Reading in July 2011

murf99 said:
Some of the previous posts itt are comparing ADWD to AFFC. You guys kinda got me worried. Although I really liked AFFC, its definitely not as good as the first three. Two friends of mine who've finished ADWD put it on par with ASOS, if not better. I am so psyched to start this book but now am a little let down :(
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If I were you, I don't think I'd be bummed. As I said, it depends on what you are after, I think. There are so many different kinds of stories going on that what works for one may not work for another. People who love Jon at the wall will be thrilled. People who love the big shocking moments of ASoS may not be as thrilled as there don't seem to be as many of those (in my view). It just depends what tickles your fancy.
 
I guess you could say I'm officially knee deep in A Dance With Dragons, now that I'm about at the half-way point.

It feels pretty good to be reading something by GRRM after so long, and it is a nice comfortable feeling to get into the routine of the alternating POVs and getting excited when certain character's names pop up at the heading of a new chapter.

Though I started this series way back when I was 17, it is funny how some things haven't changed. I still enjoy all the Jon and Tyrion chapters, (the Tyrion chapters to a lesser extent), and I still can't stand Dany...somehow, the one person who possesses dragons bores me the most. I still cringe with every "nuncle" and "c" word (nuncle probably draws a bigger cringe at this point). There's even been a couple good surprise moments.

I find myself most entertained by the goings on with Davos, Stannis and Mellisandre. The Stannis gang is an unpredictable lot.
 
suciul said:
i finally mustered energy to go through Low Town aka Straight Razor Cure aka the supposedly new wonder in noir fantasy by D. Polanksy and I still found it bland and boring and turning the final page was a big relief - would have put it down long ago, but to my woe I requested it from Amazon Vine due to a review comparing it to Mieville - ha, ha!! - and I felt compelled to give it a 2 star review since it was not atrocious to deserve one star, just overrated banal stuff; you have read any noir or any urban fantasy, you have read this one
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I also got this on Vine, too, else I would have never picked it up again after dropping it the first time. It took me a few weeks to finally muster up the desire to write a review for it. It gets a two-star rating from me, too, and one of my first truly negative reviews in a long time. I was surprised to see that someone thought it was an unpredictable novel... I guess the end-game twist within the first fifty pages or so.
 
I've finally finished Imager's Intrigue by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

Excellent read, but damn that series needs a glossary. And an appendix. And probably a bit of a tone down.
 
Just finished Beyond the Shadows by Weeks. Really enjoyable conclusion to the series. I don't think I could ever call these books great, but there are some great moments in them. The biggest problem I had was that the series couldn't decide if it wanted to be a sprawling epic or a S&S romp, and it suffered for riding the fence.

There's an infamous thread around here somewhere in which the OP claims that "Brent Weeks Raped "The Wheel of Time"! ." I realize I'm a little late to the party with regard to the ensuing discussion, but it was in the back of my head as I read this series. I fall firmly in the "no he didn't" camp. Weeks is clearly a fan of WoT and did use a lot of similar blocks in building his world, but the focus of the story and the story as a whole are different enough that I never felt he was trying to copy anything.

Next up is The Warrior Prophet by Bakker.
 
Just finished Marquitz's Demon Squad Resurrection and I enjoyed it. Not as strong as the first book in the series but it was nice to get back to Trigg. If you enjoyed the first book, you will get more of the same. I also have his newest book in an all new series and I have to say that will be getting to it sooner rather than later as I have enjoyed everything Tim has put out so far.

I have a non-genre book right now but will probably be done with it soon and back at it in no time.
 
Finished Joe Hill's Horns last night; it was a good story with a bit of originality about it, but ultimately thought it lacked in plot structure. Actually his writing reminds me a lot of his father's, the way he really gets behind the details of the characters, but at times can also drag on a bit. Also thought it a bit much that every character he met at the start of the book when he first got his horns had not just bad thoughts, but very evil thoughts about someone else in their family.

I thought his first, Heart Shaped Box, was better.

Now reading The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque by Jeffrey Ford.
 
I finally reached the last page of The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie. this could easily have been a 5 star book, as Joe has the talent to tell a great story, but I had issues right from the start with the atitude towards war and professional killers. joe knows what he's doing, and for e very mention of the horrors of war, there's a line - usually on the same page that this is "the right thing", "glorious" , the "only way to feel alive" , the "natural way for men to behave". The book was more balanced towards the end between the horrors and the glamour, so it was not really a waste of time for me.
 
Dilemma - I had borrowed a few books from the library. I have read the 2nd Mistborn book, Under the Dome - Stephen King and am a 1/4 way through the final Mistborn book. I have yet to read the borrowed Dresden files (book 2) and the 2nd Malazan novel.

My copies of The name of the wind & The wise man's fear arrived today !! Do I continu reading my borrowed library books or tuck into Patrick Rothfuss straight away ??!! :confused:
 
Ozziespur said:
Do I continu reading my borrowed library books or tuck into Patrick Rothfuss straight away ??!! :confused:
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Well, you have a time limit (I assume) on the library books, and as much time as you want/need for Rothfuss, so I would say the sensible thing to do is finish what you're reading now.

As for me, I started Shadow's Lure by Jon Sprunk yesterday. I meant to give it a one-day read but I didn't get chance, plus I realised waiting for a day to read it in would mean I'd finish it later rather than sooner, so I gave in and started yesterday. It's pretty good so far.
 
Decided to take a break from Iain Banks's Culture and randomly picked up Rowena Cory Daniells' The King's Bastard.
 
Some days ago I finished Silent Land by G. Joyce and overall it was a book that I would call disappointing though it was well written; it is just that the story has been done so many times and it is so cliched that I could not find myself to care a jot about the two main characters; the other main niggle is the utter solipsism of the book except at the ending explanations - you could have the same book set in a dream, there is simply no reality to the characters besides themselves and that lack of anchor made me think: "who cares? these are paper people and they are not real" and that is a fundamental failing of any novel.

This being said, the magic of the author's writing is such that i still felt compelled to turn the pages and I was drawn in despite having this break of the suspension of disbelief hovering in my mind's eye and taking over the moment I would stop reading the author's mesmerizing prose.

Then I finished an awesome novel that is not really sff, though it has prophecies, alchemists, fortune tellers and mystic books; A Place Called Armageddon by C. C. Humphreys about the Siege of Constantinople in 1453 is the best 2011 non-sff novel I read so far and I would rank it 4th or 5th overall out of the 78 or so 2011 novels read until now; will have the FBC review for tomorrow - the book excels in all aspects - fictional characters, world building, historical characters, events,etc; a great ending too with a twist that reminded me of the ending twist in The Lions of Al-Rassan
 
Starting two books today. Well one today and probably one tomorrow:

Sword of Fire and Sea by Erin Hoffman
Small Favor by Jim Butcher
 
Finished A Dance with Dragons last night and returned to Tchaikovsky's The Scarab Path. Following that up, I received an advance copy of The Crown of the Conqueror, by Gav Thorpe. Though I didn't read the first book in the series by Thorpe, I checked some reviews so that I'd understand where I'm stepping in at. I've seen some nice things written about this author/series and am excited to start.
 
Started "The Dance" a couple of days ago and am loving every minute of it (about 250 pages in). Feel kinda guilty for putting aside The Adamantine Palace with only 50 pages left. I was really enjoying that book but Martin's massive tome has been staring at me from my bookshelf for the last week so I decided just to read the prologue to whet my appetite and couldn't stop lol. Sorry Stephen Deas but you'll just have to wait.

Really excited to get into some of the spoiler threads floating around when I'm done.
 
Going to finish A Game of Thrones tonight. Only have about 50 pages left in it. Still only 200 or so pages into The Dragon Reborn. I haven't opened the book since I started AGoT. I'll start into the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson tomorrow.
 
I'm currently reading 2 books. Mistborn - hero of Ages in hardcover form and Tawny Man series - Golden Fool in ebook form ..... covertly at my desk at work. :p
 
While I was planning to read something else, I just got a pdf arc of Rift Walker by Susan and Clay Griffith, the second volume of their steampunk with (scientific ie human offshoot not undead) vampires trilogy Greyfriar and I opened it and could not stop until i finished it; just a romp end to end, with all that you want - duels, battles, treachery, intrigue, revelations, not to speak of romance and magic.

Despite being a middle book in a trilogy, this novel both expands its universe considerably, advances the story and ends at a clear stopping point that promises another entertaining tale.

While in the first novel I thought that Adele and Greyfriar shared the lead well, The Rift Walker is Adele's novel from the beginning to the end, though Greyfriar has his moments too, the most dramatic being his unexpected appearance at a crucial moment, sending everything upside down and letting the pieces fly so to speak.

While there were lots of cool moments before - from Greyfriar meting justice to wayward vampires and their human tools, to Adele going incognito to see the Alexandrian plays about "her adventure with Greyfriar", while having to fight stalkers and evade the ardor of her intended, who wants his war and the crown of course, rather than the princess herself - once Greyfriar sends everything spinning, the novel just rockets and never stops, though all in a very entertaining, never over the top way.
 
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