[Andorion]

Finished Niven's Destroyer of Worlds. This book escalated quickly. Book by book, I am finding Nivens universe more and more immersive

[Abyss]

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.

I disliked it less than many but hardly loved, except for the last scene which was enough to propel me into BTAH, which improves, and then LAST ARGUMENT, which was suitably epic and propelled me to his standalones that I've only enjoyed.
I understand why some don't get past his first book but I think a lot of fantasy fans are cheating themselves. But hey, I've said the same about SE more than once.

[Serenity]

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?

Um, possibly not quite as much as you, but I did enjoy it very much

Finished Willful Child. Didn't think that much of it, tbh, but then I generally don't like books that try so hard to be funny (and this one tries a little too hard, imo). Oh well.

Now reading The Curse of the House of Foskett by MRC Kasasian.

[Maark Abbott]

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.

I suppose I found my appeal in Glokta, because he's a character I can very much identify with in that he's a crass, bitter misanthrope who takes great delight in the foibles and foolishness of others.

[McLovin]

Completing the Saint arc of the gauntcrack with SABBAT MARTYR.

[QuickTidal]

McLovin, on 02 December 2014 - 04:35 PM, said:

Completing the Saint arc of the gauntcrack with SABBAT MARTYR.

That is my FAVOURITE volume of that arc. Hands down. The final chapters of that book are incredibly well paced. Enjoy!

[Andorion]

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Also in the middle of Nivens Betrayer of Worlds. I like quite a few of the concepts deployed here, but I am hoping for a big splash soon, coz the narrative for the last few chapters has been a bit monotonous.

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 02 December 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Gaunt's Ghosts is Dan Abnett's main WH40K series (the Horus Heresy book take place way earlier and are written by a bunch of different authors) which which documents the efforts of the Tanith First-And-Only, a highly skilled yet unappreciated light infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. They are led by Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt.

In order:

First and Only (1999)

Ghostmaker (2000)

Necropolis (2000)

The Founding (2003)

Honour Guard (2001)

The Guns of Tanith (2002)

Straight Silver (2002)

Sabbat Martyr (2003)

The Saint (2007)

Traitor General (2004)

His Last Command (2005)

The Armour of Contempt (2006)

Only in Death (2008)

The Lost (2009)

Blood Pact (2009)

Salvation's Reach[a] (2011)

[Andorion]

Thanx......lots of books then. Wonder if these are different in tone fromthe Heresy books? I always thought a bit of humour would have helped.

[firvulag]

Andorion, on 02 December 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Also in the middle of Nivens Betrayer of Worlds. I like quite a few of the concepts deployed here, but I am hoping for a big splash soon, coz the narrative for the last few chapters has been a bit monotonous.

The most appealing thing I found about Gaunt's Ghosts was that they're just regular men (and later in the series, women) and not functionally immortal killing machines like the Space Marines. As such they're much more relatable.

As for humour, the closest thing you'll find in the 40k universe would be Ciaphus Cain. He features in a series of novels that are set out like a memoir about his exploits as an Commissar, albeit one who will do anything to avoid conflict, and only fights when there is literally no other choice. Amusingly, his actions are almost always misinterpreted as some form of heroic deed, especially when they inadvertently result in victory. He pretty much blunders his way from one success to another, and reading his stories always put a smile on my face. The Ciaphus Cain novels are written by Sandy Mitchell and are worth checking out

This post has been edited by firvulag: 02 December 2014 - 08:03 PM

[amphibian]

Andorion, on 02 December 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Also in the middle of Nivens Betrayer of Worlds. I like quite a few of the concepts deployed here, but I am hoping for a big splash soon, coz the narrative for the last few chapters has been a bit monotonous.

The humor comes in the Ciaphas Cain books, which is sort of a lazy, yet brilliantly violent soldier with a trusty sidekick goes around accidentally being a hero. It's written in a way that's sort of a long, humorous eulogy in episodes/adventures by his off/on girlfriend - who is a terrifyingly intense inquisitor herself.

As for the Gaunt's Ghosts - it's a grim, well-written story of a group of regular human soldiers. It seems sort of fluff, then it sinks in and the story arcs become rather meaningful. Abnett is a great writer.

As for the Horus Heresy, skip anything by James Swallow. He's not good at writing in the way the others are. Read all the Abnett books, the Nick Kyme ones and the McNeill ones. The Dembski-Bowden books are uneven with some parts being rather good/fun and others clunky.

The Ciaphas Cain and the Gaunt's Ghosts books are the best series in all of WH40k. However, Abnett has written some of the best works in the Horus Heresey books - especially Legion and Prospero Burns. The thing about the Horus Heresy books is that they focus very heavily on the Space Marines, who are hyperviolent warrior monks, and there's not much interaction beyond friendship/betrayal/enemies between them. The better authors in the series work in regular humans to show the scale, as well as showing the Emperor and his magnificence/power and the power/evil/neutrality of the other powers/species in the universe.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 02 December 2014 - 08:10 PM

[McLovin]

QuickTidal, on 02 December 2014 - 05:37 PM, said:

Andorion, on 02 December 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Gaunt's Ghosts is Dan Abnett's main WH40K series (the Horus Heresy book take place way earlier and are written by a bunch of different authors) which which documents the efforts of the Tanith First-And-Only, a highly skilled yet unappreciated light infantry regiment of the Imperial Guard, during the Sabbat Worlds Crusade. They are led by Colonel-Commissar Ibram Gaunt.

In order:

First and Only (1999)

Ghostmaker (2000)

Necropolis (2000)

The Founding (2003)

Honour Guard (2001)

The Guns of Tanith (2002)

Straight Silver (2002)

Sabbat Martyr (2003)

The Saint (2007)

Traitor General (2004)

His Last Command (2005)

The Armour of Contempt (2006)

Only in Death (2008)

The Lost (2009)

Blood Pact (2009)

Salvation's Reach[a] (2011)

Just like to add that The Founding collects books 1-3, The Saint collects books 4-7, and The Lost collects books 8-11.

Also, it took me the better part of a year to collect the set and I'm still missing books 4 and 13. They can be hard to find (at a reasonable price, anyway). There's even a Games Workshop store in my area and they didn't have them.

[QuickTidal]

McLovin, on 02 December 2014 - 08:11 PM, said:

Just like to add that The Founding collects books 1-3, The Saint collects books 4-7, and The Lost collects books 8-11.

Also, it took me the better part of a year to collect the set and I'm still missing books 4 and 13. They can be hard to find (at a reasonable price, anyway). There's even a Games Workshop store in my area and they didn't have them.

Sadly those are out of print. I had no trouble getting the first two when I began my GG readings, but the 3rd was hell to find at a reasonable price. I think BL is reissuing them all in single "Classic" labelled single volumes very slowly. Nowhere I looked could I find recent printed copies of the omnibuses. The BL site has listed them as "unavailable" for months now.

That said, used bookstores might still have them kicking round.

[D'iversify]

Finished Rushdie's The Satanic Verses in the past couple of days. Inconsistent but very good when it is good (the sections on Mecca/Jahiliya are especially good/hilariously blasphemous.

[JPK]

I just finished reading Under Heaven by GGK, and will finish listening to Perdido Street Station by China Mieville either late tonight or early tomorrow.

I absolutely loved Under Heaven and plan to read more of his work soon. I think I'm going to start with Ysabel next since it's the one most people seem to find his weakest work. Since all I've read of his so far was this one and the Fionavar books (and I still enjoyed those) I don't think I'll be biased by his stronger works.

As for Perdido Street Station, I really don't have anything to say about this beyond what has already been said by both myself and others. Mieville is a twisted genius and to risk repeating myself, John Lee is a great narrator for this. He's super easy to listen to and really brings the characters to life.

Now I'm going to hop back into The Broken Eye with all intentions to finish it within the next few days. I'm hoping I broke out of my fantasy rut.

TL;DR : Currently working on:
Hardcover: The Broken Eye
Listening: Legion: Skin Deep (as soon as I finish Perdido Street Station)
E-book: Ex-Communication

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 02 December 2014 - 09:16 PM, said:

What's a good starting point for 40K?

The Gaunt books I'd say. Starting at FIRST & ONLY by Dan Abnett.

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 02 December 2014 - 08:08 PM, said:

Andorion, on 02 December 2014 - 05:30 PM, said:

Could somebody enlighten me on Gaunts Ghosts? The only books of the Warhammer 40000 universe I have read are the Horus Heresy books and I thought that after the first 3-4 books things kind of wandered off.

Also in the middle of Nivens Betrayer of Worlds. I like quite a few of the concepts deployed here, but I am hoping for a big splash soon, coz the narrative for the last few chapters has been a bit monotonous.

The humor comes in the Ciaphas Cain books, which is sort of a lazy, yet brilliantly violent soldier with a trusty sidekick goes around accidentally being a hero. It's written in a way that's sort of a long, humorous eulogy in episodes/adventures by his off/on girlfriend - who is a terrifyingly intense inquisitor herself.

As for the Gaunt's Ghosts - it's a grim, well-written story of a group of regular human soldiers. It seems sort of fluff, then it sinks in and the story arcs become rather meaningful. Abnett is a great writer.

As for the Horus Heresy, skip anything by James Swallow. He's not good at writing in the way the others are. Read all the Abnett books, the Nick Kyme ones and the McNeill ones. The Dembski-Bowden books are uneven with some parts being rather good/fun and others clunky.

The Ciaphas Cain and the Gaunt's Ghosts books are the best series in all of WH40k. However, Abnett has written some of the best works in the Horus Heresey books - especially Legion and Prospero Burns. The thing about the Horus Heresy books is that they focus very heavily on the Space Marines, who are hyperviolent warrior monks, and there's not much interaction beyond friendship/betrayal/enemies between them. The better authors in the series work in regular humans to show the scale, as well as showing the Emperor and his magnificence/power and the power/evil/neutrality of the other powers/species in the universe.

OK, so that puts some context to the whole thing. I always felt the Space Marines thing was a bit silly. They are overpowered. And as for Horus and his brothers, its like having the human equivalent of King Kong on your side. Now regular humans with a bit more nuance would be nice.

BTW I am still trying to incorporate your sci fi recos into my fantasy TBR. Was planning to go back to fantasy after Niven, and now everything exploded again! But thats good. Book explosions are good explosions

[Mentalist]

Finished "Quantum Thief". It was a weird, weird, book. I think I understood what it was about, but I'm not sure.

Given how spoiled for reading choice I am again, think I'll give "Arcanum" by Simon Morden a shot next.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Whispers Under Ground and on the whole enjoyed it.

Reading a random book called Black as Snow by Nick Nolan now which seems fairly readable based on the first quarter or so. It was on sale on the Kindle store for like a quid so I thought I'd check it out.

[QuickTidal]

Finishing up A NEW DAWN by John Jackson Miller...and it's quite good. It's not great, but it's a really decent new Star Wars story featuring new characters and none of the touchstones that thge authors in the EU used to cling to (ex. I've got a bad feeling about this). It fleshes out the meeting of Hera and Kanan well, and features a host of believable side chaarcters. It's well penned, if simplistic in tone.

Probably going to start FIRST MAN IN ROME by McCullough next.