September 2010 reads

[BookWyrm]

Today I read the chapter in The Things They Carried where Tim O'Brien decided to go to war instead of fleeing, while walking to my recruiter to confirm the day I swear in. This book's probably never going to leave me now.

Has anyone else had a special connection to a book, relating to your life at the time of the read? I feel like the power in O'Brien's words were magnified by this so much

[Eyelesbarrow]

It's been a slow month so far. For the past week, I've been trying to finish My Friend Maigret by Simenon, which is more like a novella than a novel. Alternating it with AL Kennedy's short story collection. /Sigh. I want to finish Simenon book so I can get to Devices and Desires.

Bookwym-

The Things They Carried is one of the powerful short stories I've read. Good stuff. Take the book with you; I hope it will become your good luck charm.

[BookWyrm]

Bookwym-

The Things They Carried is one of the powerful short stories I've read. Good stuff. Take the book with you; I hope it will become your good luck charm.

Thanks. I definitely will. It's a new favorite.

I've also read and loved Joe Comeau's Overqualified. It's a novel comprised of resumé cover letters. Very original, sad and funny. I recommend this!

[Analu]

Last finished "Hawkwood and the Kings", the first Paul Kearney omnibus. I enjoyed it, though not as much as some on the board. I think I just didn't engage with the characters on an emotional level, while I did greatly enjoy the machinations -both exposed and hinted at. I have the second omnibus "Century of the Soldier" but I'm in no rush to get to it.

Recently read this too. I liked the first 4 books a lot, but the 5th was so shockingly bad I was half-wondering if something happened to Kearney and it was written by a ghost writer. Left me with a bad taste in my mouth for the series, which is too bad, because the first four books were a lot of fun to read. Corfe is awesome.

I picked up Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes.

I've just started reading this. My dad gave it to me a few months ago. He was in the Vietnam War and I guess he thinks it'll help me understand why he's the way he is. Or something. Am enjoying it so far, though the main character irritates me, which usually doesn't bode well for me.

I also read "Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks. It had a few good things going for it, but a lot of clunky dialogue, badly written characters and YA-ish scenes pretty much ruined it for me. I skimmed thru the first 50 pages of the second book, but it read so poorly I decided that was enough for me.

This probably doesn't count, but I'm also reading a book on how to coach girl's basketball. I'm coaching my little cousins youth bball team and just want to make sure I'm aware of what kind of etiquette (if any) is involved in coaching girls vs boys. I'm used to yelling at the boys all the time. Am a little concerned, but am really looking forward to wearing knee high socks, growing a stache and hiking up my shorts to mid-chest level. yeehaw

[trio]

Reading The Passage.

Didn't think I'd enjoy it - everyone keeps comparing it to Stephen King/The Stand, and whilst I found The Stand readable, I was a bit "meh" about it.

But am very engaged with The Passage. It's a total page-turner. And it's massive, so it's slowing down even a speedy reader like myself. I'm still only 3/4 way through and I've been reading it for a week.

Only problem is, it keeps invading my dreams. I'm having disturbing dreams where I'm in the camp and the virals are trying to get in. :lol: I'm waking up exhausted!

[Arbor Gold]

Books two and three of The Hunger Games series pretty much sucked. There's a reason why you don't hear much about the following books: they are not good. It's like the author got a free pass for writing a great first book, so editors didn't look at the following books. Still readable, but could be condensed. The third book, Mockingjay, is the worst.

Now working on Matterhorn. I'm 100 pages in and I really like it.

[Mexal]

I've just started reading this. My dad gave it to me a few months ago. He was in the Vietnam War and I guess he thinks it'll help me understand why he's the way he is. Or something. Am enjoying it so far, though the main character irritates me, which usually doesn't bode well for me.

He is supposed to irritate you. His character arc is very good.

[Ran]

Finished Stross's collection, Wireless. As with many collections, there's some fluff. The Hugo Award-winning "Palimpsest" is pretty good, as is the other novella, "Missile Gap".

Also, finished Richard Morgan's Market Forces when I decided I needed a bit of SFnal noir grit. Hrm... There's some real problems with this one. And it's not the huge amount of suspension of disbelief to sustain some of the ideas (private investment firms openly funding wars and dictatorial regimes to turn "wasteful" warfare into profitable free market enterprise, corporate employees duelling one another in Car Wars/"Along the Scenic Route" road battles to gain a promotion or secure a contract). But plot-wise, it's very uneven. I've read that this originally started as a screenplay, and maybe expanding it out into a novel was what did it in. In particular,

the rapid dissolution of Chris's marriage is more said than shown, and having Carla just off-camera so to speak with Chris gives her his last message feels very incomplete. For that matter, Chris's relationship with Liz is such a cliché.

I did like the introduction of Barranco and the relationship with Lopez, though. And really, the relationship with Mike through much of it seemed like textbook corporate male bonding, and was well-done. I sort of envision Christian Bale as Chris, actually. Maybe it's because of American Psycho.

[Werthead]

Nearly up to date with the Gaunt's Ghosts series. Have several possible next choices: The Nine Hundred Days by Harrison E. Salisbury, one of the most gut-wrenching books I've ever read, is crying out for a re-read, but (on a completely different planet) Robert Rankin's The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse looks like a lot of fun.

Recently read this too. I liked the first 4 books a lot, but the 5th was so shockingly bad I was half-wondering if something happened to Kearney and it was written by a ghost writer. Left me with a bad taste in my mouth for the series, which is too bad, because the first four books were a lot of fun to read. Corfe is awesome.

Book 5 should really have been 2-3 novels of the same size, but I get the impression that Kearney was seriously disillusioned with publishing at that point and wanted to move on. The new edition is better than the original, but space limitations made only a band-aid fix possible, not the full rewrite of Book 5 he'd been hoping to carry out.

[Analu]

He is supposed to irritate you. His character arc is very good.

That's what I figure will happen, which sounds like the same old same old to me: young guy goes to the war, faces the horrors of it, and is changed forever by it. Nothing wrong with that, if that's the case, but I've read/seen plenty of those already. I'm appreciating the little details so far, though.

Book 5 should really have been 2-3 novels of the same size, but I get the impression that Kearney was seriously disillusioned with publishing at that point and wanted to move on. The new edition is better than the original, but space limitations made only a band-aid fix possible, not the full rewrite of Book 5 he'd been hoping to carry out.

I bought the first new edition (including the first two books), but bought the last 3 books as the original standalones on ebay. I'll take your word that the new edition is better, but I have no desire to read it to find out what he's added. Just about everything in that book felt off to me so I don't see how much improvement a few extra pages could be.

One thing that annoyed me was that the ages of the children in book 5 didn't seem to add up to the chronological events of the first 4 books. It had lots of other problems too, but this just seemed really sloppy to me.

[Cuchulain]

Finished The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester. The story is a police procedural centered around a murder committed in a future where telepathy has made premeditated murder impossible. I knew I was going to enjoy the novel, but it was even better than I'd expected. It's really amazing that Bester wrote this almost 60 years ago. The Demolished Man doesn't quite reach the level of The Stars My Destination (probably my favourite SF novel), but it's still one of the best SF novels I've read.

[Werthead]

One thing that annoyed me was that the ages of the children in book 5 didn't seem to add up to the chronological events of the first 4 books. It had lots of other problems too, but this just seemed really sloppy to me.

Really? 17 years passed between the two books, so the kids in question were that age, which didn't seem too much of a stretch. They also didn't do that much in the grand scheme of things.

[Analu]

Really? 17 years passed between the two books, so the kids in question were that age, which didn't seem too much of a stretch. They also didn't do that much in the grand scheme of things.

I remember double and triple-checking this: in the books I have, the years are like so: (Warning: mild spoilers below)

In the beginning of book four, it's year 552 and the children are either still in the womb or just a twinkle in their dad's eyes.

Then in book five, they're 17 and it's year 567.

I'm shitty at math, but even I can perform basic arithmetic. They should've been no older than 15. Maybe my books have some typos, though. They look pretty old.

And you're right, they're not important characters, but it still bothered me because... I expect the author and his editor to at least pretend to give a shit, even if Kearney was disillusioned with the series by that point, as you alluded to. To not even get the years right is just plain lazy.

[Ran]

Cuchulain,

Bester was brilliant. Oh, very uneven too, but his best stuff, when he was firing on all cylinders, is incredibly fresh. If you can find a collection of his short stories, there's some terrific ones, the most famous of which is probably "Fondly Fahrenheit". As far as novels go, The Computer Connection is also worth reading, but it's somewhat uneven.

I've often wondered what became of Bester's little black book -- he wrote in an essay somewhere that he had a black notebook filled with all the ideas he had in mind for stories. Bester left his estate to his bartender (and now that you know that, it's probably not a surprise to learn Bester was an alcoholic), so I suppose it ended up with him.

If you can find the collections Star Light, Star Bright and The Light Fantastic, the stories there also have forewords from Bester talking about their genesis and his life and such. Good reading.

[Cuchulain]

Ran,

I own two collections of Bester's short fiction. The first one, Virtual Unrealities, reprints most of the stuff found in the earlier collections. The second one, Redemolished, contains a few non-fiction pieces in addition to short stories. As of yet, I haven't read either of these collections, but finishing The Demolished Man has reminded me that I should really read more of Bester's work.

It's interesting that you mentioned Bester was an alcoholic. I wasn't aware of that. Those forewords in the story collections sound interesting too. I'm sure they help put the man's writing in perspective.

[mashiara]

I can't believe it took me a whole week to finish Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey. I blame worrying about work too much, and then having way too many things to do to start preparing for my new grade. Even with those excuses it shouldn't have taken me so long but I was just not into it. I found it better than the Imriel books but it was almost too familiar at times, too similar to her other books. Also, I must be losing my love for purple prose, I was like "Ok, another thrilling sex scene... yawn, can we get on with the plot, such as it is?". I liked the second part of the book a lot more. I will read the rest of them but it's not a priority of mine.

I'm hoping to start Hawkwood and the Kings today, Paul Kearney's first omnibus of his Monarchies of God series.

[Bellis]

I was looking forward to devouring Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins sequel to the excellent The Hunger Games. It's not as good, and, especially in the first half where the plot seemed to meander somewhat, I was distracted by the poor prose styling and often awkward sentence structure. There are problems with pacing. Nevetheless, the last section is engrossing and I'm still impressed by the adroit characterizations. In particular, she very nicely avoids turning the protagonist, Katniss, into a Mary Sue, while at the same time letting her become a mostly positive role model for YA female readers.

I'm concerned that Arbor Gold didn't like the last book, and I'm trying to manage my expectations.

I will read the rest of them but it's not a priority of mine.

I liked Namaah's Kiss. Namaah's Curse was really quite bad. If you didn't even like the first book that much, I would save your time and skip the sequel.

[delete this account pls]

Bellis, did you finish Matterhorn? If so, what did you think?

I've decided to reread Richard Morgan's Kovacs Trilogy. Just started Altered Carbon.

[Ran]

I preferred the Imriel books. More interesting milieus, a more messed up character. Moirin is just... too well-adjusted and normal to be able to sustain the narrative. The angst that exists -- and nothing is better than angst to get one into erotic adventures -- feels more manufactured, and certainly much more external than internal than in the two previous series.

[Bellis]

Bellis, did you finish Matterhorn? If so, what did you think?

Yes. I sort of just let it wash over me, without thinking about it too much, which is why I haven't participated in the discussions. Definitely a quality read for those intrigued by the subject matter and the hype.

Ran, I like Moirin fine, but I think Carey's sort of run out of (quality) story ideas in that setting, so that the second Moirin book was just a little too silly. My favorite book of hers was actually the first Imriel book, though I was disappointed in where she ultimately took that series.