[Astra]

murphy72, on 15 June 2010 - 05:07 PM, said:

Based on your review, I went online to Barnes & Noble. The hardcover was on sale for $3.99, so of course I bought it. Thanks.

I hope you like it!

[Knight of Darkness]

Aptorian, on 15 June 2010 - 03:07 PM, said:

It takes a turn for the worse half way through.

Bah, hope not. It's got so much potential.

Edit: Don't know why you didn't like the second half, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book.

This post has been edited by Knight of Darkness: 18 June 2010 - 12:39 PM

[lobo the wolfman]

Reading 'Captain's Fury' by Jim Butcher which is book four of his Codex Alera series. Not as fun as Dresden but still quite good.

[MTS]

After almost a year of watching it slowly amble its way down the library queue to me, I finally have Infinite Jest in my hands. Here's hoping it was worth the wait.

By the way, just read Dead Beat. Holy shit.

[Puck]

Started Song of Susannah by Stephen King today. Finally. Due to uni and other things it took me two months to read Wolves of the Calla.

[Aptorian]

Knight of Darkness, on 15 June 2010 - 09:10 PM, said:

Aptorian, on 15 June 2010 - 03:07 PM, said:

It takes a turn for the worse half way through.

Bah, hope not. It's got so much potential.

Edit: Don't know why you didn't like the second half, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book.

Around the half way point things go pear shaped for "our heroes" I never bought the way the story evolved from there. It was too stupid and I didn't like it at all. The heroes were not the clever thieves the blurb on the back billed them as being. Basically from the blurb I was expecting brilliance, not bumbling criminals improvising a bad plan.

The back of the book promised Oceans 11 but what we got was Oceans 12.

-------------


Currently reading Altered Carbon, very good. I'm kind of miffed because so far Morgan is using a lot of ideas I had for my own story about memory upload/body switching.

There really is no original ideas.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

I don't get it,Apt. Why weren't they clever? They put up a complicated con that was working greatly until they started being blackmailed. All the cleverness in the world won't save you from a sadistic, nearly omnipowerful wizard.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 20 June 2010 - 06:36 PM

[Aptorian]

I can hardly remember all the details any longer and I don't want to go into too much detail because of spoilers, but I just did not like the scenario at all.

If you promise me Oceans 11 I expect brilliant schemes within schemes, some kind of crazy elaborate long con with fun characters, witty dialogue and cool montages. Not a bunch of pampered thieves who get pawned by a superior mastermind and then spend the rest of the book reeling from one sucker punch after another.

Also these fantasy worlds where magic is subject to monopoly and something you can not defend yourself against is one of my pet peeves.

But don't get me wrong, over all the book wasn't bad, Lamora, the bad guy, the falconer, Chains, etc were cool enough characters, but it wasn't the book I expected when I picked it up and I think it ultimately failed in realising its potential.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Christopher Rowley's 'The Bloodstained Man', second book in the 'Netherworld' trilogy. Can a pulp novel be too 'pulpy'? I'd say yes if it gets in the way of the characters/story and that's what happened here for me. All style and no substance, check out my review over Here. I'm now finishing off James Swallow's 'Nemesis' and have started on Pat Kelleher's 'Black Hand Gang'.

[masan's saddle]

Finished Woken Furies by Morgan and will definitely read everything else he's done as a result ! Good stuff.

I'm about 200 pages into Bakker's The Darkness That Comes Before and I think i'm enjoying it

It was a bit slow to start with and his writing style takes a bit of getting used to but I like the themes and his characters are solid. I get the impression there is a lot of groundwork being laid for future novels ? Anyhoo, one question, does Kellhus continue to be a complete dick for the entire series ?

[HoosierDaddy]

Finished Endymion and Rise of Endymion by Dan Simmons.

Endymion was very good, and I probably enjoyed it more than Fall of Hyperion. Rise of Endymion was very, very good and probably the second best book in the series, after Hyperion. It provided a lot of answers to long running questions, and that was appreciated. The problem comes in that these two books were very predictable plot wise, and in the turns that they took. Very similar to the quirks and changes in Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion.

Endymion - 7.5 out of 10, Rise of Endymion 8.0 out of 10.

Starting the Long Price Quartet by Abraham.

Edit@Masan's Saddle, I loathed Kelhus to the point where I quit the third book because I couldn't stand him anymore. Hope it doesn't happen to you.

This post has been edited by H.D.: 27 June 2010 - 10:55 PM

[masan's saddle]

H.D., on 27 June 2010 - 10:54 PM, said:

Edit@Masan's Saddle, I loathed Kelhus to the point where I quit the third book because I couldn't stand him anymore. Hope it doesn't happen to you.

Oh dear, i'm not one for investing time in books that have me wanting to rip the pages out because one of the characters is a total nob. I was hoping his psuedo buddhist/ Nitchzean waffling would lead him to a different type of revelation, resulting in him being less of a dick.

I will soldier on though as Achamian seems like a decent fella.

[Aptorian]

I think it depends upon what kind of characters you like in your fiction.

Personally I thought Kelhus was awesome all through the books. It was the other character around him that sucked ass. The author didn't create any characters that could compete with Kellhus' intellect and skills. Still Acka and the Barbarian were cool.

The Series has one of my favorite magic systems.

[ansible]

I just finished Tai-Pan, which was very enjoyable, and started Cat's Cradle, which I'm loving.

Sometimes I feel like I haven't read a bad book in awhile.

[champ]

about half way through Daniel Abrahams 2nd book in the Long Price Quartet and loving it

[Dag]

Just finished "Iron Angel" and I think after this one I'm done with Campbell. His "Scar Night" was just about bearable to read, his "Iron Angel" is unbearably bad. Reading this book felt like chewing on a strip of old dry leather...

Giving China Mieville another try now...

[Salt-Man Z]

Halfway through Jack Vance's To Live Forever. It's...interesting. The main character is a nice enough guy, but he's also a murderous, conniving bastard. And he's the only POV character, so it's difficult to feel any involvement in the story, because I really think he should die.

[Aptorian]

Dag, on 28 June 2010 - 07:45 PM, said:

Just finished "Iron Angel" and I think after this one I'm done with Campbell. His "Scar Night" was just about bearable to read, his "Iron Angel" is unbearably bad. Reading this book felt like chewing on a strip of old dry leather...

Giving China Mieville another try now...

Could you share what his faults are? I haven't read any of his work but I've heard a lot of good opinions of Scar Night.

[Mentalist]

whilst I was on vacation, I've did done a bunch of re-reads.

I've also finally read my KB&B omnibus, enjoyed it thoroughly.

currently "reading" Jonathan Strange and Mister Norrel, though in reality I stopped reading the day i came back from the airport and haven't picked it up since. damn 2 jobs, keeping me sleep-deprived and constantly late for something.....

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Aptorian, on 28 June 2010 - 09:14 PM, said:

Dag, on 28 June 2010 - 07:45 PM, said:

Just finished "Iron Angel" and I think after this one I'm done with Campbell. His "Scar Night" was just about bearable to read, his "Iron Angel" is unbearably bad. Reading this book felt like chewing on a strip of old dry leather...

Giving China Mieville another try now...

Could you share what his faults are? I haven't read any of his work but I've heard a lot of good opinions of Scar Night.

Apt, while I don't think that Iron Angel was "unbearably bad" (that's the third book), I can understand Dag. The book was made up by three parts that barely had anything to do with each other and ended with a massive open ending that really annoyed me. However, IMO, a bunch of interesting characters, an excellent worldbuilding and some cool action scenes, saved the book for me.

I would recommend Scar Night, however, that was a really good book