[yuna_anomander25]

finally finished with The Curse of Chalion, my first read after a long time of an "All's well that ends well" kind of story, a very light read, not much tension, even with the 'Curse,' you'll know that the MC will save the day, but still it's ok, may pick up someday the sequel Paladin of Souls, but I'm not in a hurry, may also try her Vorkosigan Saga,

I'm now a few pages in, Heroes Die, now this is something, from the start it's already action-packed and full of shits and gore, I'm liking the first person POV and the 3rd person narrative switching in this book, will continue reading later on,

[Silk]

Demonsouled by Jonathan Moeller, picked it up the other day and enjoyed it so much i'm already into the 4th book of the series... any1 else been down this road?

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 05 January 2013 - 05:40 AM, said:

QuickTidal, on 05 January 2013 - 03:02 AM, said:

So I only flicked open GUN MACHINE for a peek to read a chapter or two...an hour and a half later and I'm over 120 pages in....
Abyss...get on it. This book is GOLD!

We may need a ded'thread this book is pure Ellis awsomesauce!

DO it....DO it!

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 05 January 2013 - 01:38 PM

[QuickTidal]

Finished GUN MACHINE...good solid Ellis storytelling. A basic thriller told in a non-basic way. Great stuff!

I picked up National Geo 125th Anniversary issue all about human kinds drive to explore, and a re-read of portions of Richard Holmes non-fic THE AGE OF WONDER (also about exploration) to tide me over till AMOL.

[Serenity]

Since my last visit:

The Man in the Snow by Rory Clements
Nine Princes in Amber by Roger Zelazny
Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel by Glen Cook - probably my two favourites of the Black Company books I've read so far
Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells - loved it
Blood Rites by Jim Butcher - my favourite of the Dresden books I've read so far

and now reading The Eye of the World. I've had this sitting on the shelf for a decade and never read it, so it was high time, I guess. Just over half way through and I can't make up my mind about it. It's very easy to read, for sure, but it may be a bit too traditional for me, although I will at least read the next book or two (given that I'm always telling people to at least read up to MoI before they even consider giving up on Malazan ).

This post has been edited by Serenity: 07 January 2013 - 01:46 PM

[Abyss]

Totally enjoying Warren Ellis' GUN MACHINE . I find i'm reading this slowly and really tripping on the characters' headspaces. It's a great murder mystery/thriller story and as usual Ellis throws in high concept semi-the-future-is-happening-NOW with a dash of the-past-will-fuck-you-sideways.

Had a couple of long drives so i plugged in the mp3 of Cory Doctorow's FOR THE WIN. ... not-so-hidden in this story of gamers is a complex pontification on society, economics, international everything and more... my thinkymeatz hurt.

[T77]

Just finished The Darkness that Comes Before by R Scott Bakker. It started out well enough, after 30 or 40% I thought Bakker had potential to be one of my favorite authors. But then it fell off a cliff to the point of having trouble finishing it. It was a boring, meandering ride for the remainder. Don't think I'll be reading any more Bakker.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 02 January 2013 - 07:12 PM, said:

... just enough time to finish Hearn's HAMMERED.

Speaking of the IRON DRUID series... i think i'm seeing a re-occuring flaw... Hearn's use of Irish mythology is great fun. It's original, interesting and well thought out. But his vampires and werewolves and even his Norse gods are uninteresting... boring even. And bk 3 is suffering in my brainz because the story largely revolves around those less interesting elements, unlike the prior two....I'm still in, but i'm way less engaged in this particular book so far.

Finished HAMMERED a few days ago.

It failed to wow, for the same reasons as above, plus some fairly chunky plot holes, and the 'big fight' was not so big and fairly predictable.

I'll still read books 4 and 5 because 1 and 2 were interesting enough, but i hope Hearn gets back to an emphasis on the Druidic angle and away from his less interesting use of the standard urbfant tropes.

[Salt-Man Z]

Just started Gail Z. Martin's Ice Forged last night. Nothing noteworthy yet, but I like the premise, so we'll see.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 07 January 2013 - 03:18 PM, said:

Totally enjoying Warren Ellis' GUN MACHINE . I find i'm reading this slowly and really tripping on the characters' headspaces. It's a great murder mystery/thriller story and as usual Ellis throws in high concept semi-the-future-is-happening-NOW with a dash of the-past-will-fuck-you-sideways.

Spoiler

Bat wanting to have sex with the Spearpoint Security person's Star Trek Comm badge...was hilarious and awesome! Also, the cell phones that mold into your hand.

Quote

Had a couple of long drives so i plugged in the mp3 of Cory Doctorow's FOR THE WIN. ... not-so-hidden in this story of gamers is a complex pontification on society, economics, international everything and more... my thinkymeatz hurt.

I find that Doctorow, whilst an incredible writer, sometimes allows himself to get WAY too bogged down in "making a point about society" and the story CAN suffer as a result. I think the only book he's written that rides the balance perfectly was LITTLE BROTHER.

[rhulad]

Just finished Cold Days not sure what to read next... Either A Storm of Swords or Last Argument of Kings

[Baco Xtath]

About 150 pages into The Minority Council and kickass so far (though another one of my original ideas has been taken). Also about 30 pages into Atrocity Archives and am enjoying it thus far. Finished listening to Banks' Surface Detail yesterday. Freak'n awesome book. Loved the SC ship/avatar Falling Outside the Normal Moral Constraints and it's enthusiasm to be a battleship (this is where audiobooks excel). Loved Vatueil's ending -

Spoiler

it changes a lot if he was working for SC, though being Z doesn't necessarily imply that, I guess

. Tomorrow morning A Memory of Light will be available on my audible app - goodbye family and friends.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 07 January 2013 - 04:40 PM, said:

Abyss, on 07 January 2013 - 03:18 PM, said:

...Had a couple of long drives so i plugged in the mp3 of Cory Doctorow's FOR THE WIN. ... not-so-hidden in this story of gamers is a complex pontification on society, economics, international everything and more... my thinkymeatz hurt.

I find that Doctorow, whilst an incredible writer, sometimes allows himself to get WAY too bogged down in "making a point about society" and the story CAN suffer as a result. I think the only book he's written that rides the balance perfectly was LITTLE BROTHER.

he does seem to enjoy stepping out of the story to educate/lecture the reader, sometimes tediously so, but in this case i find his 'lectures' on how MMOs evolve to mirror real life markets and labor-situations fascinating.

[JPK]

Finished An Autumn War yesterday right on schedule. I'm really wishing that I hadn't plotted out The Price of Spring a full month down the road now... At least I'm getting to keep up on the Covenant reread with The Power That Preserves now.

[Mentalist]

Finished Blood and Bone. thoughts in the appropriate forum's Abyss thread. Short version: liked it, with a few reservations, pacing needs a lot of work, but the setting saves the book and then some.

back in shool now, gonna be swamped for a while, not sure what i'll read next, but i'm thinking "War of the Mage" by Perumov, to finish my Chronicles of the Rift re-read before delving into Godsdoom-II

[acesn8s]

A Memory of Light.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

Going to start keeping track of all the books I finish in 2013:

1. Showcase Presents Superman Family Volume 2: Corny silver age Superman comics. What more could you want in a comic book?

2. The Passage by Justin Cronin: Completely not what I expected, given that the first 1/3 of the book is about an abandoned 6 year old girl. But great. The Twelve goes immediately on my wishlist.

3. Marrow by Robert Reed: Very strange, but good. About a Jupiter-sized spacecraft inhabited by thousands of races. The story focuses on a handful of (near immortal) human captains who voyage to the terrestrial planet that exists at the very center of the spacecraft. They become stranded there and must figure out whether the master captain betrayed them, or if they are just "unrescue-able."

4. The Skinner by Neal Asher: Okay, but not quite what I was looking for in an aliens-themed novel. It looks like the sequels are out of print. I may or may not continue, certainly not immediately.

5. A Cosmic Christmas, edited by Hank Davis: Christmas-themed sci-fi stories. Meh. For a more awesome sci-fi Christmas anthology, I recommend Christmas On Ganymede And Other Stories, edited by Martin H. Greenberg.

6. Netherworld Book 1, Pleasure Model: About a gene-grown human "sex worker" who witnesses a murder and must be protected by the main character, a homicide detective. The sexy illustrations don't make up for the meh plot. The ending hints at a superior sequel...but I tend to not continue a series if #1 doesn't stand on its own.

7. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman: Decided to read this one, because 1) I found it cheap, 2) it's allegedly a fairly well-regarded work, and 3) it's supposedly being made into a movie. It wasn't really my cup of tea, but then I've never much cared for military sci-fi.

[Baco Xtath]

Listening to AMOL. However, I also bought the hardback so I will probably be reading it as well. Everything else is on hold.

[worry]

Kruppe, were you by any chance manufactured by Intel?

[Stalker]

Since last time, I finished Blood and Bone, the second half of the Cook's Garrett PI series, Haldeman's The Forever War and its sequel Forever Free. Oh also GGK's Tigana, which left me underwhelmed, maybe one of his other books will do, I've got Under Heaven, The Lions of Al-Rassan, and the first book of the Fionavar Tapestry. Suggestions?


Today, Amazon left me AMoL so I've started that and have Mieville's Perdido Street Station to follow.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 08 January 2013 - 10:44 PM