[Serenity]

Finished HMS Ulysses last night. Good stuff but relentlessly grim.

This morning I made a start on Rainbows End by Vernor Vinge. It's the last of his novels I have to read. Forty pages in, hooked.

[Macros]

Finished The Dark Blood, by A.J. Smith.

En par with the first, good enough to make me want to see where it goes.

[amphibian]

Finch is incredible - in conjunction with City of Saints and Madmen, and Shriek: An Afterword. Vandermeer just jumped way up to near the top of currently working writers in SF.

It's a tremendously well-set up world with a heavy focus on a particularly weird and important city, Ambergris. The first book, City of Saints and Madmen, are interlinked short stories/pieces that bring the reader along with Vandermeer's journey of discovery of Ambergris, the bizarre people and things within it, and how there's meaning, soul, danger and happiness behind the weirdness. It's almost like a travel guide/history with bits of fanciful stories/observations thrown in.

The second book is a personal memoir written by Janice Shriek (whose various careers took her all across the city and dealt with a huge cross-section of people in Ambergris) interlaced with a scathing/mournful commentary by her brother, Duncan, who finds her memoir after she disappears - thinking that he's disappeared for good.

The third book, Finch, is a noir-ish detective story that heavily incorporates much of the foregoing books into an murder mystery instantly turned into a game of spies and plots to take over the world.

It's an incredible writing achievement and I really appreciate how Vandermeer, even as a young writer, set things up so that the world expansions and bizarre/cool new characters could be fit in without bodging or contradiction. It all works - even the tonal shifts in all three books - even though Vandermeer skips nearly every world-shifting event that happens in-universe and plays us readers with the aftereffects.

------

In a bit of synchrony, I also finished The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.

Absolutely deserving of the Pulitzer prize. Very Dickensian without being boring or repetitive. My only criticisms are that it fast-forwards a couple things off-stage, so the intensity of emotions certain characters have regarding certain situations is a bit surprising, and that the main characters don't deal much with average people in-world at all. Everyone is special in their way or has such amounts of money that their weight/effect in-world is large.

It's a good book about being empty of want, then finding one's self being jolted into wanting something, someone, or just... more. There is also a wonderfully intense account of trauma, shitty coping, loneliness, family ties, and life of the non-ideal.

I'll be reading more of Tartt in the next year. She's a strong writer.

[Baco Xtath]

Just finished Greatcoats #2; beautiful. Love this. It's the antithesis of Broken Empire and just as good.

[acesn8s]

I finished The Queen of Fire by Ryan late last night. While not as strong as books 1 & 2, it was a good book and a good ending to a greate series.

Now it is time to plug a huge hole in my read queue. Nine Princes in Amber by Zelazny.

[QuickTidal]

About halfway through Wilbur Smith's first Courtney's book, WHEN THE LION FEEDS, and finding it wonderful so far!

[End of Disc One]

Rapper, actor, and now novelist...Will Smith does it all

[Tiste Simeon]

Obdigore, on 27 July 2015 - 10:56 PM, said:

Finished a re-read of Dresden Files. Skin Games came out in June 2015. WHERES MAH PEACE TALKS?

Are you sure about that?

Reading Transition by Iain M Banks for the 2nd time. I remember massively enjoying it the 1st time round and not much else so I am looking forward to discovering it again.

[Andorion]

Finished Django Wexlers Price of Valour. Excellent book.

Spoiler

The French Revolutionary parallels continue, but I wonder how closely he will mirror them. Vhalnich is a Napoleon counterpart, so if he invades Murnsk/Russia will there be a disastrous winter retreat? Also will there be a Waterloo. Additionally in all the discussions about non-conforming gender roles in fantasy how come nobody mentions Wexler has a main character who is a lesbian? In a pseudo 18th century world?

Also finished Sebastien de Castell's Greatcoats 2. Mind blowing book. I think its in the top 3 books I have read this year. I literally couldn't put it down.

Now reading City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett.

[Macros]

Didn't even know the third shadow campaigns boom was out.
Purchasing now

[Andorion]

And finished City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennet. Really good book. And there is a character who reminds me a bit of Karsa

[End of Disc One]

2/3's of the way through Red Rising and really enjoying it. This is just a ton of fun to read, and so easy to read as well. I can understand the Hunger Games comparisons but this seems so much better so far. I was a bit skeptical before starting the book too.

[EmperorMagus]

Finished listening to "The Fall of Hyperion". The book wasn't boring but I totally understand why people don't like the ending, it was so lackluster.
Also finished reading David Gunn's Death's Head series. Felt like Black Company in space.Fun reads but not too deep, Awesome action though.
I've started reading a series of mil sci-fi books called Sten, it's nothing special so far, but a fun light read.

[Serenity]

I read Jeff Vandermeer's Annihilation over the weekend. The first of his books I've read and I really liked it. I'll definitely read the others.

This morning I've made a start on Peter Watts's Blindsight. I'm trying to get through a few of the more demanding reads I have on my Kindle before I go on jury service later this month.

[Abyss]

Finished the MISTBORN trilogy in earbook. Will post thoughts elsewhere, but overall liked, didn't love.

Started Palanhiuk's DAMNED. Clever enough, but i'm not feeling it. Need to find something else to listen to.

In ebook,started Ryan's BLOOD SONG (...i know, i know, i've been warned...). So far so good.

On the pretty picture side of things, in the Marvel Meth, working my way up to AXIS, i read Peter David's latest X-FACTOR run (the one w Polaris, Gambit and Quicksilver working for a corp). It was, as typical for PAD, brilliant and funny and self-contained and naturally cancelled far too soon.

In dead tree, am just having zero opportunity lately to actually read anything that isn't on my tablet. Consequently, EAST OF WEST and READY PLAYER ONE lie mostly ignored.

[Gabriele]

Briar King, on 03 August 2015 - 01:08 AM, said:

Ok I still absolutely fucking love HBO Rome but after reading most of these Rome 7 bis by Colleen I now know they hollywooded the hell out of the show with Servillia/Brutus, Antony/Ceasar to insane lvls.

Yeah, like the real history isn't crazy enough.

[Grumble]

QuickTidal, on 30 July 2015 - 01:07 PM, said:

About halfway through Wilbur Smith's first Courtney's book, WHEN THE LION FEEDS, and finding it wonderful so far!

Great Series !ENJOY !!! ... Takes me back more years than I would care to remember. I would also recommend his novel The Sunbird ( a personal favourite ) but all his stuff is great.

[QuickTidal]

Grumble, on 04 August 2015 - 05:59 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 30 July 2015 - 01:07 PM, said:

About halfway through Wilbur Smith's first Courtney's book, WHEN THE LION FEEDS, and finding it wonderful so far!

Great Series !ENJOY !!! ... Takes me back more years than I would care to remember. I would also recommend his novel The Sunbird ( a personal favourite ) but all his stuff is great.

Thanks, yeah really quite enjoying it.

[Macros]

Bought and read price of vaolour on Monday, another solid entry in the series. Really keen to find out what janus' ebd game is

[Serenity]

About a third of the way through Blindsight. It's got me by the throat and won't let go.