Reading in April 2005

Eventine said:
See, as much as I like Matt's writing I just can't bring myself to buy this, let alone read it. I think my Star Wars days are a good 7 years behind me.
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Yeah, I won't buy it either, probably won't see it. I MAY go to the store and read some of it.....
 
Keyoke said:
Just a lil upset that I havent heard of any new books by Stover that are not based on the Star Wars mythos...
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From what I understand, CAINE BLACK KNIFE is well on its way....shouldn't be too long a wait before it hits shelves.
 
Erfael said:
From what I understand, CAINE BLACK KNIFE is well on its way....shouldn't be too long a wait before it hits shelves.
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I was at Matt's book signing on Monday night and he said Caine Black Knife should be ready for a January 2006 release. This is probably the book I am most eagerly awaiting.
 
What I am reading

I am reading The Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkins and after that Black Oak #2 The Hush of Dark Wings by Charles Grant.
 
I finished my SF book, Crossing the Line by Karen Traviss, which was fabulous.

I am now starting The Good, The Bad, and The Undead by Kim Harrison. This is the second book in her Rachel Morgan series.
 
Finally finished Memories of Ice. Damn if you can't read Erikson's books at a crawling pace for fear of missing anything. There is always so much happening.

Read Tale of the Thunderbolt by E.E. Knight in a day. Great pulpy action stuff. Really good series that I recommend to anyone. Guy is churning out novels, and they are paperback releases by Roc so they're cheap. But very good and entertaining.

Now to start Market Forces by Richard K Morgan.

Then it's back to Erikson with House of Chains
 
Well, I forgot to post this in the March reading thread, but in that month I finished The Darkness that Comes Before by R. Scott Bakker--loved it, though I didn't really get drawn in to the story until late part three or early part four, and I eagerly await the next week or so when I have time to buy book two.

Oh yeah, that month I also finished Shadowmarch: Volume One by Tad Williams. It wasn't as bad as I had heard, or as slow. Definitely not for the "dammit I want explosions kill kill kill!" crowd, though. What happened so far was interesting enough, though I think Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn was the superior fantasy. (Hard to tell, though, as it's only book one.) I'm glad volume two comes out this spring/summer, supposedly. (How can he do that AND write "A Chronicle in Stone" at the same time?)

Anyway, for this month, I've read The Soul of the Fire by Terry Goodkind, and found it OKay. Not as bad as some said, and the Sword of Truth doesn't just "appear" like some other fans told me, but it was lacking a lot of the punch the earlier three books had. And the chicken monster? Let's forget that.

Then I read Gene Wolfe's Urth of the New Sun, and I ABSOLUTELY loved it. The way he wrapped up the Book of the New Sun series in it, and how it seemed nothing like a sequel to it, but more of another volume. I think with just the first four books, the series might not be as good. But with Urth now as an official epilogue, it's excellent. The plot was amazing, in the way he works in things from all the previous books, such as the play of Doctor Talos and its importance in things, and all Severian did in the past.

Now, though, I'm 54 pages into Weaveworld by Clive Barker. So far, I like it more than his other fantasy, Imajica (though that was a very good book, regardless), as it's not all meandering around for the first one hundred pages. "The Scourge" and the Weave sound interesting, and I can't wait to hear more of what they are.

Saying I have this weird technique of reading whatever genre is or is related to the book of the one I'm writing, I think I'll do some Martin next. I only read the books in late November/early December of last year, as I heard book four should be out in 2005 (and I still hope it is going to be), so I'll probably read the Dunk and Egg novellas. Oh yeah, and Neil Gaiman's Shadow novella in Legends II.
 
This month is very slow. I finished Sharon Shinn's Mystic and Rider (see 2005 release read) and am still reading Gary Wassner's The Twins among some YA fiction.
 
Just finished a reread of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy for my contemporary fiction class, and have to say how much more I enjoyed it the second time around. The second book still felt flabby but I was especially struck by the depth of intertextuality - especially with Milton and Blake - and also by the gentility of his prose (perhaps more so in the final book.) Still, although I tend to agree with him on moral issues concerning education, sexuality and religion, his didacticism is pretty heavy and his anti-Church/Christian sentiment more than clear. Plus, I maintain a kernel of distaste in my heart for his comments on "fantasy" as a genre - I feel compelled to rant. But I won't. ;) Grrrrrrrrr :mad: Tis almost as bad as Margaret Atwood claiming that all science fiction is about inter-dimensional lizards.

Still to anyone interested in thought-provoking children's fantasy fiction, and prepared to shock-absorb a certain brand of liberal fundamentalism, I think Pullman's an extremely inventive front-runner in the field.
 
Finished Fool's Errand by Hobb over the weekend. Outstanding book, amazing author. Busy with Golden Fool right now. Can't wait to see how this series turns out...
 
I'm glad volume two comes out this spring/summer, supposedly. (How can he do that AND write "A Chronicle in Stone" at the same time?)

He can't, and he's not doing that. He's not writing a Chronicle in Stone and Shadowmarch II won't be out till Spring next year, at best.
 
I finished The Good, The Bad, and The Undead by Kim Harrison. It is the second in her Rachel Morgan series, or Anita Blake Lite . I read the first one, and enjoyed it, and so I expected to enjoy this one. I did, but it was more work than it should have been.

I thought it was awkwardly written, and I had to force myself to keep reading even though the story hadn't grabbed me. I also found that all the major developments were setup so broadly that I knew what was going to happen before it did. I also found Rachel to become a bit of a spoiled brat, and in some instances too stupid for words. The other issue was that the author kept writing scenes that were supposed to increase the physical and sexual tension - but after the first one they were time consuming and boring.

Still the idea of fantasy and horror creatures living and interacting in the real world is cool. I also love the pixie character Jenks. Eventually the good parts overwhelmed the problems and the story hooked me. It also left hooks and hints for the next book, which I will read.
 
Finished The Autumn Castle

I finished the Autumn Castle by Kim Wilkinson. Excellent Urban Fantasy!!!! Loved it. It is her first book and the next one is coming out January 2006, so I guess I have alittle bit of a wait. I just could not put this book down. For those of you who are Urban Fantasy fans it is a must read, very fast paced and attention grabbing. I don't want to give to much away but its part love story, part thriller/mystery and of course, its a fantasy.

:D
 
Interesting to hear Kim Wilkins is writing urban fantasy - I read her "Fallen Angel" a couple of years ago and didn't rate it all that highly. The concept was interesting, but I felt the prose was a bit woolly. I might check out The Autumn Castle though. :)
 
reply again on Kim Wilkinsoooo

I really liked Autum Castle, I was under the impression from the book that this was her first novel though. I am a huge Urban Fantasy fan though and look for them in particular. Charles de Lint did a good review on the book that is why I bought it in the first place. Let me know if you like it if you do read it. :D
 
DrBloodmoney, I know exactly what you mean! I'm on Memories of Ice but I'm only about 1/3 through.. and I've been reading these Erikson books since New Year's! I've been busy with school and stuff, but I can't believe how slow I'm going through these...

That being said, I love the books, and so far MoI could be my favorite!
 
posted this in another forum also...but I am currently reading book 3 of the DragonCrown War Cycle...definitely would recommend this to others..
 
I finished "Blades of the Tiger" by Chris Pierson a few days ago. This is the first novel set on the continent of Taladas in the Dragonlance setting and was pretty darned good in my humble opinion (although it could have used a better editor to clean up the spelling mistakes and grammatical errors).

Now I am reading "Mystic Quest" by Tracy and Laura Hickman.
 
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