May 2010 reads

[mashiara]

Another month, another thread. You know the drill, post about the books you are reading, tell us if you liked them and why. Tell us what you plan on reading, tell us about the books you gave up on.

My week hasn't been as good as I would have liked regarding my books. I finished Caretaker by Thomas William Simpson, a good thriller with some interesting twists and enough suspense to keep you interested throughout the whole book, but with mediocre writing.

I also finished Beyond Scandal by Brenda Joyce, and by finished, I mean I scanned the last 200 pages because I couldn't stand reading it properly anymore, the female character annoyed me so. If I felt like reading a Harlequin novel I would have bought one.

My best read was Please don't come back from the moon by Dean Bakopoulos. A compelling read, I thought, a book I couldn't put down and that moved me in many ways. I've only been to Detroit a few times and I've heard a lot about the city from my husband and reading this book made the recent economic decline even more real to me. I liked this book a lot and since it's the author's first book I'm looking forward to his next work.

I'm starting East of the Sun by Julia Gregson. One of the school moms gave it to me and said it's "a great read", which could mean anything, but I'll give it a go.

I almost forgot. Given the date today, I can't think of a more appropriate way than this :commie: :commie: :commie: to start this thread. :P

[TheEvilKing]

I finished Robin Hobb's Dragon Haven last week. Pretty typical Hobb. Somewhat predictable and cheesy, but also very readable. A nice ending to the duology.

500+ pages through Brian Ruckley's Bloodheir which has been much better than I expected so far. 150+ pages through Daniel Fox's Jade Man's Skin, the sequel to Dragon In Chains. This is swiftly becoming one of my favourite ongoing series.

[Gormenghast]

Currently reading Erikson and as usual needing something lighter and calmer as companion, so I went looking for Warhammer 40k after reading a lot of praises and recommendations about it.

I did some research and narrowed the best stuff to 4 omnibuses and 1 standard book:

- Eisenhorn

- Ravenor (mostly because it looks sexy in all black)

- The Founding

- Ciaphas Cain

- Horus Rising

That's like 3500 pages of supposedly good stuff, not even counting that two of those omnibuses lead to more of them.

[Peadar]

I'm half-way through Hardwired by Walter Jon Williams.

Written in 1989, it's yet another one of those cyberpunk books that is extremely prescient in every way except... yup! -- it's the usual one -- mobile phones.

I'm enjoying it a lot despite the scenes of cyborgs running around looking for a public phone to plug into.

[trio]

Just finished A Winter in Madrid by C.S. Sansom.

I basically bought it because I'm looooove Sansom's Shardlake series and am impatient waiting for August for the next one.

But it was only OK. It was a WW2 thriller about spies and the Spanish Civil War. But it wasn't really that thrilling to be honest. I wasn't on the edge of my seat.

And if I hear the name "Franco" one more time, I may shoot someone!

I got the feeling that Sansom was just really into the Spanish Civil War and was determined to fashion a book around it. But if you aren't as enthusiastic as him about that subject, then this is a book you can take or leave.

Have just started The Long Price Quartet after ordering the two compendiums from Amazon.co.uk at a bargain.

But I have to admit - I'm 180 pages in and I'm struggling.

Maybe it's because I've a cold and am finding it hard to read, but I'm not getting as gripped as I expected after hearing all the hype. I'm finding the worldbuilding is good as I had heard - but I just don't give a damn about "OMG! Our trade may suffer!"

Please someone tell me it gets more exciting soon!

[The Evil Hat]

It does eventually get more exciting (if by exciting you mean more mortal threats), but the books are always about quieter things, character interactions and the like, than they are about epic strife (though there is some of that later).

For May I'm planning on:

The New Weird (seeing as I'm three quarters through it now)

Robin Hobb - Ship of Destiny

Mervyn Peake - Gormenghast

Peter F. Hamilton - The Neutronium Alchemist

China Mieville - Kraken

Adam Nevill - Apartment 16

Neil Gaiman - Stardust

Steph Swainston - The Year of Our War

[Astra]

1/3 into Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) by Brent Weeks

Good so far. Maybe a bit better than the first book. Some unexpected moments.

[Barnes]

Just finished the 3rd Green Rider book by Kristen Britain, good but not great, I like the King's messengers idea, another book still to come I believe.

Just started Shadow Prowler by Alexey Pehov, pretty decent so far, 100+ pages in.

[SerNotAppearingOnThisBoard]

Almost finished with Neverwhere (Neil Gaiman) and Lamb (Christopher Moore). Both good, but Lamb was, er...interesting for how he did the research for the parts dealing with Israel and blatantly did not do the research for the parts dealing with India.

Next up, The Lies of Locke Lamora (Lynch) and The Darkness That Comes Before (Bakker), once I pick it up from the store today.

[Xalinor]

Midnight Tides. I have to say, this book is utter garbage. Erikson weaves an incredibly intricate tale of a thousand plot threads and ten times as many characters. I find myself finishing a section, starting a new one, and thinking, "Who the hell is this?" It reads quickly, but that's only because the longest paragraph cannot be more than eight lines.

For example: the Sengar brothers. They're on this important quest to retrieve this powerful weapon, but I simply cannot remember when or why they were sent on it. Too many characters, too many sideplots, too much fluff.

[Quarterman]

Reading The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King.

[Datepalm]

Just about finished Darwinia by Robert Wilson, which was fun if a little abrupt and has lost me now towards the ending. The mystery and much stronger characters of the first half could have stood to be streched out a little more.

To the Ends of the Earth, a travelogue by Robert Kaplan, from the early mid 90s. Its badly dated particulalry because it naturally came before widespread cellphone and internet use across the third world, so many of the points he makes about regional isolation and its threats to national integrity are somewhat voided. Others still seem pretty spot on though.

Started Grey Lamb Black Falcon, by Rebecca West - another travelogue, of the Balkans, in 1937. Good grief shes wordy - its 1100 pages in tiny print hardback. And alternatively fawning and catty about people, and at times downright a bitch. (Apparently, shes also a zoo.) "Empress Sophie was so and so, and promoted an atmosphere by this of intellectual stifelment. Also, she was a very great slut. And she persued such and such policies towards the minorites..." (Paraphrase):blink:

[The Pita]

Got Good Omens back after I loaned it out a year ago to a friend of my sister's. Oddly, it was in perfect condition. And I re-read it. And it was just as awesome this time, even though it's been a year. That book is Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett at their very best. It's proof that collaborations can be amazing, and generally gives me hope for other awesomeness from authors.

And I want a GRRM/NG collaboration. That would be so absolutely awesome it would be amazing. Or maybe just get NG on Wild Cards.

[beniowa]

I'm a fair bit over halfway through Under Heaven and it's quite good so far. Still a little early to say, but I think it's definitely stronger than his last couple books.

:commie:

[WhiteHaven]

After nearly two months I finished Gai-Jin by James Clavell.

Well, it's Clavell, do I really have to say anything?

Now starting the Long Price Quartett.

[Werthead]

400 pages in and I'm calling it that Under Heaven is Kay's best book since Al-Rassan.

There's been a few of those naval-gazing moments of the sort that led the Sarantine Mosaic to needlessly become a flabby duology rather than the tight single novel it cried out to be, but Kay's done a good job of pulling back from the Abyss of Pretentiousity and delivering a solid, ruthlessly political novel so far.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

1/3 into Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) by Brent Weeks

Good so far. Maybe a bit better than the first book. Some unexpected moments.

Eh, I'm the opposite. I found the last 1/2 of Shadow's Edge far more exciting than the first half. The whole "boy wants girl, boy wins girl, boy loses girl" theme got tiresome for me. I'm only 100 pages from finishing Shadow's Edge.

Up next is Beyond the Shadows by Brent Weeks and then I'll probably follow up with a non-fiction book titled Ancient Mariner by Ken McGoogan.

[Rhadamanth]

Halfway through first volume of Chung Kuo by Wingrove with an occasional side of Dust of Dreams by Erikson. After that, probably something by China Mieville or Peter Brett.

[moirne]

Finished Angelology- Danielle Trussoni... I'm kind of torn on this one because I loved all the historical research that went into it and angels have always fascinated me. I think it could have been edited better. The last 50-100 pages were not the greatest, and the end is abrupt with the clear intention of continuing in another novel. I thought this was a stand alone and I don't know how I feel about it becoming a series. I will probably read the next book, but I'm not that excited about it. The two main characters don't interest me very much and that's never a good thing. I want to know what happens with the Nephilim though.

[Jerec]

Since working full time, I haven't had much time for reading. I'm reading Lynch's Red Seas Under Red Skies. I'm about 2 thirds into it. I think I've been reading it for about a month. Not every day, though. Sometimes I'm just so sleepy. But what's the rush? The next book isn't out yet. I'm really liking this series. Locke and Jean are awesome characters.

Once that's done, I've got Warbreaker to read. Also on my shelf are Fevre Dream and a few of the YA Pratchett novels. Doubt I'll get to them this month, though.