[polishgenius]

It's very very different, but if you like the Southern Reach books and you haven't read the Ambergris sequence yet, you're in for a treat- I found the earlier work to be stronger.

[Mentalist]

Finished Simon Morden's "Arcanum"

It's a very slow-burning book. The genre is alternative history. The premise is: Christianity never happened, and Earth had magic. The Roman Empire was destroyed by Germans wielding powerful magic.

Then Feudal Europe happened, and most of the world's magic ended up concentrated in a small German mountainous state of Carinthia, which for several centuries prospered in peace due to its wondrous magitech and the powerful sorcerers it could call upon to defend itself.

And then the magic suddenly goes away.

"Arcanum" is less about the fantasy than it is about change. It's about how living at a time of momentous changes allows all kinds of misfits to achieve greatness. When all of a sudden it no longer matter where you come from anyone with merit can achieve great things.

The story is properly more tragedy than anything else, it certainly isn't a happy tale. Morden portrays human virtues and human vices, all driven to the extreme by changing circumstances.
It's not a great literary work, but it certainly is an interesting one.

next up, since it laterally arrived 2 days ago, I will be reading "Seal of the Worm", the 10th volume in Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Shadows of the Apt" series.

[Andorion]

8th chapter in GGK's Lions of al Rassan. This author is remarkable. It's not that the plot he is unfolding, not even the characters he is creating (though they are very enjoyable) it's the way he does it all, the way he tells his story, crafts his language, that elevates the book. In this he reminds me of Rothfuss. What GGK is really good at is creating a world. When he writes about the faded glories if al Rassan, it's very real. This tangibility of the world is a huge bonus point

[Nicodimas]

polishgenius, on 10 January 2015 - 09:27 PM, said:

It's very very different, but if you like the Southern Reach books and you haven't read the Ambergris sequence yet, you're in for a treat- I found the earlier work to be stronger.

Wait..what..

Amazon is your friend.

buy's more books...

guys..GUYS!! i have a reading problem.

[JPK]

Audiobook: just finished listening to Undeniable: Evolution and the Science of Creation by Bill Nye. It was also narrated by Bill Nye which took this book to a 8/10 for me. The book was made a lot of good points about how solid the evidence for creation is but there was very little in this book that isn't common knowledge. Still, I think it's worth a read or listen on the simple grounds that it's short and Bill Nye is pretty awesome (even if slightly less than respectful to creationists).

Now I'm starting another short one: Dune Messiah.

This post has been edited by The Incredible Kitsu: 11 January 2015 - 06:27 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

I honestly have a hard time separating the events of Dune and Messiah.

[Abyss]

Just finished Hearne's IRON DRUID: SHATTERED on audiobook. Story wise, the book takes a long while to get to any sort of point but has enough forward motion to keep me engaged. Hearne does play to his strengths in working with less written mythologies... He has some fun with Indian, Japanese and lots more Celtic. His werewolves are better too
Audio wise the reader does Atticus and Granuile quite well... But his Owen is annoying and his Oberon is atrocious... He's a dog, not an imbecilic child.
Still in for the next book tho.

[JPK]

Yeah, this is my second time through Messiah but I never made it all the way through Children. It was around ten years ago the last time I tried and my scifi teeth hadn't really grown in yet. I plan on reading/listening up through Chapterhouse: Dune and then stopping as I have no intention to read anything else by Kevin J Anderson in this lifetime.

[amphibian]

You are doing this Dune trek right.

The wiki summaries of the not-to-be-read books will let you know what Frank Herbert's ultimate design was.

Actually reading those books will show you how badly it was botched.

I hope the Herbert family now has enough money to have no further need to spoil things.

[acesn8s]

I'm curious to see where Abyss' burnout point is on Iron Druid. I over indulged this summer and fall. I ended up stepping away from reading for a while, (playing Skyrim for the first time might have helped).

I finished Shadowplay last week. I'll be starting Cornwell's The Empty Throne this week. I've been looking forward to the next Uhtred book.

[Andorion]

Finished Lions of Al-Rassan and I have to say I have fallen in love with GGK's writing. I intended to start Jemisin now, but I have already picked up Sailing to Sarantium

[QuickTidal]

acesn8s, on 12 January 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

I'm curious to see where Abyss' burnout point is on Iron Druid.

About halfway through the 3rd book was my burn-out point.

[acesn8s]

I made it through 6.

[polishgenius]

I read the first one, and while it wasn't unentertaining, there's so many other urban fantasy series since then that I've enjoyed more that I've just never felt the urge to go back.


What was weird was that despite, at first glance, being perhaps the basic setup with the most difference from Dresden Files out of all the contenders to the throne, out of all the ones I've read it feels by far the least different in terms of its tone and all that.

[T77]

Finished Promise of Blood by Brian McClellan, the first book in his powder mage trilogy. I believe this was his first published novel too. I thought it was a solid effort, but not without its flaws. I think he has potential and I am already reading the second book The Crimson Campaign and it seems a bit better than the first book so far.

[Baco Xtath]

Started reading the Folding Knife and Three Parts Dead. Only about 20 pages or so into each but so far so good. 3/4 through listening to Foxglove Summer, 2 hrs into the Pale King, and 4 hrs into Teckla - all really good in completely different ways. Next up, Providence of Fire, hell yeah.

Edit: Finished Shotgun Arcana last night. Awesome stuff. But it should have been 1000+ pages instead of 400. So many POVs could have had more screen time and the last battle sequence could have easily been twice as long if not more. Still, loving this series.

This post has been edited by Baco Xtath: 13 January 2015 - 02:58 AM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 12 January 2015 - 05:17 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 12 January 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

I'm curious to see where Abyss' burnout point is on Iron Druid.

About halfway through the 3rd book was my burn-out point.

acesn8s, on 12 January 2015 - 08:48 PM, said:

I made it through 6.

polishgenius, on 12 January 2015 - 09:16 PM, said:

I read the first one, and while it wasn't unentertaining, there's so many other urban fantasy series since then that I've enjoyed more that I've just never felt the urge to go back.


What was weird was that despite, at first glance, being perhaps the basic setup with the most difference from Dresden Files out of all the contenders to the throne, out of all the ones I've read it feels by far the least different in terms of its tone and all that.

It has flaws, and some of the books I was down to bare skimming... But while the characters are just engaging enough, the world he's working with is a fun read... I haven't read much Celtic mythology, or American aboriginal, and he worked nicely with both. Plus you have to admire the balls on an author who wil have his protagonist go to a pub and do pints with Jesus.
Can't hold a candle to Dresden, Aaronovich, Carey or many others, but a fun enough read/listen.

[McLovin]

Decided to re-enter the world of Shannara with JARKA RUUS.

[acesn8s]

Abyss, on 13 January 2015 - 05:20 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 12 January 2015 - 05:17 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 12 January 2015 - 01:50 PM, said:

I'm curious to see where Abyss' burnout point is on Iron Druid.

About halfway through the 3rd book was my burn-out point.

acesn8s, on 12 January 2015 - 08:48 PM, said:

I made it through 6.

polishgenius, on 12 January 2015 - 09:16 PM, said:

I read the first one, and while it wasn't unentertaining, there's so many other urban fantasy series since then that I've enjoyed more that I've just never felt the urge to go back.


What was weird was that despite, at first glance, being perhaps the basic setup with the most difference from Dresden Files out of all the contenders to the throne, out of all the ones I've read it feels by far the least different in terms of its tone and all that.

It has flaws, and some of the books I was down to bare skimming... But while the characters are just engaging enough, the world he's working with is a fun read... I haven't read much Celtic mythology, or American aboriginal, and he worked nicely with both. Plus you have to admire the balls on an author who wil have his protagonist go to a pub and do pints with Jesus.
Can't hold a candle to Dresden, Aaronovich, Carey or many others, but a fun enough read/listen.

I prefer the way Charles DeLint handles Native American and Celtic mythos. I did get a chuckle with the Buddy Jesus scene in the pub.

[Abyss]

McLovin, on 13 January 2015 - 12:37 PM, said:

Decided to re-enter the world of Shannara with JARKA RUUS.

While there are still a lot of Brooks' usual elements, I enjoyed this. He did shake up a few things... Brianne is probably one of his most interesting protagonists.