Reading in May 2011

Gilgamesh said:
I'm currently reading Mark Charan Newton's The Book of Transformations. The book started very well. It feels like it's going to be great ride from the beginning until the end. I buckled up tightly.
Click to expand...
I still don't like you.

Talking of Mark Charan Newton, I'm well past the halfway point in City of Ruin - if I'm not at page 300, I'm not far from it. I've heard it's a better book than Nights of Villjamur, and in terms of Newton's writing I'm inclined to strongly agree, yet I can't help but feel that some of the events in the book are a little... Too out there, perhaps? It's like he's got this great world with these great characters, but he's putting in references and things that, to me, take away from the book a little.
 
First I finished Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindquist (an enjoyable modern horror story -slash- social critic that dwarfs anything Stephenie Meyer ever wrote). Have to see the movies next (first the original Swedish movie followed by Hollywood production) so I'll be able to see how everything degrades step by step :p

After that I picked up I Am Legend by Matheson and I must say I was a bit disappointed...the book feels outdated (monotonous despite the length with archaic prose and odd and repetitive dialogue). I thought it was an ok book, but certainly nothing to rave about. The impression I got might have been the result of the fact that I was partially aware of the "twist" at the end...which might have spoilt it a bit for me.

Now I picked up Fevre Dream by GRRM...what is it with me and vampires lately? I haven't read a single vampire book prior to Let the Right One In (nor Dracula, nor Twilight, nor...anything), don't like horror movies or vampire lore in particular. I watched Buffy a couple of times, but that's about it. I guess Let the Right One In left a bigger impression on me than I thought? Don't worry...I won't start reading urban fantasy after Fevre Dream. I guess It'll be time for a big sprawling fantasy epic, Ender's game or something non-genre (Murasaki's Kafka on the Shore maybe?).
 
I finished White Luck Warrior by S. Bakker and it was very disappointing; it's probably me moving on beyond the kind of book this represents but I found it dull, boring and pretentiously empty; all the talk about kings, faith, all the philosophizing for which S. Bakker is renowned just made me yawn and I couldn't give a fig for any of the characters of the book; if the No God would come and sweep them into history more the better; a series drop and I kind of regret it since i really loved the first trilogy - though I have not re-read it recently so I am not sure how it will stand; overall books about ancient evil awakened and the mobilizing of huge armies to combat it seems to have become another sub-genre I will give a pass from now on

Not to end on a negative note, i will mention that for the last week I've reread the 4 Ice and Fire novels since I really like the TV series; overall what I remembered still held (Game of Thrones which i read about 6 times and Clash of Kings which i read about same are still awesome though there were moments that dragged, Storm of Swords which i read maybe 4 times was excellent and with a great ending but it started the sprawl and I did not care for some parts of it, while Feast of Crows which i have read only twice before this year was incomplete - better than I remembered in some ways but still an incomplete sprawl - I guess it depends on what you like but for me the Dorne and Iron Islands chapters were very meh, but I liked a lot Brienne's ones in addition to the main ones with Cersei, Jaime, Sansa..).
 
Last edited:
Based on recent feedback I have taken Kay's A Song for Arbonne off the to read pile and broke its spine last night. Only about 10 pages in but it is nice to read Kay again, he is such a gifted writer.
 
Eddy Gemmell said:
I have tried to read this twice and stopped both times. It begins brilliantly; moody, evocative, great characters, then when they are trying to rob/kidnap some guy (I forget which) I lost interest. I wondered if he'd poured weeks and months in to the first 100 pages and then cracked through the rest a bit too quickly. I'm sure that's not the case but for me after a hundred pages or so it lost some of its richness and momentum. I have it on audio now as well to see if I can get through it as many many people praise it highly.

I hope you have more luck than me!
Click to expand...

It does seem like it takes almost 200 pages for the actual plot -- the Gray King -- to kick in. Now that story is finally rolling, and suddenly we're flung back to more of Locke's training. And then we jump to POVs of different characters when we've been with Locke the whole book.

And so far, nothing has really distinguished the Gentlemen Bastards from any of dozens of other likable thief characters I've come across, fantasy and non-fantasy included. Apart from an inventive enough setting, it really doesn't feel like anything I haven't seen before.
 
Thanks for that DailyRich. I have had my credits from Audible today and downloaded it so we'll see what I think in a week or so ...
 
I haven't posted for a while so I have a few books to talk about.

First up is The Enterprise of Death by Jesse Bullington. Enterprise fixes the pacing problems that tripped up Brothers Grossbart making for a more seamless narrative. Also, the main characters are not nearly as despicable, though they do suffer from some other characterization problems. It was a good story. I figure if you liked Bullington's first book, you'll like this one too.

After that I read Moon Over Soho by Ben Aaronovitch. I had pre-ordered this one from BD.com, but they seem to be suffering some supply problems so I broke down and bought the American version. I'm glad I did because I loved it every bit as much as Rivers of London. If Aaronovitch can maintain the quality, he ought to become a big name in SFF.

Finally, I read Catherynne Valente's new book, Deathless. Her latest is set in Russia prior to and during WW2 and takes a very intimate and dark look at a Russian fairy tale. Although they were good, Palimpsest and Habitation of the Blessed didn't grab me that much. I felt Deathless was probably Valente's strongest work since The Orphan's Tales.

I'm now trying a historical mystery called The Alehouse Murders by Maureen Ash.
 
I'm still trying to keep up and doing OK with it. I read Embassytown by China Mieville a couple of months ago, but just posted my review of it. I've also read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan but still need to write up reviews for them. I'm currently reading Hounded by Keven Hearne (UF set in Arizona, where I live) and am enjoying it so far.
 
The Princess Bride by S. Morgen... by William Goldman.

So far it's even better than the movie. :)

Also reading The Worm Ouroboros still. Chipping away a chapter at a time. Enjoyable, but sometimes I have no idea what some of the characters are saying.
 
Daddy Darth said:
Based on recent feedback I have taken Kay's A Song for Arbonne off the to read pile and broke its spine last night. Only about 10 pages in but it is nice to read Kay again, he is such a gifted writer.
Click to expand...
I can't recall why, exactly, but it was my favourite of Kay's books.
 
With GRRM's ADWD coming out in a few short weeks, I finally read A Feast for Crows! The worse ASOIAF volume, to be sure, but not as bad as many made it sound to be.

Patrick
 
kcf said:
I'm still trying to keep up and doing OK with it. I read Embassytown by China Mieville a couple of months ago, but just posted my review of it. I've also read Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and Wolfsangel by M.D. Lachlan but still need to write up reviews for them.
Click to expand...

I'm looking very much forward to all of these. Retribution Falls just arrived at my house. Wooding is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

I just started reading ShatnerQuake by Jeff Burk and should be done very soon. This is just awesome. William Shatner goes to the first ever ShatnerCon, a reality bomb goes off and all of the character's Shatner's ever played come out and decide to get rid of the real Shatner. I mean, even Priceline Shatner shows up. It's just crazy.
 
I finished Mark Charan Newton's City of Ruin about an hour or so ago.

An improvement on Nights of Villjamur, and a much more thinky novel than I'd expected. I really enjoyed it, though, and I think the wait for The Book of Transformations is going to be excruciating.
 
Finish Memories of Ice, trying to decide between The Darkness That Comes Before or The Blade Itself...
 
RTR said:
Finish Memories of Ice, trying to decide between The Darkness That Comes Before or The Blade Itself...
Click to expand...
The Blade Itself. Great trilogy (although I did find the first book slow).
 
I finished (fast forwarding through) another fantasy that started very interesting and then just lost my interest and never regained it - The Winds of Khalakavo by Brad Beaulieu; the book lacked magic for me and I did not care for its characters or its world, so another series drop; I guess it's time to get back to sf and mainstream until The Order of the Scales comes...
 
I just finished The Narrator by Michael Cisco. Great novel. Cisco has some of the best prose that I have ever read.

Now taking a step away from fantasy with either The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht or Leeches by David Albahari.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Sponsors


We try to keep the forum as free of ads as possible, please consider supporting SFFWorld on Patreon


Your ad here.

Latest posts

Back
Top