Reading in October 2009

Read a couple of romances including one that just made me laugh and laugh with the sheer over-the-top WTFery on every page. Oh god. I won't go on about it because it's off-topic for this board, but oh god. '80s romance is just unspeakably awesomely hilarious and there is nothing funnier in the world.

Then I started Salem's Lot. Way too early to have any impressions yet but it's funny reading the prologue and getting a strong minimalist vibe from its short sentences and matter-of-fact descriptions, given how King's style shifted over the years.

After this I've got Retribution Falls up on deck, and I'm really looking forward to that.
 
AlvinFlummox said:
Finished Gardens Of The Moon last night, was really enjoyable!
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I'm halfway through it now, but am taking a break to read Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades, since it's due back at the library in a few days.

I'm finding GotM enjoyable, too, although I have to admit I'm getting a bit tired of reading about spinning coins! :)

Ken
 
BrightStar said:
Reading your post, I can see you liked more about the book than I did. I didn't much get on well with the footnotes (I've always found them a distraction and an intrusion in books) and I didn't warm to any of the characters. It got a bit "sciency" for me in some places too, and I couldn't help thinking "is this really relevent?"
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I'm feeling better about The Gates today. I expected something darker, more like Connolly's The Book of Lost Things, but it's really a comedy, and if I approach it that way, it succeeds. The action really picks up about halfway through (page 123) with the introduction of some new characters. It'd make a great movie. Kids would love it.
 
I have committed to rereading Knife of Dreams in anticipation of the next WOT book. I am somewhere in the middle of the prologue and I am confused with all the characters I have long since forgotten about and what it is that is happening. I recall Jordan does a pretty good job though of catching the reader up - so I should be close to speed by Chapter 1. I have the major plots in my head but wow there is so much going on. I am happy to be back to this world it has been too long. I am taking my time soaking it up.
 
Just finished S. L. Farrell's A Magic of Nightfall.

The novel is a multilayered tale of politics, intrigue, religion, magic, love, and treachery. One that should not be missed. Definitely one of the fantasy books to read in 2009! ;)

Patrick
 
Daddy Darth said:
I have committed to rereading Knife of Dreams in anticipation of the next WOT book. I am somewhere in the middle of the prologue and I am confused with all the characters I have long since forgotten about and what it is that is happening. I recall Jordan does a pretty good job though of catching the reader up - so I should be close to speed by Chapter 1. I have the major plots in my head but wow there is so much going on. I am happy to be back to this world it has been too long. I am taking my time soaking it up.
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If I remember correctly, I think the prologue mostly deals with various minor characters and subplots, essentially getting them out of the way before the book proper begins. I don't think any of it is really that important.
 
I really loved the Magic of Twilight for about 95% of the novel, but then the ending fell completely flat for me. I can't remember any specific details, but I seem to recall it being a story that had built up excellently, and then just sort of rushed to a conclusion I found rather unsatisfying. The actual end result I had no problem with, it just felt like the author had run out of pages to write on, so crammed the rest of the story into the last 30 pages.

This combined with the 25 year or so gap in the story between novels has sort of put me off trying the next one.
 
I didn't have a problem with the pacing at the end of Twilight, but I am a little disappointed to hear about the 25 year gap between books. I'll still read Nightfall and I'm sure I'll enjoy it, but I'm not quite as excited about it now.
 
Recently I read a book by a good friend of mine on the internet, "Shadows in the Mist" by Brian Moreland; it's basically about this heroic Lieutenant in WWII who, with his team, discovers and has to battle this dread occult horror that the Nazis summoned up. I have to say that this book brought me great enjoyment, and in a way, changed my life. I know that sounds kind of crazy to say that about a horror novel, but you'll just have to read it to see what I mean.
Right now I'm reading "The Merlin Trilogy" by Mary Stewart and "The Phantom of the Opera" by Gaston LeRoux. Both are enormously intriguing and very hard to put down.
 
Just finished A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (as if anyone didn't know who wrote it). This is my first encounter with GRRM, I definitely see why everyone is anxious for the 5th novel. I loved everything about the book: Characters, setting, dialogue, etc. I have the other three novels sitting here and they will not be left alone for long.

I am going to take a quick break and read The Road by Cormac McCarthy (307 pages shouldn't take more than a day or two at most) as I see the movie is coming to Korea a few days before the US gets the film. I want to read the book before I see the movie.

Once I am done with that book I will start A Clash of Kings and return to GRRM's amazing world.
 
Pulled out a couple of collections of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, The Poe Reader and The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe -- the former was a bit easier on the eyes, the latter more ... um ... complete -- and read a selection: "William Wilson", "Ligeia", "The Murders in the Rue Morgue", "The Purloined Letter", "The Masque of Red Death", "The Premature Burial", "Hop-Frog", "King Pest" and "The Fall of the House of Usher."

I'd forgotten how much the Sherlock Holmes stories owe to Poe. "...Rue Morgue" and "The Purloined Letter" offered up a pretty good template. "King Pest" didn't do much for me; it's Poe in antic mode, and his humor always strikes me as blunt and obvious when not woven into his more serious macabre stories.

The others remain among the great Gothic American horror stories; and I'd forgotten how harrowing "Hop-Frog" is.

Randy M.
 
AuntiePam said:
The Gates by John Connolly, YA horror-fantasy, similar to his The Book of Lost Things, which I liked a lot.

Randy, I didn't know there was a 100 Best for fantasy. I'll grab a copy. Sounds interesting.
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I didn't know either about this book either! But it is going to take between 3-5 weeks before I see the book!

Living in Canada, eh!! hahaha!
 
DurzoBlint said:
Just finished A Game of Thrones by George RR Martin (as if anyone didn't know who wrote it). This is my first encounter with GRRM, I definitely see why everyone is anxious for the 5th novel. I loved everything about the book: Characters, setting, dialogue, etc. I have the other three novels sitting here and they will not be left alone for long.

I am going to take a quick break and read The Road by Cormac McCarthy (307 pages shouldn't take more than a day or two at most) as I see the movie is coming to Korea a few days before the US gets the film. I want to read the book before I see the movie.
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So glad you liked it. I've been fighting with myself not to do a reread yet.

And The Road is actually way shorter than it seems. Tons of pages are one to two word dialogue down the page - lots of empty space.

I'm having fun with Before they are Hanged. It's nice to see the characters have a little more purpose.
 
Randy M. said:
Pulled out a couple of collections of Edgar Allan Poe's stories, The Poe Reader and The Complete Tales and Poems of Edgar Allan Poe -- the former was a bit easier on the eyes, the latter more ... um ... complete --
Randy M.
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I picked up a complete works of his earlier this year myself...thanks to that Halloween thread I've been thinking of giving some of his tales a read. I've read most of his most famous tales but there are still a lot I haven't touched. Perhaps they would make for a good bed time read so the kids can have something to think about while their trying to sleep - while I sneak outside to lightly tap at their window with a broken branch or two. :D
 
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Just finished Nights of Valljamur - wasn't too impressed.
This morning closed The Warded Man - very satisfied and anxious for the next one.

Going to move onto Brethren in a bit....
 
I finnished "The Great Hunt" overnight and started on "The Keep of Fire" by mark Anthony this morning. All in all, I am engaged in 10 or so series, and I am trying to finnish a few before I start any new ones.
 
A few days ago I read Something From the Nightside, the first book in a urban fantasy series by Simon R. Green. It's a pretty standard paranormal detective story with quite a bit of world building and setup, but I enjoyed it.

Next up will be Agents of Light and Darkness by Simon R. Green followed by Darker Angels by M.L.N. Hanover.
 
BarVybe said:
Just finished Nights of Valljamur - wasn't too impressed.
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I know how you feel, I think I am committed to the second book but there are times when I look at the book on my shelf and just sigh and shake my head wondering if I really want to read the next book in the series. A lot of mixed emotions/thoughts regarding that book.
 
Finally finished the Indigo series yesterday. Very rewarding read. I'm just really dissapointed that someone very thoughtlessly posted up a partial spoiler about the ending on another forum, as this spoilt my enjoyment a little. I didn't get to enjoy the pleasure of trying to guess and piece together all the pieces of the plot myself, because the spoiler I read made it pretty obvious (even if they didn't spell out exactly what happened).

But, all in all, still an enjoyable read.

I feel like a change from fantasy for the time being, so I'm reading a book called Severed at the moment (I think it's listed as being in the horror/thriller genre). Not overly impressed so far, but it seems like a quick and easy read which should keep me occupied for a while.
 
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