SkynJay Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Finished the first two Ravenor books. This guy is too good to be writting for Black Library, glad he has some others for Angry Robot out.Walked right into my library and picked up Throne of the Crescent Moon. With all the hype surrounding this book, it proves my library could drop its fantasy section and I may be the only one who notices. Oh well, looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Procrastimancer Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Going back and forth between two books, waiting to see which one fully dominates my attention: The Big Sleep by Raymond Chandler and The Power and the Glory by Graham Greene. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Winged Wolf Bran Stark Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 In the middle of Mort right now. Enjoying it. Guess I'll be joining the large group of Discworld fans. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 In the middle of Mort right now. Enjoying it. Guess I'll be joining the large group of Discworld fans.And it keeps getting better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mashiara Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Dead Reckoning, by Charlaine Harris. Man, I remember how much I liked the first books in this series but the latest installments have been quite the disappointment.Kafka on the Shore, Haruki Murakami. I loved this. I remember someone (Alytha?) had called it a mindfuck, but which Murakami book isn't one? I really enjoyed reading every page -except for the cat torture- and thought the characters were pretty strong. I loved how we never get clear answers about some things but the hints are there and it's up to us to come to conclusions, whatever conclusions we like. As far as magical realism goes, this was one of the favorite books.Cathedral of the Sea, by Ildelfonso Falcones. I was an interesting read, I guess, but not an exceptional book. I was expecting something similar to The Pillars of the Earth but the building of the cathedral wasn't as central to the story as I thought it would be. You could tell it was a well researched historical novel and it gave a lot of information about Barcelona at medieval times, the dynamics between the rich and the poor and even the Holy Inquisition. While I loved the setting and the information, I found the characterization and the actual dialogue lacking.Now reading Vagabond by Bernard Cornwell. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Finished the first two Ravenor books. This guy is too good to be writting for Black Library, glad he has some others for Angry Robot out.Walked right into my library and picked up Throne of the Crescent Moon. With all the hype surrounding this book, it proves my library could drop its fantasy section and I may be the only one who notices. Oh well, looks good.I think I read the final Ravenor book in one sitting on a slow day at work. I seriously couldn't put it down.Throne of the Crescent Moon is a good read as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Starkess Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 I couldn't sleep last night and so ended up reading all of Ready Player One. It was pretty good, if a little wallowing in its own geekiness. Still, I quite enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pat5150 Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Just finished Ian Cameron Esslemont's Orb Sceptre Throne, and it's probably the most disappointing Malazan installment yet. . . :(Check out the blog for the full review.Patrick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trinuviel Posted February 17, 2012 Share Posted February 17, 2012 Now that the One Ring finally has been destroyed and since I like doing thematic reading I'll take on The Silmarillion (and hoping to come out victorious this time), The Children of Hurin - and then, as dessert, Jacqueline Carey's deconstruction of Tolkien in her Sundering duology. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shinrei Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I am about 400 pages into the new Esslemont novel and i really like it. Can you say why it disappointed you without spoiling the last 200 pages, Pat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ormond Posted February 18, 2012 Share Posted February 18, 2012 I finished The Player by Michael Tolkin. It was a very interesting character study of a sociopathic film producer.Then I read A Different Light by Elizabeth A. Lynn. It was one of the first science fiction novels to feature characters in same-sex relationships, and the recently closed Different Light Bookstore in San Francisco was named after it. I had wanted to read it for years. It was only average for a science fiction novel, however. I didn't find the scientific aspects of its far future scenario to be plausible. And it seemed to be one of those books that wasn't really describing a society where GLBT people are accepted so much as a society where everybody is really bisexual, which I also find implausible.Now I have to read Kathryn Stockett's The Help since it's the novel the faculty and staff quarterly book discussion group is talking about next Thursday at my university. So far I'm only 35 pages in to a 530 page novel. I find myself a little suspicious of it because I've seen some critiques that claim it really doesn't present the condition of African-American maids very accurately. But I'm trying to keep an open mind! (I have not seen the movie, by the way.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nearly Headless Ned Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Rendevous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke. Despite not being overly impressed with the prose,wooden dialogue,one dimensional characters and lots of very capable people doing things in an alltogether capable manner, its a gripping and geuinely tense tale told with real authority by Clarke. Rather enjoyed it.On with The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Added Thomas Covenant to my reading queue and the most controversial part (rape and stuff) is the "best" one for me.Wrote some comments about it on the blog, but wondering why so many people have problems with it. Beside it existing and rape being not something fun to read. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SkynJay Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Rendevous With Rama by Arthur C Clarke. Despite not being overly impressed with the prose,wooden dialogue,one dimensional characters and lots of very capable people doing things in an alltogether capable manner, its a gripping and geuinely tense tale told with real authority by Clarke. Rather enjoyed it.This says more about me than the genre, but that is one of the few "classic" sci-fi that I have enjoyed and reread several times. Usually the genre does nothing for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Added Thomas Covenant to my reading queue and the most controversial part (rape and stuff) is the "best" one for me.Wrote some comments about it on the blog, but wondering why so many people have problems with it. Beside it existing and rape being not something fun to read.TC series is awesome. Most people seem to dislike the books because they just can't stand him as a person. Read The Gap Cycle, its even better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gormenghast Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Yeah, I know he's considered a whiny, disagreeable character but imho the book is worthwhile BECAUSE of that.Instead the endless, uneventful traveling and excess of environmental descriptions make it quite dull. Not exactly fast paced.Without the uniqueness of the character it would look like a pale imitation of Janny Wurts, that I think does all of that much better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nickg Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 After getting sidetracked, I'm finally getting into All the Windwracked Stars by Elizabeth Bear. I haven't read anything from her before this so I wasn't sure what to expect. Its based loosely on Norse mythology though, and that's basically all I needed to know.Its a great book so far. The prose, the characters, and the world building are all excellent. I really like the post apocalyptic setting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotcat Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Just finished World War Z by Max Brooks (zombies being my fave non fantasy thing at the moment!)Thinking of heading into Robin Hobb (would you guys recommend her books?) territory next, but in the meantime I'm reading The Fifth Horseman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Candre Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 Finished "Caine Black Knife" by Stover and I am kind of disappointed. I was really curious which way the story would go after the rather conclusive ending of Blade of Tyshalle, obviously the author didn´t know either. While this is still a good read, it lacks the overwhelming suspense of its predecessors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cuchulain Posted February 19, 2012 Share Posted February 19, 2012 I recently finished Steph Swainston's first three Castle novels. The first one, The Year of Our War, is enjoyable but a bit uneven. The second one, No Present Like Time, I consider the best. The third, The Modern World, lacks a decent plot and consequently most of the novel feels like filler, which is pretty sad for a book only 300 pages in paperback. I doesn't help that for the biggest part TMW focuses on the exploits of some whiny teenager rather than the (much more interesting) war efforts.I'm now reading Thomas Pynchon's V. Loving it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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