[Kruppe's snacky cakes]

20. Angel & Faith Vol. 1: Live Through This graphic novel by Christopher Gage - Great art in this one, particularly the covers...until the Harmony-centric story at the end which looks very amateurish by comparison.

21. Assassins' Dawn by Stephen Leigh - Some cool scenes in this one (e.g. the marching dead), but the story ultimately bored me.

22. The Goon In The Deformed of Body and the Devious of Mind graphic novel by Eric Powell - Goon's enemies list: 1) Sparkly vampires, 2) Tween girls, who are to blame for #1, 3) Midgets Of All Nations...Do I even need to go on? If you're not reading these, you're missing out on a lot of laughs.

23. Hell Yeah Vol. 1: Last Day On Earths graphic novel by Joe Keatinge - A superhero's multiverse duplicates are out to kill him. Clever concept, but ultimately more perplexing than entertaining.

24. Little Vampire Women by Louisa May Alcott and Lynn Messina - Finally, a mashup novel that didn't bore me to tears. Makes me curious to read the original.

25. Penny Arcade Vol. 9: Passion's Howl by Jerry Holkins & Mike Krahulik - Still don't have much of a frame of reference for the gaming jokes...still making me laugh anyway...

26. Pocket Guide To The Afterlife by Jason Boyett - Tongue-in-cheek guide to all things heavenly/hellish. I was surprised to learn, in contrast to its fire-and-brimstone reputation, Christianity is among the most optimistic when it comes to the hereafter. In most religions that involve an afterlife, pretty much everyone goes to the same place, and it far more resembles hell than heaven.

27. The Waste Lands by Stephen King - Well, the series is getting marginally better with each book. I still don't know where King is going with this, and I can't tell if he does either. Atmospherically, I liked the book. Plot-wise, it just seemed like King had a bunch of dreams after smoking peyote and decided to mash them all together into a book. I is confused. Is there a Dummies guide to this series?

28. What Makes Flamingos Pink by Bill McLain -

Spoiler

Carotenoids...in case you don't want to bother reading the book.

[Aptorian]

Kruppe, on 29 January 2014 - 08:54 PM, said:

28. What Makes Flamingos Pink by Bill McLain -

Spoiler

Carotenoids...in case you don't want to bother reading the book.

Thank you. Even as I read the title the need to know became apparent.

[Tiste Simeon]

I am loving Stonewielder so much more this time round. I liked it first time but it is way cooler now! Gives me hope that DOD & TCG will be more enjoyable too.

This post has been edited by Tiste Brent Not Abyss Weeks Simeon: 29 January 2014 - 10:20 PM

[Baco Xtath]

1/2 way through listening to On the Steel Breeze. Brilliant stuff. Reynolds is easily my favorite sci-fi writer. Also 3 hrs into Steelheart. So far, pretty fun. Nothing groundbreaking but good enough.

[Tiste Simeon]

Finished SW! Onto OST!

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

About 2/3 of the way through Accelerando (just finished Amber's section). I was not expecting to enjoy this book so much — I think the best way for me to describe it would be as a plausible (to a point) romp through a possible near-future technological acceleration that uses current technologies and techniques and extrapolates what they could be like in the next 10-60+ years. This grounds it in the familiar (at one point, the main character's mental server falls victim to the Slashdot effect) while still allowing an exploration of the alien.

Some of the concepts that are mentioned in the novel are things that I could actually see happening (I emphasize some), and reading it reminds me of the first time I read Gibson's Neuromancer or Stephenson's Snow Crash.

(I apologize if none of what I wrote is coherent. I just started a new medicine and am feeling some rather nasty temporary effects, including tip-of-the-tongue syndrome)

[worry]

Gonna read This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Diaz and see what all the fuss is about. It's way shorter than I expected.

[Tiste Simeon]

Briar King, on 30 January 2014 - 08:15 PM, said:

I'm so confused on Forge of Darkness 40 pgs in.

Yup, that's how I felt. Definitely worth sticking with it though. I think the problem is that you try and fit it all in to what you know. Which is going to give you a headache. It did for me anyway. In the end I just thought that I would read it as if I didn't know anything (which is still kind of true!!) and I loved it! Forget what you think you know and just enjoy it! In essence it is an origin story and an easy way to explain it is that these things inevitably get distorted through time...

[QuickTidal]

Finished LOST TO THE WEST by Brownworth.

A solid and surface introduction to the Byzantine Empire, and an easy to read synopsis of the Eastern Roman Empire that flourished long after the Western one had seen its demise.

My issues from the latter half of the book stem from that mere surface attention in that the ebb and flow of the Empire itself is only barely scratched. In that vein, everything just gets repetitive.

Constantinople: Emperor dies/is killed. Either an heir goes up, or a usurper. They either build, conquest, or hold enemies at bay. They deal with the Pope and the Church. Emperor dies/is killed. Rinse. Repeat.

He also used the phrase "by that time, Such and such is a spent force" WAY too much.

So by the time you reach the 8th or 9th century it's KIND of old hat enough to want to skim.

His other issue is feeling the need to say at the end of any given chapter a variation of the phrase "But what no one knew was that decision was to sound the Byzantine Death knell"...it's never REALLY the end. Even when he speaks about the Western Empire after 476...he still can't help but call what ends up left there a "last bastion of Roman Imperial power" or some such. And it all comes across as crying wolf. According to him Byzantium was doomed irreparably like 12 times in 500 years.

So in the end a VERY surface, lip service liturgy of events that take place over the 1,123 years of the Byzantine Empire...that can serve as someone who is unaware of the era and events (like me) introduction to the whole shebang.

So basically I took Byzantium I: Introduction to the Eastern Empire.

Good, but not great in the fact that it never dips DEEP enough into any period (except maybe the original Constantine, and then Justinian and Theodora) to really immerse the reader.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 31 January 2014 - 02:20 PM

[Aptorian]

I've begun reading the Breach by Patrick Lee.

It's okay. I was expecting a bit more complex and sci-fi but it does the job. It feels sort of like a Dean Koontz book so far. A man and a woman get shacked up for some reason. Each of them have a past but it brings them together. They have to overcome terrible odds/circumstances but in the end they power through.., or something.

[polishgenius]

I've read The Breach, but I can't remember very much about it. It's a totally insubstantial book imo. The ideas mean I should want to read the sequels but I don't.




Anyway, just read the third Black Sun's Daughter book by M.L.N. Hannover AKA Daniel Abraham. This series has been high quality all along, as I'd expect from Abraham, but so far it'd been 'favourite pair of comfy slippers' quality. In the third book, things really started to kick off, and I'll prolly be getting the fourth much sooner than I planned. Some real sucker-punch developments here.

[QuickTidal]

Maybe Apt, on 31 January 2014 - 03:07 PM, said:

I've begun reading the Breach by Patrick Lee.

It's okay. I was expecting a bit more complex and sci-fi but it does the job. It feels sort of like a Dean Koontz book so far. A man and a woman get shacked up for some reason. Each of them have a past but it brings them together. They have to overcome terrible odds/circumstances but in the end they power through.., or something.

Without wanting to spoil anything, books 2 and 3 basically show that Book 1 was table setting for the real story. Which is why it kind of masquerades as a typical thriller with supernatural-y bits to it....but trust me, things go batshit insane later on.

polishgenius, on 31 January 2014 - 04:05 PM, said:

I've read The Breach, but I can't remember very much about it. It's a totally insubstantial book imo. The ideas mean I should want to read the sequels but I don't.

PG, I feel that you should take mine, Abyss, and Salt-Man's recommendation...read the sequels. DO IT!

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Re-reading the Harry Potters for a bit of a break. Now on my favourite, Goblet of Fire. Needed something light before tackling the Lyonesse trilogy.

[Tiste Simeon]

Hood take me but it's good to be back in Darujhistan! Enjoying OST so far...

[Aptorian]

Finished the Breach. I have to admit, it got pretty interesting towards the end. The "Whisper" entity is a great plot device.

I am now thoroughly psyched to see where things go in the next books.

[Chaeone]

Reading the Mars Trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson, only half way through the first book so far, Red Mars, but i have to say, its taken me by surprise. The character development is fantastic, and the way it jumps between POVs as time progresses is great. Such a diverse array of characters, and a very realistic take on how politics would play out with a first settlement on mars, both between the settlers and those back on earth. I was Expecting more of a Sci-fi by the numbers, and i'm sorry i haven't read it before.

[McLovin]

Yeah, Red Mars is really great. I think the series gets a bit weaker with each installment, but it's really well fleshed out.

[Aptorian]

Finished Ghost Country by Patrick Lee.

Not as fun or interesting as The Breach, considering this has been described as a trilogy, I was expecting a story that built directly upon the ending of the first book and continued the “Alias” like future nonsense.

Ghost Country was just another book in the similar style but using a different gimmick. Pretty formulaic when you look closer. I hope Deep Sky goes out with a bang.

[Baco Xtath]

Maybe Apt, on 02 February 2014 - 06:19 PM, said:

Finished Ghost Country by Patrick Lee.

Not as fun or interesting as The Breach, considering this has been described as a trilogy, I was expecting a story that built directly upon the ending of the first book and continued the "Alias" like future nonsense.

Ghost Country was just another book in the similar style but using a different gimmick. Pretty formulaic when you look closer. I hope Deep Sky goes out with a bang.

Does.


Finished On the Steel Breeze. Absolutely loved it.

[QuickTidal]

Maybe Apt, on 02 February 2014 - 06:19 PM, said:

I hope Deep Sky goes out with a bang.

Just wait. It all ties together.

As for me, I finished THE CRYSTAL CAVE by Mary Stewart. Really good Arthurian stuff. It's still # 3 in my list of fave in that specific genre (after Jack Whyte's Camulod series, and BBC MERLIN), but I'll definitely be reading the rest of them.

I started both James Rollins & Rebecca Cantrell's INNOCENT BLOOD and also Simon Scarrow's UNDER THE EAGLE.