Reading in May 2010

Darksbane said:
Lions of Al-Rassan is probably my favourite fantasy book. But I do find that Kay's writing style is not for everyone, and some people have a hard time with how he write both male and female characters, but so far none of that has bothered me one bit. I hope you enjoy his work as much as I have so far.

I've been looking forward to reading Emerald Storm for quite some time now, and was very happy to see it in my mailbox the other day. I ordered it straight from Sullivan himself, and it is such a beautiful book. I love the cover art for all his books so far. I really hope he keeps up the excellent pacing all the way through the series.

I've been looking at reading Spellwright for awhile now, but did not think it would be my kind of book. Reading reviews so far makes me think that it actually just might be. Probably will be the next book I buy.
Click to expand...

Plan to move Kay up the to-read pile.

All of my copies of Sullivan's work are signed which I love. He does his own artwork so that is a huge bonus to the books.

Spellwright was good, one of the better debuts this year that I have read. Hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
 
Apathy said:
Interesting, I have not read about that series here, is it good? I liked her Assassin books, did not really care for her Live ship Trilogy, but thought her Second Son series was pretty good (not willing to read them again, but good enough), so do you think I would like that new series of hers?
Click to expand...

Well it carries on the Liveships story, but with pretty much a whole new cast of characters. There's no Fitz/Fool or any of those guys. I thought it was good, nothing special though. Here's my more in depth review if that helps. :)
 
Still stuck with Toll the Hounds, for a month and counting (I'm at the middle of page count). I'm enjoying it immensely so far, haven't had so much fun with Malazan since, well, book 4 I think, but the usual complaints are still valid - moments of awesomness are mingled with boring dross.
 
Started on Al-Rassan

I love his writing and his narrative style; poetic but clean at the same time; definately not overdone.

I wasn't sure about how I would feel about the setting, if I have a hard time seperating it from the real world cultures he based it on, but not at all. I've sunk right into it.
 
Finished Julian May's Ironcrown Moon last night. It suffered from the middle book syndrome (book 2 of 3). Moreover, it ended on a cliffhanger. Before moving on to book 3, I'm going to read Dante's Journey from JC Marino.
 
Finished Blood Bound and Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs from the Mercy Thompson series over the weekend, really enjoyed them... waiting for the latest two books to arrive so that I can catch up.

Now I'm continuing Way of the Wolf, while I wait for the last book in the Codex Alera series by Butcher, First Lord's Fury.
 
I've been on a GGKay kick since the beginning of the year, reading about one per month (mixed in with a few other reads). Funny thing, after hearing how good his books were, the first one I picked to read was Ysabel last fall, which I didn't care for at all. I finally decided to give him another try and loved Lions of Al-Rassan. Since then it has been the Sarantine Mosaic, Last Light of the Sun, and now I am nearly finished reading Tigana. I have enjoyed all of them, although Lions and Tigana are my favorites. Next up is Under Heaven, which is ordered and on its way.

In addition to what others have already said about in this thread about his writing, I like that most of his books are singles (or in the case of Sarantine Mosaic a dualogy) as opposed to a long drawn out series that never seems to end. Part of the reason he has become my favorite fantasy writer, replacing George R R Martin (Joe Abercrombie is fast overtaking Martin also).

Also on my list and ordered are the Desert Spear and Watcher of the Dead (love JV Jones) although they may have to be read in June rather than May.
 
Apathy said:
Might I suggest King Rat by China Mieville? It is less...heavy than the other books I have read from him. It is more along the lines of an adventure story, and is not a massive book like the others. Perdido Street Station was not as many pages as some author's books, but the sheer amount of stuff in it made it large in my mind. For these reasons I think King Rat may be more what you are looking for at the moment.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll probably pick it up when I have the chance but I've already gotten into Sanderson again. Most of my energy right now is going into editing my own book so if I'm going to read something it needs to be light or I'll take a long time to get through it.

From what I read I must say Mieville has a way with words that few possess. I can see why he receives so much praise.
 
Now reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell...enjoying it so far. I kind of like old-school British silliness. I wish there was a more sympathetic protagonist, though.
 
nquixote said:
Now reading Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell...enjoying it so far. I kind of like old-school British silliness. I wish there was a more sympathetic protagonist, though.
Click to expand...

I really enjoyed it, so I hope you do too. I can understand your point on protagonist, but depending on where you are, your feelings may change. Some people never did make a deep connection with the main characters, but I know I certainly did.
 
thrinidir said:
Still stuck with Toll the Hounds, for a month and counting (I'm at the middle of page count). I'm enjoying it immensely so far, haven't had so much fun with Malazan since, well, book 4 I think, but the usual complaints are still valid - moments of awesomness are mingled with boring dross.
Click to expand...
That's my next Erikson book, which I'll probably tackle later this year. Glad to hear there are still some good moments, as I've heard that it's the slowest one in the series so far.
 
I've just read Shadow and Betrayal part 1 by Daniel Abraham, and really enjoyed it. Very nice twist on the epic fantasy tale, with an eastern rather than western feel to it. I have to confess I didn't really get into it until quite a way into the book, but it was worth it. And also, it wasn't huge. Bonus, will read the 2nd part in a few days once I've had a break!
 
Are Super Heroes Sci-Fi or Fantasy. I dont know but I'm posting here. I am reading GRR Martin's Inside Strait - A Wildcards novel. I am really liking it. Great characters and a novel concept i.e. People with super powers, Aces, competing on a reality tv show. However that evolves during the story into some of the Aces being involved in an international crisis. Which is where I am.

Great writing by all the contributors. I am reading George's chapter right now - a treat for anyone clamoring for more of him. The Ace he is writing about has the ability to form some form of Ghost steel and has a sword - love it.

Cheers.
 
I'm currently reading China Mieville's Kraken and am nearing the end of The Dwarves by Markus Heitz. They've been both great so far.
 
Last edited:
Daddy Darth said:
Are Super Heroes Sci-Fi or Fantasy. I dont know but I'm posting here. I am reading GRR Martin's Inside Strait - A Wildcards novel. I am really liking it. Great characters and a novel concept i.e. People with super powers, Aces, competing on a reality tv show. However that evolves during the story into some of the Aces being involved in an international crisis. Which is where I am.

Great writing by all the contributors. I am reading George's chapter right now - a treat for anyone clamoring for more of him. The Ace he is writing about has the ability to form some form of Ghost steel and has a sword - love it.

Cheers.
Click to expand...

I found this for really cheap so I bought it because of you. Thanks. It sounds a bit like Heroes Die, which is pretty dang good.
 
I just finished A. Lee Martinez's Gil's All Fright Diner, this was a really fun book. UF with a real twist, firstly the protagonists are male and a vampire and a werewolf, it just gets crazier from then on in. I've posted a review at my blog, here
 
MattNY said:
I really enjoyed it, so I hope you do too. I can understand your point on protagonist, but depending on where you are, your feelings may change. Some people never did make a deep connection with the main characters, but I know I certainly did.
Click to expand...

Well, Mr. Norrell himself is pretty much a jerk, but so far I like Jonathan Strange (I'm less than a third of the way through the book)...and I like Stephen Black and John Segundus, though they are minor characters...
 
Last night I finished up Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. Without a doubt, it's his best book in years. I thought Kay's writing style worked very well in this tale of political intrigue in a faux-Tang dynasty China. My favorite of Kay's novels are Tigana and the Sarantine Mosaic and I would put Under Heaven just beneath them on par with The Lions of Al-Rassan. Great book.

Next up will be Incompetence by Rob Grant.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Sponsors


We try to keep the forum as free of ads as possible, please consider supporting SFFWorld on Patreon


Your ad here.

Latest posts

Back
Top