Reading in July 2011

[misterc12]

I just finished White Night by Jim Butcher. I am a little behind with the Dresden files so I am trying to get caught up. I will be starting Small Favor today.

 

[Contrarius]

I'm listening to Ghost Story, Hoorah! I gotta say -- I'd rather have Marsters narrating, but Glover really isn't doing a bad job. His narration is better than what Marsters did on Storm Front and Fool Moon, so you can't really cut the guy down too much. No, he's not perfect, and yes, it would be better to have Marsters, but all in all it isn't the end of the world....

 

[JustaStaffer]

Reading The Magician King right now. Lev Grossman's follow up to The Magicians. It's ok. I'm not as impressed as I was by the first one. The deconstruction of the YA fantasy novel isn't working the second time around. It's as I feared when I heard there was going to be a sequel. I'll reserve judgement until I finish it.

Thinking about David Chandler's A Den of Thieves next. Anyone read that yet?

Justin

 

[algernoninc]

finished Dragonsbane by Barbara Hambly. Liked it, deserves to be considered a classic. It works also very well as a standalone epic, for those who avoid doorstoppers or unfinished series.

also finished Old Tin Sorrows by Glen Cook. It has some great moments with Garrett snarky remarks, but I felt the investigative part is loosing some steam after three strong noir fantasy books.

So, I'm ready for my Seven Kingdoms fix, Mr. Martin : starting A Dance With Dragons tonight.

 

[Bastard]

Reading The Magician King right now. Lev Grossman's follow up to The Magicians. It's ok. I'm not as impressed as I was by the first one. The deconstruction of the YA fantasy novel isn't working the second time around. It's as I feared when I heard there was going to be a sequel. I'll reserve judgement until I finish it.

Thinking about David Chandler's A Den of Thieves next. Anyone read that yet?

Justin

I'm very much looking forward to The Magician King, but I have a feeling I might enjoy it more than the first one (even though I really liked it even though I found the narrative a bit dull).

I ordered A Den of Thieves the other day, so hopefully I'll be taking a look at it by next month. So I say go for it.

 

[JustaStaffer]

I'm very much looking forward to The Magician King, but I have a feeling I might enjoy it more than the first one (even though I really liked it even though I found the narrative a bit dull).

I ordered A Den of Thieves the other day, so hopefully I'll be taking a look at it by next month. So I say go for it.

Den of Thieves, Among Thieves, Shadow's Lure/Son, Night Angel Trilogy, Lies of Locke Lamora, theme much? lol

If you're into assassins and thieves, man - good time to be alive.

 

[Bastard]

Den of Thieves, Among Thieves, Shadow's Lure/Son, Night Angel Trilogy, Lies of Locke Lamora, theme much? lol

If you're into assassins and thieves, man - good time to be alive.

Read all of those but Among Thieves, been meaning to read it but I'm kinda waiting a bit. Of the books I have at my house at the moment, probably the one I'm most eager to read.

Also, just read Tiassa (Vlad Taltos) by Steven Brust.

 

[Seak]

Den of Thieves, Among Thieves, Shadow's Lure/Son, Night Angel Trilogy, Lies of Locke Lamora, theme much? lol

If you're into assassins and thieves, man - good time to be alive.

Haha...I'm not complainin'.

Currently having a bit of a problem finding reading time...and then it doesn't help that I've started multiple books at once.

I'm still doing my reread of the Wheel of Time, on The Fires of Heaven. I was a little frustrated at this point on the first go around, but now that I really know what I'm in for, it's much better. I'm all about the ride now, not necessarily the destination.

 

[Westy]

The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford was a great read; Ford's prose is fantastic in evoking the late 1800's NY era, and he's created a mystery that keeps the reader entertained to the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will have to check out more of his novels.

 

[bossfan2000]

Finally finished Shadowplay last night. Took about 2 months of total reading as I had real troubles maintaining interest in it for the first 2/3 of the book. Final 1/3 things finally started happening and was able to finish without getting distracted by other books. Story looks nicely setup for the last 2, but think I will read something else before jumping into book 3.

Think I might give Den of Thieves by David Chandler a go. I didn't realize the series was coming out bimonthly (book 2 in Sept and book 3 in Nov I believe).

 

[JustaStaffer]

Finally finished Shadowplay last night. Took about 2 months of total reading as I had real troubles maintaining interest in it for the first 2/3 of the book. Final 1/3 things finally started happening and was able to finish without getting distracted by other books. Story looks nicely setup for the last 2, but think I will read something else before jumping into book 3.

Think I might give Den of Thieves by David Chandler a go. I didn't realize the series was coming out bimonthly (book 2 in Sept and book 3 in Nov I believe).

I'll race you!

 

[bossfan2000]

You'll beat me..I'm a slow reader

But I just added your blog to my blogroll, and plan to include your reviews in my Fantasy Round Up posts if you don't mind.

I also want to check out The Whitefire Crossing after reading your (and Robert's) review. Does it have a solid (non-cliffhanger) ending?

 

[JustaStaffer]

You'll beat me..I'm a slow reader

But I just added your blog to my blogroll, and plan to include your reviews in my Fantasy Round Up posts if you don't mind.

I also want to check out The Whitefire Crossing after reading your (and Robert's) review. Does it have a solid (non-cliffhanger) ending?

Thanks, by all means.

Hmm.. there's a definite resolution to the main arc. But then it starts a second arc at the very end that whets the appetite for book 2. No cliffhanger per se.

 

[Rob B]

The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford was a great read; Ford's prose is fantastic in evoking the late 1800's NY era, and he's created a mystery that keeps the reader entertained to the end.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and will have to check out more of his novels.

Ford is an incredible writer. Check out his Well-Built City trilogy, which begins with The Physiognomy. His short stories are superb, both The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and The Empire of Ice-Cream are both in a word - Wonderful.

 

[Westy]

Ford is an incredible writer. Check out his Well-Built City trilogy, which begins with The Physiognomy. His short stories are superb, both The Fantasy Writer's Assistant and The Empire of Ice-Cream are both in a word - Wonderful.

He does have a way with words doesn't he? And I never hear him mentioned much at all on the forums.

Thanks for the suggestions Rob, I've read similar feedback on those mentioned - getting The Physiognomy from the library Saturday.

 

[bossfan2000]

So I read the Kindle sample of Den of Thieves by David Chandler last night, wasn't overly wowed..but bought the book anyway. Read it for another 30 minutes (my Cool Reader app says I am at the 12% mark) and put it down. Hoping to see some other opinions here. To me, and I don't use this phrase much because it normally doesn't bother me, the writing was all show and no tell. No subtlety, no inferring (spelling?)..just flat out telling us everything.

I'll probably let it sit a day or two in case I just wasn't in the mood for it. In the meantime, I picked up The Last Stormlord (again) by Glenda Larke (21% complete). I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it seems to be getting a little better as it goes along.

Edit: I just read Robert's review of Den of Thieves over at Fantasy Book Critic..and let's just say Robert lists many more reasons why I might have made a mistake buying the book last night. I'm not sure if it is ok to link to the review from here (I think not), so here is part of the review from FBC:

Despite my obvious disappointment with the book, Den of Thieves is not nearly as bad as I’m making it sound. David Chandler’s debut may not offer fully developed characters, indepth world-building, creative ideas, or clever plotting, but thanks to swift pacing and non-stop sword & sorcery action, Den of Thieves does provide lots of fun & thrills. Keeping expectations lowered though is the key to enjoying David Chandler’s debut.

 

[JustaStaffer]

So I read the Kindle sample of Den of Thieves by David Chandler last night, wasn't overly wowed..but bought the book anyway. Read it for another 30 minutes (my Cool Reader app says I am at the 12% mark) and put it down. Hoping to see some other opinions here. To me, and I don't use this phrase much because it normally doesn't bother me, the writing was all show and no tell. No subtlety, no inferring (spelling?)..just flat out telling us everything.

I'll probably let it sit a day or two in case I just wasn't in the mood for it. In the meantime, I picked up The Last Stormlord (again) by Glenda Larke (21% complete). I wasn't sure about this one at first, but it seems to be getting a little better as it goes along.

Edit: I just read Robert's review of Den of Thieves over at Fantasy Book Critic..and let's just say Robert lists many more reasons why I might have made a mistake buying the book last night. I'm not sure if it is ok to link to the review from here (I think not), so here is part of the review from FBC:

Interesting and about what I expected honestly. Still, I need a break after my recent heavy reads of Magician King, Folding Knife, ADWD, Magicians, and Germline.

 

[suciul]

I finished Heart of Iron by E. Sedia, an alt-history/steampunk with a bit of the supernatural set in a modernizing Russia in the 1850's, where the Decembrist coup succeeded and Constantine is Tsar, the serfs are free and factories are sprouting everywhere; the narration is first person and very engaging by the 18 year old daughter of one of the heroes of the revolt, who is selected among the first women to be accepted at the University of St. Petersburg; the descriptions in the novel are excellent and you get the sense of Russia, however the book fails badly in the second "action" half where it renounces any subtlety becoming YA adventure with an enchanting heroine, true, but with action that has not feel of tension or danger in pulp mode, while the 'realism" about women in the 19th century society and to a lesser extent about races from the first part, simplistic to start with, is soon forgotten in the quest of our heroine to make everyone happy, the world a better place and the baddies repent....

So you know all will be cheery/peachy and even the bad guys may be redeemed so to speak, while the characters remain one dimensional throughout. This book could have been great since it has all the elements - style, narrator, atmosphere - sadly it throws all away in mindless, YA action which made me yawn rather than be interested

 

[Randy M.]

Bridge of Birds

Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart

Enchanting.

I wasn't sure early on how much I liked this novel. I was enjoying it, but had just finished the most absorbing book I'd read this year, so it took Hughart's novel a little while to grab me. Around the half-way point, I was engrossed.

In the village of Ku-fu, the children have been affected by a mysterious illness. Number Ten Ox, a young man, sets out to find a wise man to help find a cure and in Peking stumbles across Master Li. Together they criss-cross China, following clues and speculations as to the cure, encountering tortured ghosts and tormented scholars, a terrifying monster in a labyrinth and the even more frightening owner of the labyrinth, the Old Man of the Mountains and a celestial princess.

The fantastic, whimsy, improbable feats of derring-do, and an earthy sense of humor all make appearances in this novel, and Hughart does a terrific job of juggling them all. I can't recommend this book highly enough as a fun, exhilarating summer read.


Bridge of Birds, subtitled, "A Novel of a China That Never Was," has reignited my interest in reading Lafcadio Hearn's Some Chinese Ghosts and rereading Kwaidan (Japan rather than China), rather more traditional tales and tellings of Asian stories.

Randy M.

 

[Erfael]

Randy, if you haven't read Kij Johnson's Fox Woman, you may want to add that to your list. Also really nice....very earthy and evocative.