[Tiste Simeon]

Picked up a book called "I Am Pilgrim" at one of the airports. It's about spies and terrorists and is long and very very good! Not something I would normally pick up really but it has kept me engaged right from the start!

[Serenity]

Over the weekend I read David Gemmell's The Swords of Night and Day, which was enjoyable enough but nowhere near his best, imo.

Now making a start on Andrew Taylor's The Scent of Death.

[QuickTidal]

Started the 12th Gaunt's Ghosts book by Dan Abnett, BLOOD PACT (I'm now full onto the single volumes as the 4th omnibus won't be out till like 2016) and it's awesome how even 12 books in this series is still brilliantly entertaining from the off. At this point I'll pretty much pick up anything Abnett writes.

[Tiste Simeon]

Just finished I am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes and I must say I really enjoyed it! Going to crack on with Moon Over Soho and then by the time I finish that, Assail will be available on Kindle.

[Abyss]

Mentalist, on 09 August 2014 - 04:44 AM, said:

Finished "Age of Shiva", another one of those James Lovegrove's "Godpunk" books.

This one was focused around Hindu mythology and exploring the concept of superheroes. Fun, light read, and the traditional "twist" at the end managed to be rather unexpected. All in all, quite interesting. I'd recommend it.

Noted. I have this in the eTRP but was so nonplussed with AGE OF ZEUS that it was more or less forgotten.

[Abyss]

Imperial Historian, on 08 August 2014 - 03:42 PM, said:

...

Read blindsight prior to that, which I enjoyed but didn't love it as much as others here. Will be checking out more of peter watts though.

The thing about BLINDSIGHT is that while it has its flaws, especially long chunks of time spent self-psychoanalysing the fairly unsympathetic narrator, the overall story, setting and developments are just wildly original
and well written. It's a qualified love.

Mentalist, on 09 August 2014 - 04:44 AM, said:

Finished "Age of Shiva", another one of those James Lovegrove's "Godpunk" books.

This one was focused around Hindu mythology and exploring the concept of superheroes. Fun, light read, and the traditional "twist" at the end managed to be rather unexpected. All in all, quite interesting. I'd recommend it.

Noted. I have this in the eTRP but was so nonplussed with AGE OF ZEUS that it was more or less forgotten.



Have startstopped a few things post ASSAIL but Hurley's GOD'S WAR still holds my attention, in between large runs of pretty picture spandex stories.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 11 August 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

Hurley's GOD'S WAR still holds my attention

Be aware that Hurley wears her agenda on her sleeve, and she's very much about making a big splash in the *insert trigger topic* wars of late. It made that volume of work a bit hard to stomach for me.

Aside from all else I dislike the notion that she takes a world and makes it a clear representation of Islam and then proceeds to make it a backwater with pock-marked homeless orphans, large oppression and other assorted things almost so she could check the "non-western" box on the fiction submission form...as opposed to any real investment in making that a believable alt-locale, that might reflect the entire rich history of such a place, and not just a real-life global strife allegory for the sake of the sake.

It's probably partially because I read G. Willow Wilson's ALIF THE UNSEEN (a truly interesting, immersive look at Islam by way of Fantasy story) before I read this, and after reading such a good book about that, GOD'S WAR not only paled in comparison, it showed all the holes in Hurley's attempt.

But yeah. I didn't come away with good feeling about that book.

It also kind of felt like she was so set on making Nyx a "badass female protagonist" that she forgot to build her properly and she comes off as just an unlikable jerk more often that not. The "I don't need you or anybody to help me! I'm self sufficient, and that's what makes me badass!" which to me flies in the face of true heroics.

*QT Looks at all he wrote. Realizes he had more opinions than he thought he did about this book*

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 11 August 2014 - 02:52 PM

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 11 August 2014 - 02:48 PM, said:

Abyss, on 11 August 2014 - 02:13 PM, said:

Hurley's GOD'S WAR still holds my attention

Be aware that Hurley wears her agenda on her sleeve, and she's very much about making a big splash in the *insert trigger topic* wars of late. It made that volume of work a bit hard to stomach for me.

Aside from all else I dislike the notion that she takes a world and makes it a clear representation of Islam and then proceeds to make it a backwater with pock-marked homeless orphans, large oppression and other assorted things almost so she could check the "non-western" box on the fiction submission form...as opposed to any real investment in making that a believable alt-locale, that might reflect the entire rich history of such a place, and not just a real-life global strife allegory for the sake of the sake.

It's probably partially because I read G. Willow Wilson's ALIF THE UNSEEN (a truly interesting, immersive look at Islam by way of Fantasy story) before I read this, and after reading such a good book about that, GOD'S WAR not only paled in comparison, it showed all the holes in Hurley's attempt.

But yeah. I didn't come away with good feeling about that book.

It also kind of felt like she was so set on making Nyx a "badass female protagonist" that she forgot to build her properly and she comes off as just an unlikable jerk more often that not. The "I don't need you or anybody to help me! I'm self sufficient, and that's what makes me badass!" which to me flies in the face of true heroics.

*QT Looks at all he wrote. Realizes he had more opinions than he thought he did about this book*

Not having finished the book, i'll put a pin in any reply for the moment, but noted for further discussion.

[polishgenius]

To be honest, I didn't read it that way at all- the shitty desert setting read far more 'I'M REALLY INFLUENCED BY DUNE' than 'I'm trying really hard to write not-Western' and although there clearly is a real-life point being made by the whole continuous religious war thing, I don't know why that's necessarily a bad thing, even if it's not too subtle.


As for Nix, I think she's meant to be an unlikable jerk to an extent- that's just the kind of book this is. She's cut from the same cloth as Takeshi Kovacs (not coincidentally, Richard Morgan is another author I reckon had a big influence on Hurley).

I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was great, but it was good.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 11 August 2014 - 05:34 PM, said:

To be honest, I didn't read it that way at all- the shitty desert setting read far more 'I'M REALLY INFLUENCED BY DUNE' than 'I'm trying really hard to write not-Western' and although there clearly is a real-life point being made by the whole continuous religious war thing, I don't know why that's necessarily a bad thing, even if it's not too subtle.


As for Nix, I think she's meant to be an unlikable jerk to an extent- that's just the kind of book this is. She's cut from the same cloth as Takeshi Kovacs (not coincidentally, Richard Morgan is another author I reckon had a big influence on Hurley).

I enjoyed it. I didn't think it was great, but it was good.

A fair assessment as well. I think my comment is also stemming from back when I was running the blog and I noted her vehement presence in the gender/religion/race trigger discussions that happened (and still happen) around the blogosphere and she came down with a really hard line set of opinions that rubbed me as "unbalanced"...so perhaps that why I noted the sad sack representation of Arab nations and religion.

And I like Kovacs. He's a douche, but he's a likeable douche. Nyx was the type of person who I'd wash my hands of in the first 5 minutes of knowing them, and walk as far in the opposite direction as I could manage. I can't get behind a protagonist that is so unlikeable.

[amphibian]

I'm re reading Tower Lord and picking up on the strong influences of Paksenarrion, as well as a few holes in Ryan's martial knowledge. It's still a very good book and I really like he took the risk of showing us Lyrna and Reva in the book.

He could have stuck entirely with Vaelin, but choose to stretch his writing abilities.

Next up is Rajaniemi's latest and Grossman's latest.

I also read Pedagogy of the Oppressed and while I like many of its points, I disagree with many others and wish I had a more solid academic/pedagogical standpoint from which to criticize it.

Basically, I do think that there are indeed more values in the teach people a framework that works time and again, then let them fill it in over time. That's coming from my own grappling experience and teaching of the rather complicated and non-intuitive situations it involves.

[amphibian]

Forgot to say that the oppressed gaining education is one of the best things that can happen and I'm glad Freire spent his life making that happen for thousands.

There's no ethical, economic or social need for illiteracy and slowly we can change that.

[Macros]

Didn't even know Iggulden had started a new series, or that assail was out.
More purchases I say!
Still struggling to get reading time in, going to force myself.to finish fortress of spears but then I'm done with the series, uninspired to say the least

[Mentalist]

I have recently realized I never actually read "Side Jobs". I have rectified that this weekend. lots of cool "fill in the blanks" bits of Dresdenverse, greatly enjoyed.

Also, I have REALLY been out of the loop, since I've had no idea Assail is already out. Will need to do smth about that....

[Imperial Historian]

Fool's assassin. I loved it, if you are ambivalent on hobb you'll probably hate it. I was wondering whether a return to Fitz could be justified, but judging by this book yes it can. It's a relatively slow start (similar to the tawny man in many ways) but its well worth the wait. Unsurprisingly hobb doesn't let fitz off lightly (and he's still pretty much a pigheaded idiot).

Spoiler

loved the new POV character of bee, though fitz not immediately realising she was a white from what he heard from the fool was a bit of a stretch.

My biggest problem though is I now have to wait a year for the next one!

[Salt-Man Z]

Finished Salyards' Veil of the Deserters last night. Still not sure where the series is going, but it's a fun ride all the while.

Not sure if I should start Assail next, or one of the other two books I owe LibraryThing a review for...

[QuickTidal]

Imperial Historian, on 12 August 2014 - 04:25 PM, said:

Fool's assassin. I loved it, if you are ambivalent on hobb you'll probably hate it. I was wondering whether a return to Fitz could be justified, but judging by this book yes it can. It's a relatively slow start (similar to the tawny man in many ways) but its well worth the wait. Unsurprisingly hobb doesn't let fitz off lightly (and he's still pretty much a pigheaded idiot).

Spoiler

loved the new POV character of bee, though fitz not immediately realising she was a white from what he heard from the fool was a bit of a stretch.

My biggest problem though is I now have to wait a year for the next one!

Spoiler

While I can't say I loved Bee (she irritated me with a LOT of her choices...choosing to stay silent when her issues with Fitz and his power could EASILY have been conveyed YEARS earlier if she'd just opened her damned mouth), I will say that she grew on me by the end. She's no Fitz, but she may turn out to be a decent protagonist/POV. I was pissed the Fool took so long to show up, and I was annoyed by a NUMBER of Fitz's early choices which existed only to serve plot (leaving the creepy obviously-non-minstrels alone at the Winterfest party, and leaving a messenger sent specifically for him in his study for HOURS while he danced with his wife). I was non-plussed at how slow it still was by the beginning of the 3rd act...BUT Hobb brought it home strongly in the final section. So I've got issues with it, but I'm still a big enough Hobb fan to await the next volume.

[Morgoth]

Breakfast of Champions by Vonnegut. It's amazing. You think you know what makes a novel and then you read this book.

[Goaswerfraiejen]

Just finishing Card's Xenocide, and I have to say that it's gotten more and more objectionable. The view of women and sexuality that's emerging at the end is pretty ugly, and so are the politics at the heart of the book (/series). I do think, nonetheless, that the three books form a pretty brilliant piece of writing. But I feel kind of dirty for having gone past the first. (EDIT: Also, I'm deeply disappointed about the Deus Ex Machina at the end. Well, there was more than one. Seemes like lazy writing.)

Once that's done, I'm off on to either Kristian's God of Vengeance or Donald's Outlaw. I'll probably finish Flatland first, and continue finishing Guns, Germs, and Steel while I read the novels.

This post has been edited by Goaswerfraiejen: 13 August 2014 - 10:06 PM

[amphibian]

One of the things I found to be cool as a teenager when I read Speaker of the Dead/Xenocide is how quickly Ender comes into a situation, grasps it and then tells the solution/sums up a person's life ina short speech and so on.

Now that I'm grown up, I realize that in the human world we live in, that's jerkface behavior. Situations and people are often so complex that lifetimes and more can be devoted to figuring out portions only.

One genius boy isn't enough processing power to bypass all of that and do it accurately. In real life, people do this all time - particularly white teenage males. Context and history often makes things very complex and usually more complex than the feeble, yet apparently rational solutions offered by the self designated problem solvers. Things like curing world hunger, poverty, racism or even individual scale problems like bad bosses or having to spend an hour on the bus one way to get to work are not easy to solve - even if it looks like throwing brains and money at the issue makes sense from an outsider perspective.

This is important because those white teenage males end up running the Western world - and the last few batches haven't done a very good job of it.

There's no single genius boy who can absolve us of responsibility and free us from our problems without us doing work. Even Jesus and the various other religious prophets said they needed people to work and not solely upon them.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 14 August 2014 - 05:01 AM