[Use Of Weapons]

lastname, on 28 October 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

- There are five omnibuses (omnibi?) that, between them, cover virtually all the Miles stories - everything except Memory (the one dull book in the series IMHO), Dreamweaver's Dilemna (slightly obscure novella collection) and Cryoburn (recently released novel). There's also an omnibus that covers the prequel books (Cordelia's Honor includes Shards of Honor, Barrayar and a short called Aftermaths). So basically omnibuses are the way to go.

- This is a nitpick but Bujold didn't write Barrayar right after Shards. Barrayar, in fact, was published a couple of years after Brothers in Arms (which is mentioned above). Barrayar still goes after Shards in terms of reading order. Anyway, I personally started with Shards and quite enjoyed having some background information before jumping into the Miles stories. As IH says, that isn't strictly necessary.

- If you just want a taste of Bujold's writing, The Curse of Chalion isn't a bad place to start. Its the first book in a trilogy but stands just fine on its own.

I am shocked, shocked beyond words, that someone could love the Vorkosigan saga and not love _Memory_ with all their being. It is for me the finest of the purely Miles books. While _Mirror Dance_ is probably better technically, there's too much Mark in it for my taste.

I, too, would be happy to recommend starting anywhere, and _Barrayar_ won a Hugo, so it's hardly poor fare! Definitely go with the omnibuses though, agreed. I've not read "Winterfair Gifts" which is in the Miles In Love omnibus, I think. You should certainly read _Shards_ and _Barrayar_ (or the omnibus) before starting the sequence htat begins with _Komarr_.

[Imperial Historian]

Use Of Weapons, on 31 October 2013 - 06:16 PM, said:

lastname, on 28 October 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

- There are five omnibuses (omnibi?) that, between them, cover virtually all the Miles stories - everything except Memory (the one dull book in the series IMHO), Dreamweaver's Dilemna (slightly obscure novella collection) and Cryoburn (recently released novel). There's also an omnibus that covers the prequel books (Cordelia's Honor includes Shards of Honor, Barrayar and a short called Aftermaths). So basically omnibuses are the way to go.

- This is a nitpick but Bujold didn't write Barrayar right after Shards. Barrayar, in fact, was published a couple of years after Brothers in Arms (which is mentioned above). Barrayar still goes after Shards in terms of reading order. Anyway, I personally started with Shards and quite enjoyed having some background information before jumping into the Miles stories. As IH says, that isn't strictly necessary.

- If you just want a taste of Bujold's writing, The Curse of Chalion isn't a bad place to start. Its the first book in a trilogy but stands just fine on its own.

I am shocked, shocked beyond words, that someone could love the Vorkosigan saga and not love _Memory_ with all their being. It is for me the finest of the purely Miles books. While _Mirror Dance_ is probably better technically, there's too much Mark in it for my taste.

I, too, would be happy to recommend starting anywhere, and _Barrayar_ won a Hugo, so it's hardly poor fare! Definitely go with the omnibuses though, agreed. I've not read "Winterfair Gifts" which is in the Miles In Love omnibus, I think. You should certainly read _Shards_ and _Barrayar_ (or the omnibus) before starting the sequence htat begins with _Komarr_.

Memory was the first vorkosigan book I read, picked it up on a whim from the library (there is a strange lack of love for bujold in the UK, I hadn't even seen her books in shops before), after reading that I had to get hold of all the rest. I enjoyed winterfair gifts if you get the chance to track it down. It's odd that memory was never released in an omnibus, as I agree it is a great book.

I didn't know barrayar was written so much later, makes sense though as it's much better than shards, which is definitely my least favourite bujold in the vorkosigan saga.

On a side note the hardback edition of cryoburn which I got recently included a cd with all of the bujold books in electronic format (this is why I love baen).

[QuickTidal]

Never read a Bujold book. Ever. Not sure why.

[Puck]

Just finished Harmony by Project Itoh. For various reasons, I'd love to see this one be made into a movie. Though, I guess, it's too heavy on some things to be considered movie-appropriate fare. Then again, media needs the kind on heroine the main character is.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Deadhouse Gates. Sure this may be the 4th or 5th time I read it but the whole Chain of Dogs storyline has left me raw, angry & crushed. I thought I would be a bit immune to this now but apparently not. Was reading it on the bus yesterday & had to put it down for a bit cos I was welling up! You can take that and shove it, Red Wedding...

[dietl]

Finished Ddarkness Weaves by Karl Edward Wagner yesterday, which was a pretty mediocre fantasy storey (sic). A lot of cllchés and not-very-good writing. I must admnit that Kane was an interesting character at times, but nothing special from todays standard. If you want a story with a badass hero/anti-hero and a biblical name, the Acts of Cain book are lightyears better than this.

Started reading this Lovecraft guy and am delighted by the better writing and look forward to more of his stories that really achieve what they are trying to do. Already read The Tomb and Dagos.

[Ukjent]

Briar King, on 31 October 2013 - 04:29 PM, said:

Graablick, on 30 October 2013 - 11:25 PM, said:

Halfway with War Master's Gate and its looking good so far. Just to bad that I lack the time to read the next days.

I've gotta get this one! So many books I'm behind on the last few mths cause of swtor.

Damn, how can SWTOR cause lack of reading? It was dull as fuck when I tried it. But anyway the book is still good.

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 25 October 2013 - 10:44 PM, said:

Traveller, on 24 October 2013 - 06:48 AM, said:

Briar King, on 24 October 2013 - 03:27 AM, said:

Holy shit BSC is so SO awesome! I've heard The Heros is even better though. I ll prob jump straight to that one after.

There are some awesome scenes in there... and I really love his dark sense of humour, I always find myself laughing at things that really shouldn't be funny but he just writes so well.

And yes, bet you'll be wanting Heroes next.

Oh yea I've loled many times the past 288 pgs. Mostly involving the Character Friendly...

BSC remains my fave by JA. TH and RC are totally worthy follow ups tho.

Traveller, on 27 October 2013 - 07:59 AM, said:

...

Guess I've been spoiled lately, have read some fantastic books this year. Gods, Peter Clines Ex's series was so much fun too.

Told ya so .

Baco Xtath, on 31 October 2013 - 12:02 PM, said:

amphibian, on 31 October 2013 - 04:48 AM, said:

D, on 31 October 2013 - 04:00 AM, said:

That's The Quantum Thief. Fractal Prince is the sequel.

Whups.

Ok, with The Fractal Prince, it's "Escaped con artist/hacker has to go down into a region full of monsters to get a key to something huge. A city on the border provides mercenary treasure hunters who may or may not be running their own games as well. Warrior and ship still assisting con artist/hacker."

Tawaddud's storyline is what has me a bit confused, her and Sumanguru. "Let me tell you a story......." I love the prose but I'm, as yet, unsure of the connection between the thief and the doctor, or what's really going on with the doctor. I know it has to do with wildcode but that's about it. However, I didn't really get the first book until near the end and then it all came together so I'm not really worried about it.

...

It does indeed. I really enjoyed FRACTAL far more than QUANTUM.


Meanwhile,had a nice run of vacation reading. Il cover some of these in more detail in the relevant dedthreads...

Sullivan's HEIR OF NOVRON - satisfying end to the series, despite a few flaws in how it all came to a big finish.

Jemisin's HUNDRED THOUSAND KINGDOMS - enjoyed this way more than i expected. Good characters, interesting world, compelling writing. Recommended.

Lovegrove's AGE OF RA - meh. Age of Odin was better.

Sanderson's STEELHEART - i enjoyed this way more than I expected to. Superhero fiction done nicely,and despite being marketed as YA, not overly so. A few flaws if they. Want to nitpick,but overall a hell of a lot of fun. Worth reading if you like superhero fic and can tolerate some silly names.

Campbell's LOST FLEET SERIES bks 1-3: good, then great, then really REALLY great. Bk 3 was pure awesome and the end was stunning.

Had to start bk 4 immediately and am loving it. this is milSF done seriously right.

Also started Ruckley's EDINBURGH DEAD. Slow boil supernatural murder mystery set in1828. Not bad so far 1/3 way thru.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 01 November 2013 - 10:22 PM, said:

Sullivan's HEIR OF NOVRON - satisfying end to the series, despite a few flaws in how it all came to a big finish.

Spoiler

The last sentence, and realizing who Nimbus really was as the white feather drifted down to him...oh gods, I sobbed. That last paragraph absolutely did me in.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

204. Magic Time by Marc Scott Zicree and Barbara Hambly - First in a trilogy. Compared both favorably and unfavorably to The Stand, and I can kind of see how this could be viewed as sort of a low-rent version of that. I just couldn't get into it...

205. Unlovable graphic novel by Esther Pearl Watson - Illustrated diary based on an actual found diary of that girl we all went to high school with. You know, the one whose "friends" didn't even like her but she was completely oblivious to it. Funny, in a cringeworthy way...

206. 50 short science fiction tales edited by Isaac Asimov and Griff Conklin - A selection of sci fi stories with supposedly witty or "twist" endings. The problem with 50-60 year old stories, I've noticed, is they tend to be very dry and unexciting. No exception here. For wittier selections, see Microcosmic Tales, also edited by Asimov.

207. Star Wars Vs. Star Trek by Matt Forbeck - Pits various characters against each other. Didn't always agree with the results. A circa-clone-wars, angry Anakin Skywalker loses to Benjamin Sisko? Don't think so... Plenty of entertainment value here, though. Well worth the $4 or whatever I paid for it.

208. John Dies @ the End by David Wong - I understand how some people could be entertained by this, but it was way too trippy for my taste.

209. Platinum Grit graphic novel by Trudy Cooper and Danny Murphy - Also very trippy.

210. Beanworld: Wahoolazuma! graphic novel by Larry Marder - Yet more trippiness that I didn't really get. Where am I finding this stuff?

[Nicodimas]

Just finished Vicious fun little read -->

http://www.amazon.co...eywords=vicious


Now searching for a new book..bad when i feel like i have read everything fantasy wise..<somethings multiple multiple times!!>

GRRR just need to find a good book..series..

[lastname]

Use Of Weapons, on 31 October 2013 - 06:16 PM, said:

lastname, on 28 October 2013 - 04:28 AM, said:

- There are five omnibuses (omnibi?) that, between them, cover virtually all the Miles stories - everything except Memory (the one dull book in the series IMHO), Dreamweaver's Dilemna (slightly obscure novella collection) and Cryoburn (recently released novel). There's also an omnibus that covers the prequel books (Cordelia's Honor includes Shards of Honor, Barrayar and a short called Aftermaths). So basically omnibuses are the way to go.

- This is a nitpick but Bujold didn't write Barrayar right after Shards. Barrayar, in fact, was published a couple of years after Brothers in Arms (which is mentioned above). Barrayar still goes after Shards in terms of reading order. Anyway, I personally started with Shards and quite enjoyed having some background information before jumping into the Miles stories. As IH says, that isn't strictly necessary.

- If you just want a taste of Bujold's writing, The Curse of Chalion isn't a bad place to start. Its the first book in a trilogy but stands just fine on its own.

I am shocked, shocked beyond words, that someone could love the Vorkosigan saga and not love _Memory_ with all their being. It is for me the finest of the purely Miles books. While _Mirror Dance_ is probably better technically, there's too much Mark in it for my taste.

*shrugs* ... different people, different tastes and all that

I did understand the slightly slower pace of Memory. In a sense, Memory was the Star Trek:TNG equivalent of Family which immediately follows Picard's dramatic run-in with the Borg and is about ... well ... family, healing and introspection. I just thought the book was overly long for the story it had to tell.

This post has been edited by lastname: 03 November 2013 - 04:05 AM

[worry]

Finished Iron Council. Still processing it, but I think I liked it almost as much as The Scar. I would definitely rate them Scar > IC >> PSS, even if I'm not quite able to elucidate why yet. It was definitely my favorite milieu, I know that.

[Tiste Simeon]

Welp after a break of a couple of days, onto MOI. So many things to love with this book!

[Solidsnape]

Tiste Simeon, on 03 November 2013 - 07:35 AM, said:

Welp after a break of a couple of days, onto MOI. So many things to love with this book!

To many with all of them!!! Finished my 4th read of MT last night, started NoK this morning.
I just feel like I'll never read another non malaz book again. Sooooooo good.

[Usher]

At t'moment?

Fiction:
Cryptonomicon (Neil Stephenson)
The Bonehunters

Non-fiction:
Darwin's Dangerous Idea (Daniel Dennett)
The Magic of Reality (Richard Dawkins)

[amphibian]

worry, on 03 November 2013 - 04:08 AM, said:

Finished Iron Council. Still processing it, but I think I liked it almost as much as The Scar. I would definitely rate them Scar > IC >> PSS, even if I'm not quite able to elucidate why yet. It was definitely my favorite milieu, I know that.

The swamp stuff is some of the most beautiful writing in all of fantasy. Erikson wishes Hull Beddict had come off that well.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 03 November 2013 - 05:01 PM, said:

worry, on 03 November 2013 - 04:08 AM, said:

Finished Iron Council. Still processing it, but I think I liked it almost as much as The Scar. I would definitely rate them Scar > IC >> PSS, even if I'm not quite able to elucidate why yet. It was definitely my favorite milieu, I know that.

The swamp stuff is some of the most beautiful writing in all of fantasy. ...

IC has some of the best world building in the series. THE SCAR is brilliant but doesnt range as far and wide .

[worry]

That's a very interesting comparison that didn't occur to me.

Spoiler

There's even lifelong parallels with the complicity/guilt and the developing martyr/savior complexes. And as much as I love Hull, and SE's general tendency to let readers piece things together for themselves, I do think his treatment of Hull is one of the few too-distanced stories in the series. In fact I would call it curiously at-arm's-length relative to almost any other character. And where it works (for me at least) with someone like Redmask, and still mostly works with Hull, there is definitely something that always nags at me about it, re: missed opportunity.

Now IC also has several instances of what I'd call missed opportunities, pitfalls in MC's writing (his action scenes rarely pop for me), but the whole "anamnesis" of Judah's development and the rise of the Iron Council would be mostly excepted from that. I genuinely loved that middle section, the swamp in particular, and Weather Wrightby is one of my favorite non-protagonist characters in the trilogy; a great encapsulation of simultaneously what's so admirable and what's so downright abominable in such captains of industry.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

Briar King, on 03 November 2013 - 02:05 AM, said:

Was that regular Sisko or Ascended Sisko? That's if I remember the DS9 finale right I think he pulled a Wesly Crusher type thing.

Circa beginning of DS9 Sisko. Just plain outsmarts him

Spoiler

with Quark's help by drugging his Romulan ale.