[Ukjent]

Just done with "River of Stars" and I'm wondering if I not shall take a break from readings books. Or at least find something lighter/ happier to read. Any recommendations?

[Baco Xtath]

Graablick, on 20 April 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

Just done with "River of Stars" and I'm wondering if I not shall take a break from readings books. Or at least find something lighter/ happier to read. Any recommendations?

My palate cleansers are Dresden, Discworld, Christopher Moore, and Vonnegut.

[James Hutton]

Briar King, on 20 April 2013 - 04:25 PM, said:

James Hutton, on 20 April 2013 - 11:48 AM, said:

Abyss, on 17 April 2013 - 06:04 PM, said:

James Hutton, on 17 April 2013 - 05:33 PM, said:

Found Dead Beat by Buther at the thrift store for 3,50 euros (=cheap) -- bought it and am now reading it. Is was not that much piqued by Storm Front that I read earlier, but maybe I need to use some more to get addicted to the crack...?

Did you read the five books in between STORM and DEAD BEAT?
Because i gotta tell ya, if you jumped those, DB, while pure awesome, isn't going to blow your mind nearly as well as if you read the series in order to that point, imnsho.

It's like jumping straight from {soft drug reference} all the way to {sick crazy speedball type drug combo direct injection that only a hardened addict can survive reference} without taking the time to build your addiction.

No, the thrift store didn't have those 5 books.

I now understand why you guys call it Dresden Crack though. I just couldn't stop reading it, dammit!

Holy shit your missing out on ALOT! Stop reading and go get books 2-6.

I finished the book yesterday Will hunt down the other ones though!

I'm in doubt what to read next: Cloud Atlas (I enjoyed the movie and figured the book's probably better than the movie) or The Warrior Prophet by R Scott Bakker. Which one should I pick?

[Ukjent]

The Warrior Prophet. I tried to read Cloud Atlas but it wasn't that gripping, and when I hit a stretch of ca 70 pages of old "western as in cowboys" English I just gave it up, way to annoying to read.

[James Hutton]

Graablick, on 20 April 2013 - 07:56 PM, said:

The Warrior Prophet. I tried to read Cloud Atlas but it wasn't that gripping, and when I hit a stretch of ca 70 pages of old "western as in cowboys" English I just gave it up, way to annoying to read.

Started Cloud Atlas before I read your post, but I didn't like the first two pages. Then I read your post and switched to The Warrior Prophet. My train to work was delayed, so I got nearly an hour of bonus reading time this morning

[Mentalist]

Graablick, on 20 April 2013 - 12:13 PM, said:

Just done with "River of Stars" and I'm wondering if I not shall take a break from readings books. Or at least find something lighter/ happier to read. Any recommendations?

Neal Asher

[Serenity]

D, on 19 April 2013 - 08:25 AM, said:

Though I've heard good things about Knights of Dark Renown, which I've never read.

Knights of Dark Renown is great! It's got one of my favourite last lines ever - four words that totally floored me.

I finished Abercrombie's Best Served Cold - thought it was absolutely brilliant, right up there with The Heroes. Then I read the third Patrick O'Brian 'Aubrey/Maturin' book, HMS Surprise, which I really enjoyed. This morning I have started Steinbeck's East of Eden.

[Abyss]

Serenity, on 22 April 2013 - 01:43 PM, said:

D, on 19 April 2013 - 08:25 AM, said:

Though I've heard good things about Knights of Dark Renown, which I've never read.

Knights of Dark Renown is great! It's got one of my favourite last lines ever - four words that totally floored me.

I also enjoyed that book, altho technically it's still a Drenai story and connected, loosely, to the others.



Still on Sullivan's THEFT OF SWORDS. good fun!

[EmperorMagus]

The Incredible Kitsu, on 19 April 2013 - 06:02 AM, said:

It has been a couple months since I've posted, but here's the list I've been chewing through:

The Book of Dragon and The Book of Dzur by Steven Brust
Foreigner and Invader by C.J. Cherryh
The Wounded Land by Stephen R. Donaldson
The Great Hunt by Robert Jordan

Beyond those I'm currently in the middle of the audiobook for The Dragon Reborn, and going to start Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. A friend gifted me the first three Monster Hunter books for xmas, any thoughts on it before I dig in?

Honestly? I thought they were dull , and the writer just rambles on about guns. They were not so bad I couldn't finish them (because I had all three) but I'm not going to buy the rest of them.

[Stalker]

Abyss said:

1366122785[/url]' post='1049313']
Skipping some of the more volatile Mieville upthread chatter, I like Mieville. I don't always love his work, but everything i have read has entertained me and been worth the dollars.

The ending thing is only, imnsho, an issue with the Bas-Lag books. All three are fairly open and while events have come to a conclusion, the story is left very open and to an extent unresolved. A lot of people find this frustrating. I don't. I don't need a complete and tidy wrapped up with a bow ending (FFS i'm an Erikson fan...). I love THE SCAR because Armada is one of the most original, interesting, well constructed fantasy settings i have ever read and the events that take place on it are fascinating. PERDIDO may have better characters and IRON COUNCIL a more interesting conflict, but SCAR held my attention for every page.

Well, I finally finished The Scar, and overall thought it was a really good read. I'm tempted to say a great read but I really didn't like Bellis as a character and the first fifth of the book was slow. I put it down for a week, but once the idea of what was happening in the city was introduced, I didn't put the book down. That said, I thought it was better overall than Perdido Street Station, because Armada was a fantastic setting (echoing Abyss here, because he is right. As always), and the events going on in the city were engrossing.

Good recommendation guys, thanks.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 22 April 2013 - 11:37 PM

[pat5150]

Just finished Ian Tregillis' Necessary Evil and man it was awesome! The Milkweed Triptych is definitely one of the very best speculative fiction series of the new millennium! Great read!

Check out the Hotlist for the full review. . .

Cheers,

Patrick

[Tiste Simeon]

So I finished Cloud Atlas which was flipping great!
Then I read Iain Banks' Transitions. Wow, mind blowing! What a great book! Outstanding concept & enthralling story, superb book! Bit stuck what to read now...

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

76. Body Bags: Father's Day graphic novel by Jason Pearson - Body bagger (i.e. bounty hunter assassin) reunited with estranged daughter; comic book violence ensues.

77. A Geek In Japan by Hector Garcia - A visitor's guide to Japan, based on a blog of the same name.

78. The Iron King by Maurice Druon - I only read this one because it was free...and advertised as "the original Game of Thrones" by GRRM himself. It was actually plain old-fashioned (c. 1956) historical fiction, with no fantasy elements, so I just couldn't get into it...

79. Sasha: A Trial Of Blood & Steel by Joel Shepherd - Another one I couldn't get into. Too much talking and politicking, and not enough adventuring. This one was supposedly a fantasy, but the complete lack of magic and other typical fantasy elements made it seem like another dull historical fiction.

80. Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding - I'm a glutton for punishment when it comes to trying to find a steampunk I like. Another miss.

81. Criss Cross by Lynne Rae Perkins - I like coming-of-age YA novels because they often have crossover appeal (see The Tillerman Series by Cynthia Voigt), but I think you would have to be a 13 year old girl to appreciate this one.

82. Mythago Wood by Robert Holdstock - An apparently critically acclaimed circa 1980s fantasy novel about a forest where myths come to life. I enjoyed this one, but probably not enough to continue the series.

83. The Dark Storm by Kris Greene - A serviceable YA? urban fantasy. Has NOT gotten good reviews, but I didn't hate it. Good mix of characters and creatures, but kind of an "everything and the kitchen sink" plot.

84. Bitter Seeds by Ian Tregillis - This will be an unpopular opinion, but after being completely captivated by the prologue, the bulk of the book kind of bored me. Maybe a plot about Nazi supermen vs. British wizards just set my expectations too high.

85. Star Wars Legacy Of The Force: Tempest by Troy Denning - I'm really enjoying the LOTF books. Much better than the ran-several-books-too-long Yuuzhan Vong storyline.

86. Star Trek The Next Generation / X-Men: Planet X by Michael Jan Friedman - Crossover novelization which, I'm guessing, had a comic book forerunner at some point, since the Star Trek and X-Men characters already seem to know each other. A pleasant enough read for what it is (it's a comic book tie-in after all, this ain't Shakespeare). I enjoyed the interactions between the familiar characters, but as is often the case with Star Trek novels, my eyes glazed over during the parts featuring only new characters invented specifically for this book...

87. Helix by Eric Brown - This one is getting mixed reviews, but I was pleasantly surprised. Reminiscent of Ringworld, Helix is about a, you guessed it, helix-shaped collection of worlds and the adventures of a group of human spacefarers that crash land there. If it has a flaw, it's that the author errs at the opposite extreme of most sci-fi authors, in that there is not much technical explanation for anything.

[Coco with marshmallows]

Just finished Promise of Blood.

Really enjoyable read, looking forward both to how the story progresses and any further stuff we may see from the author in the future.

currently pondering what to read next.....

[McLovin]

After some lengthy digressions into Star Wars GN reads/re-reads, back into my DUNE re-read with CHILDREN OF DUNE.

[End of Disc One]

Reading The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham. Based on reviews I expected this to be a lot of set up with not much happening. And while that's true, I'm still enjoying it. I like the idea of the 13 races and the writing is enjoyable.

[Ulrik]

Please, I need some recommendation. Im looking for military sci-fi, but something sane. I´ve just finished Siege of Titan. Boring story of Spartan killing future muslims. After that, Amazon recommended me Knox's Irregulars...but in reviews I read "Last night, I stayed up way past the normal time I turn in, reading a new Christian novel e-book that I found out about on Twitter, called Knox's Irregulars by J. Wesley Bush. I was immediately intrigued, because it was Christian science fiction. There are two groups of humans inhabiting the planet, the New Genevans, a small group of Reformed Christians and others living on the south end of the planet's continent. The other group is the Abkhenazi, a much larger people group, whose religion and politics could best be described as a cobbling together of New-Age spirituality, Islam, Marxism and Nazism." - and it was A POSITIVE review!

So, please... just something with bunch of characters, last stands, training before action, some deaths...just ordinary military SF stuff...not some religious/ political idiocies of author...

Thanks

[Abyss]

Ulrik, on 24 April 2013 - 08:12 PM, said:

Please, I need some recommendation. Im looking for military sci-fi, but something sane...
So, please... just something with bunch of characters, last stands, training before action, some deaths...just ordinary military SF stuff...not some religious/ political idiocies of author...

Go here: http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/

Thank me later.

[Baco Xtath]

Ulrik, on 24 April 2013 - 08:12 PM, said:

Please, I need some recommendation. Im looking for military sci-fi, but something sane. I´ve just finished Siege of Titan. Boring story of Spartan killing future muslims. After that, Amazon recommended me Knox's Irregulars...but in reviews I read "Last night, I stayed up way past the normal time I turn in, reading a new Christian novel e-book that I found out about on Twitter, called Knox's Irregulars by J. Wesley Bush. I was immediately intrigued, because it was Christian science fiction. There are two groups of humans inhabiting the planet, the New Genevans, a small group of Reformed Christians and others living on the south end of the planet's continent. The other group is the Abkhenazi, a much larger people group, whose religion and politics could best be described as a cobbling together of New-Age spirituality, Islam, Marxism and Nazism." - and it was A POSITIVE review!

So, please... just something with bunch of characters, last stands, training before action, some deaths...just ordinary military SF stuff...not some religious/ political idiocies of author...

Thanks

Top of my head I'd say:
Starship Troopers, Old Man's War, Forever War, and, if you've read Altered Carbon, then Broken Angels, and Woken Furies. Also I'd recommend Use of Weapons and some other Banks stuff.

[Stalker]

@Ulrik- If you haven't read John Ringo's sci-fi, start wih A Hymn Before Battle or Through the Looking Glass. They are fun reads, each book starts a different series, but both are definitely military sci-fi. The author is very conservative, and it does come through in his writing, but it makes sense because career soldiers (like his characters) tend to have that viewpoint, in my experience.

Another good choice would be almost anything Warhammer 40k related. Check out Dan Abnett's The Founding, which is an omnibus of the first three books in the most popular series.

John Steakley's Armor is a great novel, and a good throw back option.

Edit- Abyss beat me to the first point, as I was looking through my library, so download the options I listed first. Definitely the best choices there.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 24 April 2013 - 08:41 PM