Reading in February 2010

[Seak]

I don't know what to read.
I'm half tempted to try A Game of Thrones.

Need peer pressure? *chanting* Do it! Do it! Do it! Do it!

 

[Loerwyn]

Yes, big books scare me. I don't feel like getting through the final Dark Tower book just yet, and everyone goes on about ASoIaF so I suppose I best read AGoT

 

[suciul]

I finished Farlander by Col Buchanan; I liked it a lot - it's a page turner and has lots of interesting stuff going on, but I was quite surprised by the way it went and I am a bit puzzled about its destination, so I need some time truly asses it - the sequel though became a big time asap, no question about it since I definitely want to see what happens next

While the setup (the blurb is ok'sih for it) seems standard and to start at least the villains are the ultra-cliched corrupt, debauched, orgy including killing humans barehanded, priesthood villains, while the seemingly main hero is another cliched one and a bit silly too - the young apprentice of the great Roshun (philosopher-assassin) Ash who is a Farlander in exile and former apprentice of the Roshun order founder in its current incarnation, another Farlander and former general of the "people's army" from somewhere far away - there are several other characters that appear and start taking more and more center stage and as mentioned the novel becomes subtler and different...
And there are guns, airships, artillery so even the setup is not quite pseudo-medieval

The writing is very engaging though there are the occasional cringe passages and the over-the-top villains are really cartoonish for a while, but overall I would say that the last half of the novel more than makes up for the good but not great beginning.

I definitely recommend it though again I need some time to see how it will settle in my memory; while not as outlandish as The Left Hand of God, Farlander is quite far from the "standard" fantasy it seems from the blurb and maybe from its first half and I am curious how it will appeal to people looking for more standard fare...

 

[Seegee]

So far, I have read only 2 books by Gaiman.
1. American Gods - one of the worst books I have ever read.
2. Neverwhere - not bad. 7/10.
Although, I don't have any desire to read anything else by him. Enough is enough.

Gaiman seems to be a little like that. I've only read Good Omens which he co wrote with Terry Pratchett, I quite enjoyed it. However my wife, who loves Pratchett, said Good Omens left her cold. I do intend to read some Gaiman, though. I'd like to read his graphic novel Sandman and also Neverwhere as part of my 100 Must Read Fantasy Novels challenge.

 

[Dirvani]

Just finished The Great Hunt. I felt it was an improvement on The Eye of the World and rather enjoyable. I've been busy so it took a little longer than I wanted.

Now I'm trying to decide what to read next. I'd planned to alternate Bakker with WoT but I think I'll hold off on that until I'm working on MBotF. I think I may read up through book 6 of WoT and then alternate my way up to book 11 since those are the supposed painful ones. Gardens of the Moon and Best Served Cold are awfully tempting though.

 

[Seegee]

I´ve just finished all current Thomas Covenant Novels and thank god it´s over. I liked them well enough but it was definitely a mistake to read them in a row. After a time I just wanted it to end.
From now on I will pause after 3 books and pick up something else, so I won´t get bored and don´t give a story the attention it deserves.

I've found when reading or even rereading a big multi volume epic it always helps to take a break and read something else in between volumes.

 

[NYCfan]

Just read the Vampire Genevieve omnibus by Jack Yeovil, aka Kim Newman. It's a Black Library Warhammer collection. I was pleasantly surprised, not the best fantasy I've read but definitely above average, in the pulp-Lieber tradition. I'd read a bit of the Gaunt stuff as an attempt to give tie in fiction a try, and it was ok, but I won't be reading more. This volume is apparently all there is of this cycle, and I wish that weren't the case. Part of that is just a preference for fantasy over mil SF, but it's also just better. Recommended.

 

[Astra_]

I've found when reading or even rereading a big multi volume epic it always helps to take a break and read something else in between volumes.

True. That's why I keep stand alone books on my TBR list

 

[SusF]

Last night I started Destiny Kills, another contemporary fantasy by Keri Arthur.

Miles Vorkosigan is not holding my attention somehow. I know I need to keep reading to get more of the feel of the setting. Bujold seems to be overly fond of adverbs, and her writing style seems dated. I need the plot to get going so I can see if I really do like'em or not.

 

[algernoninc]

finished today the second Warlord book by Bernard Cornwell - "Enemy of God" , and like it was mentioned above, i liked it but felt the need to switch to a fun standalone [sort of ...]. In my case the 8th Vlad Taltos adventure - "Dragon". Looks like we're going to war

 

[Loerwyn]

OK, so I finally started AGoT last night but I didn't get very far (I finished upto and including the "Bran" chapter). I can tell I'm going to have to take this slow or I'm going to end up very confused... Very confused indeed.

 

[Scrambles]

Yeah im going through the series now for the first time as well, on A Clash of Kings now. The chapter names are all character names instead of numbers so you know where your going and whos going to be involved. Its a good series so far.

 

[Amaunette]

That's funny. I was very close to buying that very omnibus this weekend.... I ended up putting it down in favour for some Cherryh and Sheri S. Tepper. I read a couple of the Witch World books years and years ago....

Very ironic! I never read any Witchworld novels before, so maybe that explains my lack of interest. No nostalgia to fall back on.

 

[bearcatmark]

OK, so I finally started AGoT last night but I didn't get very far (I finished upto and including the "Bran" chapter). I can tell I'm going to have to take this slow or I'm going to end up very confused... Very confused indeed.

I'm betting you're hooked soon enough. I ran through the first four in about a month and a half this summer... great stuff.

 

[NickeeCoco]

OK, so I finally started AGoT last night but I didn't get very far (I finished upto and including the "Bran" chapter). I can tell I'm going to have to take this slow or I'm going to end up very confused... Very confused indeed.

Yeah. GRRM throws in a lot of characters at once. Then, not only does he give you a lot of names to figure out, he then gives you everybody and anybody's POV. I, for one, don't like it. I also generally don't like long series. Especially long series where the books aren't self contained. I'm more of a stand alone type of person. But I'm in the minority on this one. You may very well like it. Just thought I'd let you know that there are those of us who aren't into it and you won't be the freaky one man out if you don't.

Very ironic! I never read any Witchworld novels before, so maybe that explains my lack of interest. No nostalgia to fall back on.

Your first comment about it being classic. . . Well, the first Witch World book was published in 1963. So yeah, it is classic. And yeah, there are going to be cliches in it. But those books help start the cliches. They weren't cliches when they were written.

Look at the first edition cover. Ha. It makes me laugh. Nice hat.

 

[Loerwyn]

Yeah. GRRM throws in a lot of characters at once. Then, not only does he give you a lot of names to figure out, he then gives you everybody and anybody's POV. I, for one, don't like it. But I'm in the minority on this one.

Don't scare me!

 

[NickeeCoco]

Don't scare me!

Haha. Sorry. Wasn't my intention. Though, you shouldn't be scared to read a book. You can always put it down.

Unless, of course, it's cursed.

 

[beniowa]

Last night I finished Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts. The book opens in 1946 as a group of Russian science fiction writers are tasked by Stalin to create an alien menace that can be used to unite the Soviet Union against an external threat. Forty years later, one of the original writers, Konstantin Adreiovich Skvorecky, gets caught up in events which make it seem that the aliens may or may not be real after all. This was my first book by this author and it took me some time to get used to his style. Roberts vividly invokes the era and attitudes of Soviet Russia and has some real debates on the nature of communism and the UFO phenomenon. But he also gives the impression of a "tongue planted firmly in cheek" with the book's humor, namely the acerbic sarcasm of the main character who heads up a cast of somewhat misfit characters. The plot is fairly straightforward so the meat of the novel rests mainly on the character interaction. It's a good book, though I can't help feeling that it could have been a little stronger. Still, I plan to check out the author's other books in the future.

The book I'm thinking of reading next is Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard.

I've found when reading or even rereading a big multi volume epic it always helps to take a break and read something else in between volumes.

I do this too. I also take breaks from types of novels and genres as well. I'll read two fantasy then a scifi for example.

Don't scare me!

I suppose eight POVs may seem like a lot, but it helps that GRRM limits each POV to it's own chapter. I've found that most people will know if they like the book or not by the first 70 or so pages.

 

[Loerwyn]

That'd put me at about the halfway mark then, beniowa. Won't be continuing tonight (bit late now), but the next session should bring me to that 70th page and I'll report back.

 

[Amaunette]

Your first comment about it being classic. . . Well, the first Witch World book was published in 1963. So yeah, it is classic. And yeah, there are going to be cliches in it. But those books help start the cliches. They weren't cliches when they were written.

Look at the first edition cover. Ha. It makes me laugh. Nice hat.

Yep. I'm aware it's old. I said classic to be polite. I'm also aware that it's a book that helped start the cliches. That doesn't make it any easier to read, though. Thanks for sharing the cover art - not at all how I imagined the characters. Pretty funny!