Reading in February 2010

[DragonReader]

Finished "After the War" by Tim Lebbon

Now reading "An Evil Guest" by Gene Wolfe

 

[Haliax]

Just finished Nyphron Rising by Michael J Sullivan, the third book in his Riyria Revelations series. I've been very impressed with this series so far, and I'm looking forward to April when the next book is set to be released. All three books were real page turners for me, so I expect nothing less of the next one. I almost wish that I had put this series off until it was finished, since I'm so anxious to see how it ends.

 

[algernoninc]

i finished the last Scavenger book by K J Parker [Memory] - and now I'm undecided between Engineer and Scavenger for the best Parker series. I might need to re-read them both. also I'm looking forward to The Folding Knife after the high praise from "suciul".

Now i went back to the reliable entertainment from Steven Brust and the fifth Vlad Taltos installment : Phoenix. I'm still undecided about my next epic series. I've also picked probably my first dud of the year [Ice Station by Matthew Reilly]. I almost never leave books unfinished so I'll keep on, but this one feels like it was written by a 12 years old, and for a techno thriller the author seem to have a very poor grasp of physics, chemistry and biology. Probably that's why it reads to me as fantasy. This one one will go right back to the used books store where it came from.

 

[BrightStar]

Having finished with Servant of the Underworld I'm now reading Karen Miller's Innocent Mage (book one of the Kingmaker, Kingbreaker series). I didn't like it to begin with, on account of the setup being very cliche and the main character's dialect being very difficult to follow at times. But after I got past the first three chapters, I've begun liking it a bit more now. I'm willing to keep on reading for the time being, though (as yet) this is nowhere near as enjoyable as Empress (book one of the Godspeaker series).

 

[Loerwyn]

I'm about 160 into Song of Susannah (did ~100 last night), and I'm rather enjoying it.
Might actually turn the PC off earlier again tonight and sit in bed reading it

 

[Mithfânion]

Gilgamesh

Currently almost halfway through Col Buchanan's Farlander. It's been a great read so far, I've enjoyed it very much. Even though it's a totally different setting, at times, Buchanan's style makes me think of Hobb and her Fitz

I'll be looking out for your review, I have not seen one yet for this book.

Liviu,

Could you be a bit more explicit about what The Folding Knife is about? The synopsis is very brief and your write-up basically tells me that you loved it to pieces but I would like to get some info on what the story is roughly about, what some of the characters are etc.

 

[suciul]

Gilgamesh


Liviu,

Could you be a bit more explicit about what The Folding Knife is about? The synopsis is very brief and your write-up basically tells me that you loved it to pieces but I would like to get some info on what the story is roughly about, what some of the characters are etc.

The setup is the City State of Vesani which has a structure as Rome with its noble families, a parliament of 139 seats based on "wards" and a First Citizen elected every 3 years for maximum 3 terms; however as opposed to Rome, Vesani is commercial and all "noble" families are judged by wealth rather than ancestry, maritime without land possessions, with all fit male citizens required to serve in galleys, while the army is mercenary and hired as need with several "barbarian" officers as full time staff, same with labor based on free or slave non-citizens... So like Athens without the hoplites/cavalry or like Carthage but with a western outlook

Tech, culture.. typical KJ Parker so as mentioned it's like the Greek/Roman world going for thousands of years without a messianic religion/notion of progress - same as Fencer without magic, while Engineer and P&B (which has an Empire of Vesani though it's different as geography goes so different universe) could fit also in this scheme but we get much less info in those

Basso (aka Bassianus Severus) is the son/grandson/... of First Citizens though his father almost ruins himself several times especially after losing his reelection to a "sausage maker" when he buys a ship in a fit of pique and the ship sinks but he gets lucky with Basso's "dowry" money (he gets betrothed at 14 to a rich but less pedigreed family's daughter for 1 million) buying a bank this time and by some chance making good money and having one Antigonus (a financial wizard eunuch slave) to lead it;

Spoiler

we see snippets from Basso's life from just before birth and the story of TFK of the title which I mentioned earlier and he gets at age 10 from his mother, then when at 14 or so he beats up a soldier for making a pass at his sister which is his most loved relative and there is the scene excerpted in The Company when the officer in charge Aelius punches him back badly in the head as in "we are even now" and he gets deaf in an ear from that, then the betrothal story which is quite funny (with plums) and then at 20 Basso finds out he has a talent for finance under Antigonus so from then on he leads the bank and increases the family fortune though nominally under pater-familias rules his father still has all the power...

Then the main event happens that will define Basso from then on when he is in his mid 20's and his twin sons are 7 and his nephew/godson Bassianus is 5; this event hinted in the prologue and happening on page 50 leaves him also with the left hand dead - as a hint he takes the edge of a knife in his left hand and holds it there for a long time until he can use his right hand to open TFK from his pocket and do whatever he needed though he goes one extra step by losing control - after this on page 51 we jump to his election as First Citizen of Vesani some 15 years later and from then on lots of things happen like intrigue, high finance jinks, political fighting, imperial ambition, wars, invasions, naval and land battles and of course the underlying personal stuff that is the cornerstone of his fate - as mentioned Basso is the most idealistic character in KJP and with Aelius and Antigonus as his pillars (army/finance) he tries to do good in a practical way

Basso is such a great character that I truly hated when the novel ended

Edit - I talked a bit more about happens though without real spoilers and anyway discussing the first 50 introductory pages since the main part of the novel takes place from page 51 on though of course the first 50 pages are crucial in many ways and I decided to include those in spoiler brackets - though again there are no real spoilers there

As an aside I just got Farlander too and it reads well though Salute the Dark is my next fantasy read starting tomorrow
TFK is so far my favorite sff novel of 2010 and now that I just read the arc of my top highly expected sf novel of 2010 (MoH by David Weber - excellent but not groundbreaking, a needed novel rather than a surprising one) I can predict TFK has a chance to stay there to the end

 

[jvonrader]

Just picked up Williams' Shadowmarch. The idea is to read the first two back-to-back in time to pick up the third, Shadowrise on Day One, March 2nd.

Something about being one of the first to read and finish a big new release, I'm a geek for it. And the last book is due at the end of the year, so the wait to finish the series is minimal.

 

[pockiiee]

Just started Immortal Prince by Jennifer Fallon and really enjoying it - I don't know why I haven't read anything by her before, she sucked me in in the second chapter where an immortal is doing his best to die by being beheaded - only to realize they're going to hand him and he's not going to die. I really like her style and the characters seem very interesting, flawed but still likable.

Recently finished The Pearls and The Crown duology by Deborah Chester, It was OK but I think plots that heavily rely on "fate" bother me if the choices they make can only be put down to fate and not common sense as well. I might try something else by the author that's a bit longer with some more depth, because althouh I liked some aspects I thought this one would have been better with more POVs.

 

[DurzoBlint]

Just started Immortal Prince by Jennifer Fallon and really enjoying it - I don't know why I haven't read anything by her before, she sucked me in in the second chapter where an immortal is doing his best to die by being beheaded - only to realize they're going to hand him and he's not going to die. I really like her style and the characters seem very interesting, flawed but still likable.

That is good to hear as the novel is moving closer to the top of the to read pile.

 

[PeterWilliam]

Finished Abraham's The Price of Spring and onto Barclay's Shadowheart (so there, Kater )

 

[beniowa]

I finished Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore. I honestly wasn't sure what to expect from this book as I had only heard that it was very good. The author's shtick of telling the life of a famous person from the point of view of someone close to them has been done before, but Moore did it very well. I thought it was amazing how Moore managed to be both hilariously irreverent and reverent at the same time. The book isn't quite perfect as I think it gets a little bogged down in the middle with Christ's travels to the East, but it gets back on track at the end. Highly recommended.

I also finally got around to finishing The SFWA European Hall of Fame edited by James and Kathryn Morrow. It features sixteen short stories by acclaimed European SF writers. All of the stories were good, though two really stood out for me. "Some Earthlings' Adventures on Outrerria" by Lucian Merisca, about an about Terran plot to ferment rebellion on an alien world which goes hilariously wrong, reminded me quite a bit of Terry Pratchett. The second story was Jose Antonio Cotrina's fascinating "Between the Lines" in which a college student learns to literally read between the lines, not only of books, but of everything.

For my next novel, I'm going to read The Dying Earth by Jack Vance, from the Tales of the Dying Earth omnibus. My next anthology/collection will be Magic for Beginners by Kelly Link.

 

[BrightStar]

I'm still not really enjoying Innocent Mage all that much at the moment. I don't dislike it enough to quit, but I certainly don't intend to buy the next book in the series. I'm hoping that perhaps it's just a slow-starter, and things will improve. Right now, not much of anything has really happened. I'm starting to get bored.

I read an excerpt of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms earlier today. I've been intending to pick this one up, so was curious to see what I thought. Initially, I didn't have a good impression - there were some glaring grammatical errors and the storytelling felt disjointed and left me oftentimes quite confused. But somehow it managed to hook me, and I was enjoying it by the time the preview was over. I think that the narrative style is supposed to be a little disjointed and confused, and I've come to see this as an interesting hook now. I think I might pick it up from Amazon next time I'm looking to pick up another new book.

 

[AlvinFlummox]

I finished reading A Clash Of Kings by GRRM last night (well, this morning, technically...) which I really enjoyed. It took me quite a while to get back into the story, and remember who all the non-POV characters were (I think it's about a year since I read A Game Of Thrones), but I found it quite hard to put down when I got into it! I'll hopefully be getting A Storm Of Swords for my birthday, so I'll be able to carry on with the story fairly soon.

Now, I'm onto reading Drood by Dan Simmons, which was a Christmas present from my brother. Definitely looks like it should be an interesting story; might be worth looking for a thread to see what other people thought of it...

 

[Haliax]

I read an excerpt of The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms earlier today. I've been intending to pick this one up, so was curious to see what I thought. Initially, I didn't have a good impression - there were some glaring grammatical errors and the storytelling felt disjointed and left me oftentimes quite confused. But somehow it managed to hook me, and I was enjoying it by the time the preview was over. I think that the narrative style is supposed to be a little disjointed and confused, and I've come to see this as an interesting hook now. I think I might pick it up from Amazon next time I'm looking to pick up another new book.

I just received this book today, and I'll probably start it soon. The cover is very nice, probably one of my favourites. I read the first few pages and I love the writing style, I find it quite captivating. After this book I'll probably read Lamentation by Ken Scholes and then work on finishing the Black Company books by Glen Cook. I loved the first few books of the Black Company, and I hope the last ones are just as good.

Also thinking about getting back into the Malazan books... it's been almost a year since I read Memories of Ice. It's not that I don't enjoy Erikson, its just that his books are so long, and take me forever to read. I really loved MoI, but it took me almost a month to finish, which is a lot of time for me to dedicate to a single book. I have a feeling that I may never really get back into the Malazan world for that exact reason, which is too bad considering I really enjoy the books. Time will tell I guess.

 

[metalprof]

Also thinking about getting back into the Malazan books... it's been almost a year since I read Memories of Ice. It's not that I don't enjoy Erikson, its just that his books are so long, and take me forever to read. I really loved MoI, but it took me almost a month to finish, which is a lot of time for me to dedicate to a single book. I have a feeling that I may never really get back into the Malazan world for that exact reason, which is too bad considering I really enjoy the books. Time will tell I guess.

I posted above in this thread that I was going to be "juggling" Memories of Ice with some other books. My new strategy, for the very reason you write about, is to take breaks in the Malazan books at the end of every one or two parts, not every book. I read through the first part of MoI, "The Spark and the Ashes"; when I turned to the first page of Part 2, "Hearthstone", and saw that it looked like it was going to send me to a whole other set of characters, I put in the bookmark, put MoI back on the shelf, and moved on to Duma Key, by Stephen King. That one won't take more than a few more days, then I'll go back for Part 2 of MoI. Erikson should stay a bit fresher and less of a long haul this way.

And I do have to admit that the 250 pages or so of "The Spark and the Ashes" was my favorite stretch of 250 pages in the series so far. It had quite a good pace. I'm looking forward to going back!

As a side note, after an awful experience with From A Buick Eight (which put me off King for a while) and a mediocre experience with Cell, I am really liking Duma Key so far. King seems especially on his game in this one, at least through the first half.

Ken

 

[Sapph]

I was in the middle of reading The Crown Conspiracy by Michael Sullivan, and it isn't through lack of enjoyment that I've put it down, but I just need a change from fantasy for a while. So I've decided to start reading a biography and then finish off TCC.

 

[PogiRunner]

I just finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. At least for me, it was an enjoyable, easy, fast read.

As with the Mistborn trilogy and Elantris, Sanderson created a unique magic system which was well done.

A lot of humorous dialogue can be found throughout the entire book, which mixes nicely with the serious plot lines. I found parts of the book to be predictable, but was surprised by a couple of twists. I believe the biggest strength of Warbreaker was the world building. The character development was OK, but I thought the personalities corresponding to the characters to be a bit too simplistic. I was very satisfied with the ending.

Brandon Sanderson is one of my favorite authors with the Mistborn trilogy being among my favorite series. I recommend Warbreaker as a decent standalone fantasy novel.

 

[Loerwyn]

I'm very close to finishing Song of Susannah already, should have it finished next week (if not sooner).

 

[Haliax]

I posted above in this thread that I was going to be "juggling" Memories of Ice with some other books. My new strategy, for the very reason you write about, is to take breaks in the Malazan books at the end of every one or two parts, not every book. I read through the first part of MoI, "The Spark and the Ashes"; when I turned to the first page of Part 2, "Hearthstone", and saw that it looked like it was going to send me to a whole other set of characters, I put in the bookmark, put MoI back on the shelf, and moved on to Duma Key, by Stephen King. That one won't take more than a few more days, then I'll go back for Part 2 of MoI. Erikson should stay a bit fresher and less of a long haul this way.

And I do have to admit that the 250 pages or so of "The Spark and the Ashes" was my favorite stretch of 250 pages in the series so far. It had quite a good pace. I'm looking forward to going back!

As a side note, after an awful experience with From A Buick Eight (which put me off King for a while) and a mediocre experience with Cell, I am really liking Duma Key so far. King seems especially on his game in this one, at least through the first half.

Ken

That is good advice, I think I will at least attempt this at some point. It really depends on what type of read I'm in the mood for after I finish Lamentation. I have just got so many books on my to read pile, it is hard to say what I will decide to read next.