Reading in June 2011

[Hobbit]

OOH, read that one in the 80's, with an equally bad cover:

Was fun and not too serious if I remember right.

Mark

 

[Loerwyn]

Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamplane?

 

[PogiRunner]

Just finished Olympos by Dan Simmons, the sequel to Ilium.

My feelings about this book are mixed.

I love the writing style of Simmons and he is amazing at interweaving thought provoking ideas into his novels. Olympos is no exception.

For about the first three quarters of the book I had a hard time putting it down. Plots were advancing and converging nicely. It was exciting to see whether my guesses were correct as some mysteries were revealed.

I was very unsatisfied with events leading to the climax and the climax itself. I felt cheated comparing the quality of writing here to Ilium and most of Olympos. The ending felt very rushed and bolted on. Several characters took actions and made decisions completely unbelievable based on their prior development. Quite a few major plot lines remained unresolved and a mystery at the conclusion.

Granted, Olympos is a large book. However, I believe a trilogy would have been a better way to finish the series. I would rather read three excellent large books with a fascinating ending as compared to a duology with a terrible ending.

 

[livens]

OOH, read that one in the 80's, with an equally bad cover:

Was fun and not too serious if I remember right.

Mark

Yeah, but even though the covers look bad, thats pretty much what was in the book

 

[Asimovking]

I am now reading Stephen Baxter's Ring. My 1st hard sci fi book.

 

[Loerwyn]

I started The Honor of the Queen by David Weber last night, but the chances are that I'll put it down as soon as my Lost Fleet books or Ky Vatta #2 arrive.

Bleek!

 

[NickeeCoco]

Finished Hull Zero Three by Greg Bear last night. I really liked it. It wasn't a very entertaining read, but it was fascinating. I read on not because I liked the characters and wanted them to 'win', but because I wanted to know what happened next.

I was disappointed a bit by the use of the over all theme (conscience; morals; ethics), I thought it could have been explored a little more deeply. It was a bit superficial for me.

All in all, though, a good read.

 

[Rob B]

I'm a few chapters into Eric Brown's latest novel and one he's been working on for about a decade - Kings of Eternity. So far I'm enjoying it quite a bit, I find the style very inviting. This is the second Eric Brown novel for me, after what I consider one of the more overlooked SF novels in recent memory, Helix.

 

[Ropie]

Just finished John Christopher's The Death of Grass (American's may know it as No Blade of Grass). Unquestionably one of the best novels I have ever read for almost every relevant literary reason.

 

[Hobbit]

Very bleak, Ropie. Read it and loved it. Reviewed it HERE. Over two years ago now!

Until the re-release, paperback copies were going for £50-£100!

Mark

 

[Ropie]

Very bleak, Ropie. Read it and loved it. Reviewed it HERE. Over two years ago now!

Great review, Mark. I have nothing to add really except that apart from the bleak message, graphic bluntness and slight datedness, it was a brilliantly written adventure story too! Like most disaster based entertainment we wouldn't want it to happen in real life of course, but the fact that this kind of thing is palpably just a few steps in the wrong direction from our present situation makes it all the more compelling. And I agree that contemporary reliance on convenience foods, information technology and work-based lifestyles would mean survival in a similar situation would be even harder for us than it was for the families of the 1950s.

 

[Hobbit]

Thanks Ropie.

Have just finished a reread of Clifford Simak's City. (Getting through some old ones at the minute!) Review HERE.

One of my favourite Simak, if not favourite SF, despite all its creakiness: robots and dogs: what's not to like?

Mark

 

[Loerwyn]

what's not to like?

The lack of curvacious redheads! I find books without them to be highly offensive!

 

[Siberian]

"Enclave" by Ann Aguirre - pretty solid YA postapocaliptic dystopia. Kinda like Hunger Games meets Zombies. And one of the characters has Russian origins, which is always a bonus with me. My only complaint is that it was a bit too short and now I have to wait for the sequel for more than a year.

 

[Rob B]

I blew through another 150 pages or so of The Kings of Eternity by Eric Brown today and I am utterly fascinated with the book. Emotional, powerful, inviting, sense-a-wunda, a remarkable book 100 pages from the end. This book might be a contender to knock Leviathan Wakes from my top SF read of the year. Though to be fair, they are somewhat different and it isn't quite an apples to apples comparison.

If anything, Kings of Eternity reminds me a bit of Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock for the feeling I get and the addictive invitational style of the book.

 

[Chrysippus]

Just finished the first chapter of Robert Charles Wilson's The Chronoliths. I like it so far.

 

[chitman13]

I blew through another 150 pages or so of The Kings of Eternity by Eric Brown today and I am utterly fascinated with the book. Emotional, powerful, inviting, sense-a-wunda, a remarkable book 100 pages from the end. This book might be a contender to knock Leviathan Wakes from my top SF read of the year. Though to be fair, they are somewhat different and it isn't quite an apples to apples comparison.

If anything, Kings of Eternity reminds me a bit of Robert Charles Wilson's Julian Comstock for the feeling I get and the addictive invitational style of the book.

I am so glad you like this Rob The way things stand this will be my favourite read of the year and I doubt much will come along to take that away. I may read a better sci-fi book, but Kings of Eternity is more than just that. In my opinion everyone should read more Eric Brown!

 

[Loerwyn]

I'm going to start The Lost Fleet: Courageous by Jack Campbell on my lunchbreak. I was going to read it on the bus but my head was pounding.

I'll probably get to The Honor of the Queen at some point in the future. I did start it but I got sidetracked by Tchaikovsky and I'm in no mood to read it. But Mr Weber asked if I was going to read it and I said yes

 

[Rob B]

I may read a better sci-fi book, but Kings of Eternity is more than just that.

Blew through the last 100 pages last night in less than an hour, an amazing SF novel and one that will be duking it out with Mr. Corey's 'debut' for best SF novel of the year and maybe even The Wise Man's Fear book for top genre book of the year for me.

....and it is only June, so there's possibility for that to change (*ahem* Dance with Dragons), albeit very slim.

In my opinion everyone should read more Eric Brown!

Well, I've only read two books by him, but they've both been of superior quality, so I can't do anything but agree.

I wonder if the Vaughan from KoE is related to certain telepath in the future.

 

[Westy]

Blew through the last 100 pages last night in less than an hour, an amazing SF novel and one that will be duking it out with Mr. Corey's 'debut' for best SF novel of the year and maybe even The Wise Man's Fear book for top genre book of the year for me.

You guys have sold me - Kings of Eternity arriving in the next week or so!

Currently reading Greg Bear's Forge of God; an interesting read so far, with a noticeable amount of humour peppered in (first time I've read Bear).