[stone monkey]

I've probably said this before, but Ash isn't a fantasy novel. Much like

Spoiler

Richard Morgan's A Land Fit for Heroes trilogy

it's actually a cunningly hidden sf novel. The fantastic elements in it do have an explanation and it's not magic.

[Mentalist]

Fininshed "Hawkmoon". very meh. full review in the Moorcock ded thread.


next-"dawn of Swords" by David Dalglish & Robert J. Duperre

[Morgoth]

Ancilliary Sword. I know I said I would have preffered the first book to have been left to itself, but I still very much enjoy the sequel.

[Macros]

About 1/3 of the way into unseen academicals.
Better than raising steam so far

[Obdigore]

Morgoth, on 23 October 2014 - 06:03 AM, said:

Ancilliary Sword. I know I said I would have preffered the first book to have been left to itself, but I still very much enjoy the sequel.

After finishing Sword I feel like 'this is it?'

Seems like the climax of the book was very meh to me, yet I had trouble putting the book down during the second half.

[worry]

Halfway into The Gone-Away World. Harkaway shoulda called it The It's-Going-Away-Soon-I-Promise-Just-Let-Me-Talk-About-Everything-Else-First-Please World.

[Defiance]

Decided to start reading some books from the Halo EU. To my surprise, I'm really enjoying myself so far (well, 2 of the 3 that I've read). It's nice to do some lighter reading once in awhile, and the quality of writing isn't half-bad.

The Fall of Reach detailed the background of the Spartan-II program and more or less serves as a prelude to the events of the first game. I read it over the course of a day. Enjoyable, but it doesn't really have much of a structure to it. It jumps like 27 years just to give some info on the events that lead the the Pillar of Autumn arriving at Halo. So, the background info was nice, but there wasn't really much build up to a climax/meaningful resolution.

The Flood was a novelization of the first game and is an excellent example of how not to write a book based on a game. The author took 0 artistic license, and that's a real problem when you consider that Halo: Combat Evolved is 8 hours of running through corridors shooting at things with a little story spaced throughout. And that's all this fucking book was. Spartan 117 shooting, reloading, changing weapons, killing more shit. Literally, like 85% of the book was that. The dialogue was copied word-for-word from the game. Not to mention there were some absurd inconsistencies. In the game you can only carry two weapons because, hey, it's an aspect of the gameplay. In this book, he never carries more than two weapons because...it would be "damn heavy". This is a guy in power armor that can flip a fucking jeep with one hand. He's supposed to be able to lift like a ton or more. HE DOES SO IN THE FUCKING BOOK. This was so god damn stupid that I nearly stopped reading the book right there. I mean, the book was already horrible, but it was amusingly bad - it was funny to see just how little imagination the author had when writing it. But the sheer stupidity of following the gameplay mechanics to the letter just made me want to bash my head into the wall. The book's only redeeming quality was the subplots - some PoVs from soldiers infected by the Flood, and what some of the other marines did after the crash on Halo. All-in-all, one of the worst books I've ever read.

First Strike went back to the author of Fall of Reach rather than the god awful one who shat out The Flood. It details the events that take place between the first two games (basically, Chief's trip home). It's a hell of a lot more eventful than you would have ever thought, and a ton of fun to boot. It took everything good about the first book and amps it up to eleven. This time, there's build up to an actual climax, and a good payoff at the end, too. I also found myself liking a lot of the different characters - they weren't just annoyances getting in Master Chief's way.

Moving on to Ghosts of Onyx later tonight. Hopefully it's as good as the other Nylund books.

[Chance]

worry, on 23 October 2014 - 08:33 PM, said:

Halfway into The Gone-Away World. Harkaway shoulda called it The It's-Going-Away-Soon-I-Promise-Just-Let-Me-Talk-About-Everything-Else-First-Please World.

Does it seem worth the bother so far? Got about a couple of chapters in some time ago and only found it rambling along rather then actually catching my interest.

This post has been edited by Chance: 25 October 2014 - 03:02 PM

[worry]

I like it but I don't love it. There have been occasions (the early chapter that largely features Master Wu, for instance, or later the interactions between the shopkeep and his wife and kids) that have been incredibly strong, like he's a motormouth version of Vonnegut, and then there's moments where the literary tricks he's pulling off are thinner and more transparent, and just come off as half-cooked rambling. I've accepted that it's his style here, that I will encounter both crests and troughs, and I won't know if it was "worth it" till the end.

[amphibian]

Hawk, the new Vlad Taltos book, is perhaps the most Vlad focused in a while. That's a good thing as it finally moves the characters forwards to a place where the overall meta plot can progress.

Well written caper plot, but perhaps with a strong flavor of resignation and tiny hopes for a better future.

[McLovin]

Finally completed SOLDIERS LIVE. Good enough I guess, but it seems if that's how it was all going to end we could have gotten there a couple books ago.

Still on A NEW DAWN. Still fairly meh.

[Traveller]

Red Seas under Red Skies.

It's been a while since I read the first one. I'm enjoying this, but like the first one, I would have been happy reading about a load of heists and scams in this setting without everyone finding out who they are right away.

I don't know, I guess it's better for the story but when the bondsmagi appeared in this too I groaned a bit.

We'll see how it goes, I'm pretty hooked at the moment.

[Morgoth]

Obdigore, on 23 October 2014 - 04:52 PM, said:

Morgoth, on 23 October 2014 - 06:03 AM, said:

Ancilliary Sword. I know I said I would have preffered the first book to have been left to itself, but I still very much enjoy the sequel.

After finishing Sword I feel like 'this is it?'

Seems like the climax of the book was very meh to me, yet I had trouble putting the book down during the second half.

I had much the same reaction upon finishing the book. I'm not surprised though. From what I understand this is to be a trilogy and Sword was a typical book two in that regard.

[Serenity]

I finished Baxter's The Time Ships at the weekend. It waffled on a bit towards the end but overall I really enjoyed it. Lots of references to H G Wells stories other than The Time Machine, too, which was fun.

Now reading The Night Boat by Robert R McCammon. Neither great nor bad, just pretty average so far.

[Baco Xtath]

Got about 4 hrs into Theft of Swords before quitting; definitely not to my taste. Now I'm listening to Mr. Shivers by Robert Jackson Bennett and the Windup-Bird Chronicles. Both are really good thus far.

Finished reading Retribution Falls. I liked it a lot this go. I think I went in with too high of expectations last time. Anyway, got the next one ready to go though I'm going to read Fevre Dream and Zoo City first.

[Abyss]

WILLFUL CHILD.
And it was awesome.

Comments in the ded-thread.

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 08:07 PM, said:

WILLFUL CHILD.
And it was awesome.

Comments in the ded-thread.

What.

[Morgoth]

Tiste Simeon, on 27 October 2014 - 10:55 PM, said:

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 08:07 PM, said:

WILLFUL CHILD.
And it was awesome.

Comments in the ded-thread.

What.

Yeah. what?!

[QuickTidal]

I'll add to that collective WHAT?!

...but also say that I've started Tad Williams STONE OF FAREWELL, which is already pretty damned good!

[Abyss]

Morgoth, on 28 October 2014 - 07:02 AM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 27 October 2014 - 10:55 PM, said:

Abyss, on 27 October 2014 - 08:07 PM, said:

WILLFUL CHILD.
And it was awesome.

Comments in the ded-thread.

What.

Yeah. what?!

I have foolishly trusting friends.

Also, tranquilizers.