[acesn8s]

Slowly chipping away to book3 in William's Shadowmarch series. I'm torn between loving and being annoyed at all the different interpretations of conflict between the gods. I love how the story changes based on who is telling the tale, I but pretty much need a diagram to keep track of all the deities what what happened. I just don't have the motivation to do that right now, so I'll just let William's hit me over the head with the "clue x 4" later on in the story.

[Serenity]

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2015 - 06:16 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 January 2015 - 06:12 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2015 - 06:09 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 19 January 2015 - 04:58 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2015 - 02:01 PM, said:

Started Patrick Lee's RUNNER last night. Good stuff so far, and man does he get to the action right away. The book takes off like a shot on like page 2!

I have to assume you finished this up with 48 hours. What did you think?

Actually, I put it down (not because I wasn't enjoying it) because I wasn't in a thriller mood, but I'll be picking it back up after Cornwell.

Considering how addictive his first trilo of books were, that's not a good sign.

Oh, not at all. It's fully on me and my reading mood. What I read of it (about ten pages) was really solid, fast-paced stuff. I just needed to read something non-thriller-y after the Vandermeer I'd just read.

I thought Runner was fantastic - hope you enjoy it when you do get to it.



Been a while since I posted for various reasons but I've read the following over the past few weeks:

Revival - Stephen King (ok but nothing special)
Spin - Robert Charles Wilson (really liked this)
The Illustrated Man - Ray Bradbury (brilliant)
Marooned in Realtime - Vernor Vinge (good, but not as good as A Fire Upon the Deep / A Deepness in the Sky (but then they are two of my faves))
The Pagan Lord - Bernard Cornwell (fecking awesome)
The Six Directions of Space - Alastair Reynolds (decent novella)

and at the moment I'm completely addicted to Patrick O'Brian's 'Aubrey/Maturin' series - currently chain-reading my fourth book in a row from the series, they're so addictive (fast becoming my favourite series of all). So:

The Ionian Mission (#8)
Treason's Harbour (#9)
The Far Side of the World (#10)
. . . and currently reading The Reverse of the Medal (#11)

[polishgenius]

Today I finished Lonesome Dove - a high quality Western which concerned itself with aspects of the West one doesn't often see in the stories, that was pleasing. There were some irritations though that held it back from being truly great.


Then I read Ex-Heroes. Good stuff and I'll read more, though it didn't blow my mind the way it apparently does most people's. Partly because while decent stories can be done I find the whole idea of the 'modern' zombie kind of dull, but also because the superhero stuff wasn't quite as good as Samit Basu's Turbulence. Imo.

[Salt-Man Z]

Serenity, on 20 January 2015 - 02:42 PM, said:

I thought Runner was fantastic - hope you enjoy it when you do get to it.

Yeah, it was superb. A little emotion impact at the end, too, which was unexpected. (Dangit, now I want to reread it.)

Currently halfway through my third read of The Urth of the New Sun; I've read The Book of the New Sun 5 times, but I only read its sequel every other time or so. I'm still not a big fan of the first bit when Severian's aboard the ship, but I somehow always forget how good it gets when they arrive on Yesod. Just amazing.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 20 January 2015 - 09:50 PM

[Andorion]

Finished Jemisin's Hundred Thousand Kingdoms. Very good read, though the ending was a bit too pat for me. But I understand Abyss' point now. This book is totally complete in itself. I do not understand the trilogy concept from this book. I don't want to start the second book now

[HiddenOne]

Publication 15, Circular E, Employer's Tax Guide

Taxes are making me insane, as I type this, slowly and inexorably, grinding my tattered soul into a paste, then leavening that paste with salty cold tears and shredded nerve fragments, to be baked on the glowing coals of Fleeting TIme o' the Deadline


But it's almost lunch time; the strains of Schubert coming from my speakers have soothed this rage once again, and so I wait...

[Whiskey Jim]

Taking a small break from Malazan right now. I'm still summarizing DG for the wiki. In audio I'm working on the Dresden series for first time. I've gone through book three. I'm also listening to the Expanse series. Next up next is Cibola Burn. I'm reading The Skinner by Neal Asher. I love everything so far. After that I'll be back to Malazanland.

This post has been edited by Whiskey Jim: 22 January 2015 - 01:57 AM

[Andorion]

Open question to the forum: One of my TRP resolutions this year was to read Sanderson. I have only read the three WoT books he wrote. Which book/series do you recommend I start with?

[Una]

I've been roped into reading non-fiction. I usually don't have the attention span for anything that doesn't have a story in it. A friend gifted me with some books by Atul Gawande and now I have to read them so that I can tell him what I think. I started in on The Checklist Manifesto. Apparently this writer is some American surgeon who has done very well writing books for the general public about insights he's gained from being a big shot doctor at a big fancy hospital. But I'm impressed. He has a very engaging style for sure, and that's a major part of the appeal, but I still can't get over that I'm reading a book where the central thesis is that checklists are good because they help you to make sure you don't miss anything important.

Sometimes, I imagine that I will write a book. Maybe memoirs about being a humble family doctor in an average Canadian community. With the gentle cuteness reminiscent of James Herriot. I have a classmate who has actually managed to get published writing medical romance for Harlequin, pulling from her hospital experience, so that's another way to go. Reading this book is making me think I am going about it all wrong. I should write about something blindingly simple and obvious and use my professional cachet to make it sound insightful. Maybe a book about how people should have hobbies because it helps them from becoming too bored and going crazy. Or maybe about how you should treat your co workers with respect so that the workplace doesn't get all toxic and stuff actually gets done. Pad it out with some anecdotes and away you go....

[Chance]

Andorion, on 22 January 2015 - 04:40 AM, said:

Open question to the forum: One of my TRP resolutions this year was to read Sanderson. I have only read the three WoT books he wrote. Which book/series do you recommend I start with?

Warning this might sound very critical, it is in fact only modestly critical since I've enjoyed several of his books such as Warbreaker, the two Reckoners and belive his Stormlight Archive is pretty decent. It really depends on how many repetitions on the same theme's you wish to read. Sanderson has with the exception of the WoT books (and some of it certainly got into those three books to) more or less used the same themes and often the same story telling devices in different places, it makes most of what he writes seem very much the same old story.

If you want to read him at his best go Stormlight Archive, if you want to go through piles of at best mediocre books start elsewhere.

This post has been edited by Chance: 22 January 2015 - 09:59 AM

[QuickTidal]

Finished Cornwell's THE EMPTY THRONE. More of the Uhtred goodness!

Getting back into RUNNER now.

[Puck]

While I was down with a cold I started reading Rob Thurman's Cal Leandros series, you know, for quick easy reads. But now I can't stop! Nightlife was interesting, if a bit choppy story-wise, Moonshine crept up on me and then hit me with not one boring moment, and I'm probably going to start Madhouse tonight. It's rarely that I like something with vampire and werewolves in it. I hate werewolves. But this is hilarious. It's either pages full of action or pages full of laugh-out-loud. Or maybe my humour is just silly

[Cause]

Andorion, on 22 January 2015 - 04:40 AM, said:

Open question to the forum: One of my TRP resolutions this year was to read Sanderson. I have only read the three WoT books he wrote. Which book/series do you recommend I start with?

Avoid:
Warbreaker - Its currently standalone and is in my opinion garbage. He wrote it as an exercise and published it for free to show his readers his process. That was really cool. The book is not.
Elantris - We have an author who writes as fast as ten men, this is one of his worse novels so give it a skip.

Recommend:
Mistborn: 3 core Novels with a sequel trilogy that currently running now. Good books, interesting magic system.
The Reckoners: 2 books and a short story that fall without question as Young adult fantasy. Its easy reading but I had fun
Stormlight Archive: 2 books of 10 are done. Good story but each book is a 1000 pages and the next 8 books will take according to him 16 years to complete so... If that does not through you off though I would highly recommend.
Rithmtist: Great YA fantasy about a magic system based on chalk drawings. Loved it. Quick reading

He also has a ton of short stories. In fact if you want to see if he is the author or you try The Emperors Soul. It's a short story that in 150 pages will give you an idea of what Sandersons own works are like. Bordering on the simple and yet with exciting twists with new magic systems and well written.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished Night Angel trilogy. Good entertaining stuff! The last quarter of the 3rd book is intense!

[Maark Abbott]

About 1/6 of the way through Paksenarrion now. Wondering if I'll see an overarching story beyond character development come out. I'm not bothered if I don't; after all, GRRM's ASOIAF has no discernible overarching storyline (beyond that the Others are going to kill the shit out of everyone) five books in.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 19 January 2015 - 06:12 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 January 2015 - 06:09 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 19 January 2015 - 04:58 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 10 January 2015 - 02:01 PM, said:

Started Patrick Lee's RUNNER last night. Good stuff so far, and man does he get to the action right away. The book takes off like a shot on like page 2!

I have to assume you finished this up with 48 hours. What did you think?

Actually, I put it down (not because I wasn't enjoying it) because I wasn't in a thriller mood, but I'll be picking it back up after Cornwell.

Considering how addictive his first trilo of books were, that's not a good sign.

Re-update. 100 pages into and RUNNER is like wildfire that you can't put down, and there is just enough BREACH-iness to the tone and story to make things super intriguing. It's also hard to not like Sam Dryden...he's pretty badass...possibly more badass than Travis was.

[QuickTidal]

Cause, on 22 January 2015 - 12:12 PM, said:

Andorion, on 22 January 2015 - 04:40 AM, said:

Open question to the forum: One of my TRP resolutions this year was to read Sanderson. I have only read the three WoT books he wrote. Which book/series do you recommend I start with?

Avoid:
Elantris - We have an author who writes as fast as ten men, this is one of his worse novels so give it a skip.

This was his first book, you gotta give him a break, and in the end ELANTRIS is a GREAT story...his prose and structure needed polishing at that point, but it's not a bad book by a long stretch.

[Gorefest]

Maark, on 22 January 2015 - 01:29 PM, said:

About 1/6 of the way through Paksenarrion now. Wondering if I'll see an overarching story beyond character development come out. I'm not bothered if I don't; after all, GRRM's ASOIAF has no discernible overarching storyline (beyond that the Others are going to kill the shit out of everyone) five books in.

Ah, but there clearly is an arc. The utter beauty of ASOIAF is that GRRM tells everyone from the very start (GoT prologue) what the main story arc is going to be, it gets heavily hinted at and coloured in throughout the books, it is even in the series title, and then still he manages to blind the vast majority of the reader (and viewer) base into focusing on silly human conflicts like who will occupy the throne, while the whole world is about to go into full meltdown around them. It is delicious in its deviousness.

[Maark Abbott]

Same conclusion I drew: Everything is going to die when the Others come over the wall, and the storyline focuses around both the petty conflicts that flare across Westeros and the futility of them.

My prediction for the end of the series is that the Others get past the wall, and that's where GRRM leaves it, with us knowing that everything and everyone will die.

[amphibian]

Maark, on 22 January 2015 - 01:29 PM, said:

About 1/6 of the way through Paksenarrion now. Wondering if I'll see an overarching story beyond character development come out. I'm not bothered if I don't; after all, GRRM's ASOIAF has no discernible overarching storyline (beyond that the Others are going to kill the shit out of everyone) five books in.

Yes, one or three of those do come into being.

But Paksenarrion has to become a paladin in order to get going on them and the characters you've already met and are going to meet have to develop themselves before they can get going on those too.

Moon is really a stickler for "logical step by step development". Nobody jumps in a situation wholly unprepared.