[Andorion]

Finished Larry Nivens Fleet of Worlds. Really liked the progressively increasing darkness in the book

[QuickTidal]

Finished Iggulden's LORDS OF THE BOW and really, really enjoyed it. Much more than the first book. Great interplay throughout and the battle sequences are wonderfully done.

Going to either start MAGIC BLEEDS by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels book #4) or John Jackson Miller's REBELS tie-in book STAR WARS: NEW DAWN. Depends what I'm in the mood for.

[amphibian]

Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon is a short, pretty good monster hunt. It starts off a bit grisly, but is kinda wholesome. The writing isn't fantastic, but it's meant to evoke the 1001 Nights a bit. I liked it.

I also demolished the entire Miles Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Extremely good in the whole, some of the books are a bit shaky by themselves. She does a great job of keeping Vorkosigan himself from being a Mary Sue/Sherlock character and the capers/plots/enemies are interesting throughout. She does seem to have a thing for only writing about white people as main characters - except for the very last book, Cryoburn. All in all, I would recommend them to others.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 27 November 2014 - 04:14 PM, said:

Finished Iggulden's LORDS OF THE BOW and really, really enjoyed it. Much more than the first book. Great interplay throughout and the battle sequences are wonderfully done.

Going to either start MAGIC BLEEDS by Ilona Andrews (Kate Daniels book #4) or John Jackson Miller's REBELS tie-in book STAR WARS: NEW DAWN. Depends what I'm in the mood for.

Go for Daniels! Things get intense.

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 27 November 2014 - 05:00 PM, said:

Saladin Ahmed's Throne of the Crescent Moon is a short, pretty good monster hunt. It starts off a bit grisly, but is kinda wholesome. The writing isn't fantastic, but it's meant to evoke the 1001 Nights a bit. I liked it.

I also demolished the entire Miles Vorkosigan saga by Lois McMaster Bujold. Extremely good in the whole, some of the books are a bit shaky by themselves. She does a great job of keeping Vorkosigan himself from being a Mary Sue/Sherlock character and the capers/plots/enemies are interesting throughout. She does seem to have a thing for only writing about white people as main characters - except for the very last book, Cryoburn. All in all, I would recommend them to others.

Would you recommend Ahmed? Also is it a standalone or first in a series?

[Andorion]

Finished Nivens Juggler of Worlds. Very nice narrative structure this series has. The second book starts up way before the first book, catches up to the first book where the PoV on a couple of first book scenes get reversed and then overtakes the first book. The character of Ausfaller is really funny. So many conspiracies....

[polishgenius]

Andorion, on 27 November 2014 - 05:21 PM, said:

Would you recommend Ahmed? Also is it a standalone or first in a series?

It's the first in a series.

Btw, I have to say, I find it kind of odd how you frequently quote a positive review of a book in here and ask the poster if they recommend it.

Myself, I found it decent enough, but fairly average. I enjoyed it but it didn't leave a lasting impression on me. I'm not rushing to get the sequel.

[amphibian]

Andorion, on 27 November 2014 - 05:21 PM, said:

Would you recommend Ahmed? Also is it a standalone or first in a series?

It's the first of a series, but he hasn't put out the second yet. Not sure if it's still being written or already in.

I wouldn't bump it to the top of a To Read Pile, but do wander over and check it out. Ahmed does do the Egyptian / Middle Eastern flavor well in a way that specifically calls back to the less bugfuck crazy versions of the 1001 Nights.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 27 November 2014 - 11:30 PM

[Serenity]

Finished Shogun (finally!) and now reading Willful Child. Finding it mildly amusing but not particularly involving so far.

[QuickTidal]

Considering it's Star Wars trailer day, I've started A NEW DAWN by John Jackson Miller. So far it's good. It's really weird to read Star Wars book without the timeline of EU books at the start. I guess becuase this is the first in the new story canon. It's got a nice little forward by Dave Filoni.

[Baco Xtath]

The Incredible Kitsu, on 26 November 2014 - 09:52 AM, said:

Baco Xtath, on 25 November 2014 - 11:06 PM, said:

Just finished the Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes; it was good. Can't say I necessarily liked listening to the POV of a serial killer but it ended up being a pretty damn good listen overall. About halfway through Endymion. Not as good as I remember it being but still it passes the hours of work.

Think I'm going to listen to the Thousand Names next.

I'm looking forward to reading what you think on that one. I've been curious about Wexler for awhile now but have been trying to cut back on how many books I buy. If you get hooked I'll likely spend a credit on it soon.
I'm currently listening to Perdido Street Station. As fantastic as this book was to read, it's even better to listen to. The narrator (John Lee) is fantastic and absolutely nails the voice for Yagharek. Oh, and in other news... S. Moths are still terrifying.

I'm 1/3 through the Thousand Names. It's pretty good. Nothing mind-blowing or outstanding. Thus far, everything has taken place within an army in the midst of a military campaign. Barring a couple scenes, there's been no magic or anything fantastical. As for recent fantasy debuts, I wouldn't yet rank this amongst Blood Song, Emperor's Blades, the Red Knight, Promise of Blood, or the Grim Company. However, it's still been pretty compelling and if things pick up, I could see this being really good.

[Maark Abbott]

I've finished The Blinding Knife and have now moved on to Before They Are Hanged by Joe Applecrumble (First Law II).

[Traveller]

Briar King, on 29 November 2014 - 03:36 AM, said:

Serenity, on 28 November 2014 - 10:24 AM, said:

Finished Shogun (finally!) and now reading Willful Child. Finding it mildly amusing but not particularly involving so far.

So did you find Shogun epic as hell like me?

How could he not? It's Shogun goddamn it!

[Maark Abbott]

Briar King, on 29 November 2014 - 06:54 PM, said:

Why not move onto Broken Eye while it's all fresh?

'tisn't in paperback yet, and I've no room for any more hardcovers now. Base pragmatism, alas.

[McLovin]

About 3/4 of the way through TARKIN, and while major events and characters if the EU have been wiped out, a lot of old EU detail has been retained. Names of systems and sectors, the organization of the Empire (which originally appeared in West End's RPG sourcebook), ship classes, and so on. It is also nice to see references to events in TCW. It's gotten pretty interesting. I like this one way better than A NEW DAWN.

[QuickTidal]

McLovin, on 30 November 2014 - 05:36 PM, said:

About 3/4 of the way through TARKIN, and while major events and characters if the EU have been wiped out, a lot of old EU detail has been retained. Names of systems and sectors, the organization of the Empire (which originally appeared in West End's RPG sourcebook), ship classes, and so on. It is also nice to see references to events in TCW. It's gotten pretty interesting. I like this one way better than A NEW DAWN.

I'm reading NEW DAWN (enjoying), and I'll probably read TARKIN too. What I like so far is an ability of the cast to hearken back to the Old Republic era (eg. Skelly being a Clone Wars survivor) while moving forward to the Rebellion era. I found too often in the EU that the OT-era books only paid lip service to what came before and liked to retcon things the particular author didn't like (Karen Traviss was NOTORIOUS for this and Del Ray always had to "deal" with her). The New Story Canon squad is assuring that it doens't happen, and I feel this must make the auhtors working in it now rest easy that the things that happened happened and there is now no way around that. No retconning and bullshit.

[polishgenius]

This weekend I read, on recommendation, Generation V, the first in the same-titled urban fantasy series by ML Brennan. I'm very glad I did see the rec, because I'd never have read it on my own - the cover is hysterically bad and the premise is based around vampires, but I really enjoyed it. Clever, snarky, inventive fun with just a little bit of serious thrown in. I'll defo be reading more.

[worry]

Finished Range of Ghosts. First time reading E. Bear. She really knocks world-building out of the park, and her writing style is completely immersive. I see this series classified as "young adult" often, and I suppose that's true, but in this case it's not a euphemism for "all ages". But I guess if you focus on plot alone, which is admittedly pretty fantasy standard (so far), it makes sense. Still, really solid all around and I will continue the series.

Also read Amy Poehler's Yes Please, which is short and adorable just like Amy. I will never understand the passion for improv comedy, but other than that the book's a gem.

I think I will start Willful Child today, even though I know very little about Star Trek. Hopefully enough to get by.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

D, on 02 October 2014 - 03:51 PM, said:

I'm reading The Blade Itself (Abercrombie). Halfway through and finding it rather dull - seems like all the protaganists are just wandering/sitting about doing what they're told. I don't know what any of their ambitions are or why they're doing what they are doing, nor do I know any of the plans of the secondary characters who are ordering the protaganists about. So why should I empathize with Logen (a murderous warrior who's entire current gameplan is "I guess I'll walk through the forest with this guy for a while, I don't even know where we're going"), Glokta ("Gee, I'm vaguely worried I'm an expendable minion to the Arch Lector, but I'm not going to do anything about it") or Jezal ("Waaaah training is so hard, I haaaaate it, waaaaaah, but I can't quit even though I want to and have no reason not to because I'm a total whiny asshat, because this duel will probably be the only interesting action sequence in this entire book, also cringe-worthy juvenile girl-crush from a grown man, waaaaaaaah").

There's some good parts here and there, but it's hard to remember any good stuff after I just got to 5 paragraphs in a row of Jezal looking at himself in the mirror and complimenting himself. He literally thinks via the narrative something like "Had anyone ever had such a magnificent jawline as this?". I think I puked in my mouth a little bit.

I really liked Best Served Cold as a standalone, except for the magic ninja people kinda deus ex machin'ing it, but insofar I don't think I'm going to be inclined to continue the First Law trilogy after TBI.

I got about 120 pages into The Blade Itself and gave up, and I'm having real trouble with the continuing Abercrombie recommendations that fly about within my social circles. Maybe it was a bad pick as his books go, but I just couldn't find anything redeeming in it and found it interminably dull.

[Andorion]

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 30 November 2014 - 08:58 PM, said:

D, on 02 October 2014 - 03:51 PM, said:

I'm reading The Blade Itself (Abercrombie). Halfway through and finding it rather dull - seems like all the protaganists are just wandering/sitting about doing what they're told. I don't know what any of their ambitions are or why they're doing what they are doing, nor do I know any of the plans of the secondary characters who are ordering the protaganists about. So why should I empathize with Logen (a murderous warrior who's entire current gameplan is "I guess I'll walk through the forest with this guy for a while, I don't even know where we're going"), Glokta ("Gee, I'm vaguely worried I'm an expendable minion to the Arch Lector, but I'm not going to do anything about it") or Jezal ("Waaaah training is so hard, I haaaaate it, waaaaaah, but I can't quit even though I want to and have no reason not to because I'm a total whiny asshat, because this duel will probably be the only interesting action sequence in this entire book, also cringe-worthy juvenile girl-crush from a grown man, waaaaaaaah").

There's some good parts here and there, but it's hard to remember any good stuff after I just got to 5 paragraphs in a row of Jezal looking at himself in the mirror and complimenting himself. He literally thinks via the narrative something like "Had anyone ever had such a magnificent jawline as this?". I think I puked in my mouth a little bit.

I really liked Best Served Cold as a standalone, except for the magic ninja people kinda deus ex machin'ing it, but insofar I don't think I'm going to be inclined to continue the First Law trilogy after TBI.

I got about 120 pages into The Blade Itself and gave up, and I'm having real trouble with the continuing Abercrombie recommendations that fly about within my social circles. Maybe it was a bad pick as his books go, but I just couldn't find anything redeeming in it and found it interminably dull.

Briar King, on 30 November 2014 - 11:18 PM, said:

It seems it's very much the GotM of his. You love/hate it, read/skip series all before that book is halfway done. I loved it and they only get more kick ass and then there BSC.... My god BSC is epic.

Is it wrong to have giggled right through the First Law Trilogy? Coz I did.