[Baco Xtath]

Graablick, on 23 February 2013 - 01:31 AM, said:

Started with my first Terry Pratchett book today, the Long Earth, and I have to say that enjoy it. Maybe I shall give Discworld a try in the future.

Good God, man! Are you in for a treat. Discworld is probably my single favorite series of all time. After I read the first book, I polished off 3 a week until I'd read'em all and then I started re-reading. Anyway, yeah, they're good.

Also check out Good Omens.

[amphibian]

Mentalist, on 06 February 2013 - 03:33 AM, said:

worrywort, on 05 February 2013 - 10:03 PM, said:

So, Mentalist, amph, et al, I finally finished Godsdoom. I don't really know what to say about it, it's one of the weirdest books I've ever read. Upon finishing it I feel like I understand about 10% more than when I started...this book must hold the record for number of imaginary/fantasy proper nouns thrown your way with little or no context and no hurry to give you any...the siege of Pale is a cakewalk in comparison. Partly that's because this is written like a long-form saga, like it was translated from an ancient (and initially overly-stilted) quasi-Norse text rather than from Russian. I wonder if Perumov did his own translation, because it's incredibly impressive, even if I must admit that it's not really my thing. Likewise I must admit that with this style, I didn't really grow to care about most of the characters (though Hedin is a big exception, I liked him a lot). But on the other hand, I did still always want to know what happened next. And like with any change of pace, you adapt, so after the first few chapters I was used to the style and very much trusted Perumov knew what he was doing.

Suffice to say, I was not passionate about the book in the same way Mentalist seemed to be, but I did like it...and any qualm I had with it has more to do with my personal taste, because Perumov is very good at doing what he does. If you're thinking of picking it up, and you're already pretty well versed in various classical translations and such (which I am not) and enjoy them, it might be right up your alley. For anyone else, I'd recommend reading the first two chapters (there are two main alternating POVs) and deciding from there. You won't really get any remote picture of the ultimately quite epic plot though, it's a slow build kind of thing.

hehe.
Godsdoom is in it's own league when it comes to dropping you right in the middle of things happening. Though it is possible to piece together the pre-history, esp from the Hedin chapters.

I'd have to read it in English to tell you how well the book was actually translated.
The other books in the Hjorward sequence (the next 2 books) are written somewhat more like traditional fantasy. "Warrior of Great Darkness" is a prequel of sorts that takes place during

Spoiler

Rakot's Rebellion

, while "Land without Joy" follows the events in Godsdoom

the "Chronicles of the Rift" sequence picks up on a whole other world with "Wooden Sword, Diamond Sword", and the connections with Hedin & Co aren't really obvious untill about 4 books into the series (though certain characters get name-dropped here and there).

The only reason Godsdoom is so important to the overall plot is because its outcome--

Spoiler

Hedin & Rakot becoming "the New Gods of the Consistent"

, which is something that's referenced back in form or another quite frequently.

So I finished this book just now. It is awesome.

The best metaphor I can come up with for describing its plot is as if it's the fantasy LSD-ized version of Crank 2 - except about busting a friend loose from magical jail and taking revenge on the bad cops that put him there. It is a chain of magic'n'might ridiculousness that works because of the sheer pace and freshness of the writing. Fresh readers should keep in mind that although the time scale of this isn't quite in the Malazan eons, Hedin has been working on this caper for hundreds of years, so the resources he throws around aren't deus ex machinas.

I absolutely want to read the others in the series (in English, cuz I don't speak or read Russian).

Also, the cover image is really.... not appealing to many people. I received several comments about how shitty it looked, despite its accuracy to a scene in the book and overall fit to the tone and style of the book. Interesting art for sure.

[Mentalist]

Yes, Perumov is great. Cannot stress that enough.
Whoever publishes him in the States needs to translate more of him. He also LIVES in US, so him not being published in English is one of the greatest injustices of the modern literary scene I can think of.

@ Briar King: I started reading the thread you suggested, but there are spoilers for Warbreaker, apparently. Whilst i'm not sure if I'll ever read "Elantris", I saw the preview for "Warbreaker" in one of the Mistborn books and was intrigued, so i'll hold off joining the thread for now.

Also not sure what to read now. I think I'll read "alloy of Law" on my trip back home this Monday, and then grab my First Law books for a quick re-read before delving into "The Heroes"

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 23 February 2013 - 07:17 AM

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

42. Stealing Light by Gary Gibson - Kudos to whoever recommended this. I thought it was brilliantly good. I'm a bit confused on the sequels. The current editions appear to be 100+ pages smaller than the upcoming reprints. I don't know how to explain that, but I guess I'll wait for the July 2013 editions, because I definitely don't want to end up staring at tiny print.

43. Star Wars Outboud Flight by Timothy Zahn - Yet more evidence that TZ is the best Star Wars author bar none. And any Star Wars book with both Thrawn and Jorus C'baoth is bound to be good...

44. Blood of Ambrose by James Enge - I think every Pyr-published book I read is better than the one before. My only criticism: NEEDS MORE CORPSE-GOLEMS.

Doesn't really spoil anything, just weird/funny description from the book to whet your appetite:

Spoiler

Behind him in the street was a dead baby riding on the back of what appeared to be a dog's body, equipped with four mismatched human feet and a masklike smiling human face.
The dead baby appraised Morlock with eyes like broken rotting bird's eggs. "You are not one of mine," the baby said, in a glutinous tenor. "I'd have remembered you."
"And I you."
"I doubt it; this is not my only face. Wait a moment."
"I'm afraid I can't. Good morning."

45. Dawnthief: Chronicles Of The Raven by James Barclay - Ditto what I just said about Pyr above.

46. Handling The Undead by John Ajvide Lindqvist - Pales in comparison to Let The Right One In.

47. Nights of Villjamur by Mark Charon Newton - Disappointing, considering the plot description sounded awesome, and the reviews I read were almost giddy with praise for this book.

[D'rek]

I finished Hyperion. It's poetically beautiful (though thankfully not too heavy on the actual poetry). I was worried at first about the collection-of-marginally-related-stories format at first but once I got past the first one the pacing really pulled me along easily. I know there's a sequel, but judging the book by itself I'm not sure I'm please with the lack of resolution. It ended pretty much where I figured it was going to end, but a couple of the stories leave so much left to be resolved that it'd be painful if I didn't know I'll read the sequel some day. Nevertheless, a very wonderful book, especially because I tend not to like a lot of big lasery sci-fi.


Now onto something completely different - back to Alera with Captain's Fury.

[Ukjent]

Taking a pause from The long Earth and are now reading Butcher's Change. Only 60isj pages out, but I believe this is going to be awesome as hell.

[Imperial Historian]

Just been on a bit of a walter jon williams binge, I'm surprised I've not noticed more comments about this guy, as so far I've enjoyed every book of his I've read. Over the weekend I've read 'This is not a game' which is a very fun techno-thriller involving alternate reality games. I'm currently on book 3 of his praxis series, a miltary scifi/space opera series which has been great fun so far. Does anyone know if the rest of his books are as entertaining?

[Use Of Weapons]

Quick verdict on WJW: Entertaining, occasionally thought-provoking, and enjoyable. Not amazing, but then I don't think that's what he's going for.

[Salt-Man Z]

Checked out SE's The Devil Delivered and Other Tales from the library late last week.

"The Devil Delivered" was amazing. It's like Erikson decided hey, why not just throw a little bit of everything in: Native Americans, nuclear war, Mars, the internet, ghosts, environmentalism, evolution, censorship, space elevators, global politics, blogging, human origins, hackers, plus a smattering of military action. I also found it to be positively terrifying.

"Fisin' with Grandma Matchie" is...weird. But I'm getting used to it. Very folklore-sy.

[Overactive Imagination]

I'm looking forward to reading those for sure Saltman. I read an exerpt from one which had some wolves talking to each other and it was really good.

[Imperial Historian]

Fishin' with Grandma Matchie is my favourite short story written by SE, enjoy.

[Baco Xtath]

I haven't read much of shit lately (been stuck in Bank's Excession for going on two weeks). During that time I've listed to the first to books in Donaldson's Gap Cycle. Brutal stuff there. But damn good. Also listened to Ready Player One which was a lot of fun.

[Mentalist]

Finished The alloy of Law on the plane today. Guns + Allomancers = sweet, awesome, insanity.

I also realized i was bringing Age of Odin home to leave it here when I go back to Uni tomorrow. So, now reading that, so as not to have to drag int back West with me.

[Serenity]

I finished Stephen Gallagher's The Kingdom of Bones. Pretty good gothic thriller but not scary enough - could have been a lot better in terms of atmosphere, I think.

Now reading Patrick O'Brian's Post Captain.

[Ain't_It_Just_]

I finished Red Country 2 days ago. Man, what an ending. But i'm glad it wasn't as dark as the others have been (I'm looking at you, Best Served cold!).

Not sure what to read now. Maybe the Tenant of Wildfell Hall?

[Grimjust Bearegular]

Winterbirth - Brian Ruckley

World War Z - Max Brooks

Before I go to Sleep - SJ Watson

Catch-22 - Joseph Heller

Thus Spoke Zarathustra

Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Won't Stop Talking - Susan Cain

Yeah...

[acesn8s]

Finished Bank's Consider Phlebas, it was ok. I don't think I was a big fan of Horza, so it was hard to get into the book. I've started Player of Games and enjoying it a lot more. I just got to Part 2: Imperium. Looking forward to seeing how things play out. hahaha... I kill me.

[Mentalist]

Briar King, on 26 February 2013 - 09:23 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 26 February 2013 - 04:48 AM, said:

Finished The alloy of Law on the plane today. Guns + Allomancers = sweet, awesome, insanity.

I also realized i was bringing Age of Odin home to leave it here when I go back to Uni tomorrow. So, now reading that, so as not to have to drag int back West with me.

Sanderson is awesome. Im on pg 200 of it I think. Seriously though go get Warbreaker and just to be safe get Elantris also haha

I'm planning to get into Reynolds, now that my re-ordered "Revelation Space" has arrived.

Sanderson is consistently good, but not to heavy on the brain, which makes him a great "in-between" writer. He's a lot like Asher for me, in that regard (Asher being my Malaz follow-up of choice)

edit: Finished Age of Odin on the plane today. Lovegrove used "the switch" reveal again, but even though every time I read it, I recognise the plot device, r this time it worked A LOT better than in "Age of Zeus"--I didn't clue in until theLovegrove wanted me to. The action-movie plot bits were all solid as well. not as un-put-down-able as the other "AGE OF (insert deity here)" books, but solid and entertaining nonetheless.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 27 February 2013 - 08:45 AM

[Macros]

Finally getting round to the hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, the trilogy of four omnibus thing. About 1/6 of the way in, enjoyable and explains where a lot of homes that I never got came from.

[Tapper]

Finished Side Jobs (some nice, some not so) and KJ Parker's the Colour of Steel (pretty awesome) on the plane and as bedside time killers while on holiday, currently on Parker's Belly of the Bow. Abraham's The Long Price quartet, Ferran by Colman Andrews about Adria, and about 3/4 in Blood and Bone. After a slow start in the first six weeks of the year, I may still be able to pull off 50 books this year.