July 2011 Reading thread

[mashiara]

I thought Feed by Mira Grant would be a breezy light quick read. After all, it was nominated for a Hugo. How bad could it be? Well, for a book over 500 pages, it was a quick read. Mostly because it was rambling, repetitive, with flat stock heroes and villians, poor prose, hole-y world-building. There were some highly charged emotional situations, but they were also highly cliche zombie story tropes (e.g. my friend has been bit, we need to tearfully kill them before they kill us). I wasn't as big a fan of The Passage by Justin Cronin as others on this board, but it was much more original, much better written, much more sophisticated. For shame, Hugo nominators!

Hmmm. First Ben, now you. I guess I'm the only one here who read it and actually enjoyed it? I just finished it a few days ago. Maybe it has to do with my frame of mind and my inability to focus on anything serious or challenging right now, but I quite enjoyed it for what it was, a quick, undemanding read. I didn't mind the cliche tropes and I actually liked the main character. :dunno:

I also read the second book, Deadline. Now, that was a waste of time, mostly. It seemed impossible that she would pick up the story from where she stopped in the first book and she's using some pretty unbelievable plot twists to do so, even more unbelievable than zombies. I just didn't feel like buying into the whole conspiracy thing and the ending was a pure WTF moment. I don't know if I'll be bothering with the 3rd book. Maybe at some point.

I just started The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding. I hope I can focus and do it justice, I had it with me for the 3 hours I was waiting at the hospital yesterday and only read 15 pages, which I'm pretty sure I need to reread 'cause my mind just wasn't in it.

[RedEyedGhost]

Still working through The King of Crags by Stephen Deas, struggling through it I should say. It's not bad; it's just that there's zero depth to it. The book is just flitting from POV to POV. I guess it feels like he was given a very tight word count by his editor, and trimmed everything possible. I'm still hoping I'll have time to get through Small Favor by Jim Butcher before next Tuesday.

[Grack21]

Still working through The King of Crags by Stephen Deas, struggling through it I should say. It's not bad; it's just that there's zero depth to it. The book is just flitting from POV to POV. I guess it feels like he was given a very tight word count by his editor, and trimmed everything possible. I'm still hoping I'll have time to get through Small Favor by Jim Butcher before next Tuesday.

I've heard that the publishers made him trim a lot of the backstory from the first novel, but I don't know how true that actually is.

[RedEyedGhost]

I've heard that the publishers made him trim a lot of the backstory from the first novel, but I don't know how true that actually is.

I'm not sure about that, but I didn't notice this lack of depth with the first book. Maybe he or his editors did a better job of masking the cuts :dunno: It's just really hard to connect with this book.

[Lummel]

I was reading Baudolino (the Umberto Eco book set in the 3rd/4th crusades) and really enjoying it until I got about 3/4 of the way through where it started getting weirder and weirder and more and more heavy-handed about Gnostism. Then at the end of June I was too busy to finish it, and now it sits there accusingly on my bedside table. Is it worth finishing, or should I cut my losses and run?

I'd say read it, but then I love that book.

But if you think it's getting weirder and weirder then just bear in mind the kind of writer that Eco is. I mean "The name of the Rose" looks like a solid piece of historical fiction, but then maybe it's a parody of the country-house murder story, or a discussion on the nature and purpose of books and learning, or an exercise in playfulness. And what about Foucoult's pendulum with it's editors inventing an esoteric secret society which everyone decides that they are actually a member of - ie the consequences of imagination on the real world.

And if you haven't read them and you get to the end of Baudolino and you still think it weird and heavy handed then I'd say

remember the green honey and read it again!

[murphy]

Hmmm. First Ben, now you. I guess I'm the only one here who read it and actually enjoyed it? I just finished it a few days ago. Maybe it has to do with my frame of mind and my inability to focus on anything serious or challenging right now, but I quite enjoyed it for what it was, a quick, undemanding read. I didn't mind the cliche tropes and I actually liked the main character. :dunno:

I also read the second book, Deadline. Now, that was a waste of time, mostly. It seemed impossible that she would pick up the story from where she stopped in the first book and she's using some pretty unbelievable plot twists to do so, even more unbelievable than zombies. I just didn't feel like buying into the whole conspiracy thing and the ending was a pure WTF moment. I don't know if I'll be bothering with the 3rd book. Maybe at some point.

I just started The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding. I hope I can focus and do it justice, I had it with me for the 3 hours I was waiting at the hospital yesterday and only read 15 pages, which I'm pretty sure I need to reread 'cause my mind just wasn't in it.

I really liked it too. I haven't read Deadline yet, not really in the mood for a sad story. Besides ADWD is coming next week as will Ghost Story.

[Eponine]

Finished Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - really amazing.

Forget if I posted about finishing Snow Crash, the ending was absolutely terrible, IMO.

Still plugging away at Lovecraft, should be done about the same time I finish the rest of the rec list put together.

[Ormond]

Last night I finished Judith Tarr's Avaryan Rising, the omnibus of The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen, and A Fall of Princes.

I guess I was underwhelmed. One thing you can say for Tarr is that she creates a fantasy world where many if not most of her characters have darker skin colors. The most important figure who's in all three books, Mirain, is definitely described as being "black", and there are mentions of people with all the main "real earth" skin colors plus people who are described with "golden" skin.

I think over-all I'd give the first book in the trilogy a B, the second a C-, and the third a B+. The viewpoint character in the second book, Elian, is a teenage girl princess who is so afraid of giving up any independence that she obsessively rebels against the wishes of her parents or of the two men she's romantically interested in, even when it's fairly obvious they are NOT really trying to dominate her. She often acts more like a defiant two year old who has to say "No" to everything than even a normal teen. This got really old for me very fast.

The two main characters in A Fall of Princes were the best drawn in the series, but I didn't like the major transformation she gave one of them about 3/4 of the way through, even though it sort of fit her dynastic plot. Also, in several places Tarr seemed to buy into some rather sexist ideas, especially for a female author. For example, there are several statements about women being less "logical" than men that seem to be presented as universal truth rather than just the opinions of a particular person or culture.

Anyone else have any opinions on Tarr's books? I think if I read more by her, my next choice will be one of her more purely historical novels. (I read her first fantasy trilogy, The Hound and the Falcon, years ago and IIRC also thought it was at "B" level.)

[murphy]

Last night I finished Judith Tarr's Avaryan Rising, the omnibus of The Hall of the Mountain King, The Lady of Han-Gilen, and A Fall of Princes.

I guess I was underwhelmed. One thing you can say for Tarr is that she creates a fantasy world where many if not most of her characters have darker skin colors. The most important figure who's in all three books, Mirain, is definitely described as being "black", and there are mentions of people with all the main "real earth" skin colors plus people who are described with "golden" skin.

I think over-all I'd give the first book in the trilogy a B, the second a C-, and the third a B+. The viewpoint character in the second book, Elian, is a teenage girl princess who is so afraid of giving up any independence that she obsessively rebels against the wishes of her parents or of the two men she's romantically interested in, even when it's fairly obvious they are NOT really trying to dominate her. She often acts more like a defiant two year old who has to say "No" to everything than even a normal teen. This got really old for me very fast.

The two main characters in A Fall of Princes were the best drawn in the series, but I didn't like the major transformation she gave one of them about 3/4 of the way through, even though it sort of fit her dynastic plot. Also, in several places Tarr seemed to buy into some rather sexist ideas, especially for a female author. For example, there are several statements about women being less "logical" than men that seem to be presented as universal truth rather than just the opinions of a particular person or culture.

Anyone else have any opinions on Tarr's books? I think if I read more by her, my next choice will be one of her more purely historical novels. (I read her first fantasy trilogy, The Hound and the Falcon, years ago and IIRC also thought it was at "B" level.)

You might try The White Mare's Daughter, a mythical tale of the middle east. But then I have a fondness for the Lippezaners she raises.

[pat5150]

Finished GRRM's A Dance With Dragons. That book is the shit!

Check out the blog for my full review. :)

Patrick

[Deedles]

Hmmm. First Ben, now you. I guess I'm the only one here who read it and actually enjoyed it? I just finished it a few days ago. Maybe it has to do with my frame of mind and my inability to focus on anything serious or challenging right now, but I quite enjoyed it for what it was, a quick, undemanding read. I didn't mind the cliche tropes and I actually liked the main character. :dunno:

I also read the second book, Deadline. Now, that was a waste of time, mostly. It seemed impossible that she would pick up the story from where she stopped in the first book and she's using some pretty unbelievable plot twists to do so, even more unbelievable than zombies. I just didn't feel like buying into the whole conspiracy thing and the ending was a pure WTF moment. I don't know if I'll be bothering with the 3rd book. Maybe at some point.

I just started The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding. I hope I can focus and do it justice, I had it with me for the 3 hours I was waiting at the hospital yesterday and only read 15 pages, which I'm pretty sure I need to reread 'cause my mind just wasn't in it.

Oh good, I'm not the only one then. I did enjoy "Feed" which I regarded as a well told zombie romp with an ok political side story. Just didn't enjoy "Deadline" at all. I'm generally not one who spots huge plotholes all the time but they were all over this one, it resembled a lace shawl in a lot of ways. The twists were frankly ludicrous. I like a good twist, these just left me rather cross and feeling short changed.

[Jojen]

Just finished reading Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Liked the first half, hated the ending.

Now reading John Steinbeck's Tortilla Flat and enjoying the hell out of it.

[SkynJay]

Finished Bleak Seasons, seventh Black Company novel. It confused the hell out of me for a while, but actually still a good read.

Now I am finally starting The Judging Eye.

After that is where I must force myself not to buy ADWD in hardback, but wait my turn at library and hold off buying until paperback is released.

[Xenophon]

Thanks for the advice on Baudolino guys. I pushed on, and am enjoying it a lot again, now that I've got past the 10 pages or so of the skiapods talking about how they don't see physical differences, only differences in thought.

[mashiara]

I really liked it too. I haven't read Deadline yet, not really in the mood for a sad story. Besides ADWD is coming next week as will Ghost Story.

Oh good, I'm not the only one then. I did enjoy "Feed" which I regarded as a well told zombie romp with an ok political side story. Just didn't enjoy "Deadline" at all. I'm generally not one who spots huge plotholes all the time but they were all over this one, it resembled a lace shawl in a lot of ways. The twists were frankly ludicrous. I like a good twist, these just left me rather cross and feeling short changed.

Glad I wasn't the only one, then. It wouldn't have changed my opinion but it's good to know other people thought the book was fun. Murphy, Deadline is sad, but mostly it's all over the place, like deedles said. I'm sure you'll agree once you get to it eventually.

I finished The Black Lung Captain by Chris Wooding a lot quicker than I thought and I had a grand time doing it. Quick, fun, adventurous with some character development -though that wasn't necessary a requirement- it was a really good second book that carried on in the same spirit as the first one. And yes, it did feel like Firefly all over again, but that's not a bad thing.

I don't really want to start a new book, I'm hoping that one way or another I'll be able to start reading aDwD in a day and a half. I will probably just read a couple of stories from Corsets & and Clockwork, 13 Steampunk Romances. It's the book I had packed away in my hospital bag but something tells me I won't have much time for reading once there anyway.

[Grack21]

100 Pages into AFFC. Should finish in time for Tuesday.

[Deedles]

Going to start a reread of "The Mad Ship" by Robin Hobb. I first read the Liveship Traderas not long after they first came out, so I had forgotten a lot of the detail which is where I think Hobb excells at. She conveys huge levels of information without getting bogged down in minutiae, in my opinion. I find the characters to be a little emo for my taste but I very much like the settings and concepts.

I'm almost obsessively checking my Gmail accountfor confirmation that ADWD has been shipped. I probably won't crack it open til Friday butI really want it for Friday so I can devote the weekend to it.

I last finished "Sprig Muslin" by Georgette Heyer. I didn't like it as much as her other books that I've read. It seemed like a caper rather than the breezy romance that I wanted.

[megs]

Yesterday I read Carrie Vaughn's Voices of Dragons and Lev Grossman's The magician King. If I have time today my goal is The Difference Engine.

[Cuchulain]

Finished Ian McDonald's River of Gods. I thought the 10 POVs would overly complicate the novel, but McDonald handles it well and it's nice to see how all the storylines and characters' lives intersect. The setting takes some time to get used to, but once you do it's great. River of Gods is an excellent novel overall. I enjoyed it so much I'm moving right on to Cyberabad Days.

[casrot]

Just finished Dancing with Bears by Michael Swanwick. Thumbs up.