June 2009 Reads

[Jon Targaryen]

I dropped the non-fiction and re-picked up The Darkness That Comes Before by Bakker. I'm also starting Gardens of the Moon by Erikson today.

[Procrastimancer]

I have finished The Limits of Enchantment by Graham Joyce. While I would not refer to it as a slog, as REG did, the book was definitely not as easy to get into as the previous Joyce novels I've read. REG was right when he said that it picked up after the first hundred pages or so. It took me some time to get that far, but I breezed through the rest relatively quickly. It is the first one that I did not enjoy all that much.

I found the prose inconsistent at points. It was not a common event, but it was there. The prologue is obvious and there is the scene where she is wandering through the woods. These parts are wonderfully written, but they are few and far between and it is sad to see them interrupted (the prologue by the first chapter and the wandering by another character). I probably shouldn't be annoyed by it as much as I am. It is just a matter of being dropped into this beautiful realm only to be jerked right back out of it without a bit of notice and then it is back to the grind as usual.

Another problem I had, though I do believe it was done intentionally and I guess that I have to give Joyce credit for it: Fern has the tendency to drift out of a scene and into her thoughts. There can be a conversation going on and right in the middle of it she just drifts away and starts to think and it goes on seemingly forever. I've seen this in other novels as well, though not handled the same. The time she spends thinking is actually time spent out of the conversation and the other characters notice it. While I want to like it, I find it a bit annoying to have a conversation broken up by (at times) completely random thoughts. I found myself putting the book down more and more as I got closer to the end and it was not because I wanted to savor the novel, it was because I couldn't help but be put off by these moments.

The biggest thing is this: I want to bitch about things, but since it is written from a first person perspective, I can't. Technically it is written very well and I have to admire it, but that doesn't mean I have to truly enjoy it.

It is much harder to go on about what I like and I am not sure why. I rather enjoyed the supernatural aspect to the novel, especially the Asking, which was downright trippy. Fern was not my favorite of characters, in fact she tended to irritate me at times, but I have to say that I enjoyed her most when she took on a bit of Mammy's characteristics every now and then, which gave a good laugh.

You know what? I am prepared to admit that the failing of this book has nothing to do with the book at all, but rather with myself. My disappointment from the book comes from a lack of interest. It may have to do with the narrator, whom I could not relate with or it could have been some of the subject matter found in the book (latter in the novel, I'd go on but it would be spoilery and I don't feel like black boxing something so slight) that I don't like to read about. This is a book that is technically very good, but is just not "right up my alley." Oddly enough, it is a book that I will likely read again sometime in the future because I feel as though I missed some things.

I don't score books, I basically just go with whether or not I enjoyed them or if I would recommend them to someone. This is a book I did not enjoy entirely, but one that I believe I would definitely recommend to others.

Next up... It is either going to be Smoking Poppy or Requiem.

[RedEyedGhost]

I knew there was something in this thread that I had meant to reply too...

REG was very accurate when describing the book. The one thing I would have to disagree about would be the scary bit, but that is just for me. There were plenty of things that were rather unnerving and things that were outright creepy**. Other than that I can't help but agree with him about the book. I would really like to go on about just how good it was, but it seems a bit redundant and I have to be up in four hours for work since the damned book kept me up later than I like.

I used "scary" because he made me connect with the story so thoroughly that I could see exactly where Sam was coming from with: what he thought they did in the woods, with what you mentioned in the spoiler tags, and all the other creepy moments. I could see myself acting just the same, at that age, in those types of situations -- and just how much that could mess a kid up... that's scary.

You know what? I am prepared to admit that the failing of this book has nothing to do with the book at all, but rather with myself. My disappointment from the book comes from a lack of interest. It may have to do with the narrator, whom I could not relate with or it could have been some of the subject matter found in the book (latter in the novel, I'd go on but it would be spoilery and I don't feel like black boxing something so slight) that I don't like to read about. This is a book that is technically very good, but is just not "right up my alley." Oddly enough, it is a book that I will likely read again sometime in the future because I feel as though I missed some things.

Hah! And you said you didn't think you could write good reviews; you just needed to find the right author to inspire you :)

I felt exactly the same way. I knew it was very well written, but it just wasn't for me. And then there's Isis who breezed right through it. I've seen female posters on this board that didn't care for The Tooth Fairy because they couldn't connect with Sam, and that's exactly how I felt with this book and Fern.

That and The Risen Empire are the only of Westerfeld's adult books that I haven't read. Perhaps I should pick them up.

I definitely recommend his stand-alones Fine Prey and Evolution's Darling. (Less so Polymorph, though it's not bad for a first novel.)

I'll have to check those out :thumbsup:

He's got a book coming out in October (Leviathan, but it looks like it's another YA book.

[Dunhallym]

Finished "Leçons du mon de fluctuant" about which I talked in the May thread. It was an interesting read, and rather well written, so very enjoyable.

I then finished the 4 last books of "Les Enfants de Ji" by Pierre Grimbert. It's very classic and basic fantasy: how will the group of young and (at the beginning) very inexperienced heroes save the world and kill the evil demon? A quick read when you just want to empty your head. Like when you watch some stupid soap on TV after work and just have to watch it to the end because even though you already know the end, you want to see how it will come to it. The prose is just "meh", with the impression the authors thinks his readers are stupid. I was especially annoyed by his tendency to finish each paragraph (or almost each) by a resume sentence ending with a "!" The characters are quite shallow, with a main archetype declined in several variants (deep inside, he's good, BUT...). But still, there were some mysteries I wanted the answer to, so I read to the end. Which made me want to bang my head on the wall. Well, I exagerate a bit, it's not that bad, just "meh".

I'm now reading the second book my colleagues gave me for my birthday : "Le livre sacré du Loup-Garou" (СвÑÑ‰ÐµÐ½Ð½Ð°Ñ ÐšÐ½Ð¸Ð³Ð° ÐžÐ±Ð¾Ñ€Ð¾Ñ‚Ð½Ñ /The Sacred Book of the Werewolf) by Viktor Pelevine. I had great expectations about this one, since I've read comparaisons of the author with Boulgakhov, Dostoievski, Gogol, etc... And I'm really disappointed. I don't like the writing at all (though maybe that's the translation). The beginning is very slow, and gave me the impression the author just wants to impress with his knowledge of philosophy. I was hoping for a story with the satire of the russian society imbedded in the story, but most of it is not, just long internal monologues from the POV character. Finally, I'm a bit more than halfway in the book and only starting to find some interest in it. Which is good, because I was at the point of dropping it.

[Isis]

I have finished The Limits of Enchantment by Graham Joyce. While I would not refer to it as a slog, as REG did, the book was definitely not as easy to get into as the previous Joyce novels I've read. REG was right when he said that it picked up after the first hundred pages or so. It took me some time to get that far, but I breezed through the rest relatively quickly. It is the first one that I did not enjoy all that much.

You know what? I am prepared to admit that the failing of this book has nothing to do with the book at all, but rather with myself. My disappointment from the book comes from a lack of interest. It may have to do with the narrator, whom I could not relate with or it could have been some of the subject matter found in the book (latter in the novel, I'd go on but it would be spoilery and I don't feel like black boxing something so slight) that I don't like to read about. This is a book that is technically very good, but is just not "right up my alley." Oddly enough, it is a book that I will likely read again sometime in the future because I feel as though I missed some things.

Next up... It is either going to be Smoking Poppy or Requiem.

Ah, I was about to say, if you didn't like that, what on earth did you think of Requiem? But, you haven't read it yet. I think the reason I disliked Requiem wasn't because it was especially badly written compared to his other work. Although, I don't think it's a particularly fine example of his writing either. The reason I disliked it is that I've seen the same material covered by other authors - and done much better. That made it a real disappointment for me.

It's a shame you didn't appreciate Limits of Enchantment though, because it's so representative of the period it's set in and Fern's voice is absolutely spot on, as are the others. It's brilliantly done and I admire it a great deal.

[Isis]

I've seen female posters on this board that didn't care for The Tooth Fairy because they couldn't connect with Sam, and that's exactly how I felt with this book and Fern.

I had no problems with this - must be the tomboy in me. :)

[Deornoth]

I've finished reading Simon Bestwick's 'Tide of Souls' where the UK not only has to deal with rising floods but the massed ranks of the undead that lie beneath the waters... I loved the concept behind the appearance of the undead (although the explanation was a bit laboured) and, despite the writing getting a bit formulaic at times, I thoroughly enjoyed the rest of the book as well. My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off Henry Zou's 'Emperor's Mercy' and Christie Golden's 'Omen' (Star Wars tie-in)...

[Cuchulain]

Finished Jim Butcher's Storm Front today. I'm not really into urban fantasy, but I did like this novel. It was an original, easy and, above all, fun read. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series. I only hope the formula doesn't get old after a few books.

Next up is Best Served Cold. I got a feeling I'm really going to enjoy this one.

[Procrastimancer]

Finished Jim Butcher's Storm Front today. I'm not really into urban fantasy, but I did like this novel. It was an original, easy and, above all, fun read. I'm definitely going to check out the rest of the series. I only hope the formula doesn't get old after a few books.

Next up is Best Served Cold. I got a feeling I'm really going to enjoy this one.

I liked Storm Front. Unfortunately I tried reading Fool Moon right after and as it turns out, the formula was a bit too much for me. I know a few others who have no problem going from one book to the next, but I have to put a good break between the novels.

[BookWyrm]

I liked Storm Front. Unfortunately I tried reading Fool Moon right after and as it turns out, the formula was a bit too much for me. I know a few others who have no problem going from one book to the next, but I have to put a good break between the novels.

Ugh, I had the same problem with the Dresden Files! I lasted a bit longer, with my enjoyment declining on book three. I thought books four and five were just terrible and I haven't read any of the following books.

I have, however, been lucky enough to move from Butcher to Jonathan Carroll. The Land of Laughs is an awesome read! It's about a man named Thomas Abbey, who sets out to write a biography of his children's-author-hero, Marshall France. When Thomas arrives in Marshall's town, he finds all sorts of obvious sources for Marshall's characters and stories. Though after an odd sequence of ordeals he realizes that the relationship between the town and Marshall's books could be quite the reverse....

I'll pick up the others by this guy as soon as I see them.

The Silmarillion is still good, and the going is slow, but steady. I find that I enjoy it more if I don't try to read it all at once. I try to take it a chapter a day, so the prose doesn't start to feel like it's drying up. Still, this has to be one of the most monumental things I've ever picked up!

As for mythology, I saw a translation (with modern prose and illustrations) of the Indian Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, in Barnes & Noble and I had to get it. It looks juicy and I can't wait to jump into it. The "retelling" is by William Buck. If it's good I will be getting his version of the Ramayana as well.

[Trinuviel]

I finished Santa Olivia (Jacqueline Carey) at 12:45 this morning. Not what I was expecting, but I still loved it. I read it in one day, which is VERY unusual for me. :thumbsup:

Now I am reading Kushiel's Mercy, also by Carey. So far so good.

I really loved Santa Olivia as well. It is nice to see Carey strech her story-telling skills with some completely different material. The story is self-contained but with the possibility for a sequel, something that I hope is in the works. I would love to learn more about Loup and her search for other people like her.

Kushiel's Mercy was, sadly, a big disappointment for me as Carey took the story in a direction that I felt was of less importance than the need for Imriel to confront his mother, and Carey sadly underused the otherwise intriguing Unseen Guild.

I am about 100 pages into Naamah's Kiss, which is looking good so far. I think it was a good idea for Carey to let go of the characters from the Kushiel books and set the new series a couple of generations after the original books.

[TheEvilKing]

I'm a hundred pages into Robin Hobb's Forest Mage, and in a way it's the strangest fantasy novel I've ever read. So far it's mainly about Nevare being fat, and how all his family and friends now hate him because of his fatness. It's just a bizarre theme for a Hobb book, but I have to admit it's unintentionally funny how ostracised he is because of it.

I'm also about 2/3 through Thunderer by Felix Gilman which is simply superb thus far. No idea where this story is going.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I'm about 50 pages from finishing my re-read of Memory, Sorrow and Thorn. This series still ranks up there as one of my faves despite its use of time worn fantasy tropes.

After reading five 750+ page books in row, I'm in the mood to read something short. I've decided to read Little Women by Louisa May Alcott next. I've had this book for ages as a gift and never read it.

[LacyinTX]

I'm also about 2/3 through Thunderer by Felix Gilman which is simply superb thus far. No idea where this story is going.

I have this on on my shelf. I am glad to hear that you like it so far. I will have to pick it up after I finish Kushiel's Mercy.

[LacyinTX]

Kushiel's Mercy was, sadly, a big disappointment for me as Carey took the story in a direction that I felt was of less importance than the need for Imriel to confront his mother, and Carey sadly underused the otherwise intriguing Unseen Guild.

I am sorry to hear that. I am going to keep at it, though. I have loved every one of JC's books so far. :)

[Deornoth]

Finished Christie Golden's 'Omen' Star Wars tie-in. While it has a lot of the same problems that 'Outcast' (its predecessor) did it manages to be one hell of a lot more entertaining read. My full review is over Here. I'm still working my way through 'Emperor's Mercy' and have also started reading an ARC of F.G. Cottam's 'The House of Lost Souls'...

[Prince Who Was Promised]

I just finished Mistborn. So now I'm reading Well of Ascension and Wheel of Time's A Crown of Swords.

[lessthanluke]

I just finished Bret Harts autobiography. Next up The Temporal Void by PFH.

[Turinqui-Calima]

Finished No Domion which I didn't love, although it was entertaining enough. Will most likely read the next book. Probably soon.

Started The Blade Itself (it's about time, I guess) this morning on the train and so far so good. :)

[needle]

My reading seems to be confined to airport exclusives at the moment, indeed, to airports. But still managed a couple of gems which I want to recommend.

The Stranger, by Max Frei - a gem of a novel. Silly, delightful dialogue and a hundred million good ideas. Like Jasper Ffforde, but better. Harry Potter quoted on the cover - a million times better. Best of all, this is just the first of ten volumes to be translated into English ( from Russian). The premise? A 'dreamer', useless kind of guy, gets offered a job in his dreams . Literally goes to live in his dream world, working for the paranormal security forces there, and has lots of spiffing adventures. Loved loved loved it, though it might not be everyone's cup of tea.

Burnt Shadows, Kamila Shamsie - read this all in one gulp today. Nagasaki survivor goes to India to meet former relatives of her german fiance ( killed by the bomb), falls in love with a Muslim Indian, and the story just kicks off -spanning continents and all the big issues of this century. With a lyrical writing style that nevertheless does not interfere with a page turning story, this novel tackles big issues alongside friendships and famiies and does it fantastically. The Kite Runner, the Purple Hibiscus,of this year's reads - though that doesn't even quite do it justice. Unreservedly reccommended for any book lover.

Also picked up Zafon's laterst today - got 50 pages in and decided to reread the shadow of the wind first. But, so far so good.