Reading in December 2008

I'm currently about halfway through Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. It's just as fun as the first one. The only thing that kind of bothers me is (spoiler for the first book below)...

I miss the rest of the crew. I really liked Bug and the Sanzas. Too bad at least one of them couldn't have survived. At the very least, I hope Locke and Jean bring someone new into the crew, or hook up with Sabetha again.
 
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Gilgamesh said:
Currently reading Sign Of The Unicorn, 3rd book of Chronicles of Amber.

I was surprised to see the publication date of the first 3 books. The first one and the third one are published 5 years apart. And, they are small books. So, I thought that it wasn't easy to write (or let's say "sell") fantasy during early 70s.
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Zelazny wrote other books too, he wasn't writing only Amber books at that period.
 
sic's mom said:
Currently doing a reread of the Codex Alera series by Jim Butcher. A friend of mine is reading the new one "Princeps Fury" so I am killing time till she is done and I can borrow it:)
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That's a wonderful series and Princeps' Fury is a great new installment (although it's probably a spoiler title for someone new to the series). Butcher continues to grow as a writer.
 
I just started the audiobook of Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It's great so far, very witty.

I'm also about half way through Nine Princes of Amber. It started off really strange, but quite a page turner and now I'm addicted.
 
wooow

Caine Black Knife - Stover is back and what a comeback it is!
Abercrombie, Roftus, Cearney and Tchaikovsky are good, but now the throne is taken!
 
Just finished A Game of Thrones and it was amazing. I was hesitant to pick up A Clash of Kings because it is so long and I have some many other books to read but the calling was too strong and I started it today. The "To Read" pile will just have to wait. :D
 
I finished Engine's Child by Holly Phillips - this was an unexpected read, on Sunday I saw a negative but clueless sounding review which made me curious, I bought it yesterday, and finished it last night since it was very engrossing. If you liked Thunderer by F. Gilman, give this one a try since it's a similarly themed and superb new weird epic. The style is more reminiscing of Alchemy of Stone by E. Sedia, so if you liked that, I would recommend this also.

I opened a thread where I put a mini-review.
 
Ok: the review of Twilight's up: not bad, but definitely not for everyone.

I now know why there was once a queue of young girls picking up the book at my local Waterstones... :)

Mark / Hobbit
 
Hobbit said:
Ok: the review of Twilight's up: not bad, but definitely not for everyone.

I now know why there was once a queue of young girls picking up the book at my local Waterstones... :)

Mark / Hobbit
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Ironically, Twilight was brought to my attention by a gushing male host of the Forcecast (star wars podcast). He thought of it as kind of a superhero story from a Lois Lane perspective. I was intrigued enough that I picked up the book and actually enjoyed despite its flaws. Sequels were fairly good except the final book that read more like a bad fanfiction and was a very disappointing ending to the series.
 
I suspect it's going to be one of those 'guilty-pleasure' type books for men.

(Pssst.... have you read 'Twilight'? :D )

Mark / Hobbit
 
Hobbit said:
I suspect it's going to be one of those 'guilty-pleasure' type books for men.

(Pssst.... have you read 'Twilight'? :D )

Mark / Hobbit
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Yes, and they'll pretend they went to see the movie only because their wives/girlfriends asked them :rolleyes:
 
I've just recently finished Bakker's - The Darkness That Comes Before, and it was very good. I thought that after I finish I would go back to Scott Lynch and finally read Red Seas under Red Skies which I've just recieved, but I feel like I can't stop now that I'm in rhytm, so The Warrior Prophet is next... Especially with all the names and factions fixed in my mind, I think it's best to read the trilogy as one.
 
Siberian said:
Yes, and they'll pretend they went to see the movie only because their wives/girlfriends asked them :rolleyes:
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Daughter.

Twilight was okay. A bit soggy in the middle -- romance from a tween perspective -- bookended by some decent landscape cinematography (nice job of incorporating locale), some moderately good action sequences and heaping sodden masses of tween/teen angst.

As for the human/vamp love interest, I think it was done with more wit and frequently more heart on Buffy the Vampire Slayer, which I'd direct teens to. For still older viewers, besides BtVS they might be interested in searching out True Blood.


Randy M.
 
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Brandon Sanderson

This is a new author for me. I'm reading Brandon Sanderson for the first time: Mistborn. So far I'm enjoying it quite a bit.

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Hobbit said:
Ok: the review of Twilight's up: not bad, but definitely not for everyone.

I now know why there was once a queue of young girls picking up the book at my local Waterstones... :)

Mark / Hobbit
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I too recently (about a month ago) read Twilight after avoiding it for years. Not because of all they hype. For me it was simply a matter of a) I'm not that much into vampires (though Salem's Lot was a great read in its day) and b) I'm not into romances (only one I ever read was Thornbirds - which I did enjoy but not enough to read others).

The book is an enigma for me....It is not well written, not overly original, had a long lead up and a rushed end. So you would think I would give it a thumbs down...and intellectually I should. That being said. I'm ashamed to admit that I read it voraciously - almost every spare minute I had my nose was in the stupid book.....
 
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The book is an enigma for me....It is not well written, not overly original, had a long lead up and a rushed end. So you would think I would give it a thumbs down...and intellectually I should. That being said. I'm ashamed to admit that I read it voraciously - almost every spare minute I had my nose was in the stupid book.....
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So is it one of those books where heart rules over head? You shouldn't like it, for so many reasons, but you do....

Mark / Hobbit
 
Finished Forest Mage by Hobb and just loved it!
It's better than the first book and it delivers all the Hobb's best qualities.


nemesm said:
I've just recently finished Bakker's - The Darkness That Comes Before, and it was very good. I thought that after I finish I would go back to Scott Lynch and finally read Red Seas under Red Skies which I've just recieved, but I feel like I can't stop now that I'm in rhytm, so The Warrior Prophet is next... Especially with all the names and factions fixed in my mind, I think it's best to read the trilogy as one.
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I also started Warrior-Prophet but I took a few months break between the books, and I didn't have any problem catching up with it, thanks to the synopsis from the previous book.
My main problem with this series is that I don't like its characters. The only ones that I like are Achamian and Esmenet, the rest I don't care about or I hate them (Serwe and Kellhus comes to mind). But I found the plot very intriguing so I'm determined to finish it.
 
Tomau said:
I also started Warrior-Prophet but I took a few months break between the books, and I didn't have any problem catching up with it, thanks to the synopsis from the previous book.
My main problem with this series is that I don't like its characters. The only ones that I like are Achamian and Esmenet, the rest I don't care about or I hate them (Serwe and Kellhus comes to mind). But I found the plot very intriguing so I'm determined to finish it.
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I see what you mean altough I have no problems with the characters. I actually like this many POV style... And about Serwe and Esmenet... wow, these girls are being "used"... a lot. :rolleyes:
 
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