[amphibian]

Reading CS Friedman's Coldfire books. They're very good, but not quite brilliant individually. I've read the first two and am finishing up the third.

If you read them, the Looking For Group webcomic will be exposed for the stupid imitation it is. I thought that dude couldn't write once I abandoned the other webcomic he writes, but believed that his Richard character in LFG was unusual and interesting enough to follow.

It's a bullshit clone of the Hunter from these books. Read Friedman, abandon the LFG guy.

[Tiste Simeon]

lastname, on 20 September 2013 - 06:47 AM, said:

Am now a third of the way into FoD (Erikson). Its been great. Lots of surprises already.

Am about 15% into it, and I am really enjoying it but I have to keep reminding myself that the characters in it who I know are not as I know them! For example,

FOD spoiler:

Spoiler

all the Tiste are just Tiste at the moment and this is before warrens!! Unless I have mistaken this badly...

Mod Edit: Didn't think it was a huge spoiler for anyone who's read the later books, but thought it was best to tag it.

-Grief.

[Mentalist]

Didn't know what to read whilst I'm waiting for my Book Depository haul to arrive.

As such, I've read "Use of Weapons"--my third Culture novel. I like Banks, but I still think it makes for a better palate cleanser than anything--Culture books are nice, but I'm not sure I could handle more than 1 in a row.

I'm now re-reading "Curse of the Mistwraith" by Janny Wurts, part of the "Wars of Light and Shadow" series. I read the first two, then put the series down due to serious lack of time to get into it properly. and now I need a refresher.

[HiddenOne]

I just now finished Heroes Die, killer book. I'm going to have to force myself to wait a couple days before I buy the next one. It's gonna be tough, I tell you, knowing it's only a couple touches away.

[Abyss]

HiddenOne, on 21 September 2013 - 02:51 PM, said:

I just now finished Heroes Die, killer book. I'm going to have to force myself to wait a couple days before I buy the next one. It's gonna be tough, I tell you, knowing it's only a couple touches away.

You're just fucking baiting me, aren't you?

[polishgenius]

amphibian, on 21 September 2013 - 04:47 AM, said:

Reading CS Friedman's Coldfire books. They're very good, but not quite brilliant individually. I've read the first two and am finishing up the third.

If you read them, the Looking For Group webcomic will be exposed for the stupid imitation it is. I thought that dude couldn't write once I abandoned the other webcomic he writes, but believed that his Richard character in LFG was unusual and interesting enough to follow.

It's a bullshit clone of the Hunter from these books. Read Friedman, abandon the LFG guy.

Could never get into LFG. Not read Coldfire, but though Richard is fun, he pales in comparison to that other evil-member-of-the-party-in-a-gaming-webcomic, Belkar Bitterleaf. And the other characters in LFG are crap.

[amphibian]

I mean, I knew the writing in the other comic (the one with the wish fulfillment dude who gets tons of women) was severely bad. I thought that it was a side project to the LFG comic, which - to my uneducated eyes - looked like it had a fresh new character in Richard and had more passion from the author/artist for it.

Then I read the Coldfire books now, which were written in the early '90s and see that the webcomic guy basically stole the character from it, made the character more warm and fuzzy for joke punchlines and kept everything else. Then the webcomic guy continued to write shitty stories that were set in a fantasy world.

The writer has very little actual talent, but has somehow made the two awful comics into a good full time living. I'm somehow ticked off that I spent a while reading most of LFG and a while ago the other one. I've quit entirely and won't go back.

Order of the Stick is far, far better. Burlew is actually a solid writer and this last arc with the portal and the fathers has been tremendous. It's a good story with well done characters in stories with actual stakes to them on top of the jokes and trope-twisting. Rob Balder, the Erfworld writer, is a better writer than anyone in the webcomic world that I've read and he's really getting into interesting stuff too. It's a shame that the longtime artist, Xin, couldn't keep going with the project, but the new replacement looks passable. Xin's work was the bee's knees though.

[Ukjent]

Blood song was cool and I can't wait for the next one, but now I'm reading Jo Nesbø the Bat while waiting for Hollow World to arrive.

[Serenity]

I'm 75% of the way through Sharon Penman's The Sunne in Splendour (having finally got the updated Kindle edition). It's very good. Very long, but very good.

[Puck]

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki. Not sure what made me buy that one, but I'm glad I did. Spent half the night reading, unable to put it down.

[Ukjent]

Done with the bat and over to Sullivan's Hollow world!

[QuickTidal]

^^ Cool! I'm awaiting my trade copy of HOLLOW WORLD which is in the mail according to Sullivan's wife Robin.

Meanwhile I'm still absolutely BLAZING through Anthony Ryan's BLOOD SONG which literally just gets better and better with every chapter. For a book that started on a high note, that's no easy task. I have a feeling we may have another fave series on our hands with this one. What a debut!

[polishgenius]

In a shocking turn of events, I like Blood Song but not nearly as much as QT apparently is. It's a very engaging read and a lot of fun, but I haven't found it that memorable in the end. As far as recent fantasy debuts go, it's better than The Thousand Names (a book which I initially liked a lot but which really pulled its punches, to be honest) but not as good as The Grim Company.

Have you read the latter yet, QT? I think it's out in North America either now or very soon and I think it's the type of book that'll be right up your street.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 24 September 2013 - 07:08 PM, said:

In a shocking turn of events, I like Blood Song but not nearly as much as QT apparently is. It's a very engaging read and a lot of fun, but I haven't found it that memorable in the end. As far as recent fantasy debuts go, it's better than The Thousand Names (a book which I initially liked a lot but which really pulled its punches, to be honest) but not as good as The Grim Company.

Have you read the latter yet, QT? I think it's out in North America either now or very soon and I think it's the type of book that'll be right up your street.

I've not read the latter, as I'd heard a LOT of middling reviews from people who went in thinking it was going to be really solid. I may give it a go down the line, but I'm not clamoring to read it at all.

I had decided to finally give BLOOD SONG a go because Felicia Day raved about it being very much in the Rothfuss / Sanderson vein (I can agree with that), and enjoying it and her tastes in Epic Fantasy usually align with mine.

Glad you liked it too...and if you liked it and I raved about it...that's as safe a bet/endorsement as you'll get here folks.

[polishgenius]

I think in some ways The Grim Company almost suffered from being marketed too effectively- because of the brilliant early promotion in the UK, a lot of people including myself read it at once, and came out with very positive reviews piled up on top of one another, so it got great early word of mouth. And it is good, but if they'd come a bit more spaced out it would probably have been clear from the reactions that this is a book worth reading, but it's not a Lawrence/Abercrombie/Lynch level genre-wobbler, though it's not a million miles off that sort of quality. I've noticed backlash in a few places from people who felt a tad let down.

Expectations mean a lot... because of the almost mythical status it managed to achieve on the aSoIaF forums, some people even managed to be let down by The Long Price Quartet.

[Stalker]

Jumped away from Mark Lawrence quickly before I go and finish his trilogy, so instead I just started The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers. I'm loving the setup so far (7 chapters in or so) as it is exactly up my alley. Since reading Dan Simmon's The Terror, Drood, and Powers' Declare, I've decided that I really like these secret history fantasy novels. If they are done well, anyway.

[Baco Xtath]

I'm about 100 pages into Shriek and I'm loving it. Here's an excerpt that's basically par for the course:


He used stilted words in rows of sentences crippled by fits and starts - a vagabond, poorly-rehearsed circus of words that could not be taken seriously.


Also about halfway through Necessary Evil and just started listening to Great North Road. Both really good.

[polishgenius]

That sort of thing is surely why VanderMeer doesn't write too fast - that sort of line takes craft and time if you're whole book's filled with them. I think my favourite VanderMeerism is the following, from 'Dradin, In Love' (which novella one can read in its entirety here, and which I recommend to anyone wondering what the deal is with him).

Quote

But what, then, to do? Dradin's thoughts tumbled one over the other like distraught clowns and he was close to panic, close to wringing his hands in the way his mother had disapproved of but that indicated nothing unusual in a missionary, when a thought came to him and left him speechless at his own ingenuity.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 25 September 2013 - 02:44 PM

[Fist Gamet]

Been a while...recently read:

Terms of Enlistment, Kloos - actually better than I expected though it lacks any real emotional impact.
Sandman Slim, Kadrey - this was great fun, very nicely done and well written. Enjoyed it.
King of Thorns, Lawrence - for me, just as good as the first and I loved it.
Dark Eden, Bennet - gave it up quickly, crap.


Currently reading The Grim Company, which seems to be some weird mix of crappy cliche, derivative plots and the odd moment of Abercrombie-esque fun. Something about it is not quite...adult enough in the writing. Hard to pin it down.

Also, Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn, which has been terrific thus far. Supremely well written, clever and insightful. Not my usual beverage but well worth the time

[McLovin]

Just finished a re-read of The Thrawn Trilogy GN HB.