Reading in August 2012

**mjolnir** · August 10th, 2012, 05:46 PM

Re Prince of Thorns: Hearing about the uptick in the presence of women in King of Thorns does help, thanks Hobbit. I was hoping this would be the case based on the blurb and an excerpt of the opening lines, so it's great to hear that the story moves in this direction.

A lot'll depend on how the characters work out, obviously; just having 'em there doesn't do in and of itself. I guess part of my objection the first time round was not just that there were so few women, but that they seemed to be present almost entirely to show us things about Jorg. Even Katherine, who definitely feels like the makings of an interesting character, mostly reacts to stuff that Jorg does. Doesn't help, of course, that lots of this stuff is nasty, and that while the book's far from uncritical of Jorg I think we are pretty clearly supposed to find him entertaining. This may be an interesting ambiguity of "grimdark" fantasy in general [Lawrence, Bakker, Morgan, Abercrombie to a degree]: Often these stories are sharply critical of established tropes of fantasy, but we still often respond to them, and are directed by the texts to respond to them, by exhilarating in the entertaining badassery of their characters.

Granted, a lot of the men Jorg associates with also show us things about him -- the book is, after all, a story about Jorg --, but the text seems to have more time for these men as individuals [the grimly atmospheric little passages of description about the brothers between chapters, for example.]

Still enjoyed it, of course, but again I'm very glad to hear that King of Thorns exhibits some growth in this area.

Re The Dirty Streets of Heaven: Good? Ah, wonderful. Really looking forward to this.

Zaffon's The Prisoner of Heaven next for me, I think. Though I feel Daniel Abraham's The King's Blood coming soon.

**suciul** · August 10th, 2012, 08:20 PM

While I may continue with sf as mentioned in the sf thread, I also have two indie fantasies that read well (one I read 80 pages from and one only 10), namely His Own Good Sword by Amanda McCrina (sort of coming of age tale with the noble blood hero sent to the wilderness to patrol it, finds that things are not that simple in a sort of Roman empire setting)and A World Apart by David M. Brown (long secondary world epic about which the author claims he plotted 47 000 years of its history, but very intriguing blurb), while two mainstream novels with fantastic elements, Communion Town by Sam Thompson, Booker longlisted and not yet clear to me if it's closer to sf or to weird fantastika, and The Black isle by Sandi Tan which has ghosts in the Far east also beckon...

**Evil Agent** · August 10th, 2012, 08:33 PM

Originally Posted by NickeeCoco

Started Midnight Tides by Erikson today. Not very far into it, but having a fun time hating the Letherii. While I'm not rooting for the Edur (House of Chains told me what was going on with them), I wouldn't mind if the Letherii get their butts kicked.

MT gets a mixed reaction from readers, but it was one of my favourites. I think it's one of the best written in the series, and probably the funniest.

**Hobbit** · August 11th, 2012, 07:47 AM

Is that out, or is it an ARC?

Re The Dirty Streets of Heaven: Good? Ah, wonderful. Really looking forward to this.

Out in the UK in about a month, Pete.

And, mjolnir, so far... wow. Wouldn't have said it was the same writer of Memory Sorrow and Thorn, but definitely gives Dresden a run for its money. If it keeps this up, one of the best urban fantasies I've read in a long time. Really shakes things up and sets a standard.

I guess part of my objection the first time round was not just that there were so few women, but that they seemed to be present almost entirely to show us things about Jorg.

Well, that's still the case a little with King of Thorns; but things are changing. I await the third book with interest.

Mark

**Contrarius** · August 11th, 2012, 01:02 PM

Originally Posted by mjolnir

I guess part of my objection the first time round was not just that there were so few women, but that they seemed to be present almost entirely to show us things about Jorg.

Well, um, duh.

The book is written in first person narrative, by an egomaniacal sociopath. Naturally, whatever he tells us is likely to reflect on himself.

I'm a coupla hours into King of Thorns now. It doesn't have the shock value of the first volume, but I'm enjoying it so far. I'm not sure I really appreciate one of the narrative conceits,

Spoiler:

specifically interspersing with Katherine's diary entries

, but I'm willing to go along with it and see what develops.

**NickeeCoco** · August 11th, 2012, 07:58 PM

Originally Posted by Evil Agent

MT gets a mixed reaction from readers, but it was one of my favourites. I think it's one of the best written in the series, and probably the funniest.

Tehol and Bugg are pretty funny.

**Rob B** · August 11th, 2012, 08:40 PM

Finished A Betrayal in Winter about an hour ago and loved, even better than A Shadow in Summer. So obviously, my next book is An Autumn War

**azninvasion99** · August 11th, 2012, 10:19 PM

Been lurking on the website for awhile but I finally decided to join.

Read the first two Mistborn novels earlier this month, getting close to finishing up the final one, The Hero of Ages. I thought these books were a blast to read, and Sanderson is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors (I love his work in the WoT). Will probably pick up the Way of Kings next.

**Danogzilla** · August 12th, 2012, 12:16 PM

Finished Guy Gavriel Kay's Lord of Emperors last night, and if it is even possible, my esteem for the man has grown. There is nobody out there who can do what Kay can do. He's the best there is.

Think I'll start Abercrombie's Last Argument of Kings today.

**ommet** · August 12th, 2012, 03:37 PM

Just finished The Bonehunters (Malazan Book of the Fallen #6) and I'd have to give it 3 and a half out of 5 stars.

For me, the multiple plot lines are getting a little unwieldy which makes the story seem more like reading CNN news flash updates from various parts of the world instead of a story.

Now, this is fine if one is going to chronicle an event for a history book, but it really doesn't give the reader (me) a way to enter the world and exist with its inhabitants...I'll always be an unconcerned observer of events that I'm not sure I understand instead of an intimate observer of characters I care about.

I will stick with the series since I am curious to see where all of this is going and it would bug me if I just stopped after 6 books. However, I think I'll take a break with another book or two before I come back to Malazan. There are a couple that I've been eyeballing:

Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover
The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe

Or maybe something else entirely different like a spy novel.

**beniowa** · August 12th, 2012, 06:06 PM

Originally Posted by NickeeCoco

Tehol and Bugg are pretty funny.

Regardless of all the various opinions of the Malazan saga, you can at least say it has one of the best comedy duos since Abbott and Costello.

**sullivan_riyria** · August 13th, 2012, 06:00 AM

Finally getting around to Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed.

**ommet** · August 13th, 2012, 06:58 AM

After some browsing around the amazon.com bookshelves, i decided to go with the Mistborn trilogy.

**NickeeCoco** · August 13th, 2012, 08:41 AM

Originally Posted by beniowa

Regardless of all the various opinions of the Malazan saga, you can at least say it has one of the best comedy duos since Abbott and Costello.

Shurq is pretty funny with those two as well. I really like her. I don't know if they're my favourite comedy duo thus far in the series, though. While they are very amusing, I found the Bridgeburners dialogue to be hilarious.
Particularly Blend and Picker. Now that certain events happened in House of Chains I'm hoping (fingers crossed) I'll see a little more of them in the future.

I'm actually really enjoying the series. I thought I wouldn't, especially after hearing how tome-like they are and that people need breathers between books and the such, but I'm not finding that to be the case at all. True, if something drags on a bit, I'm not afraid to skim (and let's face it, epic fantasy authors do love to go on and on about landscapes. It's also true the Erikson can go a little overboard with his adjectives). I don't find it hard to understand or keep track of the different plot lines, either. I'm seeing a pattern to it now. Something(s) happens in one book, then the next book jumps back in time a bunch to explain how that something(s) happened. Then it catches up in time, goes a little further while, well, things happen. There's a climax in the book's story line, information regarding the overarching story line (the crippled god) is released and then the book ends. Then the next book comes along and does the same. Repeat. At least, that's how the last few books have worked.

**algernoninc** · August 13th, 2012, 10:21 AM

Read another Kane novel by Karl Edward Wagner : Dark Crusade. Good, scary stuff, extremely violent and gloomy, with the immortal Kane confronting the prophet of an ancient death cult for the rule of the world. Body count in the hundred of thousands of victims range. Similar to the case of Fritz Leiber, I seem to prefer short stories to full length novels when it comes to sword & sorcery, and I'm lucky because the last two books in the series are such collections.