[Andorion]

About 30% through Jeff Salyards Veil of the Deserters. Vast improvement on the first book. I am getting the impresssion that Salyards is actively working and concentrating on writing gritty soldier narratives as well as bloody and bleak battles

[polishgenius]

I finished Assail yesterday, liked it a great deal.

Now started on Blindsight. About halfway through, it's good so far but not great.

[Spoilsport Stonny]

Finished Red Country last night. Abercrombie's books are just straight up fun to read. I wish there were more.

Thinking I might go back to reading some classics I've skipped on. Always wanted to read William Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Probably will read that next.

[worry]

I just started Red Country myself last night. Just the first chapter.

Finished In Cold Blood as well. Book is haunting and I have the notion it will stick with me the rest of my life.

[Salt-Man Z]

polishgenius, on 08 September 2014 - 05:49 PM, said:

I finished Assail yesterday, liked it a great deal.

I've been working on it for almost 3 weeks now, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through. It's not terribly written, but it's not terribly exciting either.

[QuickTidal]

Started the second Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels book MAGIC BURNS and it's already more of the goods. GREAT urban fantasy that belongs up with the likes of Butcher, Carey, and Aaronovitch.

[JPK]

Salt-Man Z, on 08 September 2014 - 10:14 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 08 September 2014 - 05:49 PM, said:

I finished Assail yesterday, liked it a great deal.

I've been working on it for almost 3 weeks now, and I'm about 1/3 of the way through. It's not terribly written, but it's not terribly exciting either.

I'm having the same issue at the halfway mark. I can see a lot of the groundwork that's being laid but it's just not sinking it's hooks into me as I thought it would.

In other news, I finished The Silver Spike and started Guards! Guards! as my traveling book.

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2014 - 11:07 PM, said:

Started the second Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels book MAGIC BURNS and it's already more of the goods. GREAT urban fantasy that belongs up with the likes of Butcher, Carey, and Aaronovitch.

Needs more Catherine Webb on that list (Matthew Swift series).

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 09 September 2014 - 01:29 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2014 - 11:07 PM, said:

Started the second Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels book MAGIC BURNS and it's already more of the goods. GREAT urban fantasy that belongs up with the likes of Butcher, Carey, and Aaronovitch.

Needs more Catherine Webb on that list (Matthew Swift series).

Catherine Webb is excellent, but I get where QT is coming from. Kate Daniels is badass.

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 09 September 2014 - 02:00 AM, said:

amphibian, on 09 September 2014 - 01:29 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 08 September 2014 - 11:07 PM, said:

Started the second Ilona Andrews Kate Daniels book MAGIC BURNS and it's already more of the goods. GREAT urban fantasy that belongs up with the likes of Butcher, Carey, and Aaronovitch.

Needs more Catherine Webb on that list (Matthew Swift series).

Catherine Webb is excellent, but I get where QT is coming from. Kate Daniels is badass.

She really is.

[Tiste Simeon]

After a week or so of not reading anything really, I have now started Assail. I feel good seeing all those familiar terms again!

[McLovin]

Finished ELVEN STAR. All the grating characters I've come to expect from Weis & Hickman, none of anything that made book 1 semi-interesting. I'm officially out.

Returning to the Black Company with WATER SLEEPS.

[Andorion]

75% into Veil of the Betrayer and I am continuously wondering how awesome it would be if the Syldoon had access to the Malazan Marine Heavy Assault Crossbows.

[Abyss]

McLovin, on 09 September 2014 - 11:10 AM, said:

Finished ELVEN STAR. All the grating characters I've come to expect from Weis & Hickman, none of anything that made book 1 semi-interesting. I'm officially out.
...

Fwiw, STAR was by far the weakest book in the series. In fact, Star was the most tedious of the ten or so books by them that i have read (and i read the whole DARKSWORD series so that's really saying something) and if i didn't have #3 FIRE SEA standing by i likely would have bailed too.

You've read two and dropped it, so i'm not trying to change your mind or anything, but Fire was where Weis and Hickman started getting creative and darker and putting the epic in the fantasy story they were trying to tell and the scope expands, the history fills out a bit, the characters become less irritating archetypes and the bigger/more interesting conflicts start to crystallize. The book has a few genuinely wtf moments of fantasy gold that were utterly lacking in Star.

[Chance]

McLovin, on 09 September 2014 - 11:10 AM, said:

Finished ELVEN STAR. All the grating characters I've come to expect from Weis & Hickman, none of anything that made book 1 semi-interesting. I'm officially out.

Listen to Abyss...Fire Sea is worth testing at least. Thought if you got black company stuff lying about it can't compare.

[Andorion]

Finished Salyards, can't wait for the next installment. Now in a bit of a bind as to what to read next:
1. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (I asked the forum a coupel of months back about this and the yeas and naes were split down the middle)
2. Richard Morgan's Sci-fi books,
3. Scott Bakkers Prince of Nothing books,
4. Scott Westerfeld who writes books like Leviathan and Behemoth. Bit hazy about the genre but the blurb seems a bit steampunky maybe?

So, suggestions?

[Tiste Simeon]

Andorion, my thoughts for what they're worth...

1. Only ever read the first WoT. It was OK but by all accounts the series gets pretty naff.

2. I read Morgans' Kovacs books. The first one especially was excellent. I personally found they got worse but there are only 3 of them and the 3rd one still has some good stuff in there. Definitely worth reading.

3. Ugh. Prince of Nothing was a terrible series. I'm of the "don't waste your time on this boring pretentious tripe" persuasion. I know loads of people on here will tell you otherwise but from about 3/4 of the way through book 1 it was a drag and I only kept going because I thought something was actually going to happen. It didn't.

4. Not read these books but from what I can tell they are pretty good. Also if you're going to read Leviathan, you need to listen to the Mastodon album of the same name whilst doing it! It is unrelated AFAIK but it's a great album! \m/

[D'iversify]

Andorion, on 10 September 2014 - 05:17 AM, said:

Finished Salyards, can't wait for the next installment. Now in a bit of a bind as to what to read next:
1. Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time (I asked the forum a coupel of months back about this and the yeas and naes were split down the middle)
2. Richard Morgan's Sci-fi books,
3. Scott Bakkers Prince of Nothing books,
4. Scott Westerfeld who writes books like Leviathan and Behemoth. Bit hazy about the genre but the blurb seems a bit steampunky maybe?

So, suggestions?

I'd say go for Bakker, but I'm highly partisan.

WoT is very good but is a significant reading commitment (lots of pages and stuff you know). It is also a bit dated in some people's view and definitely suffer from EFSB (Epic Fantasy Saga Bloat).

Though on the plus side, you can start reading it without having to wait 12 years for the finale.

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 10 September 2014 - 05:17 AM, said:

4. Scott Westerfeld who writes books like Leviathan and Behemoth. Bit hazy about the genre but the blurb seems a bit steampunky maybe?

I can chime in here. These are YA, but they are QUITE unique, and decently written. WWI by way of steampunk. It has the added bonus of being filled with great art.

Oh and I'm also in the crowd with Simeon who will tell you to skip Bakker. He's up his own ass, and the books are meh.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 10 September 2014 - 10:39 AM

[polishgenius]

Bakker's the baws. The first trilogy takes some effort to get into but it's worth it, and the first two books of the second trilogy are brilliant.