Reading in October 2006

[-Asher-]

My Library surprised me with 2 new books last week.

Strange Candy - A Laurell K. Hamilton collection of short stories. Now I usually skip short stories (I like novel length) but I picked this up. Nothing great, but most of the sotries are good (but short), and a little wierd. Best of all, none of her porn. 14 stories, 2 which feature Anita Blake and I enjoyed all but 2 of the stories. She gives a little paragraph intro to each.

Greywalker - Kat Richardson's first novel in which she explores the vampire/ghost/magic in the real world. Interesting idea if a little predictable. I'll certainly look for the next novel she writes.

 

[Eventine]

Finished Memories Of Ice by Steven Erikson, and it took all of my already depleted willpower not to move directly on to House Of Chains. I haven't been this hooked on a series since grade school.

So I grabbed a short one off the shelf to change up the pace a little: Jonathan Carroll's White Apples. I have read The Wooden Sea and really enjoyed it, though it seems to not be a Carroll favorite around here. I'm reading Apples swiftly, but am having a really hard time giving a rat's tookus about either Vincent or Isabelle, not because I necessarily dislike them, but because they are both horribly uninteresting. What is keeping me going is that "what-the-heck-is-going-on?!" tone that Carroll is so good at, as well as the ambience/atmosphere Carroll is able to drum up in certain scenes that can almost leave me breathless with wonder at having such a strong feeling of "being there".

I am hoping that the characters' drabness will somehow come into play when Carroll wraps this up in 150 pages or so, otherwise this book will end up with 2/5 Jack Stars, one star for Caroll's use of language, and the other for his tone.

Hmm, I found White Apples a much more compelling read than I did The Wooden Sea. I think I must have liked Vincent's character a little more than yourself though. Having read The Wooden Sea, The Land of Laughs, Voice of Our Shadow and White Apples I'd have to slot White Apples in my #2 slot, behind The Land of Laughs.
Anyone got any other Carroll must reads?

Memories of Ice was the highpoint of the Malazan series for me (I've read up to Midnight Tides). The last quarter of the book or so was really top notch stuff.

 

[intensityxx]

Eventine, I've been gathering Carroll's books, but have only read Land of Laughs, which i liked. I know that some of his books go in sequence, which I'd prefer to honor since I'm weird that way, but I'm never quite sure which ones stand alone best, and which ones are best read in sequence. Here's what I have:
Bones of the Moon
The Marriage of Sticks
Outside the Dog Museum
Sleeping in Flame
White Apples
The Wooden Sea

Which might Carroll readers recommend I read in sequence vs. alone?

 

[Psylent]

Having spoken to Elizabeth Moon about it, she says 'No', although I think the summaries at the beginning of each book may have gone. No need in an omnibus!

Hobbit

Ok. Cool.

Thank you, Hobbit.

 

[Randy M.]

Eventine, I've been gathering Carroll's books, but have only read Land of Laughs, which i liked. I know that some of his books go in sequence, which I'd prefer to honor since I'm weird that way, but I'm never quite sure which ones stand alone best, and which ones are best read in sequence. Here's what I have:
Bones of the Moon
The Marriage of Sticks
Outside the Dog Museum
Sleeping in Flame
White Apples
The Wooden Sea

Which might Carroll readers recommend I read in sequence vs. alone?

I've only read the first two. Bones ... starts the Rondua sequence, I believe, and is followed by A Child Across the Sky and then Sleeping in Flames. I'd definitely read Bones...; I found it compelling, though maybe not on par with The Land of Laughs.

I liked The Marriage of Sticks, too, but I think it's part of a sequence, and I'm not sure if it's the first or not.


Randy M.

 

[Yobmod]

So I grabbed a short one off the shelf to change up the pace a little: Jonathan Carroll's White Apples. I have read The Wooden Sea and really enjoyed it, though it seems to not be a Carroll favorite around here. I'm reading Apples swiftly, but am having a really hard time giving a rat's tookus about either Vincent or Isabelle, not because I necessarily dislike them, but because they are both horribly uninteresting. What is keeping me going is that "what-the-heck-is-going-on?!" tone that Carroll is so good at, as well as the ambience/atmosphere Carroll is able to drum up in certain scenes that can almost leave me breathless with wonder at having such a strong feeling of "being there".

I am hoping that the characters' drabness will somehow come into play when Carroll wraps this up in 150 pages or so, otherwise this book will end up with 2/5 Jack Stars, one star for Caroll's use of language, and the other for his tone.

I disliked White Apples a lot. Not only were the characters boring, I found the metaphysics to be completely incoherent. Taken individually the magical events may work (as story devices), but as a whole it made the whole plot pointless to me. Why did chaos manifest as an evil giant rat? What is that got to do with god = mosaic of multiverse? And the 're-incarnation because your future unborn-child fetus needs you' left me cold.

Where cause and effect are meaningless, the plot becomes flimsy, and something more is required to make a story work - White Apples didn't provide this. I agreed with this infinity plus review.

 

[Jack]

I disliked White Apples a lot. Not only were the characters boring, I found the metaphysics to be completely incoherent. Taken individually the magical events may work (as story devices), but as a whole it made the whole plot pointless to me. Why did chaos manifest as an evil giant rat? What is that got to do with god = mosaic of multiverse? And the 're-incarnation because your future unborn-child fetus needs you' left me cold.

Where cause and effect are meaningless, the plot becomes flimsy, and something more is required to make a story work - White Apples didn't provide this. I agreed with this infinity plus review.

Ouch, that review is harsh! But I can't say I completely disagree with it. I'm with you, the metaphysics are absolute bollocks. A random thing that bugged me:

Spoiler

When Vincent is in the past where his parents conceived him in the hotel room in Europe somewhere, and they are nekkid and watching the dog play with the deer, and he goes out into the yard to see the dog and the deer, and then the cake box appears, put there by Bruno Mann/King of the Park/Servant of Chaos whatever he is. But I thought the past was a safe place, because it was already set, and chaos couldn't interfere? Then how the heck did Bruno put the cake box there? Just bugged me, completely inconsistent with the system Carroll previously established in the book.

I admit some of the scenes are charming, and I still love the way Carroll strings words together (the aforementioned sense of wonder he manages to instill in me, just using imagery and sensory perception), but White Apples is pretty weak. I'm ten pages from finishing, I don't know what I'll pick up after this. Maybe some more Erikson?

 

[ravenlynne]

Posting this here also, as I'm not sure what category these fit into:

Finished I Am Legend..Wonder how they'll make a movie out of it and if they'll leave the ending as it was in the book or change it?

Starting Armageddon's Children by Terry Brooks.

 

[Jack]

Started reading China Mieville's Iron Council, and within the first 30 pages I felt comfortable again in Mieville's bizarre world. Still have no idea what is going on, though. I have an HC edition, and the font is humongous, should make reading a breeze.

I like the big text!

 

[Amaunette]

I am reading a collection of fantasy short stories. Can't remember what it's called or who edited it, I think it's "The Best Fantasy of 2006", but I could be wrong. I've been realizing that short stories are a completely different form of literature, it's a little difficult to get used to. As soon as I get into it, get a feel for the world and care about the characters, the story ends. But it's a nice taste of different talent, I'll say that for sure. There are a lot of modern day "fantasy" stories, which I normally don't read but have found enjoyable so far. There's also a real gem by Neil Gaiman in there. A lot of the stories have made me think, and that's always a good thing. If anyone's interested, I'll try to find the actual title

 

[Gildor]

Lost a whole day to reading the Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, but it was very, very worth it! It was nearly perfection, though I felt it was all tied up to neatly and the unraveling of the plot in the ending sections was too 'revealing'. Though minor quibbles, I enjoyed it quite alot, as I simply couldn't put it down, the story behind the Gentleman Bastards was so well told, the action gripping, the evocative city was a pleasure to read about!

 

[Blog_the_troll]

Just started Shield of Thunder by David Gemmell.

 

[DrBloodmoney1]

Reading Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley

 

[Yobmod]

Catching up since the beginning of the month. I've finished:

Possession - A S Byatt (9/10)
Beloved - Toni Morrison (10/10)
Starwater Strains - Gene Wolfe (8/10)
Carmen Dog - Carol Emshwiller (8/10)
Witches of Eastwick - John Updike (9/10)

Possession was lots of fun, and very dense, but only has minor fantasy elements (stories within stories). Beloved is a masterpiece, beautifully written and moving. I was expecting it to be difficult, but I found it simple to follow, the flashbacks being identified, and metaphors becoming clear quickly. The fantasy is due to the presence of a ghost throughout.
Starwater Strains was another good Wolfe collection; its subtitles New SF stories, but contain mostly fantasy. Golden City Far was a very good novella, and prefigures The Wizard Knight in a lot of ways, but is better. Carmen Dog was a fun satire, with a facinating premise (all the women are turning into anials, and the famale animals into women), but not as good as her short stories.
Witches of Eastwick was a very good look at the motivations of divorced suburban mothers. I was expecting somethign different, having seen the film years ago; the book mostly focuses only on one witch, and the visitor to the town is not the devil, nor particularly evil. In fact the 3 primary witches are much more nasty!

I am currently partway through:

The Empire of Ice-cream - Jeffrey Ford
Dreams Underfoot - Charles deLint
Winter's Tale - Mark Helprin

All of which I have had to postpone for:

Dangerous Vision - Harlan Ellison (ed.)

Which i'm reading for the bookclub, so i'm writing bits of opinion on each of the stories as i go.

 

[intensityxx]

Having read all of Neil Gaiman's novels, I have to say I'm very disappointed so far in Anansi Boys. I'm a little more than halfway finished with it, and am finding it tediously cute and fluffy. Where are the richly-imagined settings like the Floating Market or Night's Bridge from Neverwhere? Instead it's a mildy amusing extended fable, which might appeal to readers inexperienced with the likes of Charles de Lint, and other works of contemporary mythic fiction.

Hopefully something changes before I reach the end of the book.

 

[algernoninc]

finished Melanie Rawn "Dragon Prince" - well written, lots of action, but it didn't advance past the "nice" epitet initially applied to it: knights in shining armor, damzels in distress, dastardly villains, curvaceous seductress, dragons and magic aplenty - the only thing missing was a little originality.

I might take a break before the second volume, as I read the first chapter in "Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norell" and i'm hooked: - wonderful use of the victorian humor and language idiosyncracies [if that's the corect word] - very promising, if daunting in size.

 

[Evil Agent]

Almost finished The Stand by Stephen King (been reading it for 2 months), but I have to put it on hold.

Focusing more on re-reading Royal Assasin (Robin Hobb), which is such a beautiful book, probably my favorite in the series. I LOVE THIS BOOK. I LOVE THIS AUTHOR!!!!!!!!! ARGAHRGHGAGH!!!!!!!!!

Also, getting sucked into Black Sun Rising (C.S. Friedman) for the November book club discussion. So far, so good. I'll save comments for November.

 

[zorobnice]

Just started James Barkley's Dawnthief, I am enjoying it so far. An easier and more comfortable read than Errikson. I finished Deadhouse Gates on the weekend, and decided to trake a break after reading two in a row, really alot going on and you kind of need your wits about you. Jame's book is more relaxing nice storyline and things happen.

 

[Mithfânion]

I just picked up Winterbirth by Brian Ruckley. It's a brand new epic Fantasy debut in the UK which Orbit is very keen to market as one of the most promising new works in this field, and they are comparing it Martin, Erikson and Gemmell.

I have to say I am absolutely flying through this book. I was eager for it come out to see if this could be yet another worthwhile new debut ( after "Lies of Locke Lamora" and "The Blade itself") and IMO this is as good as any debut I've read this year. I'm a slow, deliberate reader but I'm already 150 pages into it. It's a good read, realistic, low on magic, has some intriguing characters, some good worldbuilding and it can be very gritty.

I would actually say that from my won reading experience, I would compare this mostly to David Gemmell's Rigante series, and to JV Jones's fine "Sword of Shadows" trilogy. It's clearly set in a northern country, with different clans duking it out with each other, but there are slightly supernatural elements as well ( similar to ASOIAf). The comparison with ASOIAF is not bad, but Ruckley doesn't have Martin's skill at characterization and we'll just have to see how good his plotting is; Gemmell and Jones are better indicators of how good this is, while Erikson fans who are not into Malazan purely because of the high magic might also really like this.

 

[FicusFan]

Strange Candy - A Laurell K. Hamilton collection of short stories. Now I usually skip short stories (I like novel length) but I picked this up. Nothing great, but most of the sotries are good (but short), and a little wierd. Best of all, none of her porn. 14 stories, 2 which feature Anita Blake and I enjoyed all but 2 of the stories. She gives a little paragraph intro to each.

I have heard that she doesn't drown the stories in porn, and so I will probably enjoy them. But I am forcing myself to wait til the book goes into paper. I just refuse to buy another of her HCs. I am so annoyed with the mess she has made of Anita, that I won't support her by putting down money for a HC. I am trying to wean myself off her altogether.