Reading in September 2012

**Tim Marquitz** · September 16th, 2012, 07:40 PM

I'm about halfway finished with Blood and Bullets by James Tuck. After that, I've got Peter Clines' 14, Devil Said Bang by Kadrey, and Brent Weeks' The Blinding Knife. I haven't decided the reading order yet.

I've also been given a recommendation for Nightfall by Will Elliott, an Aussie writer that's supposedly great. Need to pick that one up still.

**Darksbane** · September 16th, 2012, 11:54 PM

I finished a Crown of Thorns- to me this is where WoT started to go downhill, but it was still a decent read.

From there I read two books from the Dresden Files- Blood Rites and Dead Beat. They are fun reads but don't really have much in terms of emotional substance.

**Danogzilla** · September 17th, 2012, 01:14 AM

I'm about to start Jack Vance's Tales of a Dying Earth omnibus. I've previously only read his excellent Planet of Adventure omnibus and his novel The Last Castle. There's so much Vance read. He's one of the great ones.

**PeterWilliam** · September 17th, 2012, 06:10 AM

Finished Butcher's Cursor's Fury and moved directly on to Captain's Fury. Book 3, Cursor's Fury, was excellent. I simply read tighter than either of the previous 2.

**Rob B** · September 17th, 2012, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by Darksbane

I finished a Crown of Thorns- to me this is where WoT started to go downhill, but it was still a decent read.

I think you meant A Crown of Swords, which I just finished last week. My memory placed it as a weaker volume in the series (from when I read it a decade and a half ago), but actually reading the book a second time disavowed me of that thought - I enjoyed it quite a bit.

**Siberian** · September 17th, 2012, 01:06 PM

Originally Posted by PeterWilliam

Finished Butcher's Cursor's Fury and moved directly on to Captain's Fury. Book 3, Cursor's Fury, was excellent. I simply read tighter than either of the previous 2.

Maybe because I like militaristic details, but the two middle books in the series are my favorite. Plus, Tavi is still an underdog

**Darksbane** · September 17th, 2012, 01:55 PM

Originally Posted by Rob B

I think you meant A Crown of Swords, which I just finished last week. My memory placed it as a weaker volume in the series (from when I read it a decade and a half ago), but actually reading the book a second time disavowed me of that thought - I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Oops. Indeed I did.

I still found it enjoyable, but not quite at the level as 2-6. Nynaeve and Elayne really started to grate on me. I'm probably going to read a few other books before getting back into the re-read. N.K. Jemisin's duology has been patiently waiting its turn. And then there are new books from Mark Lawrence and Brent Weeks to consider. Overall I really doubt I'm going to finish my re-read before the final one comes out in January. I should have started about a year earlier than I did.

**Rob B** · September 17th, 2012, 02:43 PM

Originally Posted by Darksbane

Oops. Indeed I did.

I still found it enjoyable, but not quite at the level as 2-6. Nynaeve and Elayne really started to grate on me.

Egwene a bit, but even though Nynaeve was frustrating regarding Mat, I found myself sympathizing..or at least empathizing... with her much more on this re-read.

Originally Posted by Darksbane

I'm probably going to read a few other books before getting back into the re-read. N.K. Jemisin's duology has been patiently waiting its turn. And then there are new books from Mark Lawrence and Brent Weeks to consider. Overall I really doubt I'm going to finish my re-read before the final one comes out in January. I should have started about a year earlier than I did.

Yeah, I'm going to slot the remaining books in the series between other books so as not to read them directly back to back.

**Westsiyeed** · September 17th, 2012, 04:02 PM

Originally Posted by Tim Marquitz

I've also been given a recommendation for Nightfall by Will Elliott, an Aussie writer that's supposedly great. Need to pick that one up still.

Just read a review online that also gave it a high recommendation - might pick it up from the library this week.

**Slice of G** · September 17th, 2012, 06:25 PM

Just finished Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. Although not an expert on urban fantasy, (have only read Dresden and Sookie) this is the kind of urban fantasy I want to read. Bloody, sarcastic, action-packed, funny, grim and did I mention bloody. I like that he didn't use chapters which kept the story from slowing down at all. Will absolutely read the rest of the books in the series and any future ones he writes.

Up next I'll finish up the Potter books with Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

**Kazaxat** · September 18th, 2012, 12:05 AM

Recently managed to pick up Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay and finish off the Sarantine Mosaic. Kay is fast moving himself up in my list of favorites, with a style that I absolutely adore. Take his characters for instance; Unlike Martin, who depicts a host of interesting but desperately flawed characters that I find less and less reason to like as time goes on, Kay's character flaws only seem to make them more relatably human. I found myself sympathizing with and actually rooting for nearly all of them, from protagonist to ostensibly antagonist, from the ruthless to the revengeful to the blundering.

I am not an artist. Nor am I a musician for that matter, though I find that I, as most people seem to, tend to find music easier to have an affinity for. That said Kay, much as Rothfuss did with Kvothe's musical inclinations, inspired in me throughout the novel the sincere desire to see what Caius could see, to see how Caius could see. Just superb writing ability that will never cease to amaze me.

I do have one complaint however (Spoilers of the Sarantine Mosaic and Tigana below):

Spoiler:

I am not a fan of how Kay completes his lead romantic threads. It was my chief complaint in finishing Tigana, and has now risen again with Lord of Emperors, though perhaps not to the same degree.

Tigana's pairing of Catriana and Alessan came so far from left field that I stopped and reread the chapter, sure I had missed something. There was simply no indication that any kind of romantic spark existed there, and while I wouldn't say their being together was necessarily farfetched, it just didn't seem to have anything to support its likelihood.

Caius and the Empress are quite similar. In this case there are a few more forgiving factors; Both are clearly highly intelligent and appreciate intelligence in others, both are widowed, and both know the other to be widowed and alone. All that said, there was little to support a blossoming relationship. Caius certainly repeated his opinion on Alixana's beauty throughout, but in a similar sense to how he approached an intricate mosaic. He was astounded by her (and Valerius') intellect, but also clearly intimidated. They had only 3 meetings before the ending, with at least 2 of those ending with Caius royally confused and Alixana either pleasurably sparring with or worried about Valerius. Heck, the brief time she spent with Rustem had more tension and chemistry than any of her scenes with Caius.

That the scent turned out to be her rather than Shirin was the most depressing part of the journey Kay helped me embark on, as that was a relationship I felt was well fleshed out. Shirin did have a good ending though, prior to the epilogue. I think I would have been overall happier had Caius simply ended off alone and the Empress understood to be living her life elsewhere, as her parting gift to Rustem implied.

Overall though, the book was simply excellent. I have, with great difficulty, stopped myself from immediately going for either the Lions of Al-Rassan or Ysabel next, as those recent acquisitions are now dotting my bookshelf. I have to space my GGK readings apart, or I will find myself with no more to look forward to all too soon.

**DurzoBlint** · September 18th, 2012, 04:41 AM

Finished The Emperor's Knife, decent debut not sure if I will continue the series. Moving on to the anthology Fading Light. Read the first story and enjoyed it, looking forward to more.

**Rob B** · September 18th, 2012, 09:59 AM

I finished Nightglass (A Pathfinder Tales novel) by Liane Merciel last night after a quick read. Some strong elements in the novel but on the whole I didn't connect with it as much as I would have liked. Not sure if I'll read more of these Pathfinder novels aside from the one by James L. Sutter.

Anyway, onto the continuing WOT re-read with The Path of Daggers by Robert Jordan.

**Contrarius** · September 18th, 2012, 11:31 AM

Originally Posted by Slice of G

Just finished Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. Although not an expert on urban fantasy, (have only read Dresden and Sookie) this is the kind of urban fantasy I want to read. Bloody, sarcastic, action-packed, funny, grim and did I mention bloody. I like that he didn't use chapters which kept the story from slowing down at all. Will absolutely read the rest of the books in the series and any future ones he writes.

I *have* read a lot of UF, and I also enjoy the Sandman Slim books. They are generally a lot of fun. Sometimes Kadrey jumps completely over the edge of my suspension of disbelief, but there are few boring spots in his books.

Unfortunately I did not like the latest installment, Devil Said Bang, as much as the previous books -- but I'm willing to hang in there and see what he comes up with next.

As for my current reading, right now I'm listening to The Soul Mirror by Carol Berg. I really don't think much of the narrator (a different narrator from the first book), and I'm bothered by the big gap between this book and its predecessor The Spirit Lens (5 years of in-world time), but the plot is interesting so far.

Oh, and btw -- if you like funny, grim, bloody UF, you might try the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman. It's one of my favorite series. And for even grimmer, even bloodier with even darker humor, try the Joe Pitt series by Charlie Huston.