[Morgoth]

So I just finished the Throne of the Crescent Moon, which in on itself was pretty average, but reading a non-European setting was very refreshing and made it stand out as an enjoyable experience nonetheless.

Now onto alt.human by Keith Brooke, purely because of the blurb by Jeff Vandermeer.

[Mikkelinski]

Felt the ending was rushed, but that the whole writing style was refreshing for Throne of the Crescent Moon. Will be interesting to read the planned sequels I think.

Reading Red Country by Abercrombie (wrapping him up until he comes off his break). At 20% I'd say I liked both Heroes and Best Served Cold better, but it's still good. Especially with the return of a certain character.

[Salt-Man Z]

Whipped through the almost-700-page American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett in two days. Holy cow, that was AMAZING. It's gonna be hard to unseat this one for best book of the year.

[worry]

Hadn't heard of that before. Sounds intriguing.

[Overactive Imagination]

 Salt-Man Z, on 03 March 2013 - 07:26 PM, said:

Whipped through the almost-700-page American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett in two days. Holy cow, that was AMAZING. It's gonna be hard to unseat this one for best book of the year.

might have to check that one out. people on amazon said it's sick too.

[Baco Xtath]

I'm listening to A Dark God Arises: Gap Cycle book 3. Still brutal, still awesome. Also listening to This Book is Full of Spiders: Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It. This is the sequel to John Dies at the End. They changed narrators to Nick Podehl who narrated the Kingkiller Chronicles and who is my favorite narrator. Fucking hilarious, fucking awesome. Also just bought Gardens of the Moon audiobook with my monthly audible credit. Really looking forward to this. Haven't touched Malazan since a couple days after the Crippled God was released and haven't ever done a re-read.

Also, reading Look to Windward and Raft. Both really good thus far.

[Overactive Imagination]

Dude I'm half way through my first Gardens of the Moon re-read and it's blowing my mind. First time was OK, this time is fuckin amazing.

[D'iversify]

 polishgenius, on 02 March 2013 - 08:21 PM, said:

And no, they're so much more than just 'funny fantasy'. The early ones do hew fairly close to just being parody, but he very much grows into being a quality satirist with a great grasp on plot and character. Do read his stuff...

I think what I really like about Pratchett is his capacity to take a fantasy or mythology trope and take it to its logical extreme. I'll admit his general humour style isn't to everyone's taste, but he can be very funny as opposed to just silly ay times. And I wouldn't say it's so much silly as playful, at least in his better books. As a more profound satirist, he's probably at the top of his game with Small Gods and the Death books. Thief of Time is also a fantastic later book. Also recommend The Truth.

[Baco Xtath]

 Briar King, on 04 March 2013 - 05:30 AM, said:

Anyway I need HELP!!!! What do I do? With finding Cold Commands up there tonight and just finishing Steel today I dont know if I should go with it or go with Best Served Cold? Im leaning towards CC atm. Help me fellow Imperials!!!! Fuck

I'd go with CC since it's fresh on your mind but they're both equal parts disturbing and awesome so it's win/win either way.

[Ukjent]

Done with Cold Days now, and that just sucks.. Now I have to wait to for the next book to satisfy my need for Dresdencrack.

[T77]

Finished a couple of books recently. First was Prince of Thorns. I thought was was OK, I'll probably continue with King at some point. Also, finished The Great Hunt, I liked it a lot, but thought the first book was better.

[Salt-Man Z]

 Overactive Imagination, on 03 March 2013 - 08:06 PM, said:

 Salt-Man Z, on 03 March 2013 - 07:26 PM, said:

Whipped through the almost-700-page American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett in two days. Holy cow, that was AMAZING. It's gonna be hard to unseat this one for best book of the year.

might have to check that one out. people on amazon said it's sick too.

Definitely do so. I wouldn't have sought it out on my own, but I saw the praise it was getting and went ahead and entered a giveaway--which I won. And I'm so glad I did. This book is so very worth seeking out.

I've seen lots of reviews comparing it to Stephen King or Ray Bradbury, but I'm astonished to not have seen Lovecraft's name brought up yet, because, well...

[Abyss]

 Use Of Weapons, on 21 February 2013 - 10:48 PM, said:

Finished my reread of Julian May's Galactic Milieu trilogy (as awesome as I remember, and not dated at all, though some of the post-Cold War situations need to be recast with America's current villainous nation-of-the-week). The depiction of psychic powers and their rise is streets ahead of all others. I retract my previous statement: not even Bester's _The Demolished Man_ and _The Stars My Destination_ rival these books in this respect.

Utterly agreed. reread this last year for the thirds time and i remain utterly impressed by that series. The setting, the characters, the use of psi-powers... really those books are a classic in every sense.

Quote

...
Also downloaded Ian Tregillis's _Bitter Seeds_ -- looking forward to this after recommendations on here. Will probably finish this over the weekend.

Hope you enjoy, i really liked it. That said, the sequel, COLDEST WAR, really completes the experience.

 Mentalist, on 22 February 2013 - 10:56 PM, said:

 Graablick, on 21 February 2013 - 11:09 AM, said:

Done with Retribution Falls now, and in spite of my former failure to read the book, I now found it pretty entertaining. Anyone who have read anything else by Chris Wooding that would recommend the braided path?

Braided Path was a great trilo, imo. Bonus points for having a pseudo Far Eastern setting that actually works.

...

Seconded. BRAIDED PATH is worth your time, Graablick.

 Kruppe, on 24 February 2013 - 07:20 PM, said:

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."

...

Your spoiler just convinced me to find this book.

Quote

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

And with the RAVEN series that's utterly the trend. Each book is just a bit better and by 4 (or 'LEGENDS bk 1, whatever) things get awesome and just escalate.

 Salt-Man Z, on 25 February 2013 - 04:49 PM, said:

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.
...

Couldn't agree with you more. I loved DEVIL and as much as i'm a Malazan fanatic, that story makes me want to see SE write more SF.

 Mentalist, on 26 February 2013 - 10:48 PM, said:

... 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.

'solid and enteratining' totally lines up with my view of AoODIN.

 pat5150, on 01 March 2013 - 02:46 AM, said:

Just finished Jeff Somers' Trickster and I really enjoyed his take on urban fantasy! He's as edgy and in-your-face as in the Avery Cates books, so it bodes well for the rest of the series!
...

Noted! I liked the Cates books enuf to acquire them all, tho i haven't read 4 and 5 yet, but i like Somers' writing enough to be excited about him doing urbfant.

 Graablick, on 01 March 2013 - 09:03 PM, said:

Indeed it was. Finnished Butcher's Change yesterday and for does of you who have yet to read it, prepare anus!.

 Briar King, on 02 March 2013 - 07:42 PM, said:

 Graablick, on 02 March 2013 - 04:57 PM, said:

...when I'm done with Cold Days there's a problem, what on earth to read next..

That's an easy one....Codex Alera!

What he said, with the usual bk 1 qualifier.

And thus we arrive at what i read on vacation....

 polishgenius, on 26 October 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

I reckon you should read Farlander next just because that series doesn't get nearly as much love as I think it deserves.

Holy.
FUCK.
...PG, you were not kidding.

Read FARLANDER and the sequel STANDS A SHADOW, and just like that Col Buchanan moved onto my pre-order list. What's amazing is that there's nothing particularly innately original about the books... evil religious empire, fanatic political priests, secretive order of assassins, jaded old veteran, naive apprentice, last stand for freedom, scared mid-level soldier, guns n swords, skyships etc etc.... we've seen it all before and many times before... but Buchanan does it SO well, and writes such great great characters and some brilliant action scenes that despite that lack the series drew me in and grabbed me and didn't let me go until i finished the second book and immediately went looking for a street date for bk 3 (which, sadly, isn't out yet).

I'll get into more in the ded-threads, but i'll say here these books are worth your time and dollars.


Speaking of Polishgenius....

 polishgenius, on 11 January 2013 - 11:57 PM, said:

...read the SFF book of last year, Faith. By John Love.

I want you to know PG that i'm 3/4 thru this book and i can barely put it down. It. Is. BRILLIANT. Like most of the best parts of Watts' BLINDSIGHT with less psychology and more chunks of David Weber when he writes really dense sf spaceship vs spaceship battle with a healthy dose of cool aliens and dysfunctional personalties and some very stylish writing tricks.

Seriously, this is an amazing book.



And on the complete opposite side of the spectrum we have David Gibbins ATLANTIS.
I could barely finish this book. I skipped entire chapters of characters sitting around infodumping and it made no difference because every three chapters a new character shows up and they summarize all the foregoing crap again., And then talk about it some more.
Has anyone read this guy's later books (Tiger Warrior, etc...) and do they get any better? ... because without some positive reco, i think i'm purging him from the TRP.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

48. Brightness Reef by David Brin - Liked this one well enough that I'll probably go back and read the first trilogy also. This is one of those books that desperately needs a glossary, though.

49. Physics Of The Impossible by Michio Kaku - Another great "science for the layperson" read. Really interesting takes on teleportation, time travel, etc. Probably the most understandable description of string theory that I've seen (not that that's saying much).

50. Secrets of The Wee Free Men And Discworld by Carrie Pyykkonen and Linda Washington - One of those "unauthorized" guides. Reads more like a fan blog than an in-depth treatment. I wouldn't recommend it for anyone but the Discworld completist.

51. Wolverine: Worst Day Ever by Barry Lyga - YA graphic novel written as the blog of a new student at Xavier School, whose power is "not being noticed." Funny stuff. Includes some Power Pack / X-Men crossover comics as well.

52. The Transformers Classics UK Volume 1 - I love me some retro Transformers comics. Wish the collections weren't so pricey. I may wait for bargain books or used copies of the subsequent volumes...

[stone monkey]

Currently reading Constellation Games by Leonard Richardson. This has a really good idea at the centre of it: alien video games. And it is doing some interesting things with them. But seems to now be devolving into some sort of misguided human conspiracy/rebellion against the benign alien invasion story. Which is a shame. It also has a truly irritating hipster narrator, who is meant to be a kind of tech-savvy everyman, but comes across as a bit of an entitled, self absorbed, upper-middle class dick. The aliens are kind of fun though and it is rather amusing in places.

I'm probably enjoying it more than I should, though, given its flaws.

[worry]

Reading The Hawkline Monster: A Gothic Western by Richard Brautigan. It's short and snappy, and so far brutal and hilarious.

[polishgenius]

 Abyss, on 04 March 2013 - 06:23 PM, said:

 polishgenius, on 26 October 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

I reckon you should read Farlander next just because that series doesn't get nearly as much love as I think it deserves.

Holy.
FUCK.
...PG, you were not kidding.

Read FARLANDER and the sequel STANDS A SHADOW, and just like that Col Buchanan moved onto my pre-order list. What's amazing is that there's nothing particularly innately original about the books... evil religious empire, fanatic political priests, secretive order of assassins, jaded old veteran, naive apprentice, last stand for freedom, scared mid-level soldier, guns n swords, skyships etc etc.... we've seen it all before and many times before... but Buchanan does it SO well, and writes such great great characters and some brilliant action scenes that despite that lack the series drew me in and grabbed me and didn't let me go until i finished the second book and immediately went looking for a street date for bk 3 (which, sadly, isn't out yet).

I'll get into more in the ded-threads, but i'll say here these books are worth your time and dollars.


Speaking of Polishgenius....

 polishgenius, on 11 January 2013 - 11:57 PM, said:

...read the SFF book of last year, Faith. By John Love.

I want you to know PG that i'm 3/4 thru this book and i can barely put it down. It. Is. BRILLIANT. Like most of the best parts of Watts' BLINDSIGHT with less psychology and more chunks of David Weber when he writes really dense sf spaceship vs spaceship battle with a healthy dose of cool aliens and dysfunctional personalties and some very stylish writing tricks.

Seriously, this is an amazing book.

Glad you liked them...

Faith is a genuine mindblower. Very strange book, but so well written.

Nightshade Books are a publisher really worth paying attention to, they've had a few good ones.

[yuna_anomander25]

finished with Assassin's Apprentice and the other day with Magician: Apprentice, now thinking of what to read next, since i stll haven't finished with Lies of Locke Lamora, i've been reading this slowly, not that it's not good, but it's not a priority read, hopefully i could finish this, as i have more other stuff i want to read immediately,

RE Assassin's, i could see how others feel that some things that happened in the book were immediately given a resolution, but as i could understand it, much of what happens in the realm of the Six Duchies can not all be covered, i mean, Fitz can not be all over the realm, just to let the readers see/read the resolutions to those, like:

Spoiler

The Red-Ship Raiders kidnapping and 'Forging' of the townspeople

but i enjoyed the book nonetheless, and i'll be sure to read Hobb's other trilogies like the Liveship Traders, Tawny Man, Soldier Son and the RainWilds Chronicles,

[lastname]

 yuna_anomander25, on 05 March 2013 - 02:26 AM, said:

finished with Assassin's Apprentice and the other day with Magician: Apprentice, now thinking of what to read next, since i stll haven't finished with Lies of Locke Lamora, i've been reading this slowly, not that it's not good, but it's not a priority read, hopefully i could finish this, as i have more other stuff i want to read immediately,

I'll recommend Magician:Master. Just (literally two minutes ago) finished Magician (Apprentice + Master) in one go and it was a fun read. The Farseer Trilogy is pretty good too although I felt pretty drained after reading the three books one after the other. Might not hurt to read something else between Fitz books.

[Mentalist]

I've started Revelation Space a few days back (my first Reynolds book). It's a bit of a slow burner due to lack of time, reading about a chapter a day. I'm liking it, though still trying to get through all the terminology. my one question is, should I have read "Chasm City" first? there's constant references to the Plague, and I've got the impression that Chasm City deals with that time directly.

Nonetheless, pretty cool so far, up there with Hamilton in terms of Sci-Fi worldbuilding.