What are you reading? *February Edition*

[DuncanOToole]

Hmmm at the moment I'm reading;

American gods by Neil Gaiman

To light a candle by James Mallory and Mercedes Lackey

Rebel by Bernard Cornwell

[Arvernian]

I just finished LoR and I decided to go with a re-read of the Chronicles of Amber. Mostly neccessity at this point. I'm moving in the next couple of weeks and all of my books are packed. I needed something large that would occupy me for a week or two and Zelazny fit the bill. Once I'm done with Amber I think I'll read the Mabinogeon Tetralogy, Mists of Avalon, Lions of Al Rassan, and then make a start on Alvin Maker.

[Amalric]

Since I´m short of cash at the moment these are the books I´m re-reading:

"In a dark wood wandering" by Hella Haase

"Den Oövervinnerlige" by Peter Englund

"Prince of Darkness" by Sharon Kay Penman

"The Normans in Sicily" by John Julius Norwich

[cteresa]

The Sir Anthony Villiers books by Alexei Panshin. I had loved Rite of Passage and had been sort of saving these for a later read. First book was not quite as good as RoP, but the series seems to have gotten better and better, and am now having withdrawal symptoms, I suppose the Universal Pantograph which would have been book 4 was never written? There are loose ends by the mountain full! I want more! So much crap getting published and no more of these? Am going to sulk privately now.

[RaceBannon42]

Finished Up Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold a few days ago.

I thought it was a nice book, some fun characters, fairly standard fair, with a few neat twists. Easy to read, good plot, good prose. Nothing really outstanding but very enjoyable. I'd give it 7 out of 10

Started on The Dragon Waiting by John M Ford. Not really sure what its about yet, It seems to be sort of Historical Fiction set in England during the time of Richard III. I wanted to at least get this book started before Boskone as Ford will be there.

[Isis]

I'm reading quite a few books at the moment but I'm throwing my main strength behind Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The whole Newton, Wren, Hooke period of history is fascinating to me so that first section was really easy to read and highly enjoyable. Newton was just such a weirdo. I adore his, 'do not think that I will suffer any criticism of my papers' attitude, like, 'I'm taking my ball and I'm going home'. I really hope that aspect of his character gets to shine in this series.

But it took me ages to get into the Jack and Eliza part. I will slog on though, in the hope that something interesting might happen to them. Right now it all seems to have gone a bit Tad Williamsy.

[H von T]

Just finished Between A Rock and a Hard Place by Aron Ralston. He's the hiker whose arm was pinned by a boulder and he had to cut his hand off. He's kind of a prick. Constantly puts himself in ridiculous situations and nearly gets two friends killed by an avalanche. He's an amazing outdoorsman, but his story was pretty repetitive. It was very difficult to slog through the parts where he talked about how he passed the nights. Plus, he's a Phish fan. Puke.

I've started Sex, Lies, and Politics by Larry Flynt. It's essentially an extended rant on why Bush sucks ass. And Larry knows about ass sucking. He practically invented it. If you hate Bush, it's a good recapitulation of all the reasons to dislike W. If you're a Bush supporter, hell, it's Larry freakin' Flynt. He can't possibly make a coherent argument. The smut peddler who cares. I'll grant him that.

[Ser Brendan the Voyager]

Actually I just finished ASOFAI for the like 6th time. Now I am reading the Book of Five Rings by Musashi Miyamoto. I have read it before but I am thinking of picking up kendo and thought it might be good to read it. Great book. I have been really big into Japanese philosoph books for the past year reading all I can get my hands on. Actually I am way into everything Japanese lately.

[Slick Mongoose]

Currently reading "Lord of Light" by Zelazny. I'm about half-way in, it's rather brilliant so far.

[The Stranger]

I actually just started reading "The Stand" by Stephen King. I read it earlier in middle school, and found an old copy at a bookstore yesterday. Unlike most of King's stuff that I've tried to read as an adult, I think the scope of the Stand actually holds up pretty well to my adult scrutinies, and against my own better judgement I'm highly enjoying it.

Isis--I have it on good authority that the Baroque Cycle is a really satisfying series, but I just couldn't get past page 100 of Quicksilver :sick:

[Winterfella]

Finished Midnight Tides in three weeks, which is like some kind of record for me with a book that size. Like most of Erikson, I really liked it, but most of it will evaporate from my head pretty quickly. I can never remember who did what from book to book. I think the reason I read it so quickly is that there was a real narrative drive in this book the whole way through. There have been points in the rest of the Malazan books where I got bogged down and had to slog through, but I didn't feel that way with this one. I can probably wait for Bonehunters in paperback though.

Wade, The Keep is one of my all time favorites. Hope you enjoy it.

[Frosty]

Dark Tower book 2 and AFFC in tandem, really screws with my ming.

[necron9dee9]

Right now I'm reading 4 different books.

Gardens of the Moon - Steven Erikson

Wild Cards #4

The Innkeeper's Song - Peter S. Beagle

Naked - David Sedaris

[Mr. X]

Currently I am reading a series of essays on the philosophy of education (for a class), short biographical pieces on 20th century mathematicians (for another class), and "Bittersweet Creek and other stories" by Christopher Rowe (for fun). The Christopher Rowe book (chapbook actually) is good -- it's mainly stories of rural folk with some fantasy inspired elements. I suppose you could say it's magic realism, but I've never been very good with classifications.

[Luzifer's right hand]

"Cosmonaut Keep" & "Dark Light" by Ken MacLeod. I like "Engines of Light" series much more than the "Fall Revolution" series so far.

Although I hope he gets rid of the commies in his next series.

[KinSlayerImp]

Just finished Chuck Palalhniuk's "Diary" (was good but not his best), David Gemmell's "Lion of Macedonia" and Ralph Peter's "War in 2020" (great, GREAT book).

Am reading Peter Robinson's "Playing with Fire" right now and then on to Ralph Peter's "Twilight of Heroes" and Gorden Kent's "Rules of Engagement".

[williamjm]

"Cosmonaut Keep" & "Dark Light" by Ken MacLeod. I like "Engines of Light" series much more than the "Fall Revolution" series so far.

Although I hope he gets rid of the commies in his next series.

I think there might be some socialists in his next book, "Newton's Wake" (which I thought was one of his weaker novels, it doesn't have the depth of his earlier books), although I can't quite remember.

You might like his most recent work, "Learning The World" better, since he largely ditches the politics and intead concentrates on a fairly traditional (but well-executed) First Contact story.

At the moment I'm mostly reading "Armageddon Rag" by some guy named George RR Martin. It's OK so far, but not his best work, unless it improves later. It doesn't help that every time it goes on about the Nazgul rock group that are the focus of the story I think of "This Is Spinal Tap"

I'm also intermittently reading "The History Of Scotland" by Magnus Magnusson. It is concisely written and interesting, although Scottish history would be easier to follow if there wasn't a several-hundred-year period where half of the most important people were called James Stewart.

[Jerol]

Neal Asher's Gridlinked. What a ride!

[Brys]

I'm currently reading Frank Herbert's Children of Dune - and fortunately, I haven't noticed the dreaded fall in quality yet. It isn't as good as Dune, but it's not bad either - I especially like how well Herbert's able to depict religion and culture. Next I'll probably be reading Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov (topped Jeff Vandermeer's list of best fantasy novels).

[Werthead]

But it took me ages to get into the Jack and Eliza part. I will slog on though, in the hope that something interesting might happen to them. Right now it all seems to have gone a bit Tad Williamsy.

I haven't read the other two books, but I don't think we really get inside Newton's head. From the look of it we only see him from Daniel's POV and I don't know how much time he spends with Newton in the second and third books.

The Jack and Eliza story is much stronger IMO than Daniel's. Daniel's story is something of a scene-setting travellogue whilst Jack and Eliza's story has action! Excitement! Explosions! After that we go back to Daniel again, but things are a bit more interesting this time around.

The only bummer is that after such a languid novel, we get a tense (but quite funny) cliffhanger ending. Although rather oddly it happens a good couple of hundred pages before the end. You'll see what I mean.

After a quick break to read Matheson's I Am Legend, I have moved onto a re-read of House of Chains. I have 13 days to finish it before The Bonehunters is released. Wish me luck!