September 2009 Reads, Potential Reads, and Abandoned Reads

[Astra]

Just finished Fool's Fate by Robin Hobb, thus finishing the Tawny Man trilogy.

Overall impression is one big disappointment.

The whole trilogy left a feeling of the bloated fourth volume of The Farseer Trilogy where all loose ends are being tied up. Although, it is done very ungratefully.

SPOILER: frustration

Fitz & Molly reunion plus 7 kids bonus is very artificial and out of context. 16 Years is not 16 months. They would be totally different people regardless of what happened within this period. Let alone vast life experience that affected both of them.

Fool...my personal disappointment here. I hoped that Fitz is going to realise that Fool is a woman and They Live Happily Ever After with a sense of wonder about each other and respect and exciting life...

On top of this the usual numerous repetitions of what happened only a hundred pages before.

The Tawny Man trilogy is a let down.

Hobb was at the top 5 of my favourite writers since 2002, it is very sad to lose her now.

For a day or two I will read a few chapters from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson then either Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie or Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.

[TheEvilKing]

Hobb was at the top 5 of my favourite writers since 2002, it is very sad to lose her now.

She hasn't died. She just wrote a trilogy you dislike. :thumbsup:

Umm.. you might wanna stay away from the Soldier's Son trilogy. Or maybe not. Some people like it, but I personally thought it was rubbish. And I liked all the Fitzworld stuff, even the Tawny Man trilogy.

[williamjm]

I finished reading Iain M Banks' Matter. Overall I liked it, it had a strong ending although the book is possibly a bit longer than it really needs to be (the pacing seemed quite slow at first). Having the epilogue after the appendix seemed a bit silly, especially when the epilogue resolves the cliffhanger at the end of the novel.

Now reading Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia. It's an imaginative premise, with early 20th Century Europe disappearing and being replaced with an alien landscape one night in 1912, I'm curious to see how this is explained.

[Astra]

She hasn't died. She just wrote a trilogy you dislike. :thumbsup:

Umm.. you might wanna stay away from the Soldier's Son trilogy. Or maybe not. Some people like it, but I personally thought it was rubbish. And I liked all the Fitzworld stuff, even the Tawny Man trilogy.

I will probably try it but not in the near future.

[RedEyedGhost]

For a day or two I will read a few chapters from A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson then either Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie or Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson.

Astra, I thought you didn't like The First Law. So why are you reading Best Served Cold? I didn't like BSC, because it was just more of the same and there was very little no growth in Joe's writing from the trilogy to BSC. (And I really liked the trilogy)

Now reading Robert Charles Wilson's Darwinia. It's an imaginative premise, with early 20th Century Europe disappearing and being replaced with an alien landscape one night in 1912, I'm curious to see how this is explained.

I'm very interested in what you think about this one. I've been meaning to buy this book for several years now (since I read Spin), but I never seem to remember to add it to my orders.

[chitman13]

I finished The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett last night. I enjoyed it but was not overly impressed the way I expected I would be, considering the hype around the Discworld books. I was enjoying it quite a lot until he cut out six months of Rincewind and Twoflower's story, then I felt that it was just being rushed to fit a certain page count. Still, the world is amazing and I'm hoping that the next book in the series raises the game.

[Ser Howsmelly]

Was doing a reread of the LOTR and have just abandoned Frodo and Sam when Sam is trying to rescue Frodo after he gets captured when they fight that giant spider... its so boring. boring boring boring.

And note to above poster. The Pratchett books + Discworld Universe get dramatically better as the series progresses and backstory and environment are fleshed out. The Light Fantastic is a bit of a chore as well but hold out til Interesting Times which is where I started my experience of Discworld and cemented Twoflower as one of my most memorable characters.

[The Pita]

I started reading Masterpieces: The Best Science Fiction of the Twentieth Century. I need to get a copy of I Robot.

And I ordered The Blade Itself from a bookstore near me.

[MinDonner]

I finished The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett last night. I enjoyed it but was not overly impressed the way I expected I would be, considering the hype around the Discworld books. I was enjoying it quite a lot until he cut out six months of Rincewind and Twoflower's story, then I felt that it was just being rushed to fit a certain page count. Still, the world is amazing and I'm hoping that the next book in the series raises the game.

The Colour of Magic is quite different from the later Discworld books; from what I hear, it was quite groundbreaking at the time, but now looks like just a fluffy string of lightweight gags, especially compared to what Pratchett has done since. He hits his stride around book 4 (Mort) IMO, with consistent quality for at least the next 15.

[YellowDogJen]

I'm reading Robert McCammon's Boy's Life right now. About two thirds in and so far it's pretty good. A bit slow for my taste, but never boring.

Is he copying Stephen King book for book? :)

I've read two of his books now; Swan Song (which was great) was very similar to The Stand but more evil. And now Boy's Life, which reminds me of IT, in how he brings a small town to life (seen through the eyes of kids) and taking place in the sixties.

I loved Boy's Life and Gone South. Sings the Nightbird is great, and so is the "sequel", Queen of Bedlam. I lerves me some Robert McCammon. Sings the Nightbird and Queen are historical fiction set in the American colonies and are...mysteries, I guess. Gone South is a crazy book - jaw-dropping and hysterical at times.

[YellowDogJen]

Argh - I made the above post without reading the whole thread...sorry! I'm reading The City and The City by Mieville. I have Fevre Dream and Cryptonomicon in the to-read pile. I read The Ice Dragon in a few minutes yesterday - sweet. I'm enjoying The City so far.

[chitman13]

The Colour of Magic is quite different from the later Discworld books; from what I hear, it was quite groundbreaking at the time, but now looks like just a fluffy string of lightweight gags, especially compared to what Pratchett has done since. He hits his stride around book 4 (Mort) IMO, with consistent quality for at least the next 15.

It's good to hear that the later ones are better - I'll make the effort to get through the first few, although I enjoyed the first one enough to read them anyway, the Discworld is a very interesting place!

[Astra]

Astra, I thought you didn't like The First Law. So why are you reading Best Served Cold? I didn't like BSC, because it was just more of the same and there was very little no growth in Joe's writing from the trilogy to BSC. (And I really liked the trilogy)

Didn't like The First Law is probably a very strong wording.

There were some flaws but I enjoyed reading it. I didn't like the ending. Not even the fate of characters but some ideas, such as life is shit or people don't change, thus not growing at all during whole 3 books.

The writing style, very dark humour, plot line....I liked it.

When I wrote my opinion about TFL, I said, that I am sure there will be a sequence, probably trilogy to TFL and I am going to read it and give Abercrombie another chance before I decide never again or I love his books.

So, BSC is falling somewhere in-between, I think. In some ways I really enjoyed TFL and I would like to love Abercrombie's books in future.

Anyway, I started Warbreaker. It is my first acquaintance with Brandon Sanderson :) The writer who is going to finish the series that introduced me to Fantasy as a genre (besides The Lord of the Rings, which is all time classic for me)

[RedEyedGhost]

Didn't like The First Law is probably a very strong wording.

There were some flaws but I enjoyed reading it. I didn't like the ending. Not even the fate of characters but some ideas, such as life is shit or people don't change, thus not growing at all during whole 3 books.

The writing style, very dark humour, plot line....I liked it.

When I wrote my opinion about TFL, I said, that I am sure there will be a sequence, probably trilogy to TFL and I am going to read it and give Abercrombie another chance before I decide never again or I love his books.

So, BSC is falling somewhere in-between, I think. In some ways I really enjoyed TFL and I would like to love Abercrombie's books in future.

Cool. Hopefully you enjoy it as much as the rest of the board has (because I'm definitely the minority in not liking it).

[Ser Barry]

The Shore by Robert Dunbar

How to write for page after page and never say anything. Hack writing to a poor formula. Turd.

Just started Easter by Michael Arditti which has more in the first page than the aforementioned clunker had in a whole book.

[Larry.]

Wrote a dual review last night of Marvin Mann and A. David Lewis's A New Kind of Slaughter (graphic novel) and Dave Eggers' latest non-fiction book, Zeitoun, both of which concern floods, with the global diluvian myths for the first and the New Orleans one for the latter. Both are excellent in their own way and each almost certainly will make my Best of 2009 year-end lists.

Also read Tamar Yellin's The Genizah at the House of Shepher (very good), Iain M. Banks's Use of Weapons (also very good), and Steve Erickson's Zeroville (good, but not as great as his Arc d'X). Currently reading Kelley Eskridge's Solitaire. Promising so far, 1/3 into it.

[williamjm]

I'm very interested in what you think about this one. I've been meaning to buy this book for several years now (since I read Spin), but I never seem to remember to add it to my orders.

I shall report back when finished. So far (after 100 pages) it is reminiscent in some ways of Spin (and The Chronoliths), a high-concept world-changing event happens at the beginning which the main character experiences from a distance and then grows up to be employed by others to investigate said event whilst others try to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

[Cuchulain]

I've started Richard Morgan's Broken Angels today. 120 pages in, it has reminded me of why I enjoyed Altered Carbon so much.

[beniowa]

I read about 75 pages of Figures in Silk before getting bored and putting it down. There's nothing bad about it, I just wasn't in the mood for it. I'll come back to it another time.

I also finished the short story collection, Returning My Sister's Face by Eugie Foster. The book has a Far Eastern flavor, often retellings of Chinese and Japanese folk tales. Some of the stories were a little repetitious, but I really enjoyed all of them and would recommend the book to all fans of fantasy.

Staying in the same overall genre as Figures in Silk, I've started Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield. Only 50 pages in and I'm liking it a lot. This is going to be a great one I think. My next anthology will be Metatropolis edited by John Scalzi.

I'm very interested in what you think about this one. I've been meaning to buy this book for several years now (since I read Spin), but I never seem to remember to add it to my orders.

I shall report back when finished. So far (after 100 pages) it is reminiscent in some ways of Spin (and The Chronoliths), a high-concept world-changing event happens at the beginning which the main character experiences from a distance and then grows up to be employed by others to investigate said event whilst others try to manipulate the situation to their own advantage.

I read this one some years back. It didn't blow my socks off, but I thought it was pretty good. Not wanting to spoil anything, I'll just say there's far more than just a world-changing event going on.

[Peter Irving]

The Fires of Heaven

Wizards First Rule (almost finished) :wideeyed:

Also am reserving A Wizard of Earthsea