Reading in February 2011

I've spent much of the past few months struggling through Sheri Tepper's The Visitor. It was a difficult, slow, and unrewarding read. The characters failed to grab me, and a lot of the ending was bogged down by "preechy" dialogue. I was hopeful that the book would be worth the effort to finish it, but I ended up wishing I hadn't bothered. Tepper certainly has an ability to write interesting and deep worlds, but I'm not so sure about her stories.

Anyways, gladly, by the time I finished The Visitor, my pre-ordered copy of Carol Berg's The Soul Mirror arrived. So I was able to jump right into that. Those of you that may remember my posts regarding the previous title - The Spirit Lens - may recall that I was not overly impressed with it. But! The ending had me interested, and... honestly, I felt I aught to give one of my favorite authors another chance, so I decided to give The Soul Mirror a go.

And, I'm glad I did. I actually enjoyed this book a lot more than the first, and although I thought it was slow to begin with, once things started moving I barely had chance to breathe! I really enjoyed the ending and am looking forwards to the next in the series.

After finishing The Soul Mirror, I was treated to the new release of Aliette de Bodard's Harbinger of the Storm (book two of the Obsidian & Blood series). I get the impression that Bodard is not a particularly well known author, but I've come to really enjoy her writing. She's also written a large amount of short stories (many set in her Obsidian and Blood world) which are excellent. (most of them are available to download for free from her website---or at least, they were when I last checked).

Anyways, so I was very much looking forwards to spending a pleasant few days reading Harbinger of the Storm, but unfortunately, I have to admit that I'm struggling a little with it. It seems to lack the atmosphere of the first book, and I'm having trouble keeping track of who's who thanks to the complexity of the characters' names. (Strange that I didn't have this problem in the first book, even though the names were just as complicated---I think maybe there were less characters in book one.) Anyways, since I'm having trouble keeping track of more than a few of the main characters, I'm having a hard time really warming to this book. I did read a few chapters last night, and found myself warming to it a little more, so hopefully things are looking up.
 
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Finished Kraken by Mieville which rocked on every conceivable level. Going to read The Heroes next and then Red Seas Under Red Skies by Lynch. Then I plan to re-read NOTW in preparation for The Wise Man's Fear which I am counting down the days for. Great month of reading ahead.
 
I already said what I'm reading in the OTHER 2011 Feb thread (why are there 2 threads?)

Fifth Elephant and Unseen Academicals. (also in the "what are you doing thread LOL)
 
Catch Up

Currently re-visiting Weaveworld by Clive Barker, the book that made me fall for the fantastic in the first place.

(Hi Hobbit!)
 
Hobbit said:
Because there are two different Forum areas? :)

Liking all the Abercrombie comments: I think The Heroes is his best yet.

Mark
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DUH! :rolleyes:

Sorry-I just click on "new posts" and scroll down and don't pay attention to that WEE little Fantasy/Sci Fi-now it makes sense! LOL:D

Apologies to all :)

So mine selections fits in here....doesn't fit in the sci-fi section LOL
 
Rob B said:
I am slowly trudging my way through The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. It just isn't hooking me the same way The Night Angel Trilogy did. It feels like a chore to read and after almost two weeks, I'm not even at the halfway point. I may have to set this one aside, which saddens me. :(:(
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Thank you!

I also felt that Night Angel was much better. I had a lot of problems with Black Prism (the writing seemed more YA, characters and places were less developed, and more that I wouldn't want to spoil). It seemed to me as if Weeks took a huge turn for the worse as a writer. I'm hopeful that he can improve with his next book, there were the elements of a great book here imo, but it really didn't come together for me.
 
Quick book club announcements, folks. The book club selections for the current and upcoming months are as follows:

Fantasy:

FEBRUARY, Wild Cards I edited by George R.R. Martin
MARCH, Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock
A nominations thread for april will open up in a few days.

SF:

FEBRUARY, Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
MARCH, Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner
APRIL, Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
 
Could not finish Peter V Brett's The Desert Spear. IMO, he took the weakest sub plot of The Warded Man and ran with it. It was Leesha's fresh and original tale from the first book that kept me hanging in there. The Jardir plotline seems trite after reading such historical fiction as Pressfield's Gates of Fire and Cornwell's Saxon series. A young man growing up in a imaginary, violent warrior society does not exactly measure up. The demons didn't exactly seem like challenging antagonists either with simple traps and sword swipes enough to fool and dispose most of them. I believe this was a complaint in the Warded Man as well, but it really struck home to me in this novel. Not my series.

Just finished Mark Sehestedt's The Fall of the Highwatch, the first of the Chosen of Nendawen series. I had to do a double take on this to make sure it was a WOTC book. Great novel; plenty of gore, exciting scenes, even multilayering. The author gets bogged down with description in the middle somewhat, but otherwise a fast paced, imaginative novel. The best from WOTC since The Crystal Shard and Dragonlance Chronicle days.

Currently reading The Seer King by Chris Bunch. Very good, enjoying it. Reminds me somewhat of Publius Varrus reminiscing in Jack Whyte's Dream of Eagles series, only with some magic thrown in for good measure. Hope it holds up.
 
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I finied China Mievilles KRAKEN, last night, as was by all accounts impressed. It wasn't PERDIDO STREET STATION, but it was interesteing and kept my attention all the way through (even though the middle third was a bit 'blah', with not too much happening. It ended strong though so I have been left with a positive opinion on Mievilles latest effort.

Maybe it's because I live in London and so I didn't find the books setting or characters 'fantasy' in a typical sense. One thing I did find fascinating is the 'hidden' London though, a London of hidden cults and warring crime lords; and the most fascinating part is that I can imagine these things actually existing in our London.

Another criticism I have of Mieville is his insistence on including rediculously long and articulate words that aren't particularly necessary. I have an English degree yet I still struggled in understanding some incredibly cliche sentences that add nothing to the story. I understand that this is just his style though, and by and large it is a pleasure to read.

I feel I may be being a bit harsh and overly critical of this book as it was an enjoyable read; it's just theres so many books out there that it's hard to dedicate a few weeks to a book that isn't 'blow your mind good', then again, you have to start a book to realise it is amazing and if they were all good, then the excellent ones wouldn't stand out.

Anyway, I'm starting Patrick Rothfuss' debut today, in anticipation for the sequel in a few weeks time, I have a feeling I'm going to really enjoy this one.
 
I'm (still) halfway through Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns. It's been an interesting read so far. More on this when I finish the book.

I've my copy of The Heroes (by Joe Abercrombie) waiting to be read as well *rubbing hands*.

All I need is some time to read, now...
 
Near the end of Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb and I have to say Prince Regal is now my most hated villain of all time. I mean that guy is a dick.
 
AmethystOrator said:
Thank you!

I also felt that Night Angel was much better. I had a lot of problems with Black Prism (the writing seemed more YA, characters and places were less developed, and more that I wouldn't want to spoil). It seemed to me as if Weeks took a huge turn for the worse as a writer. I'm hopeful that he can improve with his next book, there were the elements of a great book here imo, but it really didn't come together for me.
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You're welcome! I thought I was the only person to have problems with the book as well. I'd seen very positive reviews from Liviu at FBC and John at Grasping for the Wind so I thought maybe I was just missing something.

Now that I think about it, his writing did seem to take a step back.
 
Rob B said:
You're welcome! I thought I was the only person to have problems with the book as well. I'd seen very positive reviews from Liviu at FBC and John at Grasping for the Wind so I thought maybe I was just missing something.

Now that I think about it, his writing did seem to take a step back.
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I actually thought that Mr. Weeks had considerably fewer cringing paragraphs in Black Prism than in Night Angel so I have to disagree with the last statement; as per the novel itself, I think that it depends a lot of what you appreciate the most - for me twists, turns, unpredictability, secrets hinted, larger than life characters (if done well) are worth a lot, while battles, non-stop action, heroic stuff and the like are worth much less overall, so this is why I always take something like Black Prism over something like The Heroes which I liked as per the magic of the author's writing, but I also found it a minor Abercrombie...

Back on topic, finally I managed to get Sea Watch the 6th Kinden book by A. Tchaikovsky which was my most awaited book of 2011 at least until July - and so far it is as good as i expected
 
I am finishing up Ship of Magic (Robin Hobb) and while I've enjoyed it thus far there are similarities with the Assassin Series in that the main characters seem to be sort of tragic and maudlin. Could move a little faster, but I enjoy the writing and story overall.

I think next will be Desert Spear (Brett) unless I get my hands on The Heroes by then.
 
I'm just past the halfway point of Before They Are Hanged, and am enjoying it a lot. There has been some great character growth (and the plot is picking up too).
 
Gilgamesh said:
I'm (still) halfway through Mark Lawrence's Prince of Thorns. It's been an interesting read so far. More on this when I finish the book.
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Love that book, but dude it's like 400 pages? There ain't many books that benefit from the reader taking 3 weeks off at page 200!
 
John_PQ said:
Love that book, but dude it's like 400 pages? There ain't many books that benefit from the reader taking 3 weeks off at page 200!
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Gilgamesh has had quite the little handful recently, so he's not got a lot of time to get through it.

And plenty of books are fine after a pause.
 
Finished my re-read of Name of the Wind last night. Really enjoyed it, Rothfuss is a great story teller. I probably should have held out for a bit before reading it again though, because now I still have another month to wait for Wise Man's Fear.

I'll be starting Abercrombie's The Heroe's at some point this weekend. Really looking forward to it, I fully expect it to be one of my best reads this year.
 
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