[worry]

He's really good at delayed gratification. I can see why that might annoy others, but I think it's one of the best qualities of MS&T.

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 11 March 2015 - 03:57 AM, said:

Andorion, on 11 March 2015 - 02:42 AM, said:

Briar King, on 10 March 2015 - 05:47 PM, said:

You should find Into the Darkness and put it down quickly since you read fast.

This is Harry Turtledove. right? Yeah I have been meaning to read more of him. I loved his Guns of the South. Another good alternate history write is Robert Conroy

Yes as Abyss said some of the povs are tedious and nerve grating but the World is great and they way he writes the darkest period in our recent history in a completely fantasy setting is fantastic. Plus if you had no knowledge about history it would read perfectly as its own fantasy series on that alone. It was a win/win for me cause I like history and fantasy. Turtledove isn't for everyone though. As a matter of fact I've never read any of his books other then these 6 and probably won't unless he decides to write this sets prequel WW1 called the 6 yrs War in Darkness. I'd def pick those up.

Ed: names are cringe worthy though in these bks. Ex: King Swimmel, Ealstan etc ugh. It's def GoT style though since its war. Some povs bite it in bk 1 while others are glorious and bite it in bk 5-6. Makes it have a RL in war feel. No one is safe in war.

I enjoyed his BALANCE series way more... reptilian aliens invade Earth during WW2, are wholly unprepared for the level of tech they encounter even tho it's still inferior to theirs.

worry, on 12 March 2015 - 12:00 AM, said:

He's really good at delayed gratification. I can see why that might annoy others, but I think it's one of the best qualities of MS&T.

The series just didn't work for me on so many levels. Too much delay for relatively little gratification. I read the whole damn series and was never properly gratified. I found the characters largely whiny and waffling.

Also (FINAL BOOK SPOILERS)

Spoiler

I cannot deal with a book that has elves singing at each other as a means of battle. No. Just no.

[worry]

It's been a long long time since I read it (I hardly even recognize most of the names QT mentions) but I just didn't have any problem with those elements.

If I had any complaints then,

Spoiler

they're simply that the series finale/climax was too fantasy-by-the-books and a little limp as a result. No main character deaths, a few secondary character deaths, and so it lands too squarely in the evil vanquished/heroes celebrate mold.

[Maark Abbott]

Finishing up The Trans Company of Colour just now. I have to say, it has at times felt disjointed, but still well worth the read.

After this I'll be onto Pronunciation for Dummies by Bakker.

[HiddenOne]

Had a road trip yesterday, so I started reading "Before They are Hanged" It's got my attention so far, really enjoyed The Blade Itself"

[Tiste Simeon]

I am about to start a book called The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain Bluebear: A Novel by Walter Moers. I have not heard of him or the book before but it looks pretty entertaining.

[acesn8s]

Finished book 1 in the Libriomancer series. It was okay, but I think I have enough other books to be read to queue to pick up book 2.

[QuickTidal]

Finished Sanderson's FIREFIGHT, and really enjoyed it. Enough switched up from the story in the first book in the series to be really entertaining. The world building is nice and typically cryptic in Sanderson's way. I don't know if I like the lead, David, much. He goes against the "team" grain too much for my liking...endangering people and shit...and his whole bad pun thing was cute for about 5 seconds...now it's just effing annoying. Otherwise this is a great book and entry in the Reckoners series. Looking fwd to CALAMITY next year.

Started into TO GREEN ANGEL TOWER PART 2 by Tad Williams this morning, and I'm already enjoying being back in the thick of it. That first chapter (after the cliffhanger ending of the first Part) was an absolute DOOZY.

Spoiler

Very glad that the three Norn attackers didn't seem to succeed in their attack on Camaris...but then the ghost of Geloe on the road of dreams seems to indicate that was not Utuk'ku's plan anyways...which freaks me the fuck out and I'm wondering what the three attacking Norn's purpose was.

It will be sad to finish the series to be honest. I love these characters and this world. At least he's writing more in Osten Ard though, so silver lining.

[Maark Abbott]

Finished The Trans COmpany of Colour. The ending felt really rushed; it seemed to me that

Spoiler

Croaker just miraculously had a sudden epiphany that the Lady is evil, and with that just suddenly realises that Darling is the White Rose

. Enjoyable beyond that.

Now I get to play with Bakker. Diacritics everywhere! At last, I'm not the only writer who's abusing macrons and diaresis and cedillas. Huzzah!

[Slow Ben]

Starting the Night Angel Trilogy for the first time tonight.



Don't know squat about it other than I've heard it recommended a few times.

[firvulag]

Finished book 6 of the Nightside series which ends an major ongoing story arc. From my understanding, the rest of the series is pretty much stand alone so may leave it for a while. Instead I'll be starting Ash: A Secret History by Mary Gentle. Considering how slight the Nightside books have been it'll be interesting to read something so huge. So far, all 6 Nightside books would collectively add up to the same length as Ash, with room to spare if I've got the numbers right. Never read any of her work so I'm looking forward to experiencing a new author.

[Abyss]

Finished the audio of Grossman's THE MAGICIANS. Overall I enjoyed. It drags at points and tries a little too hard at times to grind away any sense of wonder the reader may have developed over the college of magic university elements, but as a complete read it held my attention, created a believable, interesting world and delivered and fairly massive story for a single book. Have already started the sequel, also in audio.
In dead tree I have Wooding's KETTY JAY 2 BLACK LING CAPTAIN about a third of the way. Still good fun.

[worry]

I still haven't finished the trilogy, but the second Grossman book is more satisfying than the first IMO cuz it leaves behind some of the more obnoxious/abrasive Bret Easton Ellis-isms (w/o necessarily damaging the characterizations he's created) and ramps up some of the fantasy/adventure elements. It definitely has much less of that "trying too hard" feel.

[acesn8s]

I picked up The Alchemist in the Shadows, by Pierre Pevel. It's book 2 in his Cardinal's Blades series. I'm hoping book 3 will be made available in ebook format before too long.

[T77]

Finished Blood and Bone by ICE. I was on the fence about ICE - I liked NoK and OST, but thought RotCG and SW were just OK, so I put this one off. I'm sorry I did as I loved this book - it felt very much like a SE Malazan book. I really liked the jungle setting, and I thought his writing really improved. I am already reading Assail. I hope it doesn't disappoint and it continues with the quality of BaB. Having ICE being able to write even close to SE's level means more quality Malazan books - which would be a big win as nothing is better than a good Malazan novel.

This post has been edited by T77: 16 March 2015 - 02:14 PM

[Gust Hubb]

Reading Alloy of Law

[Rictus]

Shadow of the Torturer is making me feel stupid. Actually, every book of his of his I've tried just confounds me. The story grinds on and on, and I'm left empty handed and lost. Frustrating stuff.

Finished Hawkwood's Voyage by Kearney and started The Heretic Kings, Pretty solid stuff, a touch unimaginative what with all the alternative medieval Europe vibes. But if anyone can turn a setting like this into something great, it's Kearney. He did the same with The Macht and I expect no less here. This gentleman is a fucking hero from where I'm standing.

[Salt-Man Z]

And speaking of Gene Wolfe...

I'm currently reading the Stories anthology edited by Neil Gaiman and Al Sarrantonio. For two reasons, really: (A) It's been sitting on my nightstand for like a year and a half, now, and (B) It contains one of my favorite Wolfe stories ("Leif in the Wind") and Pirate Freedom was so good I want to keep reading Wolfe for a little bit, and so I'm reading the whole anthology for the first time (and really looking forward to the Wolfe.)

Anyway, Stories is--as any anthology is wont to be--a bit of a mixed bag. Pushing halfway through, and my easy favorites so far are Neil Gaiman's "The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains" and Joe Lansdale's "The Stars Are Falling".

[amphibian]

Rictus, on 16 March 2015 - 06:52 PM, said:

Shadow of the Torturer is making me feel stupid. Actually, every book of his of his I've tried just confounds me. The story grinds on and on, and I'm left empty handed and lost. Frustrating stuff.

The best entry point to Gene Wolfe is The Knight, followed by The Wizard.

What he does in most of his books is to use the "writing in a diary" approach by the hero of the story - but most times, there's sub-text and possible evasions/cover-ups of something sneaky going on as well.

In the New Sun books, Wolfe particularly plays around with Severian's need to romanticize Thecla, embiggen himself as an honest person and throws in a bit of Shakespeare in an actual play being thrown that has all kinds of allusions to stuff in our real world and Severian's world.

In The Knight and The Wizard, the hero, Sir Able of the High Heart, is much more straightforwards and easy to glom onto as a reader. It's also a more straightforwards reinvention of Arthurian/Northern European legends and mythology.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 16 March 2015 - 07:31 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

I read New Sun first, and actually had a much easier time figuring out what was going on than with Wizard Knight (which I read shortly thereafter.)

Gah, still need to read the Latro books (and I own 1-3 plus the omnibus)!