Reading in April 2009

Have read a few this month, finally had some time to read......

Let the Right One In by John Ajvide Lindqvist
I LOVED this book, it really had a deep emotionally impact on me that left me thinking about it for ages.

Handling the Dead by John Ajvide Lindqvist
Really enjoyed this one too, not as fabulous as the above book, but still very good.

The Fade by Chris Wooding
Good solid fantasy book, loved the way the story unfolded and it had a real sense of urgency and liked how the plot was revealed so gradually, never saw it coming. Likeable characters and a great story.

A Madness of Angels by Kate Griffin
Now this was a great urban fantasy read with a main character I cared about and loved. I read a lot of urban fantasy and it can be very formulatic, this book felt very fresh indeed. I really loved the style and atmosphere of this book, some genuinely original ideas and I found myself frequently smiling at the cleverness of the way magic was used in this book. Will definitely be buying the follow-up book later this year. A real favourite of this months reads.

The Ninth Circle by Alex Bell
Oh boy, started out okay but I quickly tired of the main character and his immature, whining attitude. He felt very repetitive and shallow, by the middle of the book I was bored sick and didn't care where it was going. Skimmed the latter 1/4 of the book and it really was a waste of time for me.

Now, what to read next..........a huge 'to read' pile staring at me lol
 
Hmm.... book in the link you posted sounds interesting, but it doesn`t seem to be available in Canada (and I`ll pass on the big fat customs fees from the States thanks). :(
 
You're right... Actually it's not available in the UK either. I'm getting it from the USA however I don't remember having paid custom fees before...
 
Well I am about 2/3 of the way through Midwinter by Matthew Sturges. I am enjoying it, but you can tell it is a first novel. Not anything groundbreaking, or earthshattering, and can be a little slow at times, but all in all not bad. I don't know if this is a standalone or the first in a series. Haven't been able to find any info. Does anyone else here know? He has some talent so if it is the start of a series I think it will get better.
 
Re Sturges' Midwinter: Based on info on the publisher's blog and reviews that I've read, it seems that Midwinter is meant to stand up well on its own. However, in a list of recent acquisitions on the Pyr blog a while back, another book by Sturges which is at least a semi-sequel is listed. It's called The Office of Shadows and sounds espionage related. I'm looking forward to trying Midwinter myself in a couple weeks.

For now, though, I must return to The Judging Eye, -- delve back into the depths of Cil Aujas... The walls, they watch, ... and the dark, ... it shrieks...
________
LAMBORGHINI CALA
 
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Gilgamesh said:
The next book on my TBR pile (I haven't received it yet) is Colin Taber's The Fall Of Ossard. Has anyone read it?
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It does indeed sound pretty interesting, but like Aurian pointed out, it doesn't seem to be easily available. I doubt there'd be a huge customs charge (from USA to UK) but Amazon.com have rather high shipping fees for international orders, it'd end up being one very, very expensive if I were to order it. I think I might have to wait for a UK release --- hopefully there is going to be one.

Oh, and Gilgamesh, I hope you enjoy the Coldfire trilogy and are pleased with the ending. I'd love to re-read that series, as I'd love to re-read many of my favorites, but I have so many books on my to be read pile that I just dont' get the chance to go back over already read ones.

I just finished reading Chainfire last night. I think it's better than Naked Empire, and it did have a more interesting conflict this time around, so the book was slightly more enjoyable to read than some of the past others.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. I'll have to go and check my to read pile and see what calls out to me this time.
 
BrightStar said:
Oh, and Gilgamesh, I hope you enjoy the Coldfire trilogy and are pleased with the ending.
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Well... I'm far from the end of the third book :). I thought the second book was better than the first one with a more gripping story line. In general I like the characters, how they behave etc. They seem pretty cohesive to me.

I think my favorite is Tarrant. He constantly creates a moral dilemma between the greater good and the momentary evil. I was very surprised and sad to see Hesseth die. And I honestly thought that the little Jenseny would last more. I thought she'd be in the 3rd book...

All in all, they have been very very enjoyable books. I love the setting and the way that magic works...
 
Yeah, I always felt Coldfire grew stronger as the series progressed. I can't believe I didn't like it (the first 50 pages) the first time I started reading it. Glad I went back to it and gave it another go.

Decided to read The Year of Our War next. Haven't started it yet, but hoping it'll be enjoyable.
 
Just finished Michael Stackpole's Cartomancy. So far the series seems to be pretty good. For a trilogy, he's keeping the points of view and story on course.
 
Erfael said:
I've finally gotten around to starting this for the second or third time (other books got in the way the first time or two) and I'm really enjoying it. I always like Cherryh, but some of her books are harder to take than others. This has to be some of the easiest-to-get-into Cherryh I've read and I'm liking everything about it.
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I'm glad to find someone else is also enjoying this one! I have read it before (though I don't remember the details so it's still a good re-read) but I do remember the first book is the best, and the second book is the worst, so 'ware the second book. This is making me want to read other Cherryh books, and I've always wanted to, not sure where a good place to start is though. I hear bad things about the first book of Foreigner but good things about the rest of the series. I dunno, a bad first book can ruin me.
 
Just finished Dragon In Chains which was a great start to a series, only complaint is that it got a bit predictable towards the end. Fantastic read though, can't wait for the sequel.

I'm glad I saw the God's Demon discussion because I saw it in the bookstore and the blurb sounded cool, but I'd never heard of the book before. Was going to scope out some reviews anyway. Definitely on my to purchase list.
 
Just finished reading the first chapter of Year of Our War. Undecided yet as to what I think, kinda felt like slow going and took a lot of concentration. I'm worried it's going to be too political for my tastes, but we'll see.
 
As a fan of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files, I picked up the first book in his Codex Alera, Furies of Calderon. I read about 140 pages and put it down. I'm not sure why but it just didn't grab me. That was like 2 months ago. After doing some reading on the site, I saw that many people said the book got better late and the series got better after book one. I picked it back up on Wednesday and finished it last night. It did get better and I'm picking up book 2 today. I did get a head start and read the first seven chapters off Jim's website this morning though. It looks promising.
 
Gilgamesh said:
You're right... Actually it's not available in the UK either. I'm getting it from the USA however I don't remember having paid custom fees before...
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Maybe its a Canada / USA issue. I have no problems shipping and receiving stuff from other countries, but as soon as a package from the USA gets over a certain size, I get hit with a customs inspection and fee, which is often higher than the amount I paid for the item! :eek:

Hence, why I don`t buy anything that can`t fit into your standard letter envelope from the States anymore....



I loved the Coldfire trilogy - its one of the few set of books that has stood the test of time on my shelves (limited space = lots of shelf competition book-wise!).
 
I'm in the middle of "The Summer Tree" by Guy G. Kay and really enjoying it. I've been really wishy-washy on my reading lately and it feels good to be back to reading fantasy. :)
 
Aurian said:
Maybe its a Canada / USA issue. I have no problems shipping and receiving stuff from other countries, but as soon as a package from the USA gets over a certain size, I get hit with a customs inspection and fee, which is often higher than the amount I paid for the item! :eek:

Hence, why I don`t buy anything that can`t fit into your standard letter envelope from the States anymore....
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I live in the UK, and I've never had any problems with customs, (that I can remember) and I do sometimes order books from Amazon.co.uk marketplace sellers who are based in the USA.

Unfortunately, The Fall Of Ossard isn't listed at Amazon.co.uk at all, which means I'd have to buy it straight from the .com site if I wanted a copy. Their delivery fees tend to be far, far higher than it costs to order books from the UK site that are being shipped from the US. Makes no sense.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've started on The Year of Our War today. Though I'm kinda having a hard time finding the desire to keep on reading. Chapter one didn't really grab me all that much, and I don't know whether the praise I've heard about it will be enough to encourage me to read on.
 
I live in the UK, and I've never had any problems with customs, (that I can remember) and I do sometimes order books from Amazon.co.uk marketplace sellers who are based in the USA.
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In the UK books are usually seen as a item free of surcharge tax internationally: unlike DVD's (which I have found to my cost!)

An non-book item, worth over £18, can be charged a Customs surcharge, which can be quite large.

The other way around it is for the item to be sent from an International (European) address: a lot of the Amazon stuff I've had, my Locus magazine, and my Easton Press books come to me from Germany, if i remember right.

Ah, the fun of international shipping! :D

Mark
 
Amaunette said:
I'm glad to find someone else is also enjoying this one! I have read it before (though I don't remember the details so it's still a good re-read) but I do remember the first book is the best, and the second book is the worst, so 'ware the second book. This is making me want to read other Cherryh books, and I've always wanted to, not sure where a good place to start is though. I hear bad things about the first book of Foreigner but good things about the rest of the series. I dunno, a bad first book can ruin me.
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Ahah, Foreigner...that series was pretty good. JUST BUM RUSH THAT ####! Finish it in a day!
 
Just finished Ken Scholes's Lamentation.

I found it awkward: too short to truly captivate; too long for a quick read. In all, I'd say it's too full of good ideas, too hesistantly realised.

For all sorts of reasons, I should love this book. The lack of violence and sex sets it aside from just about every other modern fantasy novel out there; the ideas pushed forward make it almost exemplary in tone.

But - it's a draft. Once you've got all these elements, you still need to have a story...

It's rather as if Scholes had written all sorts of little bits and pieces, and then pasted them together. The job is expertly handled, but the end product is lacking...

I very much liked this book, but rather wish I could wack the authour over the head once or twice. Lamentation could and should be much better than it actually is.

And Scholes should be one of the best fantasy authors around. What's holding him back is himself. Or the market. Or something.
 
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