[Deornoth]

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...

[kcf]

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.

[Sixty]

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.

[Vengeance]

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.

[QuickTidal]

The Final Warning - James Patterson

[Deornoth]

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'...

[stone monkey]

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.

[Dark Wolf]

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)

[Use Of Weapons]

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

[Dr Trouble]

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.

[Salt-Man Z]

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.

[masan's saddle]

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

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.

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.....

[QuickTidal]

Finally sitting down to read Toll The Hounds

[Stalker]

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

[Salt-Man Z]

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.

[masan's saddle]

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.

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.

Cheers SMZ

[Dolorous Menhir]

Neal Stephenson - Anathem.

[Werthead]

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.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

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

[Dark Wolf]

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