Reading in May 2010

finished another short story by George R R Martin, this one with a horror flavor: The Pear Shaped Man. As far as I'm concerned it was good, but not outstanding. I was bothered mostly by some big plot holes for such a short work. I accept that horror is about mystery and atmosphere, but my analytic mind wanted some explanations for telepathy and for cashflow issues.

Now I'm done procrastinating, and started Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay. After 3 chapters, i can say i love the oriental setting and the already sketched romance. being a fan of oriental poetry will also be a bonus for me [I loved Kwaidan by Lafcadio Hearn from last month reads]
 
DailyRich said:
It still comes across as clumsy to me. Again, I'm not down on swearing in general, but I think it's more effective when used sparingly. It has more impact coming out of the blue than when it's used constantly. Like I said, it feels too much like a lazy way of saying, "See! I'm gritty!"

And I'm not saying this is a bad book by any stretch. Glokta is perhaps as finely drawn a character as I've read in a while, and there really isn't a POV character I find myself wishing I could skip.
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Logen likes to say "s**t" a lot. We all have our favorite words, phrases, mannerisms. It doesn't make it lazy, it's simply part of a character's characterization.

I guess that when you're thinking in your head you castigate yourself when your thoughts start using the same words in your head, damn lazy brain.

The Wire is also a lazy tv show for all the times they used "s**t" and "****" too.
 
Gilgamesh said:
For me, this is one of the strong sides of Abercrombie's characters. I love his characters because they fell real. I would expect someone like Logan to know and use mostly vulgarity, just like pirates, deckhands, prisoners, etc would.
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This. I think the vulgarity fits for Logen. Honestly, I didn't really even notice it. It just seemed natural.

I don't know the context of that Bayaz line but just about anybody I know that doesn't swear much will probably swear in anger or pain. Also, as Astra pointed out, characters don't have to be stereotyped.
 
I finished The Emerald Storm by Michael J. Sullivan. The fourth book in the Riyria Revelations felt a little weaker than the previous two books and was the least stand-alone of the series so far. It was still pretty good though and the cliffhanger ending made me anxious to read more. Two more books to go!

Next up is Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis.
 
Next up is Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis.
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OOH... be interested to read what you think about that one, Ben. Thought the premise was quite promising, though in the hands of a weaker writer could end up a bit tired.

As a debut..... hmm.

Mark
 
I just started Bitter Seeds during my lunch break today, too. 40+ pages in and it is interesting.
 
I'm bringing Bitter Seeds with me to Eastern Europe and the Balkans next month. I've only heard good things about it so far, so I'll be interested to read your review, Rob.

Patrick
 
Wow, there's a whole bunch of us reading the new Tregillis book. I've only read the prologue so far, but I'm quite intrigued.
 
I am about halfway through A Feast For Crows, which is still going great. However, I have to put a hold on it so I can get through Perdido Street Station. That is the book of the month in my discussion group and one I have been looking forward to. I just hope I can finish it in time.
 
Took a break from Book of the Long Sun to start on Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell. I'm still into BOTLS, but I'm ADHD so I can only go so long in one story before I need something new.

I really am enjoying Clarke's story, and the setting. But her voice is what has me hooked; Clarke's language is amazing; clear, fluid, powerfully involved narrative voice and author POV. She manages to "do Dickens" without, well, sounding too much like Dickens (seriously Chuck, too many words. Too... many... words!)

Her language reminds me a lot of LeGuin or Lahiri, the kind of clean, flowing language you can just read all day and forget you are reading.
 
The City & The City

I finished China Miéville's The City & The City last night. It was an excellent story. It was definitely not New Weird. It was more a fiction/thriller book with a very unusual setting. The setting made me think about a lot of different things. I think I'll talk about them in my review, I just have to gather and structure my thoughts.

I'm still reading Miéville's Kraken, rather slowly partly because of the size of the bound manuscript.

And I'm starting something totally different: Erin M. Evans' The God Catcher. It's a Forgotten Realms book. It's gotten excellent reviews. I'm really looking forward to it.
 
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i finished the name of the wind just yesterday, only took me about 3 days. loved it.
 
Managed to finish two books today. First was Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh. It seemed to go no where. Felt like it started and ended in the same. A very big let down.

I then devoured The Ghost of Manhattan by George Mann. Great story although the bad guy and his dramatic ending were different from the rest of the book, I still enjoyed it and I hope that the series continues as it ends with a possible next novel. It had a touch of a noir detective story with a bit of Batman thrown into the steampunk universe.
 
DurzoBlint said:
Managed to finish two books today. First was Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh. It seemed to go no where. Felt like it started and ended in the same. A very big let down.

I then devoured The Ghost of Manhattan by George Mann. Great story although the bad guy and his dramatic ending were different from the rest of the book, I still enjoyed it and I hope that the series continues as it ends with a possible next novel. It had a touch of a noir detective story with a bit of Batman thrown into the steampunk universe.
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I read Ghosts of Manhattan a month ago or so. Really liked it. I still haven't read the ending, kinda spoiled myself so I'm trying to get into the mood once again to finish it up.

But yeah, it was fun.
 
DurzoBlint said:
Managed to finish two books today. First was Royal Exile by Fiona McIntosh. It seemed to go no where. Felt like it started and ended in the same. A very big let down.
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I thought the second book improved significantly over the first one...
 
Just finished reading Best Served Cold. A great book and I'm finding myself a little sad that it's over. Time to do some digging and put together my next To Read pile.
 
I'm a good way into Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It's good, although it's alot more sci-fi than I was expecting. I read his Illium series previously, and it had this neat undercurrent of fantasy to it, even though it was sci-fi. This one is just full-on sci-fi, lots of crazy technologies and whatnot, although he doesn't get bogged down explaining them, which I appreciate.
 
ink said:
Just finished reading Best Served Cold. A great book and I'm finding myself a little sad that it's over.
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I know exactly how you feel.
By the way, Abercrombie's next book, Heroes, is coming out on 20 Jan 2011 (in the UK).
 
Crono said:
I'm a good way into Hyperion by Dan Simmons. It's good, although it's alot more sci-fi than I was expecting. I read his Illium series previously, and it had this neat undercurrent of fantasy to it, even though it was sci-fi. This one is just full-on sci-fi, lots of crazy technologies and whatnot, although he doesn't get bogged down explaining them, which I appreciate.
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i read dan simmons the other way around, so i was surprised for the opposite reason :)

i think both hyperion and ilium are masterpieces in their own right however. dan simmons is an amazing author.
 
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