Reading in February 2010

I just finished The Hickory Staff, the 1st book in The Eldarn Sequence. It was okay, there's a lot wrong with it, but it is entertaining and I'll read the other 2 books in the trilogy to see how it turns out. I've written a full review on my blog: www.travelsthroughiest.blogspot.com, if anyone would like to read it.
 
Just finished Twelve by Jasper Kent. Really enjoyed it, was full of just enough history to make it believable without bogging you down in minutiae. A really good vampire tale with a very unpredictable outcome.

Moving on to Shadow and Betrayal the first omnibus of The Long Price by Daniel Abraham. Hopefully it lives up to the reviews even if the ending is a bit of a disappointment.
 
finished "Phoenix" by Steven Brust, and jumped right into the next one : "Athyra". the series continues to be very entertaining, so i've put off the decision regarding my next big epic. I might try some historical adventure by Bernard Cornwell.
 
algernoninc said:
finished "Phoenix" by Steven Brust, and jumped right into the next one : "Athyra". the series continues to be very entertaining, so i've put off the decision regarding my next big epic. I might try some historical adventure by Bernard Cornwell.
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Athyra might be the weakest I've read so far, and Orca was alright. I'm reading Dragon at the moment.

Remember that when you get to Orca to keep in mind what I mentioned in the other thread, to see if you can make sense of what had me confused. Phoenix has been my favorite.
 
Just finished Troy: Fall of Kings by David Gemmell. I really liked this trilogy. The character developement was very good. The series was paced well and kept me interested through out.

8/10

Dave
 
Anyone read Karen Miller's Innocent Mage? I'm reading it at the moment, and not enjoying it very much. I'm giving some serious thought to giving up on it, but the thing is that I actually like the writing and don't want to quit if it's going to get better later on. At around 200 pages into the book though, I'm getting awfully bored of how slow it seems to be. There just isn't enough conflict for me.
 
Well, finished the Hedge Knight on the first day, and just finished Gardens of the Moon last night. I prefer character-driven fantasy, which Erikson certainly isn't, but the man can sure set up an interesting plot. I'm going to continue the series.
 
BrightStar said:
Anyone read Karen Miller's Innocent Mage? I'm reading it at the moment, and not enjoying it very much. I'm giving some serious thought to giving up on it, but the thing is that I actually like the writing and don't want to quit if it's going to get better later on. At around 200 pages into the book though, I'm getting awfully bored of how slow it seems to be. There just isn't enough conflict for me.
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I read it. The problem with Karen Miller's writing is that it feels like it has potential but it doesn't seem to GO anywhere. I keep giving her a try only to be disappointed.

Innocent Mage started out interesting, but it just kinda trickled off. The same thing happens with other books (I found Empress interesting too, but the last book of the trilogy just left a sour taste).



I am currently reading Snake Detective by Liz Williams. I am new to this series - involves a detective agency in "Singapore 3" where the agent needs to work with the occult and literal demons and gods. Interesting and enjoying it so far. I had hoped I got the first book in the series, but I get the feeling that it is not given that the book seems to hint at some backstory... It always bugs me when I am not reading the first book!
 
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Aurian said:
I read it. The problem with Karen Miller's writing is that it feels like it has potential but it doesn't seem to GO anywhere. I keep giving her a try only to be disappointed.
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That's pretty much exactly how I feel. :(

The same thing happens with other books (I found Empress interesting too, but the last book of the trilogy just left a sour taste).
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That's a concern about Empress. I read book one, and thought it was great. I hope I'm not going to be dissapointed by the rest of the series.

I think I'm going to call it a day with Innocent Mage though. It's just not working for me. Next on my to read list is Newton's Cannon by Greg Keyes. This is pretty different to the usual fantasy I read, so I'm not sure what I'll think.
 
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50 pages of Song of Susannah to go.

It's a pretty good book, IMHO. Pacing is a bit funny in it, and King does odd things that throw me a little, but it's certainly a good read. Only gripes so far are to do with the fact he wrote himself into the series.
 
Seegee said:
I just finished The Hickory Staff, the 1st book in The Eldarn Sequence. It was okay, there's a lot wrong with it, but it is entertaining and I'll read the other 2 books in the trilogy to see how it turns out.
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I actually really enjoyed the Eldarn Sequence. I mean, there's some unimaginative (cliche) moments, but it can be highly entertaining. There's some gem one-liners in there.
 
Aurian said:
I am currently reading Snake Detective by Liz Williams. I am new to this series - involves a detective agency in "Singapore 3" where the agent needs to work with the occult and literal demons and gods. Interesting and enjoying it so far. I had hoped I got the first book in the series, but I get the feeling that it is not given that the book seems to hint at some backstory... It always bugs me when I am not reading the first book!
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Snake Agent is the first book as far I know. I haven't heard of any book published before this one. I know what you mean by the backstory and some of it will get explained toward the end. I think the author simply jumped in at this particular point is all.
 
Just finished Grossman's The Magicians two days ago. At first, I was afraid he'd pull a Harry Potter but it turned out to be really good and innovative. Nice one, definitely one of the better reads.

Right now, I'm about a hundred pages into Barclay's Cry of the Newborn. Looks promising.

BrightStar said:
Anyone read Karen Miller's Innocent Mage? I'm reading it at the moment, and not enjoying it very much. I'm giving some serious thought to giving up on it, but the thing is that I actually like the writing and don't want to quit if it's going to get better later on. At around 200 pages into the book though, I'm getting awfully bored of how slow it seems to be. There just isn't enough conflict for me.
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Actually, I wasn't that bored but you're right: there's not much happening in the first book.
 
Just finished reading NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, and I'm very impressed. So far it's easily my best read of 2010, and I probably enjoyed it more than anything I read in 2009 as well. I thought that it ended fantastically, and I can't wait to see where Jemisin brings the story in the next book. The writing style took me a little bit to get used to, but by the end of it, it really grew on me. Hopefully the next book lives up to the high bar this one set.

Lamentation by Ken Scholes is next, which should be a good one too, by everyone else's comments.
 
beniowa said:
Snake Agent is the first book as far I know. I haven't heard of any book published before this one. I know what you mean by the backstory and some of it will get explained toward the end. I think the author simply jumped in at this particular point is all.
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Oh okay, just felt like I missed something, like there was so much backstory referred to as if the reader would already know what was going on :)

Finished the book, but on the fence about reading more of the series. A little bit too much reliance on coincidence and the ending felt rushed. Maybe I'll pick up more from the library during a slow period. (bookwise).

Next I am looking at Trial of Flowers by Jay Lake. I have previously read Green by the same author. Green didn't sell me on the author yet, but my little rule of thumb for authors is that I give each one 3 chances to win me over. Sometimes the author is simply not my taste and sometimes I just run into a book that is not my taste.
 
I'm a third away from finishing Issola from Brust, and I've enjoyed it quite a bit. Probably one of my favorites in the series. Still debating what to read after I'm done... I really want to continue the series, but I also want to read Salute the Dark, the next in the Shadows of the Apt series. I'll probably continue the former for the time being, and leave Salute the Dark for the weekend.
 
Well, strike two for Jay Lake.... I read a bit of Trial of Flowers and had to put it down. I am not much for urban fantasy to begin with and I was less than enthralled by the depictions of torture, mutilation and sadism.

Now I am trying out Caliphate by Tom Kratman. A world in which the Islamic countries have conquered the world through sheer numbers and where the strict religion of Islam rules. I do wonder how this was received... Were people offended by this?
 
I finished up Spiral Hunt by Margaret Ronald. It's new urban fantasy and OK - I liked it well enough and got what I expected.

Now I'm reading The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin which I've been looking forward to. It's good so far.
 
Still catching up on Keri Arthur. Bound to Shadow is NOT as good as the rest of the series. Sigh.
 
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