Reading in February 2012

Still working on Ari Marmell's The Goblin Corps.

Why has this not ended yet? I've still got ~150 pages to go. Please end. Please. I want to move on.
 
Seak said:
Of course. I think Vonnegut created it just to throw out a ton of his random SF ideas without even having to write short stories.
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Heh, I thought the same thing when I read it. I also thought Trout was just Vonnegut putting himself in his novels, but later I learned that Trout is more based off Theodore Sturgeon. Anyway, Breakfast of Champions is easily my favorite Vonnegut novel; glad you're enjoying it!


Right now I'm reading through Richard K. Morgan's The Steel Remains. Seems like that book's already been discussed pretty thoroughly on this site, and I can see why. It's a very compelling read, but man people weren't lying when they said the book was pretty extreme, and I get the feeling it'd be that way regardless of Ringil's orientation. Some people might get put off by the very modern styles of speech, but honestly I'd prefer that than having characters speak like a King James Bible.

At first, I couldn't tell why, but I was getting kind of a "Spelljammer" vibe from the setting. And not to spoil anything, but I'm starting to see why.
 
Finished up GGK's Under Heaven. Another amazing book by an amazing author!
 
Finished Pocks World by Duncan (scifi from the predominantly fantasy writer). Well into The Magician King by Grossman.
 
Seak said:
I just finished Wizard's First Rule and actually kinda enjoyed it, especially the ending. *ducks (not the animal)*

I will say, 10 years ago I would have loved it and thought it was the bestest thing in the whole world. Now, Richard's just too perfect and it seemed to just jump from one adventure to the next with little to no foreshadowing.

Started Vonnegut's Breakfast of Champions about the fictional science fiction author, Kilgore Trout, and it's amazing. Of course. I think Vonnegut created it just to throw out a ton of his random SF ideas without even having to write short stories. They're pretty awesome - like a alien civilization of cars that have car babies.
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Wow, about six months ago, I read those exact two books for the first time. In that order too. Creepy.

I also felt the same about WFR. One of my best friends really enjoys the first handful of Sword of Truth books and I finally gave in and read the first one. It wasn't as bad as I was thinking. Richard definitely was obnoxious, there were some annoying aspects and a hundred other things that could be mentioned as well. But I still enjoyed it. There was something fun about it and it kept me interested until the end. I'll give the second one a whirl sometime.
 
MattNY said:
Wow, about six months ago, I read those exact two books for the first time. In that order too. Creepy.
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That's ... just ... crazy. :D

Yeah, WFR wasn't too bad, I don't think I'm committed enough to read any more though, I already have enough 10 (+) book series to finish.

Started reading The Ice Dragon by GRRM. I thought it might be a good time of year to go at it. Decent so far, but can't say much yet.
 
Pugio said:
Heh, I thought the same thing when I read it. I also thought Trout was just Vonnegut putting himself in his novels, but later I learned that Trout is more based off Theodore Sturgeon. Anyway, Breakfast of Champions is easily my favorite Vonnegut novel; glad you're enjoying it!
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I thought I'd heard that it was Vonnegut too. I'm listening to it and it's read by Stanley Tucci. I was excited at first, but I much prefer the actor to the narrator.
 
Pugio said:
Heh, I thought the same thing when I read it. I also thought Trout was just Vonnegut putting himself in his novels, but later I learned that Trout is more based off Theodore Sturgeon. Anyway, Breakfast of Champions is easily my favorite Vonnegut novel; glad you're enjoying it!
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Well, it seems a bit fishy if you ask me, giving himself a plaice in his own novels...
 
Finished Wise Man's Fear today. Great book! It felt like a seamless continuation of TNotW. I'm hungry for book three (and I'll be hungry for a long time).

Stared GRRM's Apocalypse Rag today. Very excited about it.
 
Loerwyn said:
Still working on Ari Marmell's The Goblin Corps.

Why has this not ended yet? I've still got ~150 pages to go. Please end. Please. I want to move on.
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Finally. Finished.

It's an exhausting read...
 
The Dead Letters by Tom Piccirilli

I don't know where to put this comment. It probably belongs in the General Fiction forum, but there's a hint of the supernatural in this and it's borderline horror, which is the genre Piccirilli first started writing in.

Anyway ...

The Dead Letters by Tom Piccirilli is a noir thriller.

Edward Whitt's daughter was murdered by a serial killer. Frustrated by the police inability to find Killjoy, maddened by grief and the loss of his wife to insanity, Whitt dedicated himself to finding Killjoy. The novel details how he goes about it and what it costs Whitt.

Piccirilli's taut, concise writing and insight into obsession and near-insanity born of grief, guilt and rage and the mind-tricks a man can play on himself when driven to extremes make this compelling. Whitt may not be wholly likable but I found him likable enough and quite understandable.

I wouldn't say this is anywhere near as creepy as Thomas Harris' best thrillers, but it's literate, intelligent and frequently intense with a few harrowing scenes ,though what there is of horror in it comes from watching the ways his quest warps and torments Whitt. If you're interested in thrillers, crime novels, serial killer novels or noir, this is a book you'd want to read.


Randy M.
 
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. It's about a tinkerer who unwittingly activates a doomsday device. It's funny and dark, and Harkaway's writing is very rich. It has an almost OCD quality, but the digressions are interesting. I felt the same way about The Gone-Away World.
 
I just started on Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht. Got it free off Amazon. Can't tell yet whether it's gonna be good, but it's already interesting simply by being a very different sort of UF. It starts in the 70s, in Ireland, during "the Troubles". The main character is a teenager who doesn't know that he's half fae, who gets thrown in jail for taking part in riots. Lots of atmosphere so far, not much in the way of prose. We'll see how it develops, and I'll try to cut Leicht some slack since I'm pretty sure it's a debut novel.
 
AuntiePam said:
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway. It's about a tinkerer who unwittingly activates a doomsday device. It's funny and dark, and Harkaway's writing is very rich. It has an almost OCD quality, but the digressions are interesting. I felt the same way about The Gone-Away World.
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This is one I'm really anticipating reading - I was a big fan of The Gone-Away World. Good to see some positive early feedback!
 
Finished Halt's Peril and reading The Emperor of Nihon-ja by Flanagan. It's the last of the series, with the exception of an additional book that chronicles "lost tales." I'll read it after this.
 
Contrarius said:
I just started on Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht. Got it free off Amazon. Can't tell yet whether it's gonna be good, but it's already interesting simply by being a very different sort of UF. It starts in the 70s, in Ireland, during "the Troubles". The main character is a teenager who doesn't know that he's half fae, who gets thrown in jail for taking part in riots. Lots of atmosphere so far, not much in the way of prose. We'll see how it develops, and I'll try to cut Leicht some slack since I'm pretty sure it's a debut novel.
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I'm also reading Of Blood and Honey...and I agree it is an interesting setting.
 
I am now reading Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. A few chapters so far, and liking it a lot. If I had a chance to sit down for a couple of hours, I could see myself blowing through this book, lots of fun.
 
I started Tome of the Undergates by the world-famous Sam Sykes.

So far, I find his tweets easier to stomach. The writing style is really screwing with my head right now, but the characters seem as if they could be cool (once I get them sorted in my mind), so I'm on the fence so far. Kindle says I'm ~11% of the way through, so it's still early days.
 
Hope you like it better than I did, Loerwyn. Sam's a really nice guy, but I couldn't get on with Tomb of the Underpants at all.

Mark
 
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