[Mentalist]

QuickTidal, on 16 August 2014 - 02:03 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 15 August 2014 - 09:05 PM, said:

200 pages in, good, but not really mindblowing yet.

I'll finish this promptly, because now I have Assail waiting for me.

The mind-blowing comes at the end.

Trust us. You're going to want book 2.

I have finished it.

Might be me having read too much genre fiction, but I found that the foreshadowing (of which there`s always lots when dealing with

Spoiler

people who can see the future

pretty much gave most of the story away.

The fact that

Spoiler

the Nazi tech fell into the Soviet hands

was a bit of a surprise, because I didn't really think that far. But the whole

Spoiler

Marsh's kid will be the child of doom

thing seems a giveaway.

I'll keep reading, but I wouldn't consider it "mindblowing".

Anyway, will be reading "Assail" now.

[Morgoth]

Assail. I'm a little surprised by how pleased I am to be back in the malazan world, but I'm finding ICEs prose to be stilted and at times very poor. It's a strange shift from his previous, where he was closer to SE in quality.

Might be he needs time to find his stride again. I've only gotten 50 or so pages into the thing.

[Traveller]

I've been so put off by the way he writes that I've yet to read Blood and Bone or Assail. He was getting better during OST but I wasn't really into the story much.

I just wish SE had written these instead - I would have waited.

[QuickTidal]

Traveller, on 18 August 2014 - 09:26 AM, said:

I've been so put off by the way he writes that I've yet to read Blood and Bone or Assail. He was getting better during OST but I wasn't really into the story much.

I just wish SE had written these instead - I would have waited.

^^This is me too.

[End of Disc One]

Yeah I'm a little more than a third of the way through Assail, and it seems to be plodding along like BaB did. It has its moments but they're too few. I think the prose is just fine, I just wish there were more "holy shit" moments and characters that I care about. Unlike most people on this forum, I prefer Esselmont when he's writing in established settings (OST, RotCG).

This post has been edited by End of Disc One: 18 August 2014 - 01:38 PM

[Abyss]

Morgoth, on 18 August 2014 - 08:38 AM, said:

Assail. I'm a little surprised by how pleased I am to be back in the malazan world, but I'm finding ICEs prose to be stilted and at times very poor. It's a strange shift from his previous, where he was closer to SE in quality.

Might be he needs time to find his stride again. I've only gotten 50 or so pages into the thing.

QuickTidal, on 18 August 2014 - 11:02 AM, said:

Traveller, on 18 August 2014 - 09:26 AM, said:

I've been so put off by the way he writes that I've yet to read Blood and Bone or Assail. He was getting better during OST but I wasn't really into the story much.

I just wish SE had written these instead - I would have waited.

^^This is me too.

Just to have both sides of the coin on the table, i seriously enjoyed ASSAIL and thought that it was ICE's best writing yet. I thought that all his best elements were at work in this book and better.


On the reading side of things, Hurley's GOD'S WAR is moving along nicely.
Slowed down by the Marvel Meth as seems to be usual these days with anything that isn't in my 'read immediately' author list.

[McLovin]

Put aside ALTERED CARBON to start THIEVES WORLD.

[QuickTidal]

Tried out THE MONGOLIAD, and it was an unholy mess that's trying to be clever. I loved, loved, loved the premise. But the execution is just bad.

Paula Volsky's ILLUSION is DENSE...it's great, but dense enough that I'm taking breaks between reading chapters with lighter fare. Of which I've chosen Mary Stewart's 3rd Merlin book THE LAST ENCHANTMENT...and I might, might, might pick up an Urb Fant anthology for breezy cottage reading. Either that or I'll finally give Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series a go.

[Baco Xtath]

Almost finished listening to Magician's Land; probably my favorite of the series. Also started Singularity Sky and Hard-boiled Wonderland at the End of the World. Both good so far.

Halfway through reading Ship of Fools. I'm really liking this; reminds me a bit of Event Horizon. Next up, Tigerman and then Echopraxia, Peter Watts's new sequel to Blindsight.

[Abyss]

McLovin, on 18 August 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

Put aside ALTERED CARBON to start THIEVES WORLD.

Let us know how you find THIEVES... i'm curious how well it ages.

[Macros]

QuickTidal, on 18 August 2014 - 02:31 PM, said:

Tried out THE MONGOLIAD, and it was an unholy mess that's trying to be clever. I loved, loved, loved the premise. But the execution is just bad.

Paula Volsky's ILLUSION is DENSE...it's great, but dense enough that I'm taking breaks between reading chapters with lighter fare. Of which I've chosen Mary Stewart's 3rd Merlin book THE LAST ENCHANTMENT...and I might, might, might pick up an Urb Fant anthology for breezy cottage reading. Either that or I'll finally give Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series a go.

I liked the idea of the Mongoliad but reading a bit more into how it was put together I just avoided it, TRP is large enough without something that seems like its going to let me down

[amphibian]

I'm reading the first book of the Mongoliad right now. Decided to put the beginning of Magician's Land of some more.

So far, seventy percent in, I think this is actually quite good. The history works, the characters are interesting and the tactics are sound.

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 18 August 2014 - 05:16 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 18 August 2014 - 02:31 PM, said:

Tried out THE MONGOLIAD, and it was an unholy mess that's trying to be clever. I loved, loved, loved the premise. But the execution is just bad.

Paula Volsky's ILLUSION is DENSE...it's great, but dense enough that I'm taking breaks between reading chapters with lighter fare. Of which I've chosen Mary Stewart's 3rd Merlin book THE LAST ENCHANTMENT...and I might, might, might pick up an Urb Fant anthology for breezy cottage reading. Either that or I'll finally give Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels series a go.

I liked the idea of the Mongoliad but reading a bit more into how it was put together I just avoided it, TRP is large enough without something that seems like its going to let me down

I don't know if it's the multiple author input that stalls it out for me, or what. It's a great idea, but I disliked the execution.

[Macros]

Lord Gator, on 18 August 2014 - 10:17 PM, said:

Macros how's Rome?

Circa 700 pages in, took me a while to into the groove with the names, but I'm enjoying it, Rutilius' letters are always good

[Ukjent]

amphibian, on 18 August 2014 - 06:33 PM, said:

I'm reading the first book of the Mongoliad right now. Decided to put the beginning of Magician's Land of some more.

So far, seventy percent in, I think this is actually quite good. The history works, the characters are interesting and the tactics are sound.

Just to bad it just get plain wired in the 5. and 6. book. The three first are entertaining.

[QuickTidal]

It's been decided. I'm taking Ilona Andrews MAGIC BITES to the cottage weekend (read the short story prequel and much enjoyed). Sidenote: Had no idea that Ilona was actually a Russian ex-pat until I watched an interview with her and her husband co-writer. That's cool, and it sounds like she brings at least a LITTLE Russian folklore to the Kate Daniels series.

Also bringing the first Wilbur Smith Courtney's book WHEN THE LION FEEDS...and the latest National Geographic (yes, I still occasionally read magazines).

[firvulag]

Lord Gator, on 19 August 2014 - 04:18 AM, said:

I never read back covers of series in progress incase of spoilers for the current read.

I'm struggling pretty bad with these past 66 pgs of The Dreaming Void. I wasn't expecting this long time gap from the other 2 bks. It's really dif in tone and very strange to try and get into. Anyone that's read this trilogy does it pick up and become awesome?

I'm a huge fan of Peter F. Hamilton and with the Dreaming Void trilogy I can say that it definately picks up. I was initially more put off by the bits focusing on that young guy in the village; his chapters pop up throughout the first book and didn't really do anything for me. However, it all starts coming together later on and ends up working really well.


Stick with it, if you liked the previous books in the universe, you should like these.



Just finished reading Space Eldritch, which is an anthology along the lines of Cthulhu plus sci fi (though not specifically Cthulhu). Was pretty disappointing, some of the stories were ok but most were pretty boring. Currently reading 14 by Peter Clines which I'm enjoying a lot more. Got it based on a recent recommendation, can't remember who but thanks!

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Lord Gator, on 19 August 2014 - 04:18 AM, said:

I never read back covers of series in progress incase of spoilers for the current read.

I'm struggling pretty bad with these past 66 pgs of The Dreaming Void. I wasn't expecting this long time gap from the other 2 bks. It's really dif in tone and very strange to try and get into. Anyone that's read this trilogy does it pick up and become awesome?

Yeah, I think it does become more enjoyable. However, it is definitely a lot different than the Commonwealth Saga. I'd say that you should keep at it, but be warned that some parts in the Void are a bit annoying.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 19 August 2014 - 01:48 PM, said:

It's been decided. I'm taking Ilona Andrews MAGIC BITES to the cottage weekend (read the short story prequel and much enjoyed). Sidenote: Had no idea that Ilona was actually a Russian ex-pat until I watched an interview with her and her husband co-writer. That's cool, and it sounds like she brings at least a LITTLE Russian folklore to the Kate Daniels series.

Also bringing the first Wilbur Smith Courtney's book WHEN THE LION FEEDS...and the latest National Geographic (yes, I still occasionally read magazines).

You read Andrews? That series has been one of my biggest guilty secrets/pleasures

[Andorion]

Cocoreturns, on 15 August 2014 - 10:46 PM, said:

Grimjust Bearegular, on 14 August 2014 - 08:24 AM, said:

Now I'm reading The Thousand Names, the first book in the Shadow Campaign-series by Django Wexler, and so far it looks really promising. It's a military/history-oriented fantasy, and reminds of MbotF in a lot of ways, especially in the interaction between soldiers, and how the entire army is put together...I'm actually looking forward to reading more, which is rare these days

thought it was okay on first read,

just finished re-read last week and found it a fair bit better than i remembered.

Also, just finished the sequel as it happens. Pretty good, couple of gripes:

Spoiler

Orlanko is portrayed as a shadowy mastermind, but frankly he gets out-thought by everyone who goes against him.

Still not revealed much of Valnich's background - motivations, etc, are still a mystery.

Overall though, enjoyed it, and i think its one of the first fantasy books i recall reading where there's a lead character who's a lesbian and her sexuality isn't a plot point.

The relationship between Winter and Jane is portrayed as being entirely normal, which of course it is, as it's written from Winter's pov, and nobody makes a big deal out of it.

It's a nice change to some (aka Ringil in Morgan's stuff)

Wexler is a pretty good author and the battle descriptions in the first book were really good. Agree totally on the Orlanko thing. Have you read Brian Mcclellan' Promise of Blood?