Reading at t'moment?

#3781 Deornoth

High Fist

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 325
Joined: 21-July 06

Posted 30 March 2009 - 04:04 PM

I've just finished reading Graham McNeill's 'The Killing Ground', a tale of Ultramarines in Warhammer's 40,000 universe. It starts off well then gets really shaky (trying to write for newcomers to the series and old hands at the same time, I think) but recovers to become a dark and atmospheric tale of the aftermath of war. My full review is over Here.
I'm now getting back into Ken Scholes' 'Lamentation' which is proving to be an absolutely gorgeous read...

#3782 kcf

High Fist

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 487
Joined: 27-May 04
Location:Arizona

Posted 30 March 2009 - 08:59 PM

I finished up Buyout by Alex Irvine the other day. This is a great gook that has me still thinking about it long after finishing it. (full review)

Now I'm going to give Brent Weeks a shot and his The Way of Shadows - so far it is decidedly average.

Neth Space

#3783 Sixty

Don't be fooled. I am very serious.

Group: High House Mafia
Posts: 762
Joined: 01-December 08
Location:New Hampshire

Posted 30 March 2009 - 10:04 PM

I just finished Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss and found it a lot better at the end than at the beginning. Damn good, in fact.

Starting R. Scott Bakker's Prince of Nothing series with The Darkness That Comes Before right now...that is, after I finish Oliver Shitswell for school.

#3784 Vengeance

High Priest of Shinrei Love and Worship

Group: Administrators
Posts: 3,976
Joined: 27-June 07
Location:Chicago
very good...;)

Posted 30 March 2009 - 10:09 PM

I just got done reading City of Saints and Madmen... Very Very good.... Right now I am doing a quick reread of RG then I will be reading "Ye will say I am no Christian" which is a book of the correspondence of letters between John Adams and Thomas Jefferson.

How many fucking people do I have to hammer in order to get that across.
Hinter - Vengy - DIE. I trusted you you bastard!!!!!!!
Steven Erikson made drowning in alien cum possible - Obdigore

#3785 QuickTidal

Lord of the Waters

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 21,541
Joined: 05-November 05
Location:At Sea?
Interests:DoubleStamping. Movies. Reading.

Posted 30 March 2009 - 10:45 PM

The Final Warning - James Patterson

"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon

#3786 Deornoth

High Fist

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 325
Joined: 21-July 06

Posted 31 March 2009 - 04:02 PM

I've finished reading Ken Scholes' 'Lamentation', a tale of what ensues when the last bastion of knowledge (in a far future time) is wiped from the earth by an ancient weapon. It's a very slow read but once you get into the rhythm it's well worth it and I'm looking forward to reading more in this series. My full review is over Here.
It's time for a change of pace again so I'm now reading Karen Traviss' Gears of War tie-in 'Aspho Fields'...

#3787 stone monkey

I'm the baddest man alive and I don't plan to die...

Group: (COPPA) Users Awaiting Moderatio
Posts: 2,369
Joined: 28-July 03
Location:The Rainy City

Posted 31 March 2009 - 07:37 PM

Just started on The Margarets by Sherri Tepper, it's interesting so far...
And I'm also doing my first reread of Infinite Jest since David Foster Wallace killed himself; which is a very bittersweet experience - wonderful book, terrible circumstances.

If an opinion contrary to your own makes you angry, that is a sign that you are subconsciously aware of having no good reason for thinking as you do. If some one maintains that two and two are five, or that Iceland is on the equator, you feel pity rather than anger, unless you know so little of arithmetic or geography that his opinion shakes your own contrary conviction. … So whenever you find yourself getting angry about a difference of opinion, be on your guard; you will probably find, on examination, that your belief is going beyond what the evidence warrants. Bertrand Russell

#3788 Dark Wolf

Sergeant

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 62
Joined: 08-May 08

Posted 01 April 2009 - 09:42 AM

I finished "Twelve" by Jasper Kent. It comes as blend between historical fiction and vampire story, but I believe that the novel is much more than just this. I find it hard to categorize this novel, but I really enjoyed it. The author does a great job with his war descriptions and the images, atmosphere and the questions it raised put me well on thoughts. (my full review)

My book reviews, authors and artists interviews and explorations of fantasy art: Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews

#3789 Use Of Weapons

Soletaken

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 2,237
Joined: 06-May 03
Location:Manchester, UK
Interests:Writing. Martial arts. Sport. Music, playing and singing, composition.

Posted 01 April 2009 - 10:53 AM

Started Bakker's _The Judging Eye_ last night. Loving it so far, though the part with Achamian is moving too slowly.

It is perfectly monstrous the way people go about nowadays saying things against one, behind one's back, that are absolutely and entirely true.
-- Oscar Wilde

#3790 Dr Trouble

Pug Life

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 1,198
Joined: 10-July 05

Posted 01 April 2009 - 02:40 PM

I finished Use of Weapons. What a fantastic book. One of the best novels I have read in a long time. And the twist at the end was heartbreaking in its severity.

I honestly did not see it coming until just before they got on the train. Again, Fantastic.

#3791 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,166
Joined: 07-February 08
Location:Apple Valley, MN

Posted 01 April 2009 - 03:55 PM

Hopefully I'll give Ian M. Banks a try later this year. I've heard too many good things about him recently.

I'm taking a break from Vance's Tales of the Dying Earth omnibus; I recently finished Cugel's Saga, which, though entertaining, was a chore to finish. As such, I'm putting off reading the fourth and final book, Rhialto the Marvellous, which I've heard to be the worst of the bunch.

In the meantime, I've started in on The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. I read the first two stories last night. Good stuff.

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch

#3792 masan's saddle

Emperor

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 979
Joined: 17-February 09
Location:masan's horse

Posted 02 April 2009 - 01:07 AM

Salt-Man Z, on Apr 1 2009, 04:55 PM, said:

Get stuck into Banks, he's brilliant !

What Conan is this ? I grew up reading Robert E. Howard's originals and all the L. Sprague de Camp/ Robert Jordan follow ups, absolutley love them. I've always harboured a suspicion that Erikson based Karsa on Conan ( Barbarian from the north, anti-civilisation, big ancestral sword thing, gods in rocks/underground, mysoginistic rapist, destiny etc etc), Obviously Karsa is more complex and the "barbarian" is a fantasy staple however there are glaring similarities.

I finished Dragonfly Falling by Adrian Tchaikovsky last week and I have to say it wasn't bad. Lots of new characters and good development from Empire in Black and Gold.

I got the impression that he's realised there's the potential for a pretty good series, I know Blood of the Mantis is coming out and it may be that the series doesn't end there.....

Now all the friends that you knew in school they used to be so cool, now they just bore you.
Just look at em' now, already pullin' the plow. So quick to take to grain, like some old mule.

#3793 QuickTidal

Lord of the Waters

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 21,541
Joined: 05-November 05
Location:At Sea?
Interests:DoubleStamping. Movies. Reading.

Posted 02 April 2009 - 02:57 AM

Finally sitting down to read Toll The Hounds

"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon

#3794 Stalker

Soletaken

Group: High House Mafia
Posts: 2,028
Joined: 09-October 08
Location:Upstate NY

Posted 02 April 2009 - 03:20 AM

I've started Tolkien's The Silmarillion for about the 5th time. Planning on getting through it this time.

#3795 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 4,166
Joined: 07-February 08
Location:Apple Valley, MN

Posted 02 April 2009 - 03:45 AM

masan's saddle, on Apr 1 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on Apr 1 2009, 04:55 PM, said:

In the meantime, I've started in on The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. I read the first two stories last night. Good stuff.

What Conan is this ? I grew up reading Robert E. Howard's originals and all the L. Sprague de Camp/ Robert Jordan follow ups, absolutley love them.

The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian is the first of a three-volume series of Robert E. Howard's original, unedited Conan stories, some never before published, collected in the order that he wrote them. The editors went back to his original manuscripts, so everything in these volumes is 100% Howard, without the edits or revisions or new material by de Camp and Carter. They also contain maps, drafts, unfinished stories, and lots of great artwork. Check out the Wikipedia entry for a rundown of the first volume. I'm going to have to get my hands on the other two at some point.

#3796 masan's saddle

Emperor

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 979
Joined: 17-February 09
Location:masan's horse

Posted 02 April 2009 - 10:06 AM

Salt-Man Z, on Apr 2 2009, 04:45 AM, said:

masan's saddle, on Apr 1 2009, 08:07 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on Apr 1 2009, 04:55 PM, said:

In the meantime, I've started in on The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian. I read the first two stories last night. Good stuff.

What Conan is this ? I grew up reading Robert E. Howard's originals and all the L. Sprague de Camp/ Robert Jordan follow ups, absolutley love them.

Cheers SMZ

Now all the friends that you knew in school they used to be so cool, now they just bore you.
Just look at em' now, already pullin' the plow. So quick to take to grain, like some old mule.

#3797 Dolorous Menhir

Group: Wiki Contributor
Posts: 4,550
Joined: 31-January 06

Posted 02 April 2009 - 05:50 PM

Neal Stephenson - Anathem.

#3798 Werthead

Ascendant

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 3,802
Joined: 14-November 05

Posted 02 April 2009 - 06:10 PM

The Born Queen by Greg Keyes.

It's a bit weird. It's only been 6 months since I read the first three, but I definitely don't remember Anne being this much of a ruthless nutjob before. In fact, it feels like a volume has been skipped somewhere with a lot of character development in it.

Visit The Wertzone for reviews of SF&F books, DVDs and computer games!

"Try standing out in a winter storm all night and see how tough you are. Start with that. Then go into a bar and pick a fight and see how tough you are. And then go home and break crockery over your head. Start with those three and you'll be good to go."
- Bruce Campbell on how to be as cool as he is

#3799 Bauchelain the Evil

Greatest necromancer ever

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 1,859
Joined: 15-March 08
Location:Italy
Not much

Posted 02 April 2009 - 06:12 PM

Re-reading Troy by Gisbert Haefs. It's nothing exceptional, with lots of historical inaccuracies and a ridiculus amount of info-dump in the first person PoV chapters. In short just a light take on the Iliad that's nothing more than a fun read.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 02 April 2009 - 06:13 PM

Adept of Team Quick Ben

I greet you as guests and so will not crush the life from you and devour your soul with peals of laughter. No, instead, I will make tea-Gothos

#3800 Dark Wolf

Sergeant

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 62
Joined: 08-May 08

Posted 04 April 2009 - 08:57 AM

I like to relax from time to time with an action-packed novel and this time was Rebecca Levene's "Kill or Cure". I like this series of post-apocalyptic novels, "The Afterblight Chronicles", because it's fun and relaxing. So is this novel, full of action, bloodshed in an interesting setting. (my full review)

This post has been edited by Dark Wolf: 04 April 2009 - 08:58 AM

My book reviews, authors and artists interviews and explorations of fantasy art: Dark Wolf's Fantasy Reviews