Reading in May 2010

Finished up the Codex Alera series the other day. As a whole I thought the series was entertaining, a bit cliche, but entertaining none the less. The first four books IMO were the best and the last two were by far the worst in the series. I don't know what it was but the last books didn't seem to have any suspense for me. I wonder if Butcher will revisits this world, since there is ample opportunity due to the ending of the series.

Also, still reading the Scar by Mielville. Very good book, but slow reading. I really like the contrast between Butcher and Mielville it allows me to really enjoy each style of writing and also each subgenre(?) of fantasy.
 
Farlander by Col Buchanan. Only read the prologue so far, so will post a bit more about it later.

I have to say, though, a black protagonist makes quite an oddly refreshing change.
 
Seegee said:
I finished Homunculus by James P. Blaylock earlier today. I didn't enjoy it. I found a number of issues that spoiled my enjoyment of the reading experience. I've put a full review on my blog here
Started Lee Martinez's Monster and that's really cool so far.
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Thanks for the review. I've tried to get through Homunculus a couple of times but gave up.

Seegee, what's this "list" you speak of in your blog?
 
Luke_B said:
(even though I personally prefer Perdido Street Station and The Iron Council). I did find the ending a little weak
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I thought that Perdido Street Station's ending was horrible and you liked it. What does it say about The City & the City?
 
The City & The City was a mixed bag for me. Loved the setting, but I've read a lot of hard-boiled/noir/detective novels. And as a crime novel, it was pretty mediocre. Characters were forgettable for me as well. Of the four books I've read from Mieville (King Rat, Perdido Street Station, The Scar, and The City) it was my least favorite.

I'm currently reading "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest and liking it. Can never say how the whole thing feels until I'm done, but it's fun. But I'm a bit of a sucker for steampunk and zombies, so having them together is a good thing for me.
 
I just finished The City and the City, the detective/crime/mystery was great. The two in one city was okay/funky. Every time I started to think about it, I attempted to punch holes in Mielville's concept. Somethings just did not add up and while I wanted it to be a great novel it just ended up being a decent novel not bad but not outstanding. I will more than likely give him another shot as the writing was decent.

Moving on to Adam Robert's The New Modern Army.
 
Bear said:
I'm currently reading "Boneshaker" by Cherie Priest and liking it. Can never say how the whole thing feels until I'm done, but it's fun. But I'm a bit of a sucker for steampunk and zombies, so having them together is a good thing for me.
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I read Boneshaker not long ago and her Seattle geography is spot on but the book was a bit of a let down. Hope you enjoyed it more than I did.
 
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Several days ago I finished Field of Fire (Storm of the Center of the World #1) by Jon Connington and it was an excellent adventure fantasy in the Retribution Falls mold, which I enjoyed much more than I expected and the sequel became an asap. I will open a thread an a mini-review and I will have a full review on FBC asap.

Now I have four fantasy novels that I itch to read and I started all:

- got a huge galley - printed on A4 paper - of Kraken and I read maybe 50 pages and it's fun, weird and I enjoy it much more than City/City so far; the drawback is that the galley is a "monster" and I cannot take it with me and since I do quite a lot of my reading outside and on the go, it will take me a while to finish it...

- finally managed to buy a copy of Lex Trent vs the Gods by Alex Bell who is a big time favorite author of mine and this one is just utter fun so far; I should finish it fast and I plan to review it asap on FBC

- got a review copy of Mark Hodder's debut Burton and Swinburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack which is billed by Lou Anders at Pyr as "steam opera" (Sept US, already out in the UK from Snowbooks); this one reads very well too and I itch to read it as mentioned

- got a review copy of "Blue and Gold" the new novella by KJ Parker and of course that is another "read on receive"....
 
suciul said:
- finally managed to buy a copy of Lex Trent vs the Gods by Alex Bell who is a big time favorite author of mine and this one is just utter fun so far; I should finish it fast and I plan to review it asap on FBC
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Suciul, Lex Trent is on my TBR pile. I look forward to your review, that'll decide whether or not it gets bumped up the pile a bit.
 
Still reading Midnight Tides, and I gotta say it's gotten quite good.

While the whole series has me a little bewildered, this books is very tight with it's plot. Reminds me writing wise of Memories of Ice..

Great book.

Keyoke
 
Keyoke said:
Still reading Midnight Tides, and I gotta say it's gotten quite good.

While the whole series has me a little bewildered, this books is very tight with it's plot. Reminds me writing wise of Memories of Ice..

Great book.

Keyoke
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Heheh, I told you it would get good! I found it was perhaps the best written volume in the series so far. However, I definitely find Erikson to be bewildering and frustrating at times. He demands persistence and patience from his readers, but it always pays off in the end.
 
Just started Lyonesse by Jack Vance. Only 40 pages through but damn, it's great so far. Not that I was expecting anything less from Vance.
 
Just finished New Model Army by Roberts, it was less than exciting to put it nicely. As I read I kept thinking of ways to disrupt there premise of the novel. Relying on google for intel just did not jive with me.

Moving on to The King of Crags by Deas. Enjoyed the first one and I hope this sequel continues in that same vein.
 
I just finished reading Graham Masterton's The House that Jack Built. Whilst the story followed a rather original idea on the haunted house plot, I found myself skipping whole chunks of text with this one (and still not feeling like I was missing much).

Its unusual for me to read a book and end up skipping most of it. Usually, if I don't like a book enough to read it, then I just don't finish it. The only exception to this in the past has been Sword of Truth-I skipped through much of the last three books, just because I was getting so fed up with the series but wanted to finish it. The House that Jack Built gave me a similar feeling - I wanted to know what was going on, but I didn't enjoy the process of getting to the answers. It took too long. The book would have been better if it was shorter: there were too many details (particularly about house renovation) that I didn't need or want.

There were some nasty deaths -some of which were perhaps a little needless. Although sadly, I failed to really warm to any of the characters so their deaths had little effect on me. I found this book kinda lacking in the "horror" department - it was mostly just a bit creepy.

Not sure what I'm going to read next. I have quite a big pile on my to read pile at the moment. There's an anthology of short stories (can't remember the title right now) that I think I'll check out next.
 
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Finished Under Heaven by GGK and really enjoyed it. The ending is a little abrupt, but I thought it was well done. For me, I'd say this is one of his best works, with maybe only Lions of Al-Rassan being better. Certainly re-established for me why he is my favourite author.

Moving on to The Emerald Storm by Michael Sullivan, who is another one of my favourites. Given all the positive reviews, I fully expect this one to be just as good as the first three in the series.
 
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I finished Lex Trent Versus The Gods by Alex Bell (will have a full review on FBC later this coming week) and it was utter fun for the most part, though it bounds into farce once in a while; overall I enjoyed it a lot though I prefer her darker novels (Ninth Circle and Jasmyn), but for a fun romp with some imaginative twists and which does not take itself too seriously, the book is just perfect. (an A from me)

I also finished Prince of the Mist by CR Zafon (read it in Spanish a while ago but was not sure I fully got it, though to my surprise the English version confirmed that I understood it in Spanish too despite my limited skills in that language); not bad as writing goes but very YA and I just could not muster that much enthusiasm about the children in the story since while I like the occasional YA novels, I want them imaginative like say Leviathan, while this one is more character oriented (as YA goes of course) so to speak; would have been a great book when I was 10 or so but not now, though I will still check out the next installment just in case it becomes more complex and subtler (a C from me)
 
Decided to finally read Under the Dome - Stephen King! I had really been trying to hold on to this book for a while just because I know I will enjoy it!;)
 
Shayna said:
Decided to finally read Under the Dome - Stephen King! I had really been trying to hold on to this book for a while just because I know I will enjoy it!;)
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Finally saw this book in hardbound in the used book store and all I have to say is good luck. If you end up hating the novel you can always use it as an anchor for a battleship or aircraft carrier. That is one massive book.
 
DurzoBlint said:
Finally saw this book in hardbound in the used book store and all I have to say is good luck. If you end up hating the novel you can always use it as an anchor for a battleship or aircraft carrier. That is one massive book.
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Haha, maybe that's when I'll buy it, when I need an anchor for my battleship.

I'm very slowly going through Dante's Journey - not because it's not entertaining, only because I'm in the middle of finals.

Also reading some SciFi at the moment.
 
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