Reading at t'moment?

#8521 T77

High Fist

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 471
Joined: 01-May 09

Posted 05 June 2012 - 02:00 PM

Finished Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and thought it was average at best. It wasn't bad, but nothing about it stood out. His writing isn't great, his characters are so-so, and the plot was nothing special. Not to mention it's basically a rip-off of the TV show Firefly in a blimp. Not sure if I'll continue with the series.

#8522 polishgenius

Heart of Courage

Group: LHTEC
Posts: 5,247
Joined: 16-June 05

Posted 05 June 2012 - 02:23 PM

T77, on 05 June 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

The Firefly comment is understandable though I think it differentiates enough that 'ripoff' is harsh, but if you think it's a blimp you weren't reading it properly.

I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.

#8523 HiddenOne

Mortal Sword

Group: High House Mafia
Posts: 1,174
Joined: 29-May 10

Posted 05 June 2012 - 02:25 PM

End of Disc One, on 21 May 2012 - 01:57 PM, said:

Finally started Bakker's The Darkness that Comes Before. Of all the books I physically own, this one has been in my TRP the longest. So far I enjoy the writing.

could not get into this book for some reason, still haven't finished it

I just finished Sanderson's Way of Kings last night. Very much enjoyed it, hope there is more to the series. Have to appreciate getting a 1200 pg book for $9. Stayed up late every night in order to read it.

This post has been edited by HiddenOne: 05 June 2012 - 02:36 PM

HiddenOne. You son of a bitch. You slimy, skulking, low-posting scumbag. You knew it would come to this. Roundabout, maybe. Tortuous, certainly. But here we are, you and me again. I started the train on you so many many hours ago, and now I'm going to finish it. Die HO. Die. This is for last time, and this is for this game too. This is for all the people who died to your backstabbing, treacherous, "I sure don't know what's going on around here" filthy lying, deceitful ways. You son of a bitch. Whatever happens, this is justice. For me, this is justice. Vote HiddenOne Finally, I am at peace.

#8524 QuickTidal

Lord of the Waters

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 21,378
Joined: 05-November 05
Location:At Sea?
Interests:DoubleStamping. Movies. Reading.

Posted 05 June 2012 - 03:05 PM

T77, on 05 June 2012 - 02:00 PM, said:

I agree wholeheartedly with this comment.

Every talked about this series like it was something special, but it had zero personality. I care not one bit about anyone in it and it seemed like it was going through the motions at best. The author could be described as mediocre at best to me. I should have at least engaged with one character and I just didn't. I think I sold the book to a used bookstore and didn't bother with the others.

Great setting and ideas...poor execution.

"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

#8525 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 05 June 2012 - 03:09 PM

I'll be the dissenting voice on Retribution Falls; I loved it. Especially the characters.

HiddenOne, on 05 June 2012 - 02:25 PM, said:

I just finished Sanderson's Way of Kings last night. Very much enjoyed it, hope there is more to the series.

LOL. There are 9 more books coming. :tongue:

"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

#8526 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 05 June 2012 - 05:15 PM

After gorging myself on the delights of Jacqueline Carey's two Kushiel trilogies, I'm taking a break before starting on her Naamah trilogy and embarking on a reread of Rothfuss's _The Name of the Wind_.

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

#8527 Dolmen 2.0

is probably lying

Group: Malazan Artist
Posts: 2,692
Joined: 04-September 05
Location:Camorr
Interests:Walks in the park.

Waiting till jean gets here.

Posted 05 June 2012 - 08:18 PM

UseOfWeapons, on 05 June 2012 - 05:15 PM, said:

Reading Wisemans Fear as we speak. Easy read. Easy easy read. Like gliding through paper.

“Behind this mask there is more than just flesh. Beneath this mask there is an idea... and ideas are ~~bulletproof~~ Gas-Fireproof.”

#8528 Baco Xtath

Wait. What?

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 831
Joined: 10-September 11
Location:Knoxville, TN
Interests:Reading, writing, building, fly fishing, anime, MMA, and being a father.

Posted 06 June 2012 - 11:56 AM

Dolmen+, on 05 June 2012 - 08:18 PM, said:

UseOfWeapons, on 05 June 2012 - 05:15 PM, said:

Reading Wisemans Fear as we speak. Easy read. Easy easy read. Like gliding through paper.

I'm telling y'all, the audiobooks are phenomenal. I got a Sandisk Sansa off ebay for $15 and my library has thousands of free audiobooks (and ebooks). I've been listening to Rothfuss's books for the past two weeks and the amount of immersion I feel is uncanny. I feel like I know Kvothe intimately. I listen when I drive, when I grocery shop, when I mow, when I work, ....anytime I'm not talking to or having to listen to someone.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett, Jingo"Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken." - Terry Pratchett, Eric
"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of a lack of wisdom." - Terry Pratchett

#8529 wade

more interesting African Swallow of Low House PEN

Group: Tehol's Blissful Chickens
Posts: 208
Joined: 02-June 11

Posted 06 June 2012 - 12:22 PM

Small Circle of Beings by Damon Galgut. I'm too scared to start Midnight Tides.

#8530 Nocturnal

Rabid fangirl

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 173
Joined: 17-May 12

Posted 06 June 2012 - 01:03 PM

Finally started The Steal Remains, together with a web sequel of JDatE.

"Ambition is not a dirty word. Piss on compromise. Go for the throat."

#8531 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 06 June 2012 - 03:31 PM

Wow, Tigana really does pick up around chapters 3 & 4, doesn't it?

#8532 QuickTidal

Lord of the Waters

Group: Team Quick Ben
Posts: 21,378
Joined: 05-November 05
Location:At Sea?
Interests:DoubleStamping. Movies. Reading.

Posted 06 June 2012 - 03:37 PM

Salt-Man Z, on 06 June 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

Wow, Tigana really does pick up around chapters 3 & 4, doesn't it?

Good to hear! I will be getting to that one after I finish A SONG FOR ARBONNE.

"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

#8533 Aptorian

How 'bout a hug?

Group: The Wheelchairs of War
Posts: 24,785
Joined: 22-May 06

Posted 06 June 2012 - 04:42 PM

Still reading the Cold Commands. I'm about half way through and I am bored. So bored. I am now beginning to remember that I wasn't really blown away by The Steel Remains and I thought it dragged along. Most of the Steel Remains, mainly the Egar and Archeth chapters could have been done away with completely, which seems to be the case with this one as well, here around the half way point. Only in the case of the Cold Commands you could probably have skipped everything that has happened in Ringils chapters as well BECAUSE NOTHING IS HAPPENING!

I just read through an entire chapter of the guy walking around in "The Gray Place" or what ever it is called in between worlds and ages. It added fuck all to the actual story and just kept going and going and going.

How is it possible that the Author's sci-fi books are so god damn awesome but the Fantasy stuff becomes boring?

#8534 McLovin

Cutlery Enthusiast

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 2,828
Joined: 19-March 04
Location:Dallas, Texas, USA
Interests:Knives. Stabbing. Stabbing with knives.

Posted 06 June 2012 - 05:07 PM

Aptorius, on 06 June 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

How is it possible that the Author's sci-fi books are so god damn awesome but the Fantasy stuff becomes boring?

Haven't read Morgan but generally IMO fantasy is pretty hard to write well nowadays. You're not just competing against current authors, but also a large and impressive back catalog, that never gets dated (science continuously evolves and dates any material based on it, but magic, by virtue of not existing, doesn't).

So you gotta figure out how to separate yourself from that ever-increasing mass of competition.

OK, I think I got it, but just in case, can you say the whole thing over again? I wasn't really listening.

#8535 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 06 June 2012 - 06:40 PM

Just finished Caliban's War by the pseudonymous James S. A. Corey. Fun, but undemanding. Could probably have used a little less politicking and a bit more action. Not a bad way to spend a few hours though.

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

#8536 amphibian

Ribbit

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 8,003
Joined: 28-September 06
Location:Upstate NY
Interests:Hopping around

Posted 06 June 2012 - 07:31 PM

Aptorius, on 06 June 2012 - 04:42 PM, said:

Miiiiiinor spoiler: You do realize that Ringil has the plague at that point and is severely messed up. The Grey Places portion ends and he gets back into the real world. Things pick up soon after that.

I survived the Permian and all I got was this t-shirt.

#8537 Ukjent

First Sword

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 588
Joined: 29-May 12
Location:North, sweet north.

Posted 06 June 2012 - 11:24 PM

QuickTidal, on 06 June 2012 - 03:37 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 06 June 2012 - 03:31 PM, said:

Wow, Tigana really does pick up around chapters 3 & 4, doesn't it?

Good to hear! I will be getting to that one after I finish A SONG FOR ARBONNE.

Tigana is just a sad story, and I love how he manage to make the worlds feel real.

#8538 worry

Master of the Deck

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 14,695
Joined: 24-February 10
Location:the buried west

Posted 06 June 2012 - 11:55 PM

Finished Stars In My Pocket Like Grains of Sand, and while it was long and slow-going for the most part, it was still engaging and pretty fascinating. It covers a lot of ground, but most prominently sex/gender/sexuality in a very courageous way (given it was published in like 1984 I think).

Now I've started Ghost Country to satisfy you Patrick Lee nerds some more.

They came with white hands and left with red hands.

#8539 yuna_anomander25

sapper elite red coat

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 322
Joined: 08-May 12
Interests:Malazan Book of the Fallen,
Dresden Files,
The Hunger Games
Anime,

Posted 07 June 2012 - 12:58 AM

just finished The Hunger Games, its good, a little nitpick, as i would like for the author to detail most of the killings, but i know it can't, 'cause the heroine is not in it, and only Katniss delivers the POV in the books,
with that said, i feel she is at her best when she described how the others have died and how Katniss witnesses them, creating drama and tension,
like:

Spoiler

my favorite scene: how Katniss met Peeta in the arena again, love that part,
want to know more about the Muttations, and the Capitol, i'm all up for katniss and Peeta, can't wait for Catching Fire and Mockingjay,

as i have already finished THG, deciding if i should go ahead with Patrick Rothfuss' Wise Man's Fear or the story collection of The Chronicles of the Black Company -Glen Cook,

It's not who I am underneath.. but what i do that defines me - Batman, Batman Begins; 'Without our deaths, sir, there would be no crime. Thus, no punishment to match,' 'Mortal Sword - '
'We are done, my friend. Now, in this manner, we choose the meaning of our deaths' - Mortal Sword Brukhalian to Veteran Nilbanas, siege of Capustan
'Ippen shinde miru (want to try dying this once) ?' - Jigoku Shoujo (Hell Girl)

#8540 worry

Master of the Deck

Group: Malaz Regular
Posts: 14,695
Joined: 24-February 10
Location:the buried west

Posted 07 June 2012 - 01:13 AM

I have a similar complaint about THG:

Spoiler

But glad you liked it overall.

Haven't read Rothfuss yet, but since that Black Company collection has three books, you could stagger it back and forth nicely with the Hunger Games books.

This post has been edited by worrywort: 07 June 2012 - 01:14 AM

They came with white hands and left with red hands.