[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

60. Ender's Shadow: Command School graphic novel by Mike Carey - Another great Ender adaptation.

61. Elric: To Rescue Tanelorn by Michael Moorcock - I love the sword & sorcery stuff, but the stories set in more modern times kind of bore me...

62. Dhampir by Barb and J. C. Hendee - This was a very pleasant surprise, as I had never heard of it. I wouldn't really call it an urban fantasy, since it's not set in our world, but it does involve vampires. Basically, a woman and her half-elf business partner are con artists who pretend to kill vampires and then charge villages for their services. When they decide to retire from their life of crime, real vampires come after them, mistaking them for actual vampire hunters. There's a larger underlying storyline related to the main character's origin, which apparently unfolds in subsequent books. I will definitely continue this series. Won't read it in public though, as the cover looks kind of S&M-ey.

 500x500_3002096_file.jpeg (40.89K)
Number of downloads: 0

[Abyss]

Kruppe, on 25 March 2013 - 01:57 PM, said:

...62. Dhampir by Barb and J. C. Hendee - This was a very pleasant surprise, as I had never heard of it. I wouldn't really call it an urban fantasy, since it's not set in our world, but it does involve vampires. Basically, a woman and her half-elf business partner are con artists who pretend to kill vampires and then charge villages for their services. When they decide to retire from their life of crime, real vampires come after them, mistaking them for actual vampire hunters. There's a larger underlying storyline related to the main character's origin, which apparently unfolds in subsequent books. I will definitely continue this series. Won't read it in public though, as the cover looks kind of S&M-ey.
...

I think there are already six+ books in this series. haven't read it, but from what i've heard, ymmv.
Let us know.


Enjoying the hell out of RED COUNTRY.

[Salt-Man Z]

Started in on the second of Michael Moorcock's White Wolf Eternal Champion omnibuses: Von Bek. Currently reading The War Hound and the World's Pain, which has the amazing premise of a mercenary soldier in 1600s Germany being sent on a mission by Lucifer to retrieve the Holy Grail so that he (Lucifer) can cure the World's Pain and thus be reconciled with God (or at least that's his claim.) Unfortunately, the plot (2/3 in) is in the mold of: Go to A, meet with someone who sends him to B. Go to B, meet with someone who sends him to C. Lather, rinse, repeat. Moorcock's writing keeps it enjoyable though.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

63. Swan Song by Robert McCammon - Stephen King's the Stand, after it smoked a bunch of crack.

64. Servant Of A Dark God by John Brown - I really enjoyed this one, although it got harder and harder to keep track of who was who throughout the book. It was reminiscent of the Sword Of Shadows series, but with Malazan-esque names (Sparrow, Purity, Sugar, Legs, etc.). The next book needs a dramatis personae list and a longer glossary...

65. The Genius Wars by Catherine Jinks - Third and last book in a series about a young genius trying to permanently escape the criminal mastermind(s) pursuing him. The first book was brilliant, but the other two seem to suffer from sequelitis wherein the author just runs low on interesting plot points.

66. King's Dragon by Kate Elliott - Really interesting, until I got bored with it about 2/3rds of the way through. The blurb about the next book has me hooked though.

67. Mortal Coils by Eric Nylund - About 15 year old twins Eliot and Fiona who are the children of Lucifer and a goddess. When they find out about their heritage, they must navigate the dangerous politics that exists between the two families. Nice YA style fantasy. I will definitely pick up the next book.

68. Star Wars Legacy Of The Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston - I've thoroughly enjoyed the last several SW books I've read, and this was no exception.

69. Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood - Wow...even given that I am a big fan of dystopian novels, this was a cut above the rest. Highly recommended.

Phew! Done.

[Ukjent]

Reading Neil Gaiman's American Gods, that some weird stuff, but still enjoyable, perhaps I shall give Stardust a try someday since I enjoyed the movie.

[acesn8s]

Finished the Shadow of the Torturer. Didn't really enjoy it. I have no desire to pick up the next book.

I decided to start Master and Commander by O'Brian.

[Ukjent]

I remember reading the first of the master & commandorbooks when i was about 15 years old and i bet there were 30 pages of what names of ropes and what ever... Glad I'm never going to read that one again.

[amphibian]

You would hate Moby Dick then, even if it is basically one of the five greatest novels ever written.

[Morgoth]

amphibian, on 26 March 2013 - 10:04 PM, said:

You would hate Moby Dick then, even if it is basically one of the five greatest novels ever written.

On the 50th page of whale classifications i started asking myself if Melville was just being an ass. Still, fantastic book.

[D'iversify]

Kruppe, on 25 March 2013 - 05:58 PM, said:

69. Oryx And Crake by Margaret Atwood - Wow...even given that I am a big fan of dystopian novels, this was a cut above the rest. Highly recommended.

Mmmm, chickienubbs!

[Abyss]

Kruppe, on 25 March 2013 - 05:58 PM, said:

63. Swan Song by Robert McCammon - Stephen King's the Stand, after it smoked a bunch of crack.... and decided to rip off his own ideas only not as good.

Fixed for YMMVness. Not McCammon's best work, imnsho.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

Abyss, on 27 March 2013 - 03:03 PM, said:

Kruppe, on 25 March 2013 - 05:58 PM, said:

63. Swan Song by Robert McCammon - Stephen King's the Stand, after it smoked a bunch of crack.... and decided to rip off his own ideas only not as good.

Fixed for YMMVness. Not McCammon's best work, imnsho.

Regarding The Stand, to be honest, I only ever saw the movie. But comparing Swan Song the book to The Stand the movie, I strongly preferred Swan Song, ripoff or not.

[worry]

But how would you rank it against The Stand, as in the hot dog dispensary?

[Malaclypse]

Death of Kings by Cornwell, 6th and last book of the Warrior Chronicles - very good series. Uhtred is pretty awesome. Next will be Tad Williams' Dirty Streets of Heaven, hoping for something on the level of Otherland, which I loved apart from the ending - that was a story that could have gone on forever, maybe any ending would have been lame...

[Abyss]

Kruppe, on 27 March 2013 - 08:20 PM, said:

Abyss, on 27 March 2013 - 03:03 PM, said:

Kruppe, on 25 March 2013 - 05:58 PM, said:

63. Swan Song by Robert McCammon - Stephen King's the Stand, after it smoked a bunch of crack.... and decided to rip off his own ideas only not as good.

Fixed for YMMVness. Not McCammon's best work, imnsho.

Regarding The Stand, to be honest, I only ever saw the movie. But comparing Swan Song the book to The Stand the movie, I strongly preferred Swan Song, ripoff or not.

The movie was crap, as with the vast majority of King tv and film projects, STAND BY ME, SHAWSHANK and GREEN MILE aside.
Read the book and you'll see the difference.

[worry]

M-O-O-N that spells "crap."

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

Abyss, on 27 March 2013 - 08:49 PM, said:

The movie was crap, as with the vast majority of King tv and film projects, STAND BY ME, SHAWSHANK and GREEN MILE aside.
Read the book and you'll see the difference.

One of my problems is that I grew up watching Stephen King movies. While several were decent, the only one that inspired me to pick up the book was IT. Now that I'm an adult with a large backlog of unread books, it's very hard to motivate myself to read a book if I've already seen the (mediocre) movie version.

Also, the thing I've noticed (and not liked) about King's writing is that it is very stream-of-consciousness. It always feels like he starts and ends a book with no outline or plan for where he's going and then turns in the first draft for publication. I will soon begin book 3 of Dark Tower...and maybe he does a better job of tying things together here...but the first 2 books were just par for the course - too much meandering, things happen because they happen.

I've just started reading Beyond The Pale, the first book in The Last Rune series by Mark Anthony. I had never heard of this, and just stumbled across it in the bargain books section. In other words, it ought to be terrible. I'm only two chapters in and it's already turning out to be exactly what I WANTED Dark Tower to be. A saloonkeeper on a mission stumbles into a land of gods and monsters. Brother Cy's Apocalyptic Traveling Salvation Show makes its appearance on page 5, creepy kid included. Straight to the good stuff. No 300 pages of wandering around the desert. Stick that in your pipe and smoke it, gunslinger!

[acesn8s]

Malaclypse, on 27 March 2013 - 08:43 PM, said:

Death of Kings by Cornwell, 6th and last book of the Warrior Chronicles - very good series. Uhtred is pretty awesome. Next will be Tad Williams' Dirty Streets of Heaven, hoping for something on the level of Otherland, which I loved apart from the ending - that was a story that could have gone on forever, maybe any ending would have been lame...

I would say Death of Kings is the latest book, not the last.

DSoH is William's take on Dresden Files, with Angels and Demons instead of Wizards.

[Malaclypse]

acesn8s, on 28 March 2013 - 08:11 PM, said:

Malaclypse, on 27 March 2013 - 08:43 PM, said:

Death of Kings by Cornwell, 6th and last book of the Warrior Chronicles - very good series. Uhtred is pretty awesome. Next will be Tad Williams' Dirty Streets of Heaven, hoping for something on the level of Otherland, which I loved apart from the ending - that was a story that could have gone on forever, maybe any ending would have been lame...

I would say Death of Kings is the latest book, not the last.

DSoH is William's take on Dresden Files, with Angels and Demons instead of Wizards.

Really? That's cool - after a bit of a break I could totally go for some more Uhtred.

Regarding DSoH, I'm hoping it's at least as good as the Dresden books as I've invoked a personal moratorium on Jim Butcher's books after attempting the Codex Alera, not sure how long it will last.

[worry]

Kruppe, on 28 March 2013 - 05:01 PM, said:

Abyss, on 27 March 2013 - 08:49 PM, said:

The movie was crap, as with the vast majority of King tv and film projects, STAND BY ME, SHAWSHANK and GREEN MILE aside.
Read the book and you'll see the difference.

One of my problems is that I grew up watching Stephen King movies. While several were decent, the only one that inspired me to pick up the book was IT. Now that I'm an adult with a large backlog of unread books, it's very hard to motivate myself to read a book if I've already seen the (mediocre) movie version.

Also, the thing I've noticed (and not liked) about King's writing is that it is very stream-of-consciousness. It always feels like he starts and ends a book with no outline or plan for where he's going and then turns in the first draft for publication. I will soon begin book 3 of Dark Tower...and maybe he does a better job of tying things together here...but the first 2 books were just par for the course - too much meandering, things happen because they happen.

Books 3 and 4 are by far the best in the series, IMO, so I hope you enjoy them. Also, Shawshank can eat it. Switch it with Creepshow!