May 2010 reads

[murphy]

I'm just about done with Children of Chaos by Dave Duncan. It was OK, but there are other fantasy series/books that are so much better. I do like his humour though. Up next is the second and last book of the series; Mother of Lies. I do like the fact that the author was a former petroleum geologist that worked in Calgary; a part of me wishes I could do the same, but I would suck at it terribly.

I thought that the Children of Chaos and Mother of Lies were his weakest books. He has done a lot better with some of his other series, such as A Man of His Word.

[Joanna vander Poele]

It does not. . . YA through and through. :thumbsdown:

Patrick

Except... I like YA. The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing is YA/teen fiction and is utterly superior to much adult literature I've read.

Don't make me hurt you! :whip:

[Myshkin]

Finished my reread of The Painted man. Now on to The Desert Spear.

[Werthead]

Almost done reading Walter M. Miller Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz. Fifty years old and a work of near-flawless brilliance.

[Guest Raidne]

Almost done reading Walter M. Miller Jr's A Canticle for Leibowitz. Fifty years old and a work of near-flawless brilliance.

Almost done, hmmm? I thought the coherence dropped off at the end. Anyway, please revive the thread on it when you're finished if you get a chance - I'd love to hear your thoughts.

I just finished Ryman's Air, and the thread I just started on that pretty much covers what I have to say about it, and Cherie Priest's Boneshaker, which was fun. Like Scott Lynch does Steampunk, or something.

[mashiara]

I read Dean Koontz's Prodigal Son, City of Night and Dead and Alive, the three books of his Frankenstein series. I shouldn't have bothered finishing the series. The first one was a fairly entertaining read if you didn't mind a predictable plot and various stereotypes. It would have been a good read for a plane trip for instance. I particularly liked the banter between the two cops. The second book wasn't as good but it wasn't exactly bad either. The decline in quality wasn't that noticeable. Enter the third book, which was really painful to read. It's obvious the man got tired of fans asking him to produce the third part of the trilogy and came up with a book so inferior it was ridiculous. The dialogue had to be some of the most inane and laughable writing I've read in my life and the plot was a joke. And why, oh why can't he write a book without a "special" dog in it? :bang:

Tomorrow I'm planning on starting Salman Rushdie's The Enchantress of Florence. I'm certain it's exactly what I need to cleanse my mind.

[Guest Raidne]

Went to Borders and picked up The Affinity Bridge by George Mann, and I ordered The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi from Amazon (fine, I'll admit it, along with a copy of Tim Gunn's A Guide to Quality, Taste, and Style...).

[Ratatoskr]

Finished Abraham's "A Shadow in Summer" a few days ago. Liked it, although not as much as many others have. Will read the rest of the series, but not right away.

Am almost through with Wolfe's "The Sorcerer's House". Will start a thread on it when finished, unless someone else does it first. Am nonplussed that a board supposedly as much in love with Wolfe as this one has all but ignored his latest offering.

[BookWyrm]

Still hacking away at War and Peace. Still it's insanely good but I've started to get that creeping 'when will this book end' feeling. In my attempt to rectify the situation I've started read the Songs of the Dying Earth anthology. I'm about halfway through both books.

[awesome possum]

Picked up a nice stack today at the library. My estimated reading order:

Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb

The Walking Dead (books 1-8) by Robert Kirkman

Horns by Joe Hill

Company of Liars by Karen Maitland

I've read TWD already; anyone know if the other two are worthy of being bumped up the list?

[Werthead]

Nothing newer on the pile appealed to me at this moment, so I went with my first reread in ten years of Helliconia Spring by Brian W. Aldiss.

[moirne]

I've finished two Kelly Link short story collections: Magic for Beginners and Pretty Monsters. MFB was very strange and experimental. I didn't like all of the stories. PM was excellent though, the style is easier to follow and the stories were more interesting. Link is rather brilliant and inspiring.

[Quarterman]

Finished The Night of the Moonbow by Thomas Tryon the other day. Quite disappointing, what a slow-burn burn that is essentially another take on William Golding's "Lord of the Flies" theme only set in a summer camp rather than a deserted island. Nothing significant happens for the better deal of the book. 5/10

Stick with Harvest Home and The Other (both I give 10/10 ratings). I don't recommend this one published 16 years after his last horror novel (Harvest Home) and 3 years before the author's death.

About to start The Kraken Wakes by John Wyndham.

[palin99999]

Finished:

Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott - 7.5/10

Starting:

The Devil by Ken Bruen

[Procrastimancer]

Finished Neuromancer a few days ago. Great novel with some of the best characterization I have read in a while, though it is heavily dated. Zafon's The Prince of Mist finally arrived, so I have started that now.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

Finished Abraham's "A Shadow in Summer" a few days ago. Liked it, although not as much as many others have. Will read the rest of the series, but not right away.

Am almost through with Wolfe's "The Sorcerer's House". Will start a thread on it when finished, unless someone else does it first. Am nonplussed that a board supposedly as much in love with Wolfe as this one has all but ignored his latest offering.

Books 2 & 3 are better. The crescendo is at the end of An Autumn War; in fact, it might have been better as a trilogy instead of a quartet. I haven't been as enthralled by The Price of Spring which I'm about half through.

[williamjm]

Books 2 & 3 are better. The crescendo is at the end of An Autumn War; in fact, it might have been better as a trilogy instead of a quartet. I haven't been as enthralled by The Price of Spring which I'm about half through.

I agree the series gets better as it goes on, although unlike you I thought The Price of Spring was the best in the series.

[Paxter]

Just finished Scott Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. It's a very enjoyable read - interesting characters, good pacing and plenty of twists and turns along the way. The Ocean's Eleven elements make for a nice change from the usual fantasy fare (the scene at Meraggio's was particularly memorable). Straight on to Red Seas Over Red Skies now.

[werewolfv2]

just started on Tongues of Serpents by Naomi Novik, so far its pretty decent :thumbsup:

[Werthead]

Just as I was about to crack Helliconia Spring, City of Ruins showed up, so I might read that first. However, I've been putting off the Helliconia reread for the past two years, so I might read Spring first and then Ruins.

I advise bloggers to look at the acknowledgements section in City of Ruins before reading :)