

Up next is a re-read of Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. I've always wanted to revisit one of my fave series after meeting Tad personally at the World Fantasy Convention. We had a great conversation and he was a treat to talk to. I just hope this re-read holds up well after a long hiatus. I must have read the series at least 3 times, but this is the longest I have gone without a re-read (5-6 years?)

[Deornoth]

It's been too long since I've read 'Memory, Sorrow and Thorn', I might have to re-read them too...

Finished reading Kelley Armstrong's 'The Awakening'; I've really enjoyed her other books but this one was not only a meandering affair but meandered straight into a conclusion that was overshadowed by a big dose of 'Come Back To Find Out What Happens In The Next Book!' There's a real 'middle book in a trilogy' feel to this that I wasn't too keen on... There is a review on the blog but blogger is playing silly buggers right now so it may not be there if you look (link in my sig if you fancy a go but you might have to hit refresh...)

I'm now well into Lane Robins' 'Kings and Assassins' as well as Tim Lebbon's 'Fallen'...

[Wasper]

I just finished reading the last book in the Sword of Truth series by Terry Goodkind.....

I started reading The Sword of Truth series before I even found GRRM's series... I walked away from Terry Goodkind's books in favor of the far superior GRRM's work. I did, though, get pretty far into the Sword of Truth series and it was fairly entertaining in the earlier books, so figured I would see it through. So I decided to get the last few books in the series and do a marathon.

.... What a hack job that story turned into....

I can actually see in the writing when Terry just gave up and slogged through just to finish up the series... and the last book "Confessor"... was so rushed that main story lines, plots, and side stories were mostly concluded in the matter of two sentences. There would be some problem that has been plaguing the characters for the span of books.. then BAM, its solved in one sentence with no logic other then it had to be wrapped up to finish the story.

I will never complain about an author taking their time to write a good book after this experience.. Id rather wait then get an end product like the above series tuned into.

[poeticfantasy]

Oh boy, here it goes...

(runs away and prays this thread doesn't turn into a terry bash-fest)

[Myshkin]

Just finished Renegade's Magic by Robin Hobb. The book had all the problems you would expect from a Hobb book; emo, self pitying characters, overly dense writing, slow pacing, and a meandering plot that dwelt far too long on unimportant details. It was a 700 page book, with only about 300 pages of story. And I'm not exaggerating that; in fact, I'm being generous. Also:

SPOILER: Renegade's Magic

The body sharing of Nevare/Soldier's Boy was very ponderous.

But even given all those complaints, it was still a good book, and the Soldier Son trilogy is easily Hobb's best series.

Now on to The Weavers of Saramyr by Chris Wooding.

[BookWyrm]

I'm nearing the end of the Stars My Destination. A good book, but after hearing all the hype, I'm underwhelmed. The pacing is nice, Bester is good with characters, but I just haven't been truly driven to read the story besides from my natural tendency to finish a book I start.

I can't help but feel that Bester is ripping off the Count of Monte Cristo heavy-handedly.

[Joanna vander Poele]

3/4ths through Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks. I must admit I am a little underwhelmed, although I do like some of the things he has created (like the General... Supercrazybig System ships and the talking drones/shuttles, even if they are a bit twee). I will probably pick up the next few novels to see if my interest picks up, and also the shiny covers of his sci-fi novels are very nice; now that is something modern sci-fi would look very pretty in.

My only minor gripes are technical: very rarely, but often enough to irritate me I see a little "C.P. - [insert number here]" at the bottom of a page; the font even changed a few times. That peeves me. Also, I think he made an error concerning Balveda's hair - is it black or red?

My favourite characters are probably the shuttle Tsealsir and the drone Ubaha-something; none of the main characters really appeal to me. Also, what is Fal'Ngeestra's role in the novel apart from mountain-climbing and having melodramatic thoughts?

[Mexal]

I just finished The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan. I thought it was really good and it hooked me pretty early. However, I felt there could have been so much more to this story and I wonder if he's planning on doing a sequel which will flesh out some elements that he left completely ambiguous.

I'm not really sure what's next up. I mean, I have Bloodheir by Ruckley which I've thought about as well as Scales of Gold by Dunnett. I've also thought about rereading The Name of the Wind as something light and entertaining. This is probably what I will do though I think I'd prefer until the 2nd book was almost released. I don't know. I did bring it with me and have no other books so maybe that will be it. Of course, I could go pick up something else at the bookstore today too which I've considered.

[Peadar]

I've read some really great stuff from the Hugo Ballot lately. Recent highlights for me were Robert Reed's "Truth" and Michael Swanwick's "From Babel’s Fall’n Glory We Fledâ€. Both ticked all the boxes of what good SF is supposed to accomplish. Great stuff. All I have left now to read in Hugo Fiction is Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.

In the meantime, I've read about 50 pages of Peter Watts' Behemoth and am very impressed so far.

[A wilding]

like the General... Supercrazybig System ships and the talking drones/shuttles, even if they are a bit twee

Wait until you meet Mawhrin-Skel and Skaffen-Amtiskaw.

As for Fal'Ngeestra, I think she is there mainly to give us a view of the Culture from the inside.

I generally agree about Consider Phlebas though, my feeling is that Banks had yet to fully find his SF voice.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Lane Robins' 'Kings and Assassins', a book with the most self-explanatory title ever! It's a tough one to get into at first (very slow) but it's worth if for a tale full of scheming and intrigue with occasional bursts of dazzling swordplay. My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off Tim Lebbon's 'Fallen'...

[Joanna vander Poele]

Wait until you meet Mawhrin-Skel and Skaffen-Amtiskaw.

I'm excited!

[Myrddin]

I have a copy of The Name of the Wind and Before They Are Hanged sitting on my desk. (And Last Arguement of Kings).

I'll probably read NotW first, since it's a mass market and I'm taking a long plane ride tomorrow.