July 2009

[Iskaral Pust]

I've just finished a re-read of Clavell's King Rat. Still excellent. It touches on a lot of good themes around morality, honor, survival and pragmatism.

I've just started The Tenderness Of Wolves by Stef Penney. Very good so far. It's a murder story set in Canada in 1867. I stopped reading murder mysteries years ago, but this one has much higher quality writing than the typical murder mystery serial edition.

[Mexal]

I was in the mood for some brainless thrillers so I read Divine Justice by David Baldacci and Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child. The Baldacci book was ok while the Child book was really good fun. I love me some Jack Reacher though. Such a badass. Definitely needed.

I also finished The Autumn War by Daniel Abraham and thought it was brilliant. This was his best book yet. I liked the character of Balasar Gice a lot and how he was just doing what needed to be done. I'm really excited to read the final book of the series.

I'm currently about 100 pages into Fevre Dream by GRRM. So far, I'm really enjoying it.

[Bellis]

The Three Muskateers by Dumas - a fun tale but imho the characters, themes and drama aren't as memorable as Monte Cristo.

Thanks to Needle for pointing me to Burnt Shadows by Pakistani novelist Kamila Shamshie. This is just my sort of thing - a trans-generational saga starting with a Japanese woman surviving the bombing of Nagasaki, moving to India, post-partition Pakistan and Afghanistan and ending with post-911 America. But in the end it's uneven, at times profound but at other times falling into Lollywood political melodrama (especially the view of America and Americans towards the end). I kept finding myself comparing it to other authors who've tried to handle these themes of colonialism and globalization, such as Amitav Ghosh. I think the problem is partly a stylistic choice to focus on the special case of this one extended family, a family that was brought together purely by coincidence and a preternatural skill at language. It's harder to see these people as representative rather than pivotal. Still, I wouldn't want to dissuade anyone who finds the premise interesting - there's more than enough in there to please you or me.

I'm now trudging through The Magic Mountain. Actually, it's not that bad of a trudge. Very science-y.

[ambyr]

Spent a lot of time on boats, trains, and airplanes over the last week, so I got more reading in than usual.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Fluffier than cotton candy, but excellent "I am too tired to process anything remotely meaningful but must stay awake to reset my internal clock to local time" reading. The tone is uneven; dark notes, like domestic abuse and miscarriage, clash oddly with the determinedly upbeat march of the story to its (clearly telegraphed) Happy Ending. Not particularly recommended, unless you happen to be similarly suffering from jet lag.

The Bone Doll's Twin. I read Flewelling's Nightrunner trilogy (on its way to a quintet now, I see) ten years ago, and found it a somewhat awkward mixture of intriguing plots with shaky world building. There's some of that here, but I definitely find it an improvement on her earlier work. The sections with Tobin in particular drew me; he's one of the most "real" children I've read in the "heir to the Kingdom grows up in hiding before reclaiming his destiny" sub-genre. The bits with the wizards seemed bland and generic in contrast, though they improved towards the end. I'll be picking up the next book in the trilogy.

Palimpsest. This one wanted to be savored slowly, so I read it in bits and pieces between and during other books, finally finishing on the plane home. Easily the best book I've read this year; I think the last I read that I enjoyed as much was Parker's Engineer trilogy. It reminds me a bit of The Etched City, but it dives into things that The Etched City carefully skirted around. I'm still turning the ending over in my head, trying to decide if there's hope there, or only horror. The narrators are all so unreliable (the city most of all), it's hard to say.

The Dispossessed. This has been sitting on my bookshelf for years, and I am a bit embarrassed that it took me this long to read it. The description of the anarchic society was intriguing. I appreciated the concept of an "ambiguous utopia," which is to say one that's unambiguously functional but may or may not be better than other options in the end. (As a side note, I found myself wondering if the repetition of "altruism is not an Odonian [communist/anarchist] virtue" was a dig at Ayn Rand.) In contrast to the freshness of the world building, the plot seemed to retread a lot of ground from The Left Hand of Darkness (and The Telling retreads it again). I prefer the characters in Left Hand, so I suspect if I feel like rereading LeGuin, that's where I'll turn. But this was well worth reading once.

[TheRedWoman]

Spent a lot of time on boats, trains, and airplanes over the last week, so I got more reading in than usual.

The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency. Fluffier than cotton candy, but excellent "I am too tired to process anything remotely meaningful but must stay awake to reset my internal clock to local time" reading. The tone is uneven; dark notes, like domestic abuse and miscarriage, clash oddly with the determinedly upbeat march of the story to its (clearly telegraphed) Happy Ending. Not particularly recommended, unless you happen to be similarly suffering from jet lag.

I listened to "The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency" series on CD when I was commuting, and I found that made a huge difference. The narrator from the series perfectly captures the tilt and cadence of the Botswana characters, and I got so swept up in the narration, that it made it easy to overlook any plot deficiencies (laughing)

July has been a prolific month for reading. I have really enjoyed the following:

The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet - Reif Larsen

A Painted House - John Grisham

A Good Indian Wife - Anne Cherian

Both "Spivet" and "A Painted House" are told from the perspective of young boys, who both happen to live on isolated farms, and are delightful reads. "A Good Indian Wife" is not the best book I have ever read, but it is an utterly edible tale of a young Indian bride from an arranged marriage who must make her way in America (and finds out her husband has other plans.) Just the food descrptions alone make me salivate.

These are just good old, plain old fiction. No science fiction or fantasy titles this month.

[Peadar]

Starting Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding.

[etcetera]

Palimpsest. This one wanted to be savored slowly, so I read it in bits and pieces between and during other books, finally finishing on the plane home. Easily the best book I've read this year; I think the last I read that I enjoyed as much was Parker's Engineer trilogy. It reminds me a bit of The Etched City, but it dives into things that The Etched City carefully skirted around. I'm still turning the ending over in my head, trying to decide if there's hope there, or only horror. The narrators are all so unreliable (the city most of all), it's hard to say.

You have me intrigued. I loved The Etched City. Palimpsest is in my TBR, but I've been saving it for when I feel like I'm in the right mood.

I've been reading Julie Czerneda's Stratification series (part of the Trade Pact Universe and Clan Chronicles). I'm really enjoying these; not mind-blowing SF, but very comfortable to slip into and get lost in the world-building with interesting cultures and engaging characters. Have just started the 3rd book of this trilogy, Rift in the Sky, which just came out in hardcover this month.

[williamjm]

I'm currently reading The City and The City by China Mielville, which I got after SerMountainGoat generously raffled away some books at the recent York BWB meet.

I've not read any Mielville before, but this is pretty good so far, an intriguing premise although I still don't entirely understand a lot of things about the set-up.

[Myshkin]

I'm now trudging through The Magic Mountain. Actually, it's not that bad of a trudge. Very science-y.

Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain? If so, that is one of the greatest novels ever written, IMO of course.

[BLU-RAY]

I'll pick up The Soft Machine again when I feel up to it. I think that enjoyment/appreciation of that book is somewhat mood-dependant.

I read Interview with the Vampire, which was pretty good, but didn't fill me with a desperate desire to continue the series, and am reading Cryptonomicon. Perdido Street Station is sitting on the bedside table.

[Bellis]

Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain? If so, that is one of the greatest novels ever written, IMO of course.

There's another science-y Magic Mountain?? :wideeyed:

;)

[Myshkin]

There's another science-y Magic Mountain?? :wideeyed:

;)

Well I don't know. Maybe. Although I'm not sure I'd describe Mann's The Magic Mountain as "science-y".

[Dumas]

God Knows by Joseph Heller because Catch-22 was checked out when I hit the library. Interesting take on David and the Bible.

Horace's Satires and Epistles. Not so savage as Juvenal, but the themes are broadly the same.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading 'Cadian Blood', an absolutely storming piece of military sci-fi (Warhammer 40K tie-in) that was only slightly spoilt by some one dimensional characters that contrasted with the ones that were fleshed out better. My full review is over Here. I'm now well into Jonathan Green's 'Evolution Expects' and the continuing adventures of one Ulysses Quicksilver...

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Finished Heart and Soul by Sarah Hoyt. It was an OK, but not a great trilogy. It takes place on "real Earth" in the Victorian ages, but with magic. The ideas were neat, but the characters and plot were subpar. The one character exception was awesome, and since he was the focus of book 2 (Soul of Fire), that one was the best by a long shot. If the author had focused on him for the trilogy, it could have been very good.

Up next is World Without End by Ken Follett. I loved Pillars of the Earth and I'm looking forward to reading it.

[bossfan2000]

Finished Best Served Cold (review). Overall, really entertaining and fun to read. But the dark characters and unhappy worldview drug me down at times.

For now, A Betrayal in Winter is due up next. But that could always change.

[beniowa]

Yesterday I finished The Last Unicorn by Peter S. Beagle. I've never read the book, only seen the animated film years ago which I loved. Powerful and evocative without ever overdoing it. At just under three hundred pages, the book is almost too short. The Last Unicorn is not quite perfect, but it's very close. Highly Recommended.

I was hoping to get a hold of The Price of Spring by Daniel Abraham, but today nobody seemed to have it. :angry: I've read the first two short stories of Galactic North by Alastair Reynolds. Not sure what I'll read yet if I don't find Price tomorrow.

[RedEyedGhost]

REG & Bookwyrm

I have The Book of Lost Things as well, plus the Nocturnes collection of Fantasy & ghost stories. But he's also written a standalone thriller called Bad Men, which is really quite gritty, more like his his Charlie Parker series of supernatural thrillers ( 8 volumes sofar). That's quite a good series, but I liked Bad Men a lot because it stands alone, features some truly terrifying characters and has magical overtones.

Have you (or anybody else reading this) read the Charlie Parker books? They sound interesting, and if they are written as well as The Book of Lost Things then they would likely be some of the best Urban Fantasy out there.

I'm currently 2/3 of the way through, and I'm hoping to finish it tomorrow so that I can immediately begin reading The Price of Spring when it hits my doorstep tomorrow.

[kmgrey]

Have you (or anybody else reading this) read the Charlie Parker books? They sound interesting, and if they are written as well as The Book of Lost Things then they would likely be some of the best Urban Fantasy out there.

I've read the first three or four Parker novels and they are quite good but I wouldn't call them Urban Fantasy. They are more in the detective/mystery genre. The supernatural elements are relatively minimal.

[Deornoth]

Finished Jonathan Green's 'Evolution Expects', more 'James Bond Steam Punk' with the adventures of Ulysses Quicksilver! Ulysses' escapades are as fun as ever but Green didn't leave himself an awful lot of room, to do everything that he wanted the book to do, and this resulted in a book that felt very disjointed at times. My full review is over Here. I'm now well into Nathalie Mallet's 'The King's Daughters'...