[pat5150]

Just finished Ian Cameron Esslemont's Orb Sceptre Throne, and it's probably the most disappointing Malazan installment yet. . .

Check out the blog for the full review.

Patrick

[QuickTidal]

I'm about halfway through Neil Gaiman's ABSOLUTE SANDMAN Vol.II and the story THREE SEPTEMBERS AND A JANUARY concerning Joshua Norton (self-proclaimed Emperor of These United States in the 1870's) was one of the most poignant and wonderful tales in the series yet. I flat out adored it.

[QuickTidal]

The rest of ABSOLUTE SANDMAN Vol. II was very good! The whole GAME OF YOU arc was probably the best one in the series since the first arc, and was better than the SEASON OF THE MISTS arc (about the key to Hell) which was only so-so.

Also finished THE SHADOW OF THE TORTURER section of the first Wolfe New Sun omnibus. It was...good. I enjoyed it, but I'm not altogether sure why...is that weird? I'm also not feeling compelled to jump right into THE CLAW OF THE CONCILIATOR just yet...is that weird too?

Like I said, enjoyed...but I'm still quite baffled. LOL

[Salt-Man Z]

No, that's not too weird. I don't think I ever found any (or much) of TBotNS compelling the first time through. Heck, I only gave the series 3.5 stars after my first read, which is basically my "I enjoyed it plus" rating. But the second time through changes everything. First time or fifth time, though, it's not a book to be whipped through, rather, one to be savored.

[MWKarsa]

Finished Ender's Game and it was a nice light story and one I wish I had read as a kid. Since that was my first Card book I'll need to give him another shot- I believe I have Empire and Hidden Empire hiding in a pile of books somewhere.

Now reading Orb Sceptre Throne and started reading some of the threads here about the book but had to stop because I didn't want to read any spoilers but some of the negative reactions are some of the same problems I've had with ICE's previous work so that's not looking good. Most of his books have gotten better but always stall out or just fizzle out in the end. I'll stay positive and hope for the best- aside from some horrible Kiska/Leoman high school-styled dialogue I've enjoyed the first 100+ pages. We'll see what the rest of the book has to offer.

[Salt-Man Z]

 MWKarsa, on 19 February 2012 - 03:44 PM, said:

Finished Ender's Game and it was a nice light story and one I wish I had read as a kid. Since that was my first Card book I'll need to give him another shot- I believe I have Empire and Hidden Empire hiding in a pile of books somewhere.

If you're just getting into Card, I would recommend not starting into anything written after 2000 or so. Stick with books from the 70s and 80s if you want the really good stuff. Speaker for the Dead is the first sequel to Ender's Game and might just be his best work (and one of the best first contact stories in print) but also very good are Wyrms, Treason, Hart's Hope, and The Worthing Saga, to name a few.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

 Salt-Man Z, on 19 February 2012 - 07:57 PM, said:

If you're just getting into Card, I would recommend not starting into anything written after 2000 or so. Stick with books from the 70s and 80s if you want the really good stuff. Speaker for the Dead is the first sequel to Ender's Game and might just be his best work (and one of the best first contact stories in print) but also very good are Wyrms, Treason, Hart's Hope, and The Worthing Saga, to name a few.

I agree. Speaker for the Dead, Xenocide, and Children of the Mind are all works of genius, in my opinion. Card's later Ender books are clever, but stop far short of being science fiction masterpieces. I haven't read much of his non-Ender stuff, but I'll have to give that a looksee sometime.

[amphibian]

Children of the Mind is awful. I don't know how anyone can take the constant deus ex machina that is Jane seriously.

[worry]

I don't think the Ender series suffers from diminishing returns so much as a sharp drop in the fourth book, which just piles on the nonsense. Haven't read his sci-fi outside of that quartet though. I have read a couple of his horror stories though...Lost Boys was actually pretty good and managed to humanize Mormons like never before. Homebody was a pedestrian but competent haunted house story. I have no interest in his works that delve into his political beliefs.

[Illuyankas]

Yeah, Card is kind of a virulently hateful person who is possibly the most homophobic person in America today. He did an 'updated for modern audiences' version of Hamlet where Hamlet's dad raped all of his friends when they were children (turning Guildenstern and Rosencrantz gay, no less), Hamlet doesn't give a fuck about Ophelia's death, and Horatio killed Hamlet's dad for the whole molesting thing. Oh, and Hamlet's spirit gets dragged to hell by his dad's ghost who's overjoyed he can rape his 'beautiful' son now.

As for Ender's Game, I can't get over how the entire cast adores the main character, among other things, and I kind of disliked the rest of the books for being very silly but that's another kettle of starved blind cave fish.

[Salt-Man Z]

Currently trying to read Urth of the New Sun but my new Kindle Touch is distracting me greatly. I downloaded Erikson's When She's Gone off his site, and have been reading that the last 24 hours. It's not something I'd normally think of reading if it wasn't by an author I already love, but it's really good.

[Serenity]

 Greymanekas, on 19 February 2012 - 09:27 PM, said:

Yeah, Card is kind of a virulently hateful person who is possibly the most homophobic person in America today. He did an 'updated for modern audiences' version of Hamlet where Hamlet's dad raped all of his friends when they were children (turning Guildenstern and Rosencrantz gay, no less), Hamlet doesn't give a fuck about Ophelia's death, and Horatio killed Hamlet's dad for the whole molesting thing. Oh, and Hamlet's spirit gets dragged to hell by his dad's ghost who's overjoyed he can rape his 'beautiful' son now.

As for Ender's Game, I can't get over how the entire cast adores the main character, among other things, and I kind of disliked the rest of the books for being very silly but that's another kettle of starved blind cave fish.

Well that explains a lot. I stumbled across this site a couple of weeks ago and wondered what they were on about. I've only read Ender's Game and the first two sequels, so really had no idea.


I'm about 90 pages from the end of Summer Knight at the moment.

[QuickTidal]

3 chapters into Gaie Sebold's BABYLON STEEL, it's pulpish fun so far.

[Abyss]

 Serenity, on 20 February 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

....I'm about 90 pages from the end of Summer Knight at the moment.

Standing by for another dresdencrack addict in 5... 4.... 3...

[Serenity]

 Abyss, on 20 February 2012 - 01:58 PM, said:

 Serenity, on 20 February 2012 - 10:41 AM, said:

....I'm about 90 pages from the end of Summer Knight at the moment.

Standing by for another dresdencrack addict in 5... 4.... 3...

LOL, I'm already enjoying them, so if they get better from here onwards ...

[T77]

Finished 1Q84 and was kind of disappointed. It wasn't bad, Murakami has a skill of making things interesting when there's not much going on and I like how he doesn't overdo things, but given the length of this book, not much happens. If it was shorter and he delved deeper into the other realm it would have been much better.

[QuickTidal]

 T77, on 20 February 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

Finished 1Q84 and was kind of disappointed. It wasn't bad, Murakami has a skill of making things interesting when there's not much going on and I like how he doesn't overdo things, but given the length of this book, not much happens. If it was shorter and he delved deeper into the other realm it would have been much better.

Yep, that was one of my issues with the book as well. Buried in WAY too many pages is a really solid, riveting story.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

 amphibian, on 19 February 2012 - 08:40 PM, said:

Children of the Mind is awful. I don't know how anyone can take the constant deus ex machina that is Jane seriously.

If you read the entry on Jane in The Authorized Ender Companion, you might agree that she has a more believable explanation than is readily apparent in the books. In any case, she is a developed character in her own right, and not just a heretofore unknown force that swoops in at the last minute, so I wouldn't consider her a deus ex machina...believability aside. As a fan of WTH moments, Children of the Mind is probably my favorite in the series. A work of science fiction does not need to make me think, "Hey, this could really happen at some point in the future" in order for me to enjoy it. (See Robert A. Heinlein's "All You Zombies--" for a good example of preposterous brilliance.)

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

 Greymanekas, on 19 February 2012 - 09:27 PM, said:

Yeah, Card is kind of a virulently hateful person who is possibly the most homophobic person in America today.

I would want to read some quotes for myself before I made a judgment on that. I know Card is a Mormon, so that might naturally equate to being conservative on matters of sexuality...but homophobia is one of those charges that is thrown around very loosely nowadays...like how you're a racist if you disagree with something Obama does. I would be surprised to learn that Card could maintain a career in the arts...particularly a somewhat naturally liberal one like SF writing...if he was as bad as all that.

In any case, Gauguin was a cad who abandoned his family.

But he painted good.

Can't I just enjoy the painting?

[worry]

 Kruppe, on 20 February 2012 - 07:12 PM, said:

but homophobia is one of those charges that is thrown around very loosely nowadays...like how you're a racist if you disagree with something Obama does.

In any case, Gauguin was a cad who abandoned his family.

But he painted good.

Can't I just enjoy the painting?

Neither of those first things is true. The last thing about Gauguin, of course, is fine. Card's later stuff like Empire or whatever (which I haven't read and don't plan to) has a critical reputation (quality aside) for being more didactic and self-indulgent, not unlike Michael Crichton's weirdo global warming conspiracy stuff in later life. That turns me off plenty, but it doesn't mean you shouldn't read everything Card writes and report back here with your opinions on it all.

But if you want to know more about his stance -- and maybe you shouldn't, if you don't want your admiration for his writing tainted (I'd still personally recommend Ender's Game to anyone, but it would leave a sour taste in my mouth and I'd rather they bought it used or something) -- here's a few quotes via Wikipedia (with citation):

http://en.wikipedia....d#Homosexuality