[Andorion]

Finished Nevernight by Jay Kristoff and I liked it a lot. Great little assassin book.

Currently 50% into Illuminae by the same author and I love that book as well

[crazymags]

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan

[Maark Abbott]

Nearing the end of Deadhouse Landing. It's been very inconsistent at best - the pivotal scene where Dancer and Kellanved enter the Deadhouse was very rushed, very vague. It feels as though ICE was having to forcibly rush the story along within a defined word count. A compelling argument against both.

[Salt-Man Z]

Maark Abbott, on 07 February 2018 - 08:30 AM, said:

the pivotal scene ... was very rushed, very vague.

You've, uh, read ICE before, yes?

[JPK]

I'm at about 50% on VanderMeer's Veniss Underground. How did he get less creepy in his published works over time? Also, where do I get access to the drugs this guy has obviously been getting his inspiration from? 4ft tall sentient malevolent meerkats and Living Art...

Why is this still my before bed reading?

[Mentalist]

40% into "Heroes Die". Don't feel the urge to swear yet.

The overall premise reminds me of Hard to Be a God . Except where Strugatskys' Institute sent its people in for historical modeling, Stover's Studios do teh same purely for entertainment.

Still, neat story.

at home, I'm about 3/4s into "The Gone-Away World", and the big realization just happened. I've had a few questions about things being oddly omitted up to that point, but the plot was moving so nicely I didn't really stop to question them.

[Maark Abbott]

Salt-Man Z, on 07 February 2018 - 04:22 PM, said:

Maark Abbott, on 07 February 2018 - 08:30 AM, said:

the pivotal scene ... was very rushed, very vague.

You've, uh, read ICE before, yes?

Yeah, I have. I suppose it's been a while since I last did and I was therefore expecting more.

I finished it this morning anyway. It's probably a 6/10 if I'm being generous. The important bits evince why rushing parts of a book is always a bad idea - they gave the information, sure, but it was like an amazon delivery banged through the letterbox with nary a care, as opposed to a singing telegram.

Well, no weeping. It's time, boys. Time for the last part of the Coffers Quadrilogy. WHO ARE THE DUNYAIN *thrust thrust*?!?!

[Aptorian]

I agree with, Maark. Deadhouse Landing did feel like it was rushing. The book could have been twice as long and the book could have benefitted from it. Way too many scenes or events that seemed to just happen with too quick a succession.

Still I really liked the book.

[Maark Abbott]

I wish I had liked it more but the rush prevented that. As you may have noticed, Goose, I'm more one for a lovely stroll than a hecking dash. I suppose it comes from years of playing grappler characters in fighting games, I'm used to the slow, leisurely life, me.

I fully expect Bakker II:IV to be a slog and I am ready. After that... Not sure. I have a few bits on the TRP. Maybe some more Kate Elliott.

[Mentalist]

for a mix of dark and exposition-based, you can try Kameron Hurley's "The Mirror Empire"

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Halfway through Green Mars and I'm still enjoying it. I find myself skimming the sections about lichen and krummholz more and more quickly as I go.

Spoiler

Sax was just arrested. The idiot deserves it for fucking Phyllis. WHAT DID YOU THINK WAS GOING TO HAPPEN!?

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 08 February 2018 - 12:52 PM

[Abyss]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 08 February 2018 - 12:52 PM, said:

Halfway through Green Mars and I'm still enjoying it. I find myself skimming the sections about lichen and krummholz more and more quickly as I go.
...

Yeah, that's how it started. Then I realized it's half the book or more and lost interest.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished Le Guin's The Dispossessed the other night. Very good, made me think in a way not a lot of books have for a while.

Going for something a little more fluffy, I started Delilah Dawson's Star Wars: Phasma last night. The present-day/frame story is being told in the present tense, which is driving me bonkers.

[worry]

I started Fool's Assassin and I love Robin Hobb.

Spoiler

On Fitz aka Holder Tom being addressed by his stablemaster:

Quote

"Holder Tom!" he cried in his cracking voice. "Shouldn't you be dancing with the fine folk in the Great Hall?"

Like many another oldster, his years had diminished his regard for the differences in our status.

[at this point I'm like, Dang, Fitz, have you really changed that much since I last saw you? Turned into a real fancy lad?]

Quote

Or perhaps it was that he'd seen that I could shovel out a stall with the best of men, and he therefore respected me as an equal.

[oh man, Fitz, you're as humble and right-minded as ever. I shouldn't have doubted you.]

Just a couple lines and Hobb deliberately spun my head around, righted me, and put me right back into one of my favorite POVs of all time, like it was nothing.

[JPK]

I finished both Blindsight by Watts and Veniss Underground by VanderMeer last night.

Blindsight was very good intelligent sci-fi and I feel like intelligence-wise I'm a human to Watts' vampire.

VanderMeer's Veniss Underground was the craziest book I've read since Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. If you enjoy VanderMeer's work, I do recommend reading this, though not necessarily right before bed. I definitely had some odd dreams while reading this.

Next up are Hobb's Assassin's Quest as serious fare and Eames' Kings of the Wyld for a break from the darkness.

[Aptorian]

worry, on 09 February 2018 - 12:50 AM, said:

I started Fool's Assassin and I love Robin Hobb.

Spoiler

On Fitz aka Holder Tom being addressed by his stablemaster:

Quote

"Holder Tom!" he cried in his cracking voice. "Shouldn't you be dancing with the fine folk in the Great Hall?"

Like many another oldster, his years had diminished his regard for the differences in our status.

[at this point I'm like, Dang, Fitz, have you really changed that much since I last saw you? Turned into a real fancy lad?]

Quote

Or perhaps it was that he'd seen that I could shovel out a stall with the best of men, and he therefore respected me as an equal.

[oh man, Fitz, you're as humble and right-minded as ever. I shouldn't have doubted you.]

Just a couple lines and Hobb deliberately spun my head around, righted me, and put me right back into one of my favorite POVs of all time, like it was nothing.

That's one thing I do remember about the assassin books. Fitz was an intensely likable character. So was the fool.

[Mentalist]

finished "The Gone-Away World" . Solid ending, had to re-read that last fight, because it was such a neat moment of awesome.

Also, one chapter from the end of "Heroes Die" , and Caine is one devious bastard.

[JPK]

Mentalist, on 10 February 2018 - 08:02 PM, said:

finished "The Gone-Away World" . Solid ending, had to re-read that last fight, because it was such a neat moment of awesome.

Also, one chapter from the end of "Heroes Die" , and Caine is one devious bastard.

So, has it lived up to all the fucking hype?

[polishgenius]

Mentalist, on 10 February 2018 - 08:02 PM, said:

finished "The Gone-Away World" . Solid ending, had to re-read that last fight, because it was such a neat moment of awesome.

Also, one chapter from the end of "Heroes Die" , and Caine is one devious bastard.

'Tupperware moment' has become part of my internal lexicon but I almost never actually use it outside my head coz so few people I know would understand it.

[Baco Xtath]

JPK, on 10 February 2018 - 05:57 PM, said:

I finished both Blindsight by Watts and Veniss Underground by VanderMeer last night.

Blindsight was very good intelligent sci-fi and I feel like intelligence-wise I'm a human to Watts' vampire.

VanderMeer's Veniss Underground was the craziest book I've read since Ellis' Crooked Little Vein. If you enjoy VanderMeer's work, I do recommend reading this, though not necessarily right before bed. I definitely had some odd dreams while reading this.

Next up are Hobb's Assassin's Quest as serious fare and Eames' Kings of the Wyld for a break from the darkness.

Veniss Underground is awesome. I really need to re-read it. Try Vandermeer's Borne and Strange Bird. They're similar in craziness and there's a third Three Astronauts (or something) coming out soon. They're not as creepy but they definitely have their moments.