[Mentalist]

finished "blood of the Elves" several days ago

it was... good
not great, the way "The Last Wish" and "Sword of Destiny" were, but still good.
thereseveral well-done scenes that were very reminiscent of the previous short-story format, but the novel as a whole was pretty slow, and at times it felt like it was just dragging on and on. I'm interested to see what happens next (as in, I'm eager for major stuff to start happening).

next up, predictably enough, Witcher: Book 4--Times of Disdain.

[Camel]

Deornoth, on Jan 8 2009, 09:59 AM, said:

I've finished reading R.A. Salvatore's 'The Ancient', a book that delivered on it's promise of a cool finale but made me sit through a big morass of meh' before I got there. On the bright side though, I got a few laughs out of the most awful dialogue I've ever read... My full review is over Here.
I fancied a quick read, for the commute, so I'm giving James Morrow's 'Shambling Towards Hiroshima' a go next...

That's precisely what I mean. His dialogue has turned to shit over the last several years. Salvatore used to be one of my favorite authors (I won $500 in a writing contest in 7th grade for writing a letter to him) and I own all of his books, but I'm honestly reconsidering buying anything else from him since his writing has crashed and burned in a shithole over the last few years. It's obvious he's got some good ideas, but his execution is getting sloppy.

[Mentalist]

Unlike "Blood of the Elves" that served largely as a set-up book linking the 2 "prequel-ish" short stories collections with the events of the novels, "Times of Disdain" delivers. and then some
The story goes epic, the stuff only briefly hinted at in "Blood of the Elves" explodes onto the stage.
The atmosphere is reminiscent of "Feast for Crows" though the Witcher was written earlier, iirc.
stuff keeps happening. the scale of what's happening in places where the main characters aren't present is told through highlighting key episodes--and these short bits are masterfully written and really make you appreciate the scope of the work.

onto "Baptism by Fire" now, and I am HOOKED

[QuickTidal]

I bought The Magicians and Mrs. Quent by Galen Beckett....which was touted as alternate reality Victorian era styled Jane Austen meets fantasy and magick.....and the first chapter I read online was interesting. The reviews I read said that the prose was not Austen-ish, and that it was a damn sight more interesting than Jonothan Strange & Mr. Norell (a snorefest). The book concerns the three lockwood sisters and the eldest sisters dabbling in Magick, something that produced a madness in their father....and Mr. Dasthon Rafferdy a strange young man with a dubious history and disposition.

I REALLY want to like this book, but ...oh.....my....god am I effing bored by it.I've just now put it dow and picked up one of my Dresden Files books for a re-read instead. I may go back to it, but for the time being...

[Terez]

I just finished reading Dreams From My Father by Barack Obama and The Last Continent by Terry Pratchett, and I'll be starting Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson tonight.

[pat5150]

Just finished Dan Simmons' Muse of Fire.

A mix of science fiction and Shakespeare. . . How can you go wrong!?!

Check the blog for the full review!

Patrick

[lokiman]

I'm reading The Great Train Robbery by Micheal Chrichton.

[Mentalist]

Since my last post, i have devoured the last 3 Witcher books

they were all very good, the storytelling has switched almos entirely to Kay-like "episodic slideshow"
The mechanic used in the last book causght me by surprise nad was rather original, imho. Did not really see it coming.

the very ending was a bit of a letdown, but I suppose that type of ending was kinda inevitable.

[Centzon Totochtin]

reading Reapers Gale

Recently read China Road, Alan Aldas autobiography and Mao's Last Dancer. All were great reads, I would recommend to anyone who enjoys these types of books. Especially China Road and Mao's Last Dancer.

This post has been edited by Centzon Totochtin: 13 January 2009 - 01:20 AM

[Dark Wolf]

I made a comic break and read the first issue of the Farscape series published by BOOM! Studios. I have to say that I loved the TV show and now this comic series made me enjoy new adventures in this universe. The series will have 4 issues in total and I am looking forward to the other three

[QuickTidal]

Currently re-trying Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Loved Elantris, and originally only got about 20 pages into Mistborn before something pulled my attention away...so giving it a fresh go.

[Chance]

QuickTidal, on Jan 13 2009, 02:51 PM, said:

Currently re-trying Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson. Loved Elantris, and originally only got about 20 pages into Mistborn before something pulled my attention away...so giving it a fresh go.

Fun...same thing has happened to me twice trying to get into Mistborn...

Still goining through the Great War for Humanity, great book by the way in explaining a bit about the middle east conflicts.

/Chance

[Slum]

Finished Connelly's The Brass Verdict - it was a pretty good read. Nothing great.

Now I'm back to the classics. I'm finally getting around to reading Nabokov's Lolita. Humbert Humbert has a problem...

[thrinidir]

Reading Peter V.Brett's "The Painted Man" and loving every page of it.

[Mentalist]

i'm reading volume one of Perumov's new series, with yet another unpronouncable name

"Tjorn" is possibly right

following that, i shall finally read "The blade itself"

[Salt-Man Z]

thrinidir, on Jan 13 2009, 11:34 AM, said:

Reading Peter V.Brett's "The Painted Man" and loving every page of it.

Same here, though I'm reading The Warded Man* and though not loving it, I'm certainly enjoying it. The chapter I finished up last night (where the three main plot threads finally converge) really raised my opinion of the book. It's not spectacular, but it is a good read, and a solid debut.

*The name change irritates me, because every time I see "The Warded Man" in the text, I automatically find myself trying to parse it with both names and compare. I agree with the change, though, as TWM makes more sense, both thematically and literally, as the character is not painted; he's tattooed.

[HoosierDaddy]

Picked up the 1st Dresden File. Hoping it is okay.

[Deornoth]

I've just finished up with 'The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend' (David Gemmell) which overcomes some early obstacles to become a book that's well worth a look. My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off 'Starship Rebel' and I've just started the 'Busted Flush' Wild Cards collection...

[kcf]

I finished up The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson a few days ago. A great ending to a great series (full review).

I'm now reading the conclusion of another series - Last Argument of Kings by some bloke called Abercrombie.

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished The Warded Man last night. Lots of little things bugged me throughout the book, but overall it was really good, and quite the page-turner.

I'm eagerly looking forward to starting Luke Skywalker and the Shadows of Mindor tonight!