Return of the Book Thread

[Ard]

I might have to retract my statement about Hero of the Ages.  The last 3/4 of the book really moves and gets interesting fast.  There is finally a goal and a lot of moving towards it instead of meandering around a lot.

Now do yourself a favor and do not pick up Warbreaker after you finish this.  Otherwise I'm just going to be saying "I told you so" after you come back and complain how bad it is.

Have Gardens of the Moon sitting on my desk. I am trying to decide if I want to embark on a multibook series just yet, or if I want to clean up some more to dos on my reading list before I commit myself.

If you start now, the last book might very well be out by the time you get through it all (and I mean this seriously, unless you read as fast as Rhyssa).  You've got about 10,000 pages to go to catch up.

[Draegan]

I didn't like the Malazan series much and I read up through Toll of the Hounds.  It just became way too convoluted and worn out.

[Samwise]

Finally slogged my way through The Fall of Hyperion. Interesting world and story, but the writing style got to me after awhile- I got really tired of reading different adjectives/descriptions of colors eventually.

If you like the author, I recommend Ilium and Olympos.  Similarly interesting world and story (I think it might even technically take place in the same universe, but I forget now), but I thought the pacing and writing were much sharper.

I remember liking Endymion/Rise of Endymion too but I can't remember much about them other than that they were a continuation of and fairly similar to Hyperion.

[Morat20]

Ha! Found Baen Books -- wondered why so many of the more prolific authors had really spotty Kindle stuff. David Weber, for one, has all his Honor Harrington stuff on Baen's ebooks, and PC Hodgell's God Stalk is there as well. All five books! (Hell, I've only read the first one -- due to a lovely publishing fight, she wrote like three or four books, had one print run, and the rights were tied up ever after. I had the first book, could never find anymore -- or a replacement for that one when someone 'borrowed it' and never returned it).

Plus Baen has a nice free library of ebooks. I just downloaded them and moved them to my Kindle.

[Draegan]

Picked up Bones of the Dragon by Weis and Hickman.  Never heard of it before but their name caught my eye on a new hardcover release and it was a the third book of this series.  I love W&H's work so hopefully this stand up.

[WayAbvPar]

Ended up holding off on Malazan for a bit. Rereading Diamond Age- my dad just returned it (let's see you do that, Kindle!  ) and we were talking about it...made me want to reread it. Just a few chapters in and I am getting a lot more detail and such that I missed before. I really liked it the first time, but I am loving it the 2nd time through.

[Sky]

I did go ahead and start Malazan. Also noticed we only have the first book on the shelf, and the author is mislabeled (Erickson). So my fiancee is updating the database and ordering the entire series. Only one library in the entire system has all the books and we got some decent funding for once this year (assuming we can find decent versions in print, of course).

[Cyrrex]

There is something awesome about being able to have your girlfriend order free shit for you to read.

[Johny Cee]

I did go ahead and start Malazan. Also noticed we only have the first book on the shelf, and the author is mislabeled (Erickson). So my fiancee is updating the database and ordering the entire series. Only one library in the entire system has all the books and we got some decent funding for once this year (assuming we can find decent versions in print, of course).

There is a Steve Erikson and a Steve Erickson who are both authors, which is part of the problem.  The Malazan guy is actually Steve Lundin, but he uses Erikson as a pen name.

[dd0029]

Just finished up The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms by N.K. Jemisin.  Pretty spectacular fantasy by a new author.  The book jacket blurb does a fair disservice to this story, much like the jacket blurb for Name of the Wind.  I'm at a loss to say much about the book though other than I really, really like it.

[RhyssaFireheart]

Have Gardens of the Moon sitting on my desk. I am trying to decide if I want to embark on a multibook series just yet, or if I want to clean up some more to dos on my reading list before I commit myself.

If you start now, the last book might very well be out by the time you get through it all (and I mean this seriously, unless you read as fast as Rhyssa).  You've got about 10,000 pages to go to catch up.

Uhh, am I now a standard by which others measure how quickly they read?     Would it make a difference if I said I was kind of going slow this time around?

I've started House of Chains even though I've not quite finished the last few chapters of Memories of Ice yet.  There's only so much crying I can do over words on a page.  Yes, the events really do get to me, because it sucks to see that stuff happen (not saying anything because some still haven't started reading the series yet for some damn reason).

Anyways, like I said before, I can not believe how much was in the earlier books that I'm picking up on now on the second go around.  Just lots of details that were mentioned and now that I have a deeper framework to hang them on, so much more of the story is clearer at an earlier point in time.

[HaemishM]

Finished Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. You'd think for someone who writes noirish style cyberpunk, I'd have read Chandler or Spillane, but nope, never have. The plot was good, though a bit convoluted. But really, I think you need to read Chandler for the dialogue and everything else is fluff.

I'm now reading some indie cyberpunk title called Beautiful Red - I think I got the eBook for free. It's not bad, though it isn't gripping me yet - very slow build up.

[Ard]

Uhh, am I now a standard by which others measure how quickly they read?     Would it make a difference if I said I was kind of going slow this time around?

No, it's just that you said something about getting through most of them in a month or so, when it takes me around a month each for his books, but I no longer read as much as I used to.  I'm still only around halfway through Dust of Dreams and I started it 2 or 3 weeks ago.

[Ozzu]

Well, I finished 'A Storm of Swords' and 'A Feast for Crows'.

'A Storm of Swords' - 10/10 It was greatness.

'A Feast for Crows' - 8.5/10 It was good, but fuck me, I wanted POVs for characters I actually liked. The best chapter of the book was the preview chapter for the next one involving Danys.

I started 'John Dies at the End' last night. It's great so far.

[Rasix]

Started book 10 of WoT.  90 page prologue that goes nowhere. The reviews for this one are savage, and I'm actually anxious to see if they're warranted. Looks like it so far.  7, 8, and 9 weren't as bad I as I was expecting.  7 was the worst due to the huge let down after Dumai's Wells.  But 8 and 9 I got through rather quickly and actually sort of enjoyed.  

Broke the cycle before 10 through by reading Changes.  I liked it a lot more than Turn Coat.  I had a hard time getting into Turn Coat and keeping up since it was the first Dresden files I had a break before reading.  I had no such difficulties with Changes.  He really balanced and tipped off all of the references and side stories rather well.  Not reading the books for a while had me a little annoyed by the voice and narration; Harry is such a fucking dork.   I didn't particularly like the very end, however,

[Ard]

[Johny Cee]

On Dresden:

I was actually pretty disappointed with Turn Coat.  I thought the end of the book and conspiracy was one part "the butler did it" and one part Harry Potter.

I read up to Chapter 6 or 7 of the new book in the bookstore and got thoroughly pissed off at the White Council/Red Court chapter.  Harry is holier than thou and the wizards are morons.  Butcher seems to have reset the political status quo back to books ago.  I'll read it eventually, but I'm not eager to wade into it at the moment.


Decided to finish up The Historian and a John Keegan book on World War II instead.  Really need to go back and finish off American Lion (the Andrew Jackson biography from a year or two ago) at some point, but god damn that book got boring half way through.

[Evildrider]

I think the way Changes ended the way it did is because of the anthology book coming later this year.  It's supposed to have a story about how Changes ends from Murphy's p.o.v.

[stu]

Has anyone read Peter V. Brett's sequel to The Warded Man, The Desert Spear? The first book was up and down, so I'm debating a read of the next one. Too many books, too little time!

I found this french version book cover for the original book and thought it was so much better than the one released here in the states.


I noticed on the author's website that Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) is attached to the Warded Man for film production. lulz.

[Johny Cee]

Has anyone read Peter V. Brett's sequel to The Warded Man, The Desert Spear? The first book was up and down, so I'm debating a read of the next one. Too many books, too little time!

I found this french version book cover for the original book and thought it was so much better than the one released here in the states.


I noticed on the author's website that Paul W.S. Anderson (Resident Evil) is attached to the Warded Man for film production. lulz.

From advance reviews, The Desert Spear is supposed to be pretty up and down as well.  Some wonderful bits with a couple of terrible viewpoints.  Liked the Warded Man well enough.

I don't understand the hate for Paul WS Anderson.  He is a thoroughly mediocre director that makes watchable genre films, which is much more than most other directors that make either Horror or Scifi or videogame movies can say.  I basically never feel cheated when I spend a couple hours watching his movies.  I wouldn't pay to see his movies in the theater.  At the same time, I almost never feel like I've wasted 2 hours of my life.

[stu]

He takes material that has the potential to be memorable and lasting, then instills it with mediocrity. I don't want to see a mediocre AvP or mediocre Event Horizon. He doesn't have the depth to tackle the movies he wants to make, which happen to be about stuff that I like. That's my beef with him.

I don't want to derail too much but I might as well explain.

The Desert Spear seems like a library pick at least. I'll wait a couple weeks and see how I feel.

[FatuousTwat]

Read the latest Peter Straub book, and it just confirms that I am not a horror fan. I've always thought his more mystery leaning novels(Koko, Mystery, The Throat) were much better.

Also started reading Diamond Age, and it's pretty meh so far. Hopefully it gets better, as it is, I enjoyed Snow Crash a lot more.



Edit: Typo.

[Ozzu]

'John Dies at the End' - 9.5/10 Such greatness. So many one-liners and paragraphs that I wanted to quote to people after I got done.

[HaemishM]

Also started reading Diamond Age, and it's pretty meh so far. Hopefully it gets better, as it is, I enjoyed Snow Crash a lot more.

Diamond Age is more inventive, but Snow Crash is better in almost every conceivable way. It hangs together as a story better. I loved Diamond Age, but it spends an asston of pages building up a world, then figures out that it must have an ending and cobbles one together out of chewing gum and chicken wire.

[WayAbvPar]

I am rereading it now, and that is pretty accurate. The main plot is almost an afterthought to all the tech and social constructs porn. I do love the stilted conversations that take place- some of them are just hilarious.

[Ozzu]

Picked up 'The Night Watch' and 'Day Watch' by Serge Lukianenko today. I'll be starting the first one tonight. It sounds pretty cool.

[dd0029]

Picked up 'The Night Watch' and 'Day Watch.'

I enjoyed the first one the most, but the whole series was really good.

[Rendakor]

Also started reading Diamond Age, and it's pretty meh so far. Hopefully it gets better, as it is, I enjoyed Snow Crash a lot more.

Diamond Age is more inventive, but Snow Crash is better in almost every conceivable way. It hangs together as a story better. I loved Diamond Age, but it spends an asston of pages building up a world, then figures out that it must have an ending and cobbles one together out of chewing gum and chicken wire.

This is spot on. I really liked the setting; didn't care much for the plot.

[dd0029]

Just finished up The Judas Strain by James Rollins for work.  First "thriller" I have ever read.  It's like reading the movie National Treasure.  Entertaining mindless fun, though you do need to be on the lookout for your eyes rolling out of your head on occasion.  The villains only wanted for mustaches to twirl.

[bhodi]

Picked up 'The Night Watch' and 'Day Watch.'

I enjoyed the first one the most, but the whole series was really good.

I am sad they are not in audiobook format :( I have been wanting to listen to them for a while now.

[Khaldun]

Finished Raymond Chandler's The Big Sleep. You'd think for someone who writes noirish style cyberpunk, I'd have read Chandler or Spillane, but nope, never have. The plot was good, though a bit convoluted. But really, I think you need to read Chandler for the dialogue and everything else is fluff.

I'm now reading some indie cyberpunk title called Beautiful Red - I think I got the eBook for free. It's not bad, though it isn't gripping me yet - very slow build up.

Chandler's prose is just fantastic. Plot almost doesn't matter.

[Draegan]

Almost done with "Bone of the Dragon" by Weis and Hickman.  It's the first of three books.

I'm not sure if I'm liking this book at all.  It's incredibly shallow and I hate the main character.  But I want to know where the story goes because I think it's going to start getting interesting.

Anyone else read these books?

The main character is this "favored by the gods" 18 year old kid that's a hot head and pretty stupid.  Always rushing and never thinking.  You just want to smack him.

It doesn't bode well because I love character driven books but I have to give Weist and Hickman a shot because I love the Dragonlance books and the Deathgate Cycle.  Even the Darksword stuff wasn't that bad (from what I remember, I can barely remember the story though).

[Sky]

About halfway through the first Malazan book (slow by the Rhyssa Scale of reading  ). Glad I finally got around to it, best read I've had in a long time.

When I first read the Black Company, I absolutely devoured it and then bought then next two or three books, all that had been published at the time. So it was a nice change to realize about a quarter of the way in just how enjoyable this read is. Almost like being able to re-experience the awesomeness of early Cook all over but being aware of the awesomeness ahead of time and being able to savor it. That realization hit me in the backyard on a nice sunny day in the middle of my vacation, put a nice big grin on my face.

[Ingmar]

I just finished Pride & Prejudice (no zombies/OH MR DARCY version) - it was funnier than I expected it to be. Not sure what is up next.

[Ironwood]

The sex change.