[amphibian]

acesn8s, on 07 November 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

Do you suggest a reread of The Steel Remains before picking up The Cold Commands?

Steel Remains was my first Morgan book. Since then I've read the Kovacs series. I'm trying to figure out if i should reread Steel.

I really do recommend it. By putting the two side by side you refresh yourself on all the little things that Cold Commands expands on. TCC is a 10/10 book for me, with TSR being a 9/10. I disagree more than a little with Pat's review and the dedicated Cold Commands thread explains why.

[Serenity]

Abyss, on 07 November 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

Serenity, on 07 November 2012 - 02:27 PM, said:

End of Disc One, on 07 November 2012 - 02:03 PM, said:

Serenity, on 07 November 2012 - 11:07 AM, said:

I've abandoned Heroes Die. Got about 200 pages into it but wasn't feeling the love. ...

I haven't read Heroes Die yet but FWIW I've seen reviews saying that the book gets better in the second half.

QuickTidal, on 07 November 2012 - 02:04 PM, said:

I had to try three times at HEROES DIE to properly get into it. Save it for a try down the road.

Righto, I'll give it another go somewhere down the line. It would be the first book I've picked up on recommendation from people on here that I haven't enjoyed . . . which can't be right!
...

That ain't right. Push through. Don't make us shun you.

Harsh but fair

QuickTidal, on 07 November 2012 - 08:24 PM, said:

Abyss, on 07 November 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

On the other side of things QT i picked up BITTER SEEDS and it's on deck after British commandos are done shooting trolls in AGE OF ODIN.

I hope you dig it sir. I certainly had a blast with it, and more so the sequel.

I'm about halfway through Bitter Seeds now. It's rather good

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 07 November 2012 - 08:24 PM, said:

Abyss, on 07 November 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

On the other side of things QT i picked up BITTER SEEDS and it's on deck after British commandos are done shooting trolls in AGE OF ODIN.

I hope you dig it sir. I certainly had a blast with it, and more so the sequel.

No pressure on you but yesterday i picked up the sequel even tho i haven't started the first one.
If i hate them i'm wrapping them in roadkill and sending them to you.

acesn8s, on 08 November 2012 - 01:08 PM, said:

I started reading S. M. Sterling's Nantucket series.

Let us know if you like. I have it and chunks of the related Dies the Fire series in the TRP and i have a mixed history with Stirling... loved PESHAWAR LANCERS, hated THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE.

amphibian, on 08 November 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 07 November 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

Do you suggest a reread of The Steel Remains before picking up The Cold Commands?

Steel Remains was my first Morgan book. Since then I've read the Kovacs series. I'm trying to figure out if i should reread Steel.

I really do recommend it. By putting the two side by side you refresh yourself on all the little things that Cold Commands expands on. TCC is a 10/10 book for me, with TSR being a 9/10. I disagree more than a little with Pat's review and the dedicated Cold Commands thread explains why.

I second Amphi on this with the qualifier that TCC won't suffer if you just jam straight into it without a reread, but there are subtleties that are clearer if TSR is fresh in your brain.

And Pat's a communist.

[QuickTidal]

I tried to get back into THE BLINDING KNIFE last night and still couldn't. Unsure why, it's perfectly serviceable but I can't seem to be in the mood for it.

I picked up and put down from the ToRead pile the following after giving each a number of pages:

THE WHITE ROSE - Cook

THE TERROR - Dan Simmons

BLINDING KNIFE - Weeks

So I ended up charging up my Kindle and finishing off the first Witcher short series book (THE LAST WISH) which was enjoyable, if not over the top.

Will probably finish Gaie Sebold's BABYLON STEEL on my ride home tonight....but haven't the foggiest what I'll next try to get into.

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 08 November 2012 - 05:39 PM, said:

That suxs! Blinding Knife is awesome. How long into it did you get?

Oh only about 40 pages-ish if that...I just can't seem to settle in...

[amphibian]

QuickTidal, on 08 November 2012 - 05:56 PM, said:

Oh only about 40 pages-ish if that...I just can't seem to settle in...

I've read and really liked two of the three books you've mentioned - The White Rose and The Terror.

The Cook book (hehehe) is a radical departure from the Black Company books that came before. The time skip, the Plains of Fear creatures and overall strangeness really up the quality of writing and the inventiveness of the series as a whole. It's very much worth reading and pushing through the different tone.

The Simmons book is a slow burner. He's gotta set the table nicely - the marooned ship in the Arctic - before you can have your meal of the thriller components. It's really good once the tension starts ratcheting up and overall the book is perhaps his most complete work to date. No sucky ending.

[QuickTidal]

Thanks! I'm still planning to read both, I just couldn't settle into them right now.

It will also be my first Simmons book...so I DO want to read it.

[McLovin]

Mood matters more and more to me nowadays. Years ago I would just plow through any book. Now, I gotta be in the mood, or I find something else.

[Baco Xtath]

QuickTidal, on 08 November 2012 - 06:46 PM, said:

Thanks! I'm still planning to read both, I just couldn't settle into them right now.

It will also be my first Simmons book...so I DO want to read it.

The Terror was the first audiobook I ever listened to and it paved the way to my addiction. Listening to that book is chilling and freak'n awesome. Also, you've got to check out Hyperion. It's one of my favorite books of all time.

[Morgoth]

amphibian, on 08 November 2012 - 06:23 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 08 November 2012 - 05:56 PM, said:

Oh only about 40 pages-ish if that...I just can't seem to settle in...

I've read and really liked two of the three books you've mentioned - The White Rose and The Terror.

The Cook book (hehehe) is a radical departure from the Black Company books that came before. The time skip, the Plains of Fear creatures and overall strangeness really up the quality of writing and the inventiveness of the series as a whole. It's very much worth reading and pushing through the different tone.

The Simmons book is a slow burner. He's gotta set the table nicely - the marooned ship in the Arctic - before you can have your meal of the thriller components. It's really good once the tension starts ratcheting up and overall the book is perhaps his most complete work to date. No sucky ending.

His best ending is in my opinion Carrion Comfort. Although I thought Drood ended on a decent note too.

The Terror dragged a little too much around the halfway point I think.

[Salt-Man Z]

I thought the ending of The Terror was very good (for once!) but it was also very very weird.

[acesn8s]

Abyss, on 08 November 2012 - 04:06 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 07 November 2012 - 08:24 PM, said:

Abyss, on 07 November 2012 - 08:13 PM, said:

On the other side of things QT i picked up BITTER SEEDS and it's on deck after British commandos are done shooting trolls in AGE OF ODIN.

I hope you dig it sir. I certainly had a blast with it, and more so the sequel.

No pressure on you but yesterday i picked up the sequel even tho i haven't started the first one.
If i hate them i'm wrapping them in roadkill and sending them to you.

acesn8s, on 08 November 2012 - 01:08 PM, said:

I started reading S. M. Sterling's Nantucket series.

Let us know if you like. I have it and chunks of the related Dies the Fire series in the TRP and i have a mixed history with Stirling... loved PESHAWAR LANCERS, hated THE DIFFERENCE ENGINE.

amphibian, on 08 November 2012 - 02:01 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 07 November 2012 - 09:23 PM, said:

Do you suggest a reread of The Steel Remains before picking up The Cold Commands?

Steel Remains was my first Morgan book. Since then I've read the Kovacs series. I'm trying to figure out if i should reread Steel.

I really do recommend it. By putting the two side by side you refresh yourself on all the little things that Cold Commands expands on. TCC is a 10/10 book for me, with TSR being a 9/10. I disagree more than a little with Pat's review and the dedicated Cold Commands thread explains why.

I second Amphi on this with the qualifier that TCC won't suffer if you just jam straight into it without a reread, but there are subtleties that are clearer if TSR is fresh in your brain.

And Pat's a communist.

I'm about halfway through Island in the Sea of Time. I like it. I find it reads nice and easy, but Stirling provides enough detail to make the story believable. This is my first book by him and I can see myself finishing this series and trying some of the related stories.

[Salt-Man Z]

This Books Is Full of Spiders is pretty good. It's pretty much a (relatively) straightforward zombie novel, though (though it's not technically a zombie novel) as opposed to the batshit-insane interdimensional/ghostly craziness that was John Dies at the End.

[QuickTidal]

I'm STILL in a reading black hole.

Last night I tried KING OF THORNS, a book I know I'll enjoy and I wasn't even getting into it.

Sigh.

So today I've been re-reading ToM and THE COLD COMMANDS on my Kindle...but I need something to break the funk.

And waiting till the new Dresden comes out isn't an option as it's too far away.

[rhulad]

Do what I do and read something super light, like The Princess Bride which was the last book I read after FoD.

[Salt-Man Z]

You read Ender's Game, Quick? I've got to assume you have, but if not that should take you right out of your funk. Of course, you might just read it in a single night.

[D'rek]

QuickTidal, on 09 November 2012 - 06:57 PM, said:

I'm STILL in a reading black hole.

Last night I tried KING OF THORNS, a book I know I'll enjoy and I wasn't even getting into it.

Sigh.

So today I've been re-reading ToM and THE COLD COMMANDS on my Kindle...but I need something to break the funk.

And waiting till the new Dresden comes out isn't an option as it's too far away.

Have you ever heard of the crazy John Ringo book where the protaganist basically lives out the biggest possible macho-power fantasy by foiling terrorists and stuff? I forget what it's called, but from what I remember it is terribly awful, hilarious and cringe-worthy in every possible way. Also very light - ie no serious issues discussed! I can't say you'd like it, I found I only liked some parts of it (no surprise since it was not at all geared towards my side of the audience), but also couldn't not read more (plus some of it is kinda hot)... either way it will definitely break up your serious-fantasy funk Anyone remember the name?

---

In other news I'm reading the Sarantine Mosaic again, and it is awesome as usual.(though Linon is kinda just annoying on re-reads)

This post has been edited by D'rek: 09 November 2012 - 09:34 PM

[amphibian]

D, on 09 November 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

Have you ever heard of the crazy John Ringo book where the protaganist basically lives out the biggest possible macho-power fantasy by foiling terrorists and stuff? I forget what it's called, but from what I remember it is terribly awful, hilarious and cringe-worthy in every possible way. Also very light - ie no serious issues discussed! I can't say you'd like it, I found I only liked some parts of it (no surprise since it was not at all geared towards my side of the audience), but also couldn't not read more (plus some of it is kinda hot)... either way it will definitely break up your serious-fantasy funk Anyone remember the name?

My mind is blown that D'rek is the one recommending Ringo's Paladin of the Shadows books.

I kind of agree with her take on it, but think that QT's funk is connected to a general malaise in regards to reading in general. Go do something else for a while with your free time. Run. Lift. Explore. Cook. Smooch your partner. Pick up a book when you really feel like it again, not out of sheer habit.

[QuickTidal]

amphibian, on 09 November 2012 - 09:59 PM, said:

D, on 09 November 2012 - 09:33 PM, said:

Have you ever heard of the crazy John Ringo book where the protaganist basically lives out the biggest possible macho-power fantasy by foiling terrorists and stuff? I forget what it's called, but from what I remember it is terribly awful, hilarious and cringe-worthy in every possible way. Also very light - ie no serious issues discussed! I can't say you'd like it, I found I only liked some parts of it (no surprise since it was not at all geared towards my side of the audience), but also couldn't not read more (plus some of it is kinda hot)... either way it will definitely break up your serious-fantasy funk Anyone remember the name?

My mind is blown that D'rek is the one recommending Ringo's Paladin of the Shadows books.

I kind of agree with her take on it, but think that QT's funk is connected to a general malaise in regards to reading in general. Go do something else for a while with your free time. Run. Lift. Explore. Cook. Smooch your partner. Pick up a book when you really feel like it again, not out of sheer habit.

I think you may be right Amph. I might just be burnt out. I'll give it a rest for a bit and see how that plays out.

Thanks for the recco's all!

[D'rek]

amphibian, on 09 November 2012 - 09:59 PM, said:

My mind is blown that D'rek is the one recommending Ringo's Paladin of the Shadows books.

Ah yes, that's what it was called. As for me liking it/recommending it, that/those? books appeal to me the same way Casino Royale does - I didn't really care about the plot or the guns or the Osama bin Laden, but there were more than enough sequences describing in detail how muscly, scarred, tanned, etc the protagonist is to keep me interested... helps that I was a teenager when I read it/them, too