I finished Tome of the Undergates at about 1am and got a review finished for it for my blog.
Now it's back to Snuff before I continue past the second (or so) chapter of Black Halo (by Sam Sykes).
I finished Tome of the Undergates at about 1am and got a review finished for it for my blog.
Now it's back to Snuff before I continue past the second (or so) chapter of Black Halo (by Sam Sykes).
Finished Snuff.
Largely a neutral read - i.e. I didn't think much of it either way. Some funny moments, but there's a descent into rather literal toilet humour (more so than usual for Sir Pratchett) and the villain wasn't exactly interesting or even prominent in any way.
It's like a Discworld edition of Midsomer Murders.
Nice! I can't wait. I'm always excited to see traditional authors braving new ground with different formats and publication possibilities.Originally Posted by pat5150
Just finished Brandon Sanderson's forthcoming novella, Legion. Considering the length of his novels, I had certain doubts about Sanderson writing short fiction. And yet, Legion is the introduction to what could be the author's most fascinating work to date!
Cheers,
Patrick
Finished Shadow's Master by Jon Sprunk. Liked it less than the first two volumes, but it was an easy read, with almost non-stop fighting. The romance angles vere a tad too predictable and heavy handed.
Also finished one book that will be in my top 5 of 2012, not a new novel and with only slight horror elements, but one of the best "growing-up" tales I've tried: Boy's Life by Robert McCammon.
Now reading The Light of Burning Shadows, book #2 of The Iron Elves by Chris Evans
Just finished GRRM's short story, Sandkings. All I can say is do whatever you can to get a copy. This story was amazing in so many ways and so worth the 12 bucks I spent on a used copy. I think it's in his anthology though, if you have that.
Yes, it is, I have a copy of that at home..though I have yet to read it.
Definitely not the first time I have heard that about Sandkings, so glad to hear yet another awesome opinion of it.
It's only about 45-50 pages in mmpb form and once you start, there's no stopping.Yes, it is, I have a copy of that at home..though I have yet to read it.
Definitely not the first time I have heard that about Sandkings, so glad to hear yet another awesome opinion of it.
Most recently Sandkings can be found in then huge Vandermeer anthology The Weird, so one more reason to pick that up; I read the story some 30 years ago in a Romanian translation and it was one of those seminal stories that made me love sf forever - also it brought GRRM to my attention so I picked Game of Thrones on publication in 1996 partly because of it; it is funny though to see Sandkings discussed here in the fantasy forum as it is pure sf and an example of why sf is still the most interesting form of literature around...
Wow, that's really cool. I had no idea. And of course, I was thinking horror again and completely forgot it really is sf.
Well I think you all, with the combined efforts of a friend of mine, have convinced me. As soon as I finish God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater, I will be starting the Song of Ice and Fire series. I'm really looking forward to it.
I agree that Sandkings has definitely a horror vibe and anyway it really does not matter where we talk about it, just that sometimes I feel that people have this "avoid sf" mentality without realizing that sf is much more than talking squids and Star Wars/Trek
Anyway back on topic, though my main current reads are pure sf, I started a book that could be classified as fantasy too, namely the indie steampunk/romance, The Clockwork Giant by Brooke Johnson (really like the style so far, story the expected for now) and of course I should (and expect to soon) really be also starting the last Legends of the Red Sun book, The Broken Isles by Mark Newton as its publication date gets close...
Starting A Song of Ice and Fire? Ah, enjoy. There are good, grim reading times ahead...
Finished Robert Jackson Bennett's The Troupe the other day. The novel moves quite effectively back and forth between historical [early 20th century Us] supernatural that stays very grounded but offers occasional glimpses of cosmic dread on the one hand, and more overt intrusions of the fantastic on the other. The novel's overall conflict is very broad in scope, and fits in well with Vaudevillian performance -- the focus of the book, albeit one which gets somewhat overridden by the cosmic stuff nearer the end. There's a good amount of creeping, terror-of-the-unknown kind of horror mixed into the book's take on the fantastic, and that's something Bennett is very, very good at; the sequences later in the book in which the supernatural is less shrouded in mystery and more in the open are just as engrossing and narratively necessary, but maybe not quite as sharp, at least for me.
The characters are an intriguing and moving bunch. Our protagonist, George, is a bit of a whiner and in some ways I never did warm up to him, but he's a sixteen-year-old boy and I was certainly that way, so it makes good sense, and he's a well-drawn personality. Other characters are very fun to spend time with, a flawed but fascinating bunch. [I don't tend to imagine actors playing characters when I read, it's just not something I do, but one of the major characters in The Troupe had me constantly envisioning a film version of the novel in which he was played by Ian McShane from Deadwood.] Writing's gripping too, and it moves back and forth well. It can be chilling, or a bit lyrical, or [very occasionally] whimsical. Very good, atmospheric writing without being hugely showy, I find. Great book. Bennett's best to date, for me.
Now reading N. K. Jemisin's The Killing Moon. Compelling stuff, thus far, though I'm not quite half-way through.
Finished Jeffrey Ford's short story collection The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and it has some good stories. As a general rule I find I don't get too much out of most short stories, but Ford is such a good writer than the prose itself is sometimes enough. The title story was my favourite.
Overall a good collection but I think I liked The Empire of Ice Cream slightly more.
Back to SF for Caliban's War now.
Just to note: "Sandkings" was included in Foundations of Fear, David Hartwell's follow-up anthology to his essential horror anthology, The Dark Descent. (TFoF is every bit as good as TDD, just not as well remembered for some reason.)
I'm not sure a lot of s.f. now takes on the flavor of horror, but a lot of early s.f. did, including some seminal works like "Who Goes There?", The Black Destroyer", "Vintage Season" and, of particular interest to anyone who enjoyed "Sandkings", Theodore Sturgeon's "Microcosmic God." Really, if you love Martin's story, you should check out Sturgeon's, which pre-dates Martin's by 38 years, to find Martin's probable source of inspiration.
Randy M.
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