[amphibian]

There's an element of a personal distaste for what the sorting hat represents with me - I hate people teaching children that they are pre-determined to be this or that. Or teaching them to be clingy, disrespectful or afraid, which happens more often than you'd think. Railroading kids to some sort of destiny is something I don't much like, although I can understand some of it and how it can be beneficial.

The sorting hat reminds me of phrenology, crystal ball quacks and decreases agency in the children, when they should be learning how to increase it.

[Traveller]

 Abyss, on 11 July 2013 - 11:44 PM, said:

 D, on 11 July 2013 - 04:15 AM, said:

 yuna_anomander25, on 11 July 2013 - 01:38 AM, said:

paused for a while Broken Angels. i'm now on part 2, while i tried to read my other unread books in my TRP, just to have a feel of their writing, like Theft of Swords, Red Wolf Conspiracy and A Shadow in Summer, while reading this other books of mine, i got curious on Side Jobs, haven't touched this one since i would like to read this when i already have Changes/Ghost Story and Cold Days, but i gave it a go, and now i'm enjoying it a lot, though most of this is just novellas, it is a good addition to the DresdenCrack,,

one thing i noticed early on, but have never commented, don't know if this counts as a spoiler, just my observation, in the Dresden books, particularly the covers, he's always depicted with a hat, but in Heorot, this is the only time that he commented on himself NOT HAVING a hat, i don't know, i'm sure Mr Butcher sees the cover art, but i sure would like for Harry Dresden to really, i mean REALLY have a hat, it adds to his mysterious persona and it would truly look nice, but since he's always in action, he was more likely to lose the hat, oh well,,

back to Side Jobs, have to pause on Love Hurts, as i have to read first Changes, then back to Broken Angels,, />

You haven't gotten to it yet, but Harry makes a definitive comment on the whole hat issue at some point.

There's a quote somewhere by Butcher that it's just something that the publisher came up with and won't stop.

There is also that scene in one of the latest books, not sure which one, in which Harry is being suited out, and Butcher actually has him state, 'No hats. I don't do hats.' Not that publishers take note of stuff like, the content...


I'm currently reading... Heroes Die. Sooo good so far, I can see what all the fuss is about. I've already downloaded the second one.

[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

141. X-Campus graphic novel by Francesco Artibani - X-Men re-imagined as high school students. Not as corny as it sounds.

142. Writing Movies For Fun And Profit by Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon - Hilarious take on the screenwriting industry (and a how-to guide) by two insiders.

143. User Unfriendly by Vivian Vande Velde - Readable, but mostly uninspired, YA SF about a group of kids (and one of their moms) getting stuck in a VR game.

144. A Soldier's Duty: Theirs Not To Reason Why by Jean Johnson - A precog joins the military so she can save the galaxy from the disaster she has foreseen. One of the better military SF's I've read. Not saying much, since I don't really enjoy the genre, and this didn't change my mind. Too much focus on training, military procedure minutiae, etc., and not enough moving the plot forward.

Congratulations to me. I have read a gross of books in just 6 months and change. Now if only I were a precog, so I could be better at picking ones that I will ultimately enjoy.

145. The Dark Glory War by Michael A. Stackpole - Wanted to like this one, because I keep trying to find good RPG-style fantasy, but it didn't really do anything for me.

146. The Tower Of Fear by Glen Cook - I keep trying to find Glen Cook books I'll enjoy, since I was not impressed with The Black Company. *ducks tomatoes* Mission not accomplished.

147. The Tyranny Of The Night by Glen Cook - Success! Or at least I'm on the fence, but leaning over slightly to the "like" side. I will continue this series. It was reminiscent of Malazan, with the world-building, multitude of characters, and witty dialogue.

[Ulrik]

I finally tackled Broken Angels (read they yeeeears ago and remembered nothing) and Woken Furies... and Im slightly disappointed. BA were solid, but way behind Altered Carbon. Woken Furies had great start, but finish was really underwhelming for me. In books where is Kovacs and is juggling with fuckin Quellcrist Falconer I somehow expected something more. Like really much more than the end. Now Im going through Blade of Tyshalle.

[Overactive Imagination]

"Dark Glory Kruppe" sounds like the title of an amazing Malazan spin-off. Erikson should get on that asap

[Ukjent]

Done with Under Heaven and over to The Redbreast - Jo Nesbø. Feels a bit strange to read in Norwegian again.

[QuickTidal]

Finished Iggulden's EMPEROR: THE GATES OF ROME, and was really pleased with it. A solid, solid historical fiction book, and a stellar start to the series. Looking fwd to starting book 2.

Started the new JK Rowling (ahem, Robert Galbraith *pseudonym*) book THE CUCKOO'S CALLING...and I'm only about 4 chapters in...but damned if it isn't a great little detective story so far, with an extremely likable protagonist! If the rest of the story is this enjoyable, it might be that JK's best shot at post-Potter books could be a series featuring this character. Will chime in when done.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 14 July 2013 - 08:50 PM

[Solidsnape]

Just finished The Left Hand of God, left feeling a bit disappointed.
It's was just all over the place.

Brought Perido street station to work with me. I'll probably start it after me Terry Waite.

[Chance]

Just finished up Blood Song and must say it was damn good for a book so close to a standard fantasy story.

This post has been edited by Chance: 14 July 2013 - 10:21 PM

[Serenity]

Over the weekend I read Patrick O'Brian's The Mauritius Command, which was excellent, and this morning I made a start on Django Wexler's The Thousand Names.

[Macros]

Reading a lot of Gemmell (travelling alot, ereader is choc full of Gemmell)
many rereads but my first time through the Jon Shannow novels and Morningstar.

I like Morningstar because Jarek is just an absolute asshole.
Jon Shannow, I enjoyed but didn't need the last book I think.

[Solidsnape]

 Macros, on 15 July 2013 - 12:01 PM, said:

Reading a lot of Gemmell (travelling alot, ereader is choc full of Gemmell)
many rereads but my first time through the Jon Shannow novels and Morningstar.

I like Morningstar because Jarek is just an absolute asshole.
Jon Shannow, I enjoyed but didn't need the last book I think.

Just finished reading this for the first time. I kind of agree, it was better without all the porential 'time' paradoxes.

[Coco with marshmallows]

 Chance, on 14 July 2013 - 10:20 PM, said:

Just finished up Blood Song and must say it was damn good for a book so close to a standard fantasy story.

Very much this, really enjoyed it.

just started "The Thousand Names" by Django Wexler (just an aside, that's an AWESOME name)

setting:

fantasy version of napoleonic era egypt.

intriguing so far.

[T77]

 Kruppe, on 13 July 2013 - 03:41 PM, said:

...
147. The Tyranny Of The Night by Glen Cook - Success! Or at least I'm on the fence, but leaning over slightly to the "like" side. I will continue this series. It was reminiscent of Malazan, with the world-building, multitude of characters, and witty dialogue.

The first book was the weakest. The next two are great. And the first 10% of book 2 is on par with book 1 and I almost stopped, but then it settles down and kicks in to make Tyrannies right up there with Cook's best IMO.

Just finished The Wounded Land by Donaldson and enjoyed it. It was a good post-apocalyptic fantasy novel.

This post has been edited by T77: 15 July 2013 - 03:33 PM

[Ukjent]

Giving the red breast a pause while enjoying the hell out of Turn Coat!.

[polishgenius]

Finished The Thousand Names by Django Wexler. Not quite as amazing as I was hoping from the start- it's just a little too comfortable for a military campaign and I think Wexler makes some odd choices about when to focus on which support character, making it difficult to get emotional over things that happen - but it's well worth a try for those of you who liked the desert campaigns in Malazan.


Now onto Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor.

[Ukjent]

Done with Turn Coat and over to Changes, just go to love some Dresdencrack.

[Overactive Imagination]

Half way through Death Masks and it's getting REALLY good. Awesome sex scenes and Dresen goes off on some fool's knees, ankles, and wrists with a baseball bat. Fuckin awesome stuff

[yuna_anomander25]

paused for a while Side Jobs, onto Broken Angels once more, not until i get Changes, as i still haven't had the time (& money) to buy new books, />

loved the story Back up, only POV of Thomas, now we got to read how he feels about stuff regarding Harry, and i cried in the end of The Warrior, Micheal is one of the best supporting cast for Harry,,

now i'm thinking of a series re-read, />

[Mentalist]

 Overactive Imagination, on 15 July 2013 - 11:33 PM, said:

Half way through Death Masks and it's getting REALLY good. Awesome sex scenes and Dresen goes off on some fool's knees, ankles, and wrists with a baseball bat. Fuckin awesome stuff

Many disagree, but I consider Death Masks to be the best thing Dresden has ever written. Keep reading, it gets better.