Reading in October 2012

[beniowa]

Finished King of Thorns by Mark Lawrence. The Broken Empire books seem like the kind of thing that should appeal to me except that they don't at all. I managed to finish this book, but I struggled with it as I just didn't care about what happened. I doubt I'll finish the series.

About to start Blue Remembered Earth by Alastair Reynolds next.

[suciul]

Finished Imager's Battalion by LE Modesitt (3rd Quaeryt book and 6th Imager overall) and it was again un-putdownable so despite my resolution to hold on to it for a little more (it's January 2013 pub date), I *had to* read it; of course now that I finished it I want book 4, Antiagon Fire asap

Excellent stuff, same structure as books 1/2 (Scholar/Princeps) though this one is mostly war, Imagers (magic, powerful but few magicians) against guns (musketeers and canon and lots of expendable soldiers) as Quaeryt leads 5th Battalion, the vanguard of the Southern Army of Telaryn commanded by his friend from Tilbor, Commander Skarpa, into Bovaria against the forces of cruel Rex Kharst.

From here some spoilers for previous books so will include in spoiler brackets, though no spoilers for this one:

After Qaeryt and Skarpa defeated the Bovarian invasion so decisively at Ferrravyl in the previous book, the Bovarians are on the defensive and unprepared as they lost all their invading army, but they still can muster 40+ regiments if given time, while Telaryn can manage 20-30 at most in addition of having all the logistical problems of an invading army in enemy territory, though luckily Rex Kharst is not that popular, only extremely feared Also the hopes of the Pharsi nation (subjugated and persecuted by Kharst) rest on Quaeryt's shoulders too as his command is mostly Pharsi refugee soldiers and officers in addition of course to the few mostly untrained Imagers that he has to shape into war-practice too... And not to make matters easier, his wife and Bhayar' youngest sister, Vaelora, now pregnant has her own job at court to co-rule with her sister-in-law Aelina, as Lord Bhayar is with the main Army of the North since he staked everything on the invasion too.. And the Telaryn Comannder in Chief, Marshal Deucalon doesn't like Quaeryt or Skarpa in the least so they get the minimum amount of soldiers and the maximum amount of hardship possible without triggering Bhayar's ire, while Sub-Marshal Myskil, former close confidant of governor Rescalyn and presumably involved in his plot to take over Telaryn and depose Bhayar, still remembers Quaeryt's so elegantly breaking the plot, while leaving a dead Rescalyn as big war hero of Telaryn

A great ending to boot and again, I cannot emphasize enough how good this series keeps being...

[Poultra]

Hi, I'm new. I've been re-reading Ann McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern series. There were a lot of things I missed when I read it over 10 years ago. There was some talk about making Dragonflight into a movie, but that was before Ann McCaffrey died, so not sure if that is still in the works. I do love these books, but I haven't ready any of the ones with her son, Todd McCaffrey, I can't imagine that they would be as good.

[AmethystOrator]

I am tragically behind (again).

Taken by Benedict Jacka, 3rd in the Alex Verus series. I really wanted to like this one.

Pros: I think that the writer may have a slightly better feel for his characters' dialogue. And I like the way that some of the plot points are continuing to develop in the series.

Cons: Pretty much everything else.

Don't get me wrong, it wasn't horrible. I just felt it was a bit worse than the second, which I found to be a bit worse than the first. I liked the plot in theory, but felt that the execution was lacking. At times it seemed to me that I could very much see behind the curtain and observe plot developments that seemed formulaic or obvious.

One scene in particular seemed to point a big red arrow towards a certain suspect, but the hero (who is supposed to be able to solve such mysteries) couldn't even begin to pick up on that obvious clue.

I'm sure that there are people who are enjoying this series, but it's just not working too well for me. It's possible that another book might lead to a turnaround, but I'm not certain that I'll give it another go (it might depend on what else is being released at the same time).

[AmethystOrator]

Silence, Book 1 in the Queen of the Dead series by Michelle Sagara. This is listed as YA, and while I've had very limited exposure to books in this category, I did enjoy this one. The fact that I am a very big fan of the author may have helped.

I found the writing intelligent (if a bit less sophisticated than some of her other series) and the characterization was, as always, a joy. The writer wanted to start with the relationship amongst a group of girls, and not make them rivals, but have them work together to support and protect each other, and especially a classmate of theirs with autism. For anyone looking for a positive and authentic depiction of autism in UF, this book fits the bill. The story includes many well-worn tropes, such as mysterious powers, events and groups, but the author managed to make them interesting enough (imo) to keep the story moving along well. I wouldn't recommend this story as much as I would some of her others, but for people looking for UF, a shorter story, strong characterization or some of the other items I listed above, this might be worth a try (it has a 3.82 rating on goodreads and a 4.1 on Amazon).

The Blinding Knife, Book 2 in The Lightbringer Series.

Brett Weeks may have improved a tad with his prose and characterization, but I continue to find this series quite lacking in complexity. Despite this, the author manages to make much of the book quite readable and entertaining, which I consider a decent accomplishment. Unfortunately for me, it fizzled out with about 150 pages or so left to go at the end. There was still a lot of action, but that, in and of itself, isn't really something that holds much interest for me. The author certainly has some great ideas, I just hope that he can continue to improve and make the next book better.

Magic Tests is a short story by Ilona Andrews from An Apple for the Creature. This short story takes place in the world of Kate Daniels and focuses on the supporting character of Julie. Kate does appear, though in the only real compliant I have, I thought that she would appear more than she did, based on the beginning of the tale. The story seemed to me a tad short, and the ending a bit predictable, but overall I found this to be a fun little mystery highlighting a character that hadn't yet seen the limelight. I enjoyed the story, but considering the book's high price ($26.95 MSRP), I think that most people would be better off waiting for this at a better price, unless they're already interested in one or more of the other tales in the anthology.

Cast in Peril is the eighth book in the Chronicles of Elantra series by Michelle Sagara. As has been the case since the second book in this series, Sagara delivers a fast-paced book with a unique blend of action, mystery, politics and strong characterization in a true Fantasy/Urban Fantasy hybrid. This is the longest book in the series, but paradoxically it seemed to me to be the most stripped down and plot-focused. The usual abundance of unique, interesting, charming, believable and original characters appear, as the story takes off immediately from the seventh book and never stops. This continues to be among the best series on the shelf and I've fully read it three times since it's publication two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, I wound up with Spellbound by Blake Charlton, second in the Spellwright series. After being informed that this is a YA series, and considering my impression of the first book, I've tried to keep my expectations low. I'm about 100 pages in, and still find the story to be quite lacking in complexity, but I'm trying to look for the positives. The pace is fast and I think that the author does a good job of switching from pov to pov, not lingering on any one too long. I'm never going to be a fan of this series, but I can say that I've read worse. I'll continue to read a bit at a time and see if my opinion changes.

[Loerwyn]

After being informed that this is a YA series,

I think it's "YA Crossover", in that it's been marketed both as adult and YA.

[Slice of G]

Just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. While not a book that I would normally read (sticking mostly to science fiction and fantasy) I did enjoy the bits about the comic book industry. Set mostly around the time of WWII, it showed a different perspective of how the war affected people. I'm still not sure if I like his writing style. It took a little getting used to. He must have broken a few comma keys on his computer typing the novel.

I guess I'll try another book I wouldn't normally read in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

[purpleturtle]

Merminia is a fairly new fantasy book that I just finished. I love that it had a little darkness to it! Magic, mermaids, mermen, and a few battles.

I bought a paperback copy, but right now through an Amazon promo Merminia is a free download for the Kindle Version. I don't know how long it will last, but free is the cheapest form of entertainment.

[Ochos]

"The book of Deacon" by Joseph lallo. found this among the free books on Kindle, its got me addicted. i will be buying the next 2 books in the trilogy on the back of it. theres a lot of dross in the free books, but there are some hidden gems, especially as you can get kind of stuck reading the same authors in long series.

[Rob B]

As I hinted in our Hallowe'en thread, I've started The Drowning Girl by Caitlin R. Kiernan. So far, a bit of a challenge with the narrative shifts, but it stays in my mind.

[Zsinj]

I recently read Anne Rice's "Interview With the Vampire," actually I practically devoured it, it was so excellent... that is until I got to the end which really disappointed me. <spoiler> I guess it's because Louis got to the point where he didn't stand up for or care about anything anymore. And seeing a creature seemingly so naturally passionate as a vampire become like that kind of pissed me off and made for a poor ending to the book </spoiler>
I'm now reading the second book in Rice's "Vampire Chroincles," "The Vampire Lestat," and I must say, being a heavy metal/hard rock singer myself, I'm quite intrigued by the idea of a vampire being the frontman and keyboardist in a hard rock band. I just hope this book doesn't let me down like the last one did.

[Astra_]

I love the Malazan series but with such large tomes, I can't read them back to back and have to give myself time to breath before venturing back into Erikson's world.

Ditto

Still plugging away at Reapers Gale. I'm about halfway through and I really can't say that it's good or bad. I would say that it's a big serving of the usual Malazan type story with a few dashes of new developments and a side of mild confusion about where this is headed.

I finished it a month or so ago. It was a confusing one.


I finished The Affirmation by Christopher Priest.

Omg. What a weird book. I am not sure I am going to read any Priest's books in the near future. I guess it is a good puzzle book for a doctor psychiatrist.

I guess no more experimenting with the writer in the foreseeable future.

Back to the Malazan World.
Return of the Crimson Guard (Malazan Empire #2) Ian C. Esslemont
I didn't really like Night of Knives (Malazan Empire #1). Let's see how this one goes.

[Westsiyeed]

Time and Again by Jack Finney - beautifully written book that (can) evoke a huge sense of nostalgia for living in New York in the 1880's (the protagonist travels back in time to this period).

It's almost just a vehicle for the author's account of what it would be like to live in this time; it's obviously well researched with photos throughout the book to help the visuals of the story.

For me the positives were the writing, the detailed description of the place and time, and the characters who live there. The cons - after I while there was too much New York 1882 and I felt it dragged a bit. Worth a read but could have been made a bit more...exciting.

On the opposite end of the scale, I've started on Will Elliott's horror/comedy The Pilo Family Circus and am hooked after the first chapter.

I finished The Affirmation by Christopher Priest.

Omg. What a weird book. I am not sure I am going to read any Priest's books in the near future. I guess it is a good puzzle book for a doctor psychiatrist.

I guess no more experimenting with the writer in the foreseeable future.

Ha ha! They're some of things I like about Priests books - the weirdness, ambiguity and subtleness. Admittedly it wouldn't be every one's cup of tea.

[cgw]

Just finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. .......... I guess I'll try another book I wouldn't normally read in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke.

Both very good.

I took a break from working my way through histories of countries on the Warsaw Pact to read Among Others by Jo Walton. My fantasy to-read list is not very long right now. I read every thing I had during the summer. I need to find some good escapism books to read (the 20th century in eastern europe is pretty depressing).

[Seak]

Started Blade of Tyshalle and already a third of the way in. Really liking that a lot of the world(s) is(are) getting fleshed out in this one.