Reading in March

I just finished "Subterranean" by James Rollins. A very good read, I couldn't put it down! Reminded me of a mixture between Indiana Jones and Journey to the Center of the Earth, with a little Jurassic Part thrown in.
I'm now starting on Rollins' second archeological thriller, "Excavation".
 
Iskaral Pust
Thanx for the input...I am usually pretty good with keeping up with what the authors are writing, but this one must have slipped through!! If you could remember the other authors' name,I would appreciate it! thanx again!!
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Sorry my mistake, it wasn't co-written at all, don't know where I got that idea from. It was published in 1995 by the way, 112 pages long.

Now reading Midnight Tides by my favorite author: Steven Erikson

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it wasn't co-written at all, don't know where I got that idea from.
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Possibly confused with Child of an Ancient City, co-authored with Nina Kiriki Hoffman? I had to think about that one.

And just realised I still haven't got any nearer to reading War of The Flowers. Been in the pile for months now....

Hobbit
 
The One,
Try:
"Last Call":It's about gambling, the Tarot (the basis for the 52 card deck) and a whole lot more besides. I won't try describing it but it's my favourite Tim Powers.

"Expiration Date":Thomas Edison's soul, his last breath, is captured in a bottle and becomes a much sought after item.

NB:"Earthquake Weather" is a sequel to both "Last Call" and "Expiration Date". It's an o.k. read but doesn't achieve the heights of its predecessors.

"Anubis Gates": This was my first Tim Powers. It's a Victorian/Egyptian time travel story. Recommended.

Nevyn,
It's worth the slog. I too found the early stages hard going - what with all the detailed descriptions, rambling paragraphs and little plot progression. It reminded me of the wordier passages in "Gormenghast" as many people have mentioned. But once the story proper gets going, it's all good.
 
Pust, I now officially hate you.

I wanted to get started on Quicksilver, but once again was put off by its sheer size. Didn't feel focused enough. Instead I had a second go at Deathstalker, and as before was put off instantly(again) by the incessant self-righteous, self-pitying dialogues. It's bye-bye Mr Green for me. Also read (parts of) The Standing Dead by Pinto. One word: boring; after 200 pages I found myself skipping big chunks of text. I expected a better sequel for The Chosen .Disappointing.

After that I finished book 5 of the Vlad Taltos series by Brust.Still good, although nothing grand. I'm seing the satire more and more. The humour is still enjoyable.

Next is Ilium (or Quicksilver if I ever gather enough courage).
 
So...Caliban's Hour is still written by Tad Williams, right???


Love the smiley guys!!!:D
 
Thank you Soon! I'll have to try and find copies of those books. It's getting pretty hard to find anything by Tim Powers in the UK.
 
Trying very hard to work my way through Michelle West's Sun Sword saga. Regrettably, I purchased four of the six books at once. Her story isn't very scintillating. Big descriptions without all the action that Jordan's WOT exudes.

Next book I'll tackle will be Erickson's newest.
 
I finished An Instance of the Fingerpost by Iain Pears, a very good, meaty Historical Mystery.

Still have a few books I am working on, not sure if I will pick them up and finish them, or start something new. Perhaps The Buzzing by James Knipfel. I found it recommended in the Locus 2003 best reads several times. It seems to be more surreal than traditional fantasy.
 
I am now reading Jeffrey Ford's Memoranda, the sequal to The Physiognomy. It has got off to a decent start so far with Below, the evil chap from the previous book, quickly manifesting himself in the peaceful settlement of Wenau. This is rather off-beat fantasy, I really liked the previous book and I hope this one lives up to it!
 
Just finished the last Erikson book a scant few hours ago, is it just me of do more and more people talk like Pust and/or kuppe in this one?
anyhow, lots of cool funny new chars in this one and lotsa stuff explained and what not..

Gonna move on to White Wolf by Gemmell next
 
I am getting nicely stuck into Blade of Tyshalle, though it is a bit complex for my poor knackered brain at the mo, frustrating as I know it is not that hard to follow!! Great stuff anyway. And I am congratulating myself for not having bought Foxmask by Juliet Marrelier today though it tried to entice me by sitting provocatively in the book store, gleaming new cover, thick with pages and all....But the price, the price!!
 
Just finished book one of the Oath of Empire series- The Shadow of Ararat by Thomas Harlan. I give it 6 out of 10 stars. IMO, slightly above average fat fantasy, didn't blow me away, however. The magic system was interesting, and some of the characters were cool, like Thyatis and Ahmet. One complaint is that I don't think it needed to be almost 800 pages long. :o Unless I run out of things to read, I don't see myself finishing this series. I've gripped about BFF's before and this is going to be my last BFF series I start for a while.

Next I'll amuse myself with In the Land of Time and Other Fantasy Tales by Lord Dunsany, which I picked up today. It's a collection of his short stories including the Gods of Pegana. It's the first Dunsany I'll have read, so I'm interested to see how I like it.
 
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Originally posted by rune
I can always tell when I love a book by how quick I get it read :D . Grave Peril by Jim Butcher, a brilliant read.

I'll be starting The Glass Mountain by Jessica Rydill next :)

rune
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Just finished The Glass Mountain, not as good as the first book I read by this author, but entertaining enough :)

I'm reading the Prowlers Series now, some way say it's horror, but I think of it more as a dark fantasy.

rune
 
Digging through a long forgotten box I found a copy of "The Masters of Everon" by Gordon R. Dickson.I'm only a couple of chapters into it but so far it's okay.I'm also reading "The White Dragon" by Anne McCaffrey.As soon as I'm finished with these books I'm going to start "HP and The Order of the Phoniex." I swear J.K. Rowling's books are getting bigger with each printing. :)

Good reading everyone!

Penny
 
Started Darker Than You Think by Jack Williamson, but it's dated enough that I need to get my mind set back in the 40's and make another go at it.

So I picked up The Innamorati by Mydori Snyder, which I always have trouble spelling!

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/t...f=sr_1_1/103-4236040-2679836?v=glance&s=books

Sorry, I don't know how to shorten the url (I need to figure that out someday).

I like it. The writing is original, energetic, Snyder is very deft at making characters come alive with just a few well-chosen words. The story is good too -- some of the characters are cursed, and the curse can be lifted if they can successfully make their way through a labyrinth/maze. It's set in Renaissance Italy, and it feels like Snyder has done her research, authentic, I think.
 
I finished a few books over the weekend:

The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander, a short book about the last month in the lives of the Romanovs, as seen by the Kitchen Boy who survives their execution. The story is told from 2001, as the Kitchen Boy -now an old man on the verge of death leaves a recording for his grand daughter about what happened. Then it swithces to the POV of the boy as he lived it. Well done and several twists.

The Buzzing by Jim Knipfel, sort of the American Version of magical realism - kook 101. The story of a once well respected journalist who has gotten soft and taken the easy way out and in middle age, has ended up covering the kook beat for his paper. He starts out not believing the people who call and tell him these odd things, but he doesn't distance himself enough, and when his normal friends and real world events collide with bits and pieces of information his kooks have given him, he loses his grip. The plot of a Godzilla movie is woven into the story. Funny parts, and definitely odd.
 
Recent reads:

Altered Carbon - Richard Morgan:

Overall, I like the book. Some really good ideas, and some excellent prose. But the pacing was off for a mystery. At times, it seemed like Morgan couldn't decide whether to focus on the setting or the plot. As a result, the "who-dunnit" aspect of the book got swept under the tide, and everything felt loose and unfocused. Also, at times, his use of sex and violence seemed like shock-value stuff rather than necessity. I'd reccomend giving it a whirl, as its got some great futuristic cyber-punk style ideas, but it could definitely have been better. 6/10.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy - Douglass Adams:

It's one of those books that I'd always meant to read, but never got around to. I'm glad I finally did. Some excellent satire, as a big Radiohead fan, all the little references from OK Computer were fun to spot. I laughed out loud more than once. 8/10.

Currently reading "Homebound" by Orson Scott Card. So far, it's slow, but most of his beginnings are. We'll see how it pans out, and whether it holds my attention 'till the end.
 
I just finished The Fires of Heaven yesterday and am now reading the 6th WoT book.
 
I finally finished Blade of Tyshalle last night, will be starting on Snow Crash tonight! I wrote about what I think of the Caine Saga in a thread dedicated to MWS!!
 
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