Reading at t'moment?

#11301 Studlock

First Sword

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 12:57 PM

Finally started Blood and Bone, really enjoy it so far. I've always liked ICE and thought he had his own strengths when compared to SE (like horror-esque scenes) but having cinematic descriptions wasn't one of them. This book is proven to me that ICE just keeps getting better at the actual craft of writing. I won't go into any the scenes because of spoilers but I'm really enjoying the atmosphere of the book which plays to ICE's strengths and I'm really enjoying the improvements in other areas.

#11302 QuickTidal

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 01:59 PM

I'm not too far from finishing Lawrence's EMPEROR OF THORNS (which is fucking excellent BTW), and after that I've got some housecleaning to do...this means that I've got some half-finished books to finish which I put down for one reason or another (never due to boredom or anything, but I sometimes switch channels for freshness' sake)

So I'll be finishing ALIF THE UNSEEN (put down because I got my hands on EMPEROR and NEEDED to read it), then I need to finish Ken Follet's FALL OF GIANTS (which was borrowed from me before I'd finished it and has now been returned), and then I want to re-read the tail end of SAILING TO SARANTIUM because I've got LORD OF EMPERORS on deck.

"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

#11303 Abyss

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 02:57 PM

Stalker, on 11 August 2013 - 07:13 PM, said:

Just finished Ex-Heroes. It was awesome. As always, thanks for talking it up, the book recs here are usually very good. Now I'm about to start the Ex-Patriots, and have Mark Lawrence's King of Thorns set for a reread before the newest one.

Glad you liked.
Just a warning... You're going to finish EX-PATS and want to jump straight into EX-COMS.

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#11304 Ukjent

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 05:24 PM

Fuck me, done with Emperor. I just hate it when i series I enjoy ends.

#11305 Stalker

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 05:34 PM

Abyss said:

Stalker said:

Glad you liked.
Just a warning... You're going to finish EX-PATS and want to jump straight into EX-COMS.

You are already right. I finished Ex-Patriots yesterday, and started Ex-Communication this morning. The whole zombie v. superheroes v. zombie super villains v. villains concept is great fun and done really well by Clines. His books are hard to put down, though they are short enough to be (basically) read in one sitting anyway. The books are great popcorn books (is that a term? Probably not, but you get the idea- like a popcorn movie. Good, summer fun) and I'm looking forward to the next 85% of this one.

This post has been edited by Stalker: 12 August 2013 - 05:35 PM

#11306 QuickTidal

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 05:52 PM

Finished EMPEROR OF THORNS by Mark Lawrence.

I don't even...that finale was just fucking STUNNING.

Amazed. If you haven't' read these books yet, you are in for a serious treat!

"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

#11307 Abyss

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 06:07 PM

Finished RIYRIA bk5. Decent, i liked bk4 more, tho 5 has its moments.

Was going to start KING OF THORNS but decided to give PRINCE a quick re-read first, then on to KING and EMPEROR. Very psyched based on the buzz here and elsethread.

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#11308 Ukjent

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Posted 12 August 2013 - 06:39 PM

Over to Caliban's War

#11309 Tiste Simeon

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 12:42 AM

So,

It is 0140am. I should have gone to sleep a long time ago. I just finished read Blade of Tyshalle. While a lot of it was a bit weird & abstract it was certainly a good end. Again, not sure where the next book is going to go...

Spoiler

A Haunting Poem
I Scream
You Scream
We all Scream
For I Scream.

#11310 Salt-Man Z

My pen halts, though I do not

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 03:48 AM

"Knock, fucking knock."

"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

#11311 T77

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 02:20 PM

Just finished To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams and thought it was just OK. Williams has his moments, but in the end I think he is just mediocre.

#11312 Abyss

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 02:23 PM

T77, on 13 August 2013 - 02:20 PM, said:

Just finished To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams and thought it was just OK. Williams has his moments, but in the end I think he is just mediocre.

What, you mean tribes of 'light' and 'dark' elves aggressively singing at each other didn't wow you???

:thumbup:

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#11313 McLovin

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 03:05 PM

It should've been a dance off.

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

#11314 QuickTidal

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 03:31 PM

T77, on 13 August 2013 - 02:20 PM, said:

Just finished To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams and thought it was just OK. Williams has his moments, but in the end I think he is just mediocre.

Every book of his I've read has had some great ideas and some great story points...but he absolutely FILLS them with...well filler. So books that should be a clean 300 pages become 600 page behemoths that are about half good. So really he needs an editor who is willing to tell him to cut back.

"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

#11315 Abyss

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 03:55 PM

Abyss, on 13 August 2013 - 02:23 PM, said:

T77, on 13 August 2013 - 02:20 PM, said:

Just finished To Green Angel Tower by Tad Williams and thought it was just OK. Williams has his moments, but in the end I think he is just mediocre.

What, you mean tribes of 'light' and 'dark' elves aggressively singing at each other didn't wow you???

McLovin, on 13 August 2013 - 03:05 PM, said:

It should've been a dance off.

DAMN RIGHT IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A DANCE OFF!!!!

...and what really irks my ass is that the humans run around getting just massacred by ogres and shit and at the end the elves make it sound like they were doing the humans a favor by providing a soundtrack or something....

QuickTidal, on 13 August 2013 - 03:31 PM, said:

Agreed, with the exception of WAR OF THE FLOWERS... while a doorstopper, TW kept the plot tight, the world interesting, the characters fun and the story moving with a purpose that didn't travelogue all over the frikkin place trying to find a point. It was a surprisingly enjoyable urban/portal fantasy story that worked far better than i was expecting.

Plus no singing elves.

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#11316 Aptorian

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 04:04 PM

War of the Flowers is single-handedly responsible for my fascination with giants and my disappointment with the lack of the same in popular fantasy books.

You never get to see them in action but the stories of giants clad in battle armor wreathed in flames is still one of the most awesome images I can remember.

#11317 Imperial Historian

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 04:37 PM

Tad Williams standalones have tended to be better than his doorstoppers due to him having to cut out the filler. Memory, sorrow thorn and otherland both really suffered from excess fluff. War of the flowers, tailchasers song and the new bobby dollar series show his strengths better, and because he is forced to fit into a more reasonable page count are a lot more streamlined with significantly less fluff.

It's a shame, otherland at least had the potential to be one of the great fantasy trilogies if it had been better edited.

#11318 Abyss

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Posted 13 August 2013 - 04:39 PM

Aptorius, on 13 August 2013 - 04:04 PM, said:

Agreed 100%... one of the most striking 'ARGH TELL ME MORE WANT THAT STORY' moments in fantlit that springs to my brain.

Tho the book has a bunch of other moments where Williams makes great use of classic fantasy critters.

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#11319 Serenity

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Posted 14 August 2013 - 08:01 AM

Finished Bakker's Prince of Nothing trilogy. In general I enjoyed it, although I didn't think the last book quite lived up to the promise of the second, which was excellent, imo. I'm not sure whether it was the execution not matching his ambition, or that I burned out on it a bit from reading all three so close together, which I wouldn't normally do because I do get author burn-out quite quickly. It does mean that I liked the first two books a lot, though, to have gone on to the third straight away. I'll definitely pick up the Aspect-Emperor trilogy once it's finished.

Fancied a break from fantasy books for a bit, so started To Kill a Mockingbird this morning. Been meaning to read it for years.