[D'iversify]

Mentalist, on 24 September 2014 - 07:12 PM, said:

From reading the book 1 blurb, I got a very strong impression it was an ASOIAF derivative. And I ended up never picking it up.

Does it actually do anything original? I liked "Otherland"--the only other Williams I've read, but this just seemed too formulaic.

Actually, it's funny you say that. Martin apparently acknowledged that it was reading Williams' previous fantasy series, Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which convinced him to try his hand at writing high fantasy, a genre he'd previously regarded as quite dead in the water. So Williams actually inspired Martin to a small degree.

Regarding Williams' work, I'd say that MS&T is pretty good in that it is very well written and builds a detailed world. On the downside, Williams in the main plays with fairly familiar fantasy tropes, though he does have some nice flourishes and innovations. I read the first Shadowmarch book and did enjoy it but overall I found it too similar in terms of worldbuilding to MS&T so couldn't be bothered to continue with the series.

[polishgenius]

D, on 27 September 2014 - 03:24 PM, said:

So Williams actually inspired Martin to a small degree.

More than a small; like you say, aSoIaF pretty much wouldn't exist without Tad Williams.

Although oddly enough the world and book that aSoIaF most resembles to me is Magician and its Midkemia (Westeros is basically the Kindom flipped on its side, with Rillanon and Krondor combined into King's Landing), which is interesting because Martin claims never to have read Magician. I'm honestly not sure I believe him, given how strong the similarity is in both the nations themselves, and between the ConDoins and the Starks.

[EmperorMagus]

Annihilation by Jeff Vandermeer.
I cannot deny how good a book it is, but it's making me uncomfortable, as in "I'm starting to look over my shoulder and turn on all the lights in the house" . The whole premise of the book is creeping me out.

Not using names in a whole book is a great idea, I think it's because Vandermeer didn't want to go through the hassle of naming characters but that's just me.

[Tattersail_]

I have recently read;

Dan Brown's Inferno. Very enjoyable, and once I got into the meat and potatoes I could not put it down. Satisfying outcome, and unexpected.

11.22.63 by Stephen king. My opinion on this one is quite different to the wife, brother in law and mother in law's. They enjoyed it immensely but I just wanted to finish it so that it was done. I liked the concept, I was excited to read it but, to me, it was a really big let down. Changing the past and seeing what effect it had on the future, that is really cool. I don't think the book had enough of it though, and essentially turned out to be a love story and who wants to read that when you're expecting something else? I loved it up to a point, especially him trying to stop a particular gruesome murder but after that I did not care one bit about the characters.

Acts of Caine book 1, 2 and 3 (currently read 4) OMG!! OMfuckingdickpullingfuckingGod! Fucking hell! Are there only 4 books? I want more!!!! My word I loved each and every one of these. I wish I could erase my memory and read them again for the first time! Just quality! Take a bow, Matthew Stover!!

[Andorion]

Tattersail_, on 29 September 2014 - 09:11 AM, said:

I have recently read;

Dan Brown's Inferno. Very enjoyable, and once I got into the meat and potatoes I could not put it down. Satisfying outcome, and unexpected.

11.22.63 by Stephen king. My opinion on this one is quite different to the wife, brother in law and mother in law's. They enjoyed it immensely but I just wanted to finish it so that it was done. I liked the concept, I was excited to read it but, to me, it was a really big let down. Changing the past and seeing what effect it had on the future, that is really cool. I don't think the book had enough of it though, and essentially turned out to be a love story and who wants to read that when you're expecting something else? I loved it up to a point, especially him trying to stop a particular gruesome murder but after that I did not care one bit about the characters.

Acts of Caine book 1, 2 and 3 (currently read 4) OMG!! OMfuckingdickpullingfuckingGod! Fucking hell! Are there only 4 books? I want more!!!! My word I loved each and every one of these. I wish I could erase my memory and read them again for the first time! Just quality! Take a bow, Matthew Stover!!

What I really liked about Inferno was the outcome, when Brown took a slightly differnet route than expected. But Langdon's problem reminded me a bit of the Bourne Identity

[Abyss]

acesn8s, on 23 September 2014 - 12:25 PM, said:

I spent the past month marathoning through the Iron Druid series (books 1-6). Suddenly I had enough.

You do know that 7 was just released, yes?
Not that i blame you for needing a break... i found the series wildly swings between great fun / original and holy fuck this is stupid / boring.

The Old Guard, on 23 September 2014 - 11:52 PM, said:

The Republic Of Thieves by Scott Lynch. Stormed through the first two Gentlemen Bastards' books in a week or so. Very well written, witty, cynic and with some Camorri "street creed" philosophy sprinkled in here and there. Love it!

I thought i was done w Lyn ch after my disappointment in RED SEAS but the buzz here and on io9 about REPUBLIC has me thinking i'll read it after all.

QuickTidal, on 24 September 2014 - 07:16 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 24 September 2014 - 07:12 PM, said:

...
Does it actually do anything original? I liked "Otherland"--the only other Williams I've read, but this just seemed too formulaic.

It does some original stuff definitely. It's certainly not an ASOIAF derivative...very much more fantasy elements. But nothing groundbreaking. Williams succeeds in making some of the creepy stuff come off well, but his straight up fantasy stuff is a little generic. Not bad, but just generic. There is some very cool stuff in the series, but I've only read books 1 & 2.

I deeply disliked MS&T. It was hideously drawn out, unoriginal, suffered from a serious case of 'one big action sequence per book', incessant travelogue placeholder subplots and characters who spend a hell of a lot of time whining. Also, the nice elves and the evil elves battle by fucking singing at each other.

OTHERLAND... great trilogy.

But i will note that his WAR OF THE FLOWERS is a one and done, urban fantasy, nicely original takes on classic tropes/critters, and a doorstopper of a really enjoyable read..

Baco Xtath, on 27 September 2014 - 12:24 AM, said:

... Finished Maelstrom by Watts. Really liked it but don't know if I'll immediately jump back into the Rifter saga.

I'd say jump straight into LEVIATHAN or you're likely never going to finish the trilo. They read well altogether but with an extended gap, eh, can't see that being much fun.

Tattersail_, on 29 September 2014 - 09:11 AM, said:

Acts of Caine book 1, 2 and 3 (currently read 4) OMG!! OMfuckingdickpullingfuckingGod! Fucking hell! Are there only 4 books? I want more!!!! My word I loved each and every one of these. I wish I could erase my memory and read them again for the first time! Just quality! Take a bow, Matthew Stover!!

Aaaand we have another coCaine addict.
Additional books have been rumoured, but i get the impression from blog posts and such that Stover's kind of fed up with the lack of interest in the series and stick with his way better paying licensed property work.
Fuck.

Andorion, on 29 September 2014 - 01:50 PM, said:

Tattersail_, on 29 September 2014 - 09:11 AM, said:

I have recently read;

Dan Brown's Inferno. Very enjoyable, and once I got into the meat and potatoes I could not put it down. Satisfying outcome, and unexpected.
...

What I really liked about Inferno was the outcome, when Brown took a slightly differnet route than expected. But Langdon's problem reminded me a bit of the Bourne Identity

Was this better than LOST SYMBOL? As in, was it a LOT better?

...because SYMBOL was fairly awful.

[Tattersail_]

Yeah much better than Lost Symbol!

What other work does Stover write that is worth reading?

What should I read Abyss that I haven't already.

None of these, "yeah it was okay" but Dresden and Caine awesome style that people just HAVE to read!

[Tattersail_]

Andorion, on 29 September 2014 - 01:50 PM, said:

Tattersail_, on 29 September 2014 - 09:11 AM, said:

I have recently read;

Dan Brown's Inferno. Very enjoyable, and once I got into the meat and potatoes I could not put it down. Satisfying outcome, and unexpected.

11.22.63 by Stephen king. My opinion on this one is quite different to the wife, brother in law and mother in law's. They enjoyed it immensely but I just wanted to finish it so that it was done. I liked the concept, I was excited to read it but, to me, it was a really big let down. Changing the past and seeing what effect it had on the future, that is really cool. I don't think the book had enough of it though, and essentially turned out to be a love story and who wants to read that when you're expecting something else? I loved it up to a point, especially him trying to stop a particular gruesome murder but after that I did not care one bit about the characters.

Acts of Caine book 1, 2 and 3 (currently read 4) OMG!! OMfuckingdickpullingfuckingGod! Fucking hell! Are there only 4 books? I want more!!!! My word I loved each and every one of these. I wish I could erase my memory and read them again for the first time! Just quality! Take a bow, Matthew Stover!!

What I really liked about Inferno was the outcome, when Brown took a slightly differnet route than expected. But Langdon's problem reminded me a bit of the Bourne Identity

Yeah, that's what I meant by unexpected. In Angels and Demons he kind of goes a way in which you expect but this one definitely through a curve ball.

[Salt-Man Z]

Tattersail_, on 29 September 2014 - 02:27 PM, said:

What other work does Stover write that is worth reading?

Caine-wise, online he's got a short story about a young Hari called In the Sorrows. Good stuff.

Otherwise, really, anything he writes is gold, if not up to Caine standards. He's got an out-of-print (but e-available) bronze age fantasy duology consisting of Iron Dawn and Jericho Moon. (Easy to find in the aftermarket collected together in the SFBC omnibus Heart of Bronze.)

His Star Wars stuff is great, too. If you don't care about the (old) Expanded Universe, you should at least check out his Episode III novelization, probably the finest SW novel ever written. Otherwise, he's also written Traitor (a deeply philosophical look at the Force, with the biggest stumbling block being it's book 13 of a 19-book series; some people have no problems with that, otherwise you can always hit up Wikipedia/Wookieepedia), Shatterpoint (badass Mace Windu in a Clone Wars/Heart of Darkness mashup), and Luke Skywalkers and the Shadows of Mindor (pulpy post-RotJ fun with the original movie trio; Stover's Lando is the best, also has some Shatterpoint cameos.)

I can even vouch for his Magic: The Gathering novel, Test of Metal, which I enjoyed even knowing nothing about the M:TG universe.

[End of Disc One]

I love seeing people gush about Acts of Caine. I still need to get around to Blade of Tyshalle.

Currently reading Brent Weeks' The Broken Eye which I'm enjoying a lot.

[Tattersail_]

End of Disc One, on 29 September 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

I love seeing people gush about Acts of Caine. I still need to get around to Blade of Tyshalle.

Currently reading Brent Weeks' The Broken Eye which I'm enjoying a lot.

I didn't know this was out! Kip!

[Abyss]

End of Disc One, on 29 September 2014 - 03:29 PM, said:

I love seeing people gush about Acts of Caine. I still need to get around to Blade of Tyshalle.

Yes. Yes you do.


You really, really do.

[Studlock]

And thus I finally finishes the Red Knight, it took awhile, I read some books inbetween the starting and finishing and played some games, but finally it's done. I mostly enjoyed it, it was a fun book with a neat view on the nature vs man theme I like, but if I had to criticize it I'd say there was by far to many POVs who offer similar, well POVs, if I had to break it down I'd keep Peter, the slave-turn-Outwaller, the Red Knight, Bad Tom, Sauce, the Queen, Gaston, the Abboess, and Tom's cousin I can't remember the name of. Maybe I'd also keep the one Knight from the Empire, and perhaps Thorn but other than that the story really didn't need to be the long and that full of POVs. I'm going to read some other stuff before I dive into the sequel...there's new VanderMeer out I have yet to read and Assail, plus school readings.

[Serenity]

Over the weekend I finished my re-read of Memories of Ice. I have to admit it's far from my favourite book in the series - mainly because I find the 200 pages or so immediately after Capustan tend to drag quite a bit - but there's so much else that's pure awesome about that book that I can pretty much forgive it

After that I decided I needed something a bit lighter, so now reading the third 'Merrimack' book, The Sagittarius Command

And after this I'm tempted to re-read Dean Koontz's Lightning. I first read it about 25 years ago and remember loving it at the time. Someone mentioned it to me the other day and I thought 'Oh, I must buy that again and have another read', then was happy to discover it's actually still on my shelves (buried behind another row of books). I guess I liked it so much I didn't want to give it away

[McLovin]

LIGHTNING is his best, IMO.

I have finished WATER SLEEPS, now moving to complete the series with SOLDIERS LIVE. Maybe i'm just spoiled getting to read this in omnibus form, but Glittering Stone feels way too long and repetitive. Hopefully it ends strong.

[Serenity]

McLovin, on 30 September 2014 - 12:33 PM, said:

LIGHTNING is his best, IMO.

I've only read four or five of his books, of which Lightning was the first. It was the only one of them that I really liked but I always meant to read more.

[Abyss]

Serenity, on 30 September 2014 - 07:38 AM, said:

...

And after this I'm tempted to re-read Dean Koontz's Lightning. I first read it about 25 years ago and remember loving it at the time. Someone mentioned it to me the other day and I thought 'Oh, I must buy that again and have another read', then was happy to discover it's actually still on my shelves (buried behind another row of books). I guess I liked it so much I didn't want to give it away

Serenity, on 30 September 2014 - 01:54 PM, said:

McLovin, on 30 September 2014 - 12:33 PM, said:

LIGHTNING is his best, IMO.

I've only read four or five of his books, of which Lightning was the first. It was the only one of them that I really liked but I always meant to read more.

I went thru an extended Koontz stage years ago, eventually lost interest in his forumula, but enjoyed most.

LIGHTNING was absolutely one of my favorites, i really enjoyed the twists.
WATCHERS is a creepy classic... don't know how well it ages but i'd suspect it still works.
THE BAD PLACE was fun.
SEIZE THE NIGHT and FEAR NOTHING were pretty great actually, bummer he's not likely to finish the trilo.

But for the love of gods do NOT read DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART or THE FUNHOUSE.

[polishgenius]

I read Broken Monsters by Lauren Beukes, a serial killer murder fantasy thing set in Detroit. Excellent- imagine something like True Detective if it had committed more completely to the supernatural theme.


Now reading The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs, a Roman fantasy western. Interesting so far.

[Puck]

On to Chill, book two of the Jacob's Ladder trilogy. Liked book one a lot, though more for the themes and less for the plot (which had a coupl of head scratchers).

[Serenity]

Abyss, on 30 September 2014 - 07:04 PM, said:

Serenity, on 30 September 2014 - 07:38 AM, said:

...

And after this I'm tempted to re-read Dean Koontz's Lightning. I first read it about 25 years ago and remember loving it at the time. Someone mentioned it to me the other day and I thought 'Oh, I must buy that again and have another read', then was happy to discover it's actually still on my shelves (buried behind another row of books). I guess I liked it so much I didn't want to give it away

Serenity, on 30 September 2014 - 01:54 PM, said:

McLovin, on 30 September 2014 - 12:33 PM, said:

LIGHTNING is his best, IMO.

I've only read four or five of his books, of which Lightning was the first. It was the only one of them that I really liked but I always meant to read more.

I went thru an extended Koontz stage years ago, eventually lost interest in his forumula, but enjoyed most.

LIGHTNING was absolutely one of my favorites, i really enjoyed the twists.
WATCHERS is a creepy classic... don't know how well it ages but i'd suspect it still works.
THE BAD PLACE was fun.
SEIZE THE NIGHT and FEAR NOTHING were pretty great actually, bummer he's not likely to finish the trilo.

But for the love of gods do NOT read DARK RIVERS OF THE HEART or THE FUNHOUSE.

LOL, duly noted. I had a look last night and the others I went on to read after Lightning were Midnight, Watchers, Strangers, The Bad Place, and Hideaway. I can't remember much about them, tbh.