July 2011 Reading thread

[Mike Snow]

Halfway through ASoS. Tardy for the party a bit ...But I'm flying through and almost on AfFC.

[SkynJay]

Finished Something Wicked Comes This Way. Gotta say, not as good as I was hoping. Is putting down Bradbury allowed for this one book? A parts it was down right hard to read, which is strange for a fairly sparce 200 page book. And the ending comes so fast and easy it just made me shake my head.

So great ideas, but Ill stick to Circus of Dr Lao for my weird circus reads.

So, now finally on to White Luck Warrior! Finally in my hands, after a couple week wait.

[Starkess]

I finally finished ADWD on Saturday night--took me a while because I had a guest for almost a week in there and I wasn't really going to sit around reading. :)

Now I feel kind of lost--I know I have plenty of books to read but I was so excited about ADWD that I haven't really planned anything now.

[Peadar]

Phew! Finished! Dunno what's next. Possibly The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi.

[beniowa]

Read the new Wild Cards, Fort Freak.

Then I made fairy short work of Mark Hodder's The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man.

This morning I picked up Ghost Story and that will be my next read.

[Starkess]

Was thinking about starting the Malazan series, but then I was thinking about 10 books (yikes) and each $9 a pop...and decided to hold off. Instead went through my shelves for a light re-read, ending up deciding on The 13 1/2 Live of Captain Bluebear by Walter Moers. I picked it up from a very scanty selection when I was stuck in Norfolk a few years back, and it was actually a really cute, good read. Looking forward to it for some lighter reading. :)

[WinterPaysForSummer]

I decided to do some Steven Brust as my post-ADWD reading. I was about to start his new Vlad book, Tiassa, but then I realized that it brings in elements from his Khaavren series and that it probably would not be fully appreciated without reading the Khaavren books. So, I started The Phoenix Guards. I am pleasantly surprised by The Phoenix Guards so far. It is written in an oldfashioned, pseudo-Alexandre Dumas style that is really fun. And despite lacking Vlad as a POV, it does not lack the trademark Brust wit.

[Stevonicus]

Picked up Borges' Ficciones yesterday. Seems fairly interesting.

I've fifty-ish pages of At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien to go aswell.

[True Blue Mug]

Thinking about diving into Sabriel and/or Wolf Hall.

[Bellis]

Re-reading ADWD. What else should I read?

[Contrarius]

FInished Ghost Story. Will have to read it again pretty soon....

[aschwiig]

It's been a good couple of weeks as far as books go.

I finished Umberto Eco's latest, The Prague Cemetary, which was very good and in my eyes up there with the Name of the Rose, Focoults Pendulum and Baudolino. It handles the murkier sides of late 19th century politics in Europe, and works well on many levels. Sad to say, the recent travesties in my country made it even more topical than I first thought.

I've also read ADWD of course, but are currenty reading Soldier of the Mist by Gene Wolfe. I'm a bit rusty on Greek mythology and history, so this one is a slow read. From experience with Wolfe, I suspect that the pay-off will make it worthwhile. I've got the omnibus edition Latro in the Mist, so I will probably jump straight into Soldier of Arete.

[Datepalm]

Reading Kameron Hurley's God's War - the plot is a tiny bit shaky but the worldbuilding has a nasty, tactile quality that makes up for it.

[Grack21]

Finished Dance Sunday. I;ve decided for august I'm just going to start with my hardcover A's and just read them alphabetically. I have so many books its insane. But before I do that I have a few pb to read to catch up to the HC releases. Read Sharpe's Revenge, now working on An Autumn War.

[Raskolnikov]

I ditched Gardens of the Moon halfway through for ADwD. I thought I'd have enough time to finish it before ADwD reaches our shores, but gasp! We got it on release day. So I'm back to Malaz again. Just had to read a few pages back. Not sure if I'll read the next one or the entire series yet.

[nickg]

The simple fact that you're halfway through GotM ( gasp ) is almost promising. Good luck

[Cuchulain]

Finished ADwD yesterday. I think I'll read Alastair Reynolds' The Prefect next.

[Mjolnir]

300 pages or so from the end of ADWD. I can already feel the deep existential despair that will fall upon me when I'm done creeping in, but right now I don't care because I'm enjoying myself so much.

Got about 50 pages left in A Star Shall Fall. Still enjoying it a lot -- though I'm clearly not paying enough attention, given that I came across the name of a secondary character a little while ago [over 300 pages through] and had no idea whatsoever who they were.

As a fun read to break up ADWD -- not that it needs breaking up; I just want it to go on longer -- I'm embarking on Mark Hodder's The Curious Case of the Clockwork Man. Thrilling opening sequence. Uses its altered steampunk 19th-century London setting very well and smoothly while keeping the action going. I'm bouncing off it a bit now, though. The book seems somewhat in love with its alternate version of Richard Francis Burton; he's coming off as a kind of square-jawed superhero and while I don't always object to those in the proper context it's putting me off here for some reason.

[Datepalm]

The book seems somewhat in love with its alternate version of Richard Francis Burton; he's coming off as a kind of square-jawed superhero and while I don't always object to those in the proper context it's putting me off here for some reason.

I couldn't get past the first ten pages because of this. Wanted to throttle him the moment he appeared. :huh:

[Guinevere Seaworth]

I finished The Edge of the World by Kevin J. Anderson. I enjoyed it quite a bit. The story is a blend of age of exploration and the Crusades. The narrative structure is like GRRM with different POV's for each chapter. It also has low magic and a surprisingly high body count, including major characters. The only downside is that there are alot of POVs and the chapters are short, giving a lack of character development. The plot is fantastic and I'm a sucker for sailing/exploration themes. I'm already halfway through the second book of the series, The Map of All Things.