April 2011 - Reading Thread

[Seli]

I'm currently reading

the folding knife by K.J. Parker from the library

the wise man's fear by Patrick Rothfuss

the secret history of moscow by Ekaterina Sedia on my phone

the green leopard plague and other stories by Walter J. Williams on my ebook reader

I really should learn how to focus

[shadow catlady]

I just finished Perdido Street Station, by China Mieville, a recommendation I got somewhere or several places on this board. I enjoyed it.

I was surprised that it turned out to be such a tender and sad love story. Not what I was expecting.

.

I have also been reading Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver, though I started it a few fiction selections ago. (I read non-fiction in much shorter bursts of attention span I guess.) I really like this book, though it is reinforcing ideas that I've read elsewhere rather than giving me many new ones.

[Starkess]

Finished The Hammer, it was pretty good. I didn't like it quite as much as The Company, although possibly just because I read them so close together and they were a bit similar. I'm not a big fan of feeling "tricked" by the author, which I kind of felt like was going on with the main character, but in the end it turned out about right.

Going to read The Folding Knife now and that will finish up the KJ Parker books I bought.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

I'm waiting for Abraham's The Dragon's Path to come out for the Kindle in Canada. I pre-ordered Mieville's Embassytown and A Dance with Dragons today. I'm going to start reading VanderMeer's The Third Bear soon. I hope it's good!

[Peadar]

I've just started Paolo Bacigalupi's The Ship Breaker. I'm looking forward to it...

[Datepalm]

Finished Joel Shepards Crossover (first Cassandra Kresnov novel). S'okay, I suppose. A bit too thrillery and action oriented for me. Not enough Science in the Fiction, the worldbuilding is really bland, I didn't care about the plot enough to follow it, too many under-characterized minor characters, too much heavy handed breaks philosophizing.

On the plus side, a very solid pass of the Bechdel test and Cassandra herself is plenty interesting, especially when its centered on her psychology and history (and things actually get a bit, y'know, SFnal.) Her sex life - and for something talked about so much, the actual sex is infrequent and tamely fade to black. Either you're a trashy female-sex-positive thing, or you're not, yo! - and how good she is at shooting stuff - not so interesting, alas. (OTOH, dude! the author is Australian! Which becomes kind of hilariously obvious at the very end. I dont think i've ever read another book by an Australian.)

Also, about half way through the Cardinals Blades (Pierre Pevel) which is just really good swashbuckling fun, and (I wish more stuff that aims for swashbuckling fun would get this) not that heavy on the action. Well, theres lots and lots, but its fairly economically described - maybe i'm just relieved after the pages and pages of action-scenes-from-movies-descriptions of Crossover - a few paragraphs as needed, rather than going on forever, blow by blow. It also helps that our heroes are all amazingly excellent fighters and regualrly take out whole bands of random mooks single handedly in seconds.

Instead the fun is all in the fast pace, historical-with-dragons setting (good mix there too - different enough to interesting, familiar enough to be evocative, and not dwelled on so much that it requires serious alternative-history 'how did that lead to this' type thinking, but enough to be immersive.), honorable-yet-roughish characters, etc. Usually I would roll my eyes at this, but this book will just ocassionaly go something like "For he had besides his great good looks also an air of roughish charm of the type only enhanced by the dishevelment of his dress" or some such really fawning description which is a bit weird coming from the 3rd person omniscent narrator, but here it works.

Its silly but its excellent, and I think books that actually manage that, a proper adventure that just makes you happy to read it and puts a big grin on your face, rather than falling short as trite, indulgent, sexist, plain stupid, pointless or some combination of the above, deserve more recognition and are anything but easy to do, given how few there actually are that I can think of that manage to hit all the notes perfectly.

Also about a third of the way through Jon Courtnay Grimwoods Falled Blade. Not sure about this one. Maybe it was trying to be a somewhat darker Cardinals Blades and is failing. Its all there, but theres too many characters and they're all too undeveloped to care about any of them, the setting isn't really coming alive and its 'dark and gritty' (sex, violence, lots of sexual violence) in a way that feels a bit gratuitous.

edit for paragraphs.

[beniowa]

Datepalm, you might be interested then in the book I just finished, which was...

The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. This book was a fun sword-and-sorcery adventure yarn set in 8th Century Baghdad and its environs. Think of the Prince of Persia movie, but more historically accurate and better written. In fact, the author mentions that, while writing this book, The Arabian Nights was often his inspiration and guide. I get the sense that could be more stories set with the two main characters and it will be fun to read them if they are ever written.

I'm now reading Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.

[Datepalm]

Datepalm, you might be interested then in the book I just finished, which was...

The Desert of Souls by Howard Andrew Jones. This book was a fun sword-and-sorcery adventure yarn set in 8th Century Baghdad and its environs. Think of the Prince of Persia movie, but more historically accurate and better written. In fact, the author mentions that, while writing this book, The Arabian Nights was often his inspiration and guide. I get the sense that could be more stories set with the two main characters and it will be fun to read them if they are ever written.

Thanks, that sounds right up my alley. I'll try to get my hands on it. One of the neat things about Cardinals Blades is the non-anglo setting (I have no idea how french names work though, apparently) which just makes it feel a bit fresher. Its weird that the Arabian Nights have been abandoned in fantasy really - there seems to have been some process where stuff got very orientalised, then very politicized, then people got wary of that, and now nobody dares to step up and deconstruct that scantily clad harem girl protected by scimitar weilding eunuchs if their life depended on it, while eurpoean-medieval oriented occidental fantasy has been merrily messing with equally awful tropes for years.

I also finished Down and Out in London and Paris, which was extremely readable, funny, depressing, humane, etc, and really just reminded me how much of some kind of intellectual crush I have (and have had since I was 12 and read 1984) on George Orwell.

[Grack21]

Nothing wrong with good silly fun fantasy. It's why I still read the occasion d&d tie ins.

[mashiara]

Iron Council, China Mieville. At first I was glad to return to Bas-Lag but I have to admit I found this book to be the most challenging of the three, and it took a long time, damn near half the book, before it actually hooked me to the story. It was by far the most political of his books I've read (I'm not even going to mention Kraken here, I'd like to forget all about that.) His writing and his descriptions were as always excellent. At first I had a problem with the way the book ended but thinking about it afterwards it was probably the best possible ending.

Ancient Evenings, Normal Mailer. I knew what I was getting into, I'm familiar with his language and his "themes", but this book was supposed to be about Ancient Egypt and that's what made me pick it up at the library. I would have liked a bit more Egypt and little less sodomy. (Not that I have anything against sodomy, or sex of any kind, but when you get very similar sexual descriptions almost every page you become totally indifferent to them and you just want to skip ahead.

De la part de la Princess Morte, Kenize Mourad. Very interesting novel about the fate of one of the last Ottoman Princesses after Turkey got rid of its Sultan. It follows her from safe childhood to exile to marriage to an Indian maharajah, to her ending up in Paris during WW2. It was very well written for the most part (except for the Paris part which felt cheesy) and it paid particular attention to way women were treated in Muslim societies. Upon finishing the book I read that the author claims this is the true story of her mother, but I just never got around to investigating how much truth there is to that.

The Heroes, Joe Ambercrombie. Fast and furious, this book was really fun to read. Gritty and dark as books like that should be but with dialogue and inner monologues that jumped out to you and felt completely realistic. I loved how again and again it made you wonder what is it that makes us call someone a Hero. An excellent book.

Tonight or tomorrow I'm going to start The Sentinel Mage by Emily Gee.

[firehand]

Its weird that the Arabian Nights have been abandoned in fantasy really - there seems to have been some process where stuff got very orientalised, then very politicized, then people got wary of that, and now nobody dares to step up and deconstruct that scantily clad harem girl protected by scimitar weilding eunuchs if their life depended on it, while eurpoean-medieval oriented occidental fantasy has been merrily messing with equally awful tropes for years.

Well, that's not entirely true. I admit that it's rare, but there are some good fantasy books which are based on an oriental/Arabian Nights setting. Take for example Catherynne M. Valente's The Orphan's Tales novels (which are great, btw). The books are following the Arabian nights pattern of stories within stories. I's basically a modern reconstruction of Arabian Nights with modern terms and contemporary references (and with different stories, of course).

[ambyr]

Well, that's not entirely true. I admit that it's rare, but there are some good fantasy books which are based on an oriental/Arabian Nights setting. Take for example Catherynne M. Valente's The Orphan's Tales novels (which are great, btw). The books are following the Arabian nights pattern of stories within stories. I's basically a modern reconstruction of Arabian Nights with modern terms and contemporary references (and with different stories, of course).

Yeah, and I think (from her other reviews and comments) Datepalm would probably like it quite a bit.

[Datepalm]

Yeah, and I think (from her other reviews and comments) Datepalm would probably like it quite a bit.

I started it at one point, but had to return it (was reading it off of someones shelf at a party. Yeah, I suck at parties.) It was...more interesting as an immensely accomplished exercise than actually engaging as a story somehow. This was years ago though, and I only read about a third or so.

Theres also Edward Whittemores Sinai Tapestry, which I read about half of and annoyed me with being kind of Orientalist. Dont set a book in the middle east and have all the main characters be Europeans.

[shadow catlady]

Iron Council, China Mieville. At first I was glad to return to Bas-Lag but I have to admit I found this book to be the most challenging of the three, and it took a long time, damn near half the book, before it actually hooked me to the story. It was by far the most political of his books I've read (I'm not even going to mention Kraken here, I'd like to forget all about that.) His writing and his descriptions were as always excellent. At first I had a problem with the way the book ended but thinking about it afterwards it was probably the best possible ending.

Thanks for this opinion! I've just started reading some Mieville and also got into this one slowly and liked it a little less than the other Bas-Lag books, and wondered whether I'd like or dislike whatever one I read next. (Probably The City and The City, I think I'm 1st in the library queue for that one.)

I finished the Kingsolver book I mentioned (Animal, Vegetable, Miracle) a few hours ago, and I'm a little at loose ends since the library doesn't open till 9 tomorrow morning, poor timing on my part. And I cried at the end, which made me think of the thread about moments in fiction that made you cry. I think I get one for every book I read, if not an entire several-page sob fest.

[Eponine]

Iron Council, China Mieville. [...] At first I had a problem with the way the book ended but thinking about it afterwards it was probably the best possible ending.

I thought it was really the only possible ending.

[Bellis]

I read Jo Walton's Among Others, which is perfectly delightful. However, I was dissatistfied with the ending, and would have preferred more clarity on the reliability or lack thereof of the narrator.

I'm currently sludging through Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. I had no idea it was this long. Fortunately, he's such a strong prose stylist, which keeps me going, even as I wonder whether the whole shaggy dog story is worth my time.

[Grack21]

Finished Wise Man's Fear. Loved it. HATERS TO THE LEFT!

Just read Tina Fey's Bossypants in a sitting. I love her and someday she will be my bride.

I have NO idea what to read next. I'm either going to finally start Bakker or finally finish Ruckley or I dunno read a random D&D novel. Something that isn't 1000 pages and I can lift without straing myself.

[siemprepe]

I Finished The heroes which I thought was great although sometimes I was drifting of and not following as close as I wanted to.

After that I quickly went through King of the crags which had been on shelf for a while. Not a bad book and I will certainly read the third in the series.

Now I am reading Hawkwood and the kings. So far I am 200 pages in and I am already wondering why I didn't pick this series up earlier..

[Cuchulain]

Finished the following:

The Doomsters by Ross Macdonald. Hardboiled detective fiction in the vein of Chandler, but with a bigger focus on the psychology of the criminal. Highly recommended.

The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett. Probably the weakest of his novels, but still enjoyable.

number9dream by David Mitchell. Coming-of-age story about a 19-year-old boy looking for his father in modern-day Tokyo. Very well-written, one of Mitchell's best.

I'm now reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick.

[Piltdown]

I've recently finished Rothfuss' The Wise Man's Fear and the first book of Acacia by D.A. Durham.

I was disappointed with WMF, but not so much so that I didn't enjoy it. The Acacia Trilogy is keeping me busy for now (currently reading The Other Lands), but with the 3rd book MIA, I'm very much looking forward to the release of Embassytown to quell my scifi/fantasy thirst until A Dance with Dragons.

Also, I am rifling through this sub-forum for other interesting reading ideas.