[Aptorian]

Finished David Mogo Godhunter. Not bad, not great. Just a sort of average urban fantasy story that's made better by the weird and unfamiliar Nigerian setting.

I'd read a sequel but it's not priority reading.

[Abyss]

Aptorian, on 17 July 2019 - 07:38 PM, said:

Finished David Mogo Godhunter. Not bad, not great. Just a sort of average urban fantasy story that's made better by the weird and unfamiliar Nigerian setting.

I'd read a sequel but it's not priority reading.

Lucky for you, the author, who also happens to be a Nigerian National Lottery winning multi-gazillionaire Nigerian Royale Prince of Nigeria, is looking for someone to buy his sequel, and you, YES YOU, can be the first to take advantage of this exclusive opportunity.
Just send me your bank account details, social insurance number, driver's license, three recent photos, and a copy of your birth certificate, and we'll set everything up for you.

[polishgenius]

Aptorian, on 17 July 2019 - 07:38 PM, said:

Finished David Mogo Godhunter. Not bad, not great. Just a sort of average urban fantasy story that's made better by the weird and unfamiliar Nigerian setting.

I'd read a sequel but it's not priority reading.

I liked it more than you did I think but yeah, ultimately it doesn't quite live up to its promise. Still good, but I think a lot of the problem is that it's a bit rushed- this book singly could easily have been a trilogy.

It's fun, but as far as noir-ish African post-societal collapses go, I'd recommend Tade Thompson's Rosewater and Lauren Beukes' Zoo City first.

[Aptorian]

I didn't mind that it was a sort of squished together story, it made the story progress at a solid clip. It was just very formulaic and tropey. Nothing wrong with that but I feel like it was missing something.

I'd have liked it if the author could have done more about presenting Nigeria and it's culture to us. Weirdly, I feel like the protagonists own view of Lagos and by extension Nigeria, only seemed to enforce the concept of African "shithole countries". I'd have liked it if he could have shown us more of the value of their culture and lands. He certainly doesn't sugar coat the fall of civilization.

[Abyss]

Just finished Dickinson's The Masquerade bk 2 THE MONSTER BARU CORMORANT. I liked TRAITOR, but MONSTER i really really enjoyed. In every respect the writing and story were tighter, better, and more gripping.
More in the ded-thread.


Next up, time to visit with Dave and John again in THIS BOOK IS FULL OF SPIDERS, SERIOUSLY DUDE DON'T READ IT.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 04 July 2019 - 03:20 AM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 23 June 2019 - 03:59 PM, said:

Novik's Spinning Silver.

This was enjoyable, especially the rarely seen representation of Eastern European Judaism and folklore. I think Uprooted was a stronger story overall, but this one is absolutely worth the read.

On to Gibson's Count Zero.

Finished this and Mona Lisa Overdrive. They're both fun cyberpunk action books — neither of them are as good as Neuromancer. Still, it was nice to wrap things up for all the characters (except all we get is one line about Case? Lame!).

[amphibian]

Gibson stays with Hollis Henry as the protagonist for the second and third books of the Blue Any trilogy. The Bridge trilogy switched between main characters.

I suspect that he doesn't like to step into the same characters as story teller and will take every other route but that.

[T77]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 19 July 2019 - 09:30 PM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 04 July 2019 - 03:20 AM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 23 June 2019 - 03:59 PM, said:

Novik's Spinning Silver.

This was enjoyable, especially the rarely seen representation of Eastern European Judaism and folklore. I think Uprooted was a stronger story overall, but this one is absolutely worth the read.

On to Gibson's Count Zero.

Finished this and Mona Lisa Overdrive. They're both fun cyberpunk action books — neither of them are as good as Neuromancer. Still, it was nice to wrap things up for all the characters (except all we get is one line about Case? Lame!).

Agreed.

[Aptorian]

Where you at in the story? The Hetan stuff is what I remember being most upsetting but more in an angry sort of way.

[Macros]

Yeah, I was already struggling with the slog when Hetan happened, and it just pissed me off more than anything

This post has been edited by Macros: 20 July 2019 - 06:12 PM

[polishgenius]

I just finished Perfectly Preventable Deaths by Deirdre Sullivan, an Ireland-set coming of age YA fantasy. It's fricking great- imagine if Jacqueline Wilson wrote a book with Neil Gaiman and you're in the ballpark, with mayhap more than a dash of Angela Carter influence in there. I was engaged in the fantasy but also engaged in the teenage girl personal stuff, so really well done there. I know some people would be put off by the YA label but don't be. It's superb.

[Aptorian]

Another productive week.

Managed to finished five books.

David Mogo God Hunter by Suyi Davies Okungbowa. A perfectly okay Nigerian Urban Fantasy book but nothing special.

Mod Stjernerne (Towards the Stars) by Carsten Jensen. The second of three books he's written discussing our modern society. This one focusing on the Youth of the 2010s, climate change and the future of politics.

Ternet Ninja (Chequered Ninja) by Anders Matthesen. A hilarious and very not PC children's book about a ninja plush doll that travels to Denmark to avenge the death of a kid in s sweat shop. He allies with a school boy and nonsense ensues. Excellent book.

Book 5+6 of the Taynikma series by Merlin P Mann/Jan Kjær. Very basic Avatar the Last Airbender knock-off, mixing drawings and text. Still good.

Exit West by Mohsin Hamid. It's a love story/portal-fantasy set in an unnamed Syria-like country. It's about a young couple who meet and fall in love on the eve of a civil war, the horror that surrounds them, drives them into one another's arms.

At the same time magic portals are opening randomly around the world allowing people to walk through random doors and step into other countries. Eventually they escape through a portal to a Greek island and from there to other places far from the Middle East.

It's a meaningful love story but also an interesting "what if" story about what would happen if borders ceased to matter and tens of millions of refugees started to rush into Western Countries unchecked.

I'm not really one for Love stories but this is an excellent little book. The writing feels effortless, the narrative just flows. It's a book that's just enjoyable to emerse yourself into.

I was so smitten that I immediately made an order for another book he's written called "How to get filthy rich in rising Asia".

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 21 July 2019 - 08:22 PM

[worry]

Menopause.

[Cyphon]

Been a while since I've posted in this thread so quite a few things I've got through;

Greatcoats series was great. I can see why it gets a lot of love on the forum. Enjoyed the Alexander Dumas vibe, sense of consequences to actions and set of flawed and believable characters in a well built world.

Also read Dark Matter by Blake Crouch . Good sci fi thriller with a good believable twist towards the end. I didn't quite resonate with the main character and found the odd thing bit of it jarring and I think that a bit more could of been done with the

Spoiler

sliders

concept. Really solid book though that leaves you musing on choices well after you finish the book.

Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden is a beautifully written Russian folktale. Theres nothing new in the tropes but it is really well done take on folktales/magical realism. Made me think a lot of GGK, so fans of him might want to read this. I believe it's a trilogy so I'd read the rest when I just want to sink into the words.

Tik-Tok by John Sladek did what murderbot does more recently. Comparing the two you can see how their concept of the robots is really driven by the times in when they were written. Murderbot is a millennial take while Tik-Tok is more 1980s powerhouse. Worth a read for a comparison and interesting take on robots relation to humans.

Otherwise read a bit of non fiction including a great biography of Catherine the Great by Robert K. Massie.

Currently reading Private Island by James Meek which is a take on privatisation and how its affected Britain, and brief cases for some Dresden Morphine until peace talks comes out. First short story with Warden Luccio. I cant remember where she comes in the main series?

This post has been edited by Cyphon: 22 July 2019 - 01:54 PM

[QuickTidal]

Finished Kate Elliott's PRINCE OF DOGS, and it was excellent. There was a TAD bit of lag at points in the story (and not enough Theophanu!), but never enough to really stumble my read. Very excited to get to volume 3, THE BURNING STONE...soon probably.

Spoiler

Fuck you Hugh! Now that Sanglant is back you can't TOUCH Liath, you filthy churchy fucker!

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Stephenson's Anathem. After only 17 pages, I can tell the worldbuilding will be dense.

[Macros]

Finished Falcon of Sparta.

Hmmm, the perspective switch didn't buy me as much as QT, it was always going to happen on a telling of the Persian expedition. What annoyed me is this should have been two books. With the end of Cunaxa a natural break point. We simply don't get enough Xenophon. The true distress and grim journey, the troubles and the genius in over coming them. It's just skimmed over. I mean the forcing of the river cross and attacking in depth, considering how good the Mongol books were at covering the tactics and battles this felt like a missed shot from Iggulden, and I'm a huge fan of his work

[polishgenius]

I read The Rage of Dragons by Evan Winter, based on the author's description of it as "a book set in a dragon-having, bronze-age Africa ft. Black John Wick learning how to be John Wick, so he can hunt down & kill 3 super soldiers"


It was a good book.

Basically an entry in the 'training school for badasses' subgenre that's booming right now,mixed with the promised revenge, but a good one with some interesting takes on who the character is and what the position of his culture to the world at large is, as well as a seriously vicious magic system. I'ma definitely follow this series.

eta: to add a feeling I was trying to nail down and just figured out about it as well - in a lot of ways as much as the 'school for badasses' it also feels like what you might get if someone wrote a book about how a Malazan military squad is trained and forged in fire.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 23 July 2019 - 10:55 PM

[Cyphon]

I realise now why 'morphine' isn't good. Through reading Brief Cases I really want more dresdencrack. Resisting the urge to reread...

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 22 July 2019 - 08:58 PM, said:

Finished Falcon of Sparta.

Hmmm, the perspective switch didn't buy me as much as QT, it was always going to happen on a telling of the Persian expedition. What annoyed me is this should have been two books. With the end of Cunaxa a natural break point. We simply don't get enough Xenophon. The true distress and grim journey, the troubles and the genius in over coming them. It's just skimmed over. I mean the forcing of the river cross and attacking in depth, considering how good the Mongol books were at covering the tactics and battles this felt like a missed shot from Iggulden, and I'm a huge fan of his work

That's a fair point about it. And considering it's Iggulden, I wonder why he didn't make it two books.

Also, Mac I'm starting Macro & Cato book 2 soon!