[Mentalist]

Morgoth will be happy to know I've read "The player of Games" in about 2 days. It was quite good. Banks doesn't strike me as something to read non-stop, however. But I suspect it will soon replace Neal Asher as my palate cleanser of choice (simply because after "The Technician" I'm pretty much out of Asher to read).

Now reading the fourth Laundry Files book, "Apocalypse Codex". I do enjoy Stross' over-the-top observational humour on the drudgery of civil service/management politics way too much. Tabout 140 pages in, reads well so far.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 20 July 2013 - 04:42 PM, said:

Well, Excommunication was fantastic! It's hard to rank these books against each other, though--it's just such a consistently excellent series.

Thoroughly enjoyed EXCOM. Would actually say it's the best of the series yet.

[Serenity]

I'm about halfway through Conn Iggulden's Emperor: The Gates of Rome. It's an enjoyable adventure, an easy, fun read. The writing style reminds me a bit of David Gemmell's Troy trilogy, but nowhere near as good.

ETA: Also read a few more of the Conan stories: The Tower of the Elephant, The Scarlet Citadel, and Queen of the Black Coast. Thoroughly enjoying these.

This post has been edited by Serenity: 22 July 2013 - 09:48 AM

[Brujah]

Im just now reading The Blade Itself, by Abercrombie, and simply and quickly put, it's my favorite book in a while. I did not like The Name of the Wind, thus gave up on the series, but The Blade Itself I'm really loving so far. Referred to me first by Obdi. Great read only 1/4th the way in.

[Baco Xtath]

Brujah, on 22 July 2013 - 07:32 PM, said:

Im just now reading The Blade Itself, by Abercrombie, and simply and quickly put, it's my favorite book in a while. I did not like The Name of the Wind, thus gave up on the series, but The Blade Itself I'm really loving so far. Referred to me first by Obdi. Great read only 1/4th the way in.

Well then you're in for a serious treat; Abercrombie only gets better and better. The Heroes and Best Served Cold are two of my all time favorite books.

I'm almost finished listening to Cold Days, about a quarter of the way in to reading Abaddon's Gate, and just started listening to Chasm City (already read it years ago). All are awesome.

[QuickTidal]

Decided not to wait till cottage weekend and I'm reading Peter Clines EX-HEROES.

Last night I was still not clicking with the story...but what a difference an hour & a half of reading makes. This morning on the transit and another 25 pages read and I am 100% addicted to this fucking book. Holy shit. Seriously. It took about 50-60 pages, but once it started ramping up Clines turns the volume up to 12.

Fuck me. Consider me in like Flynn for the series now. I just may as well save time and go buy the other two books now.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 23 July 2013 - 12:12 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2013 - 10:36 AM, said:

... Peter Clines EX-HEROES.... I just may as well save time and go buy the other two books now.

Yes, you may as well.

2 is a bit slower but clever and develops the world a bit and the characters a LOT more.

3... 3 was pure crack comedy action holyfuck.


Seriously people, if you believed me about Patrick Lee's BREACH series, and you like superhero comics even a little, believe me now, you want Clines' EX-HEROES series on the top of the TRP stat.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

148. True Blood: Tainted Love graphic novel by Marc Andreyko - Good, but not as entertaining as the show. Would not pay cover price for HC graphic novels, but when I find this stuff 90% off, I grab it.

149. Astonishing X-Men: Xenogenesis graphic novel by Warren Ellis - Okay, I'm a novice when it comes to comics, so correct me if I'm wrong, but I had the impression that Warren Ellis was sort of an elder statesman figure in the comic book industry. In which case, his pairing with an artist who does the cheesy deformed guys-with-oversized-muscles-and-no-neck / girls-with-impossibly-tiny-waists-and-giant-boobs art seemed odd to me. In any case, I'm guessing this doesn't represent his best work. I've got Transmetropolitan wishlisted. Anything else I should be looking for in order to get a better Warren Ellis experience?

150. Magic The Gathering: Artifacts Cycle II - I know nothing about the game, but this is exactly what I'm looking for in an RPG-style novelization. J. Robert King is the best so far, making me wish they'd reprint more of his MTG stuff in omnibus form...

151. Pathfinder by Orson Scott Card - Okay, this series is getting mixed reviews, even from Ender fans. But I loved the meshing of fantasy and sci-fi, the weird/funny time travel conversations, the clever...I don't know if "magic system" is the correct term for a book that is arguably, eventually science fiction... Anyway, it just worked for me.

152. Beyond The Pale by Mark Anthony - Surprisingly good, considering it's a 15 year old book in a 6 book series that I had never heard of. I thought it was going to be more of a mesh of horror and fantasy, but the creepy horror-movie-vibe is front-loaded at the beginning of the book. Oh well. Still, easily good enough to warrant seeking out the other installments.

153. Inda by Sherwood Smith - Not spectacular, not terrible. But for my "young pirate" fix, I strongly prefer The Bloody Jack Adventures by L. A. Meyer. I actually picked this up because Banner Of The Damned caught my eye, and I wanted to read this first, since it's an earlier book supposedly set in the same world.

[Abyss]

Kruppe, on 23 July 2013 - 02:50 PM, said:

... Anything else I should be looking for in order to get a better Warren Ellis experience?
...

Yes.

THE AUTHORITY. First 12 issues (his original run before DC farmed the concept out repeatedly to try and recapture what Ellis accomplishes in these issues). You may know or hear that this follows on his STORMWATCH run. That is irrelevant to enjoying the living fuck out of those 12 issues. (not that the Stormwatch stuff is bad, but TA is where Ellis grabbed the comics world by the squishy bits)

GLOBAL FREQUENCY. 12 issue series. Each issue is self contained, varies from good to glorious but always entertaining. Things splode, dudes get kicked, world gets saved from mad science. Like 12 episodes of Fringe if the Fringe team were all Parkour-running commando bi-sexuals with laser guns.

PLANETARY - Whole run. Best read back to back. Helps to have some background knowledge of comics in general to know what he's reffing, but you can interwub anything you don't know for some of the more obscure bits.

Also, if you haven't read FREAKANGELS yet it's available for free on the net. Worth your time, and it's free.

[amphibian]

I'd have a person new to Ellis read only Planetary. It's short enough to make the commitment minimal and great enough to be one of the top five comics ever created.

The rest can come later. Right now, throwing five options at people is overwhelming.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 23 July 2013 - 03:19 PM, said:

I'd have a person new to Ellis read only Planetary. It's short enough to make the commitment minimal and great enough to be one of the top five comics ever created.

The rest can come later. Right now, throwing five options at people is overwhelming.

KruppeyCakes reads five books a week. At the same time.

But if i were to pick only one, i'd go with THE AUTHORITY run.
PLANETARY is brilliant, but more of a slow build. TA blows up Moscow in the first five pages, and the expands from there.

[QuickTidal]

I'd have to chime in with Amph.

If we're picking just ONE Ellis comic to read...PLANETARY all the way.

Second place GLOBAL FREQUENCY (for originality)

And then in 3rd place AUTHORITY first 12 issues (because it's basically superhero comics turned on their ear)

But yeah, Kruppe's can handle it methinks.

[QuickTidal]

EX-HEROES, rounded the 125pg mark.

And I'm like a gibbering, crack-addicted monkey at this point.

This book fucking rules.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

Thanks, all. Wishlisted your recs, but reading order will depend upon which book(s) I find dirt-cheapiest.

And yes, I hold a book in each hand, each foot, and one balanced in my lap, and I scan them all with my eyeholes at the same time. Now if only my brain could store it all. No matter, rereads will be more fun, the less I remember...

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 July 2013 - 12:16 PM, said:

Bought and started EX-HEROES because my compatriots on here speak so highly of the series. Got a few chapters in and it was decent enough. Nothing great yet, but I have faith. ...

QuickTidal, on 23 July 2013 - 06:12 PM, said:

EX-HEROES, rounded the 125pg mark.

And I'm like a gibbering, crack-addicted monkey at this point.

This book fucking rules.

Boo. Yah.

[polishgenius]

On Warren Ellis: I'd read Stormwatch before the Authority. The latter is awesome widescreen comic flashy fun, but the former has more depth. Okay, when I was younger it was, more or less, The Authority that really got me into superhero comics, but reading as a grownup, it's the Stormwatch run that sticks with me.

The Authority is The Shield of superhero comics. Stormwatch is The Wire.

[Overactive Imagination]

Finished Warrior Prophet by Bakker. It did drag a bit in the middle, but was solid overall. The last 100 pages or so were really good and I'm looking forward to reading the finale.

[Brujah]

Baco Xtath, on 22 July 2013 - 10:53 PM, said:

Brujah, on 22 July 2013 - 07:32 PM, said:

Im just now reading The Blade Itself, by Abercrombie, and simply and quickly put, it's my favorite book in a while. I did not like The Name of the Wind, thus gave up on the series, but The Blade Itself I'm really loving so far. Referred to me first by Obdi. Great read only 1/4th the way in.

Well then you're in for a serious treat; Abercrombie only gets better and better. The Heroes and Best Served Cold are two of my all time favorite books.

I'm almost finished listening to Cold Days, about a quarter of the way in to reading Abaddon's Gate, and just started listening to Chasm City (already read it years ago). All are awesome.

Yeah, I'm 3 quarters done with the book, and it's possibly moved into my second or third favorite series so far. I really like this one. I haven't liked many books lately. I thought the last WoT book was average. I didn't like The Name of the Wind at all. I DID love Cold Days very very much. I recently read first book of Black Company(within the last year or so) and liked that one a lot, too. But The Blade Itself hits all the right spots for me.

[Overactive Imagination]

You haven't even gotten to the good part yet.

[Serenity]

Finished Iggulden's Emperor: The Gates of Rome. Enjoyed it and will definitely read the next one at some point. Now reading Gemmell's The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend. Kind of itching to get my third Malazan read on the go, but I think I need to get my TRP down a bit first (currently 62 books on it), and might finally give Bakker a go, too.