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July 2009


mashiara

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I just finished As they see 'em: a fan's travel in the land of umpires by Bruce Weber. It is a book about the authors time spent travellign with baseball umpires with anecdotes from them.

Currently about halfway through Hitler's War by Harry Turtledove.

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Just finished Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker. I really enjoyed it.

Next up is David Wellington's 13 Bullets. A little side journey into vampire horror before reading Best Served Cold by whats-his-name, oh yeah, Joe Abercrombie.

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I just finished the most recent Arkady Renko novel by Martin Cruz Smith. I have no idea what the title is. It was okay. The plot wasn't very original, but I do like a melancholy Russian detective.

I'm moving onto Lush Life by Richard Price. Picked up the hardcover for $3.99 at B&N. Gotta love bargain books.

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I finally got a copy of The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. (I'm a little behind the times, OK?) I was a little worried that with all the hype over Abercrombie I would be dissapointed by it, but this did not just meet the hype; it exeeded it. I read some comment about how that he could have you cringing in pain, and then laughing like an idiot on the same page. I was skeptical at the time, but it started happening to me too! And apparently, it only gets better from here.

I could keep going for a while, but I'm pretty sure this has all been said before. :P

Next up is American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

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I'm at page 600 of my first go with A Game of Thrones. I hope to finish by the end of next week (and go back to Erikson).

I'm enjoying it, but I don't understand many of the critics toward Erikson that used Martin as a staple. Martin has a perfect execution, but he's also rather predictable, not so original and a use of characters that is comparable to Erikson's deux ex machina (meaning that, instead of plot-bending, Martin simply creates and places characters exactly where he needs them, and it feels all a bit too carefully placed and convenient, and without misdirection you can see too clearly where it all is going if you are a bit aware of this type of plotting. Hint: hollywood).

Also: while Martin characters are well defined and complete (and he stays in their head far more than Erikson), he relies A LOT on a conscious and continuous "pulling on emotional heart strings". He mostly succeed, but stylistically I like much more Erikson "hands-off" approach. With Martin there's moral ambiguity in the characters, but there's NONE in the writing. This irks me a bit.

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In the spirit of ASOIAF, I have started reading Bernard Cornwell's Grail Quest Trilogy and Saxon Chronicles. It lacks the fantasy aspect but rich in the same flavors GRRM enriches ASOIAF.

When I'm done with Cornwell. I will move on Conn Iggulden's Emperor (Caesar) and Conqueror (Genghis) historical fiction.

Hopefully, it will keep me occupied while I await GRRM return from Finland and finish ADWD.

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Finished reading Jasper Bark's 'Way of the Barefoot Zombie' where a course to 'unleash your inner zombie' becomes a lot more to the Voodoo priestess and Zombie Liberation Front agents caught up in it. I loved the concept, and characterisation, but Bark's insistence on having to explain everything to the readers really took the edge off what he was trying to say as well as slowing things down when they should have been speeding up... My full review is over Here. I'm now reading 'Through Violet Eyes' by Stephen Woodworth...

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The First Man In Rome, the historical fiction about the rise of the fall of the republic, centering on Gaius Marius, and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. I love it, though it is a mammoth of a book, although it may be because I love Rome. I highly recommend it. Full of politics, romance, war, and the such, and it is quite accurate.

Also Shield of Thunder David Gemmell. Book two of his troy series, I am enjoying immensely. Some of the scenes had me in fits of laughter.

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The First Man In Rome, the historical fiction about the rise of the fall of the republic, centering on Gaius Marius, and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. I love it, though it is a mammoth of a book, although it may be because I love Rome. I highly recommend it. Full of politics, romance, war, and the such, and it is quite accurate.

(snippys)

Is that the Coleen McCullough (sp?) book?

Now reading Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith. It's living up to its excellent reputation.

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I just finished reading Tim Severin's viking series. It was a great read and had a predictably sad ending.

I've also read Joe Abercrombie's First Law series as well now and I can see why it was so highly regarded my many people on this board.

I'm up to date with all the Riftwar books after reading Mistres of the Empire.

I'm about to start reading Conn Iggulden's Emperor series.

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recently finished Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank and Fray by Joss Whedon

currently reading The Reel Stuff, an anthology of SF shorts that have been turned into movies; so far I've finished "Nightflyers" by GRRM, "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick, and "Mimic" by Donald A. Wollheim

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