Reading in May 2009

[suciul]

It sounds like an interesting book...

...Sorykah Minuit, a gender-switching Trader...

The protagonist is called "Minuit"... just like my cat... If I ever read this book, I wonder if I can help picturing a human with a cat's head...

Ice Song is a very interesting book, but the blurb while accurate factually is misleading in the sense that the book is quite strange - very image and emotion oriented with the plot along for the ride so to speak; based on the blurb I sort of forgot about it, but I received an unrequested arc from the publishers and I opened it and just got hooked on the style, so I read the book immediately -will do a full review on FBC next week

I will check out if there are extracts since I think this is a "strong" love it/hate it book; for more the author has a website:

http://www.icesong.com/

 

[Aurian]

Sounds interesting. I`d love to read a sample if you can find a link...

 

[suciul]

Sounds interesting. I`d love to read a sample if you can find a link...

I think that next Tuesday when the book is out there will be samples - most likely on Amazon inside the book or from ebook retailers. I checked the Del Rey newsletter and they have this tidbit:

http://www.randomhouse.com/delrey/DRIN/index0308.html

"Liz Scheier has acquired innovative science fiction novel Ice Song and its sequel, by Kirsten Imani Kasai, a fantasy about a young mother who must cross a continent in pursuit of the wealthy madman who has abducted her infant twins."

which is very exciting since while Ice Song has a clear ending, no cliffhangers... there is ample scope for a sequel and I am eager to read such since I truly loved the author' style

edit: I bolded the sf vs fantasy since truly the book could be read either way and the description is apt

 

[Martin Ekdahl]

The Master and Margarita

I'm reading "The Master and Margarita" from Mikhail Bulgakov right now. I think it fits into the limitations of this thread well while it is a fantastic horror satire. It is actually one of the best books I've read for a long time (if not ever). If anyone else have read the book, please say what you thought of it. I would love to discuss this book.

 

[Marcus]

I'm reading the history of christianity by Jonathan Hill, some might call it fantasy

Another book I'm reading at the moment is the second volume of diamond sword, wodden sword by Perumov. That is a fantasy book I definitively would recomend to anybody (given you read either swedish or russian, that is). It's probably one of the darkest and unwelcoming worlds ever created.

 

[BloodStreak]

I finished Reality Dysfunction. A good read. I believed that the concept of the story was brilliant and really original. I am moving on now to read Gunslinger by Stephen King. Any good comments on it?

 

[Gilgamesh]

Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski

I finished Andrzej Sapkowski's Blood of Elves. It was an enjoyable book. I would read the second book of the series if it's translated.

The setting is Tolkienesque with the usual races. The book comes across as the opening of a bigger story so it's not a roller-coaster ride. There's a bit of everything in it: action (pretty good fights), politics, humor (I really enjoyed the Dwarven humor ), romance... One thing that stroke me was how the author danced from one style to another. I found this unusual... In general he doesn't do long descriptions but there's enough of them to imagine the setting. But sometimes, the story goes as a continuum of conversations, almost reading a script, which makes the reading pretty fast. And sometimes, his story telling becomes more poetic and dark, with snapshots of short sentences...

It was a very easy read... not in a bad way... I found it very fluent. And as I mentioned before, I'd read the following book when it comes out in English. I'm planning to write a quick review. I'll post the link here if I find time and courage to do it.

By the way, if you're interested in having more of Sapkowski's books translated in English, you can sign this petition.

Next: Colin Taber's The Fall of Ossard.

 

[SallyC]

I had to give up on The Darkness that Comes Before. I figured, after reading about 10% of it, I aught to at least have a vague attachment to the characters by now. Unfortunately, I didn't.

I enjoyed The Darkness that Comes Before enough to read the rest of the series - I wish i hadn't. The relentless darkness and violence were wearisome and the ending was a let-down. Perhaps I'm lacking in understanding, but i was left thinking, 'Huh, what was the point of it all!'

 

[BrightStar]

I enjoyed The Darkness that Comes Before enough to read the rest of the series - I wish i hadn't. The relentless darkness and violence were wearisome and the ending was a let-down. Perhaps I'm lacking in understanding, but i was left thinking, 'Huh, what was the point of it all!'

I've had no regrets about giving up on the series. Been making steady progress through Troika (book five of Louise Cooper's Indigo series) over the past few days. Enjoying it very very much-definitely suits my tastes much better than The Darkness That Comes Before.

 

[thrinidir]

Finishing David Louis Edelman's "Infoquaqe" and quite enjoying it...I'm not to fond of dealing with making and selling products in a future corporate world that is nothing but capitalist business model, but I don't think anyone could handle this better than Edelman; pretty smart book with solid characterisation and dialogue.

What should I read next? Gemmell's latest trilogy? Erikson no.7? One of the Simmons' latest (The Terror, Drood)? Heroes Die by Stover? ...so many books, so little time.

 

[Julian]

After Dan Simmons's Drood, I've embarked on Keith Donohue's Angels of Destruction.

Only on page 50 or so, at present, but I'm again falling for the calm, careful and strangely tense writing. I remember how The Stolen Child - his debut - managed to sort of skip by the readers here at this forum, but it was wonderful, to my mind.

Have anyone read Angels yet?

 

[igbomb]

After Dan Simmons's Drood, I've embarked on Keith Donohue's Angels of Destruction.

Only on page 50 or so, at present, but I'm again falling for the calm, careful and strangely tense writing. I remember how The Stolen Child - his debut - managed to sort of skip by the readers here at this forum, but it was wonderful, to my mind.

Have anyone read Angels yet?

I finished it when it first came out. Good, but not nearly as good as The Stolen Child in my opinion. It felt a little too derivative of his first book for my liking.

 

[rloomis]

Reading David Durham's ACACIA.....What a great read.....almost done and can't wait for next installement....loving this almost as much as The Name of the Wind......

 

[Winter]

Finished Butcher's Storm Front and enjoyed that. Started and finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys and loved it, think I prefer it over American Gods. Now I don't know what to start. I started to read Fool Moon, but I wasn't in the mood for that sort of story.

 

[Seak]

Finished Butcher's Storm Front and enjoyed that. Started and finished Gaiman's Anansi Boys and loved it, think I prefer it over American Gods. Now I don't know what to start. I started to read Fool Moon, but I wasn't in the mood for that sort of story.

I decided I have to wait at least a few months in between Dresden files books. There's just too much repetition. I'm a fan of the stories and characters, but that slows me down.

 

[Winter]

I decided I have to wait at least a few months in between Dresden files books. There's just too much repetition. I'm a fan of the stories and characters, but that slows me down.

Yeah, that is exactly why I put the book back down. I don't think it will be a few months between, but it will be some time before I read the next one.

---

A while back, sometime last year, I started to read Valente's The Orphan's Tales: In the Night Garden. I got about three hundred pages in and had to stop reading it. It took me a month to get that far into it and I had other books I wanted to read. I have been meaning to finish it, so I am going to do that.

 

[SallyC]

Reading David Durham's ACACIA.....What a great read.....almost done and can't wait for next installement....loving this almost as much as The Name of the Wind......

Taste is a funny thing: I loved Name of the Wind, but found Acacia a frustrasting read.

 

[Hobbit]

I decided I have to wait at least a few months in between Dresden files books. There's just too much repetition. I'm a fan of the stories and characters, but that slows me down.

Yeah, that is exactly why I put the book back down. I don't think it will be a few months between, but it will be some time before I read the next one.

I'm shocked to realise that my last Dresden review was for Dead Beat in June 2008! So yes, they are great. But too much in one go is a baaad thing.

Note to self: *must read another Dresden soon.*

Mark

 

[Tomau]

Taste is a funny thing: I loved Name of the Wind, but found Acacia a frustrasting read.

Yes, it really is!

I loved Acacia (despite of all its flaws), but couldn't stand Kvothe (despite all of the good staff that the book had to offer).

Almost finished with Empire in black and gold, and must say that I am rather disappointed. The book had a great premise, but poor execution. The plot was just all over the place and the characters just weren't vivid enough to care for them. I had the same issues with The painted Man, but I think that plot there was a bit more interesting, and characters flatter. I'm still waiting to read The Way of Shadows, to see if I'll fare better there and have one new upcoming author that I would like. Or if I'm just in a mood that nothing thrills me at this period of reading time.

Next, I'll read Renegade's Magic, cause Hobb is already proved herself to me many, many times before.

 

[Martin Ekdahl]

Another book I'm reading at the moment is the second volume of diamond sword, wodden sword by Perumov. That is a fantasy book I definitively would recomend to anybody (given you read either swedish or russian, that is). It's probably one of the darkest and unwelcoming worlds ever created.

Is it only released in Russian and Swedish?