[Coco with marshmallows]

Time of Contempt by Sapkowski.

Really hope they speed up the translations of these, been desperate to read them since Gothos first started punting them oh so very long ago on this very forum.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished Erikson's This River Awakens this morning. Moving and maddening. Cynical and life-affirming. Brutal and beautiful.

[Serenity]

QuickTidal, on 18 August 2013 - 01:08 PM, said:

Serenity, on 17 August 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

Making a start on Cornwell's The Last Kingdom today.

That's one of my fave books by him in that series. Enjoy!

Yeah, it's great. Should finish it today.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Caine Black Knife - Possibly my favourite in the series thus far! Reading Caines Law.

[Morgoth]

Emperor of Thorns. Finally.

[JPK]

I'm about 100 pages from the end of Dies The Fire and I have to say that I've enjoyed this book alot so far. Mr Stirling would have to really botch the ending to ruin it for me at this point. The book has been a story about survivors in a post-apocalyptic pacific northwest (my home area) after an event kills all electronics and renders firearms impotent.

The next thing up on my plate is (finally) Neverwhere. I've tried reading it once before but I'd ended up getting distracted and putting it down. I really feel I've been putting it off for way too long.

[Serenity]

Finished The Last Kingdom. Brilliant, looking forward to reading the next one.

Made a start on The Odyssey this morning.

[QuickTidal]

Still reading ONE PIECE manga, but when I finish up this arc I'll be starting THE CROWN TOWER by Michael Sullivan, and I've been really looking fwd to it.

[Abyss]

Enjoying the hell out of KING OF THORNS. Glad i did the PRINCE reread and even happier i can jump straight into EMPEROR.

[rhulad]

Thought I'd give Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolfe a try. About half way through and so far it's not bad, not really great either. Also just finished a re-read of The Ultimate Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy.

[Ukjent]

Done with Ian Irvines Geomancer and I can't see any reason to read the rest of the series. The whole book was just dull and all the persons was as shallow as Skyrim.

[Use Of Weapons]

Not reading much SFF at the moment, after binging on some classics from my youth. Today I finished _Sync: The Emerging Science of Spontaneous Order_ by Steven Strogatz, and despite being in no way equipped to follow the technical details of non-linear equations and strange attractors, it was an immensely engaging and thought-provoking read.

Next up is Daniel Dennett's latest, _Intuition Pumps, and other Tools for thinking_.

[Salt-Man Z]

Enjoying Troy Denning's Star Wars: Crucible more than I figured. Maybe it's because there are no barabels?

[T77]

Finished Exile by R.A. Salvatore. It was a good, quick, light read. Having read two of his books now, I would say that he doesn't do anything particularly well (such as prose, characterization, plot, etc.), but when you add it all up the pages turn at a good pace and he keeps it interesting throughout. He is becoming my go-to author when I don't want to read a long, intricate novel.

[Salt-Man Z]

Briar King, on 22 August 2013 - 10:13 PM, said:

About on the 160 pg mark of Crucible and I'm loving it!

It honestly feels like it could be FOTJ 10.

I'm on page 222. Continuity-wise, sure, it ties in nicely with FotJ, but it feels more like a Bantam-era original-three adventure to me, which I'm finding wonderfully refreshing. I've been frustrated overall with Denning's LotF/FotJ offerings, but I literally can't think of anything to complain about in Crucible.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

163. A Knight Of The Word by Terry Brooks -- Good. Terry Brooks can write. Still...feels like about 4 chapters worth of story stretched out over nearly 400 pages.

164. Farlander by Col Buchanan -- Enjoyed this one. Semi-reminiscent of both Brent Weeks' Night Angel and Glenda Larke's Stormlord.

165. The Devil's Nebula by Eric Brown -- Interesting in parts, but lacks the charm of his other SF series, Helix.

166. New Moon by Stephenie Meyer -- I don't understand the passionate love/hatred for this series. Nothing to swoon over, but it's perfectly acceptable popcorn fiction. Dan Brown for teen girls.

167. Witch High edited by Denise Little -- Presumably intended to capitalize on Harry Potter. So-so stories. I just started a witch-themed anthology by Esther Friesner, and I'm expecting better stories in that one...

168. World War Blue by Anastasia Shestakova -- Manga video game spoof.

169. Pocket Guide To Sainthood by Jason Boyett -- Tongue-in-cheek guide, not quite as funny as his "Bible" and "afterlife" guides.

170. The Green Book by Jill Paton Walsh -- Super-short kids' SF. Short to the point where it doesn't even feel like a complete story. I need to stick to YA and adult SF.

171. Enclave by Ann Aguirre -- Maybe I'm getting bored with YA dystopia, or maybe the market is just oversaturated. And why does firefox spellcheck not accept dystopia, oversaturated, firefox, and spellcheck as correctly spelled words?

172. The Realms Thereunder by Ross Lawhead -- Has inherited his father's writing ability. Looking forward to more from this guy.

173. Wizards edited by Jack Dann and Gardner Dozois -- A better than average anthology. Still, the only really memorable story was Neil Gaiman's The Witch's Headstone. Inspired me to move The Graveyard Book higher up the to-read pile.

174. The Company by K. J. Parker -- "Lost meets The Italian Job"??? No. No it wasn't. My first KJP. Hope The Hammer is less boring, or I may dump this author.

175. Valen The Outcast Volume 1: Abomination graphic novel by Michael Alan Nelson -- "Undead Conan? I'm in." Much more accurate cover blurb than the previous. Expectations met.

176. Penny Arcade: Magical Kids in Danger by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik -- Given that I have very little (modern) gaming knowledge, the fact that these comics still crack me up is a testament to how funny these guys are...

[Abyss]

Kruppe, on 23 August 2013 - 04:01 PM, said:

...
164. Farlander by Col Buchanan -- Enjoyed this one. Semi-reminiscent of both Brent Weeks' Night Angel and Glenda Larke's Stormlord....

read the sequel STANDS A SHADOW read it read it READ IT READITREADITREADITREADIT

[Salt-Man Z]

So, Denning's Crucible was the best Star Wars book I've read in a long time. I'm not sure I'm quite down with the "We're all going to retire, no really this time" ending, 'cause haven't they been saying that for like 10 years now? Other than that, it was a lot of fun.

I'm also a little depressed that this might be the final novel I read in the Legacy era before the new movies wipe out the post-RotJ EU.

[polishgenius]

Kruppe, on 23 August 2013 - 04:01 PM, said:

165. The Devil's Nebula by Eric Brown -- Interesting in parts, but lacks the charm of his other SF series, Helix.

Have you read his Kethani? If not, do - it's by far the best thing I've read by him and indeed one of the best SF novels I've ever read, ever. Absolute brilliance.

Quote

174. The Company by K. J. Parker -- "Lost meets The Italian Job"??? No. No it wasn't. My first KJP. Hope The Hammer is less boring, or I may dump this author.

Who the fuck came up with that description? I like KJP (though I liked The Folding Knife more than this, and the Engineer a little less) but that would absolutely give a person the wrong impression. That makes it sound like an adventure caper, rather than probably the darkest, most depressingly cynical author writing in a fantasy genre that contains R Scott Bakker, which is what she is.

[Overactive Imagination]

I've always found Bakker's Prince of Nothing series to be quite uplifting!