[Abyss]

polishgenius, on 03 November 2014 - 04:34 PM, said:

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 03:34 PM, said:

...maybe some mil sf,

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

You're welcome.

Was going to wait til she finished the series.

[polishgenius]

Fair 'nuff really.

I've just picked up the second, will probably crack it open once I finish Reamde. Which is a fucking ridiculous book.

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 04:59 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 03 November 2014 - 04:34 PM, said:

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 03:34 PM, said:

...maybe some mil sf,

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

You're welcome.

Was going to wait til she finished the series.

polishgenius, on 03 November 2014 - 05:16 PM, said:

Fair 'nuff really.

I've just picked up the second, will probably crack it open once I finish Reamde. Which is a fucking ridiculous book.

Justice got glowing reviews but the response to bk 2 was rather middling. I figured it for middle-book syndrome, and in general lately i dislike having too many series on the go when i have so much complete work in the TRP.

Reamde... for some reason reminds me that i have that and READY PLAYER ONE sitting around... hmm...

[Andorion]

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 04:59 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 03 November 2014 - 04:34 PM, said:

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 03:34 PM, said:

...maybe some mil sf,

Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie.

You're welcome.

Was going to wait til she finished the series.

Have you read all of Neal Asher?

[polishgenius]

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

Justice got glowing reviews but the response to bk 2 was rather middling. I figured it for middle-book syndrome,

Yeah, from all the reviews I've seen, it's a good book but stops a bit suddenly. The first one doesn't have that.





Neal Stephenson is such a weird writer. Possibly the only person in the world who can bring a plot about the dynamics of MMORPGs (which is really interesting) to a screeching halt in order to stage a 200-page gunfight.

It's fun, but if you're going to read a book that's basically about chucking everyfuckingthing in just for the hell of it, you're better off taking my long, long, long-time recommendation and reading Nick Harkaway's Gone-Away World instead (though I appreciate that you may not have that lying around. ).

[acesn8s]

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

Reamde... for some reason reminds me that i have that and READY PLAYER ONE sitting around... hmm...

Ready Player One can be consumed like a Dresden novel.

[Macros]

The Winter King by Cornwell

[QuickTidal]

acesn8s, on 03 November 2014 - 08:23 PM, said:

Abyss, on 03 November 2014 - 05:31 PM, said:

Reamde... for some reason reminds me that i have that and READY PLAYER ONE sitting around... hmm...

Ready Player One can be consumed like a Dresden novel.

Second the above statement. I'll add that you could PROBABLY do it in one sitting if you had a few hours to devote to it.

[worry]

Yah. It's not super brainy (though it's also not thoughtless by any means), and really just a lot of fun. Kind of a literary Wreck It Ralph.

[JPK]

So after a month of reading a few pages of The Broken Eye here and there, I've finally decided to put it down and come back to it later. It still interests me, but it's just not what I'm in the mood for right now. Instead, I'm going to take some advice you guys gave me about this time last year and start Under Heaven by GGK as someone mentioned it was a great autumn book.

[Serenity]

I thoroughly enjoyed Ready Player One. Any book that references 2112 is okay by me


Last night I finished Meluch's Strength and Honor. Today I'm reading Bujold's Borders of Infinity novella.

[HiddenOne]

I started on Words of Radiance, put it down twice within 30 minutes.

[QuickTidal]

Well into Ilona Andrews 3rd Kate Daniels book now, MAGIC STRIKES. This series builds and improves on itself with each successive book.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 04 November 2014 - 05:12 PM, said:

Well into Ilona Andrews 3rd Kate Daniels book now, MAGIC STRIKES. This series builds and improves on itself with each successive book.

Ah yes. This has some of my favourite scenes in the series. How far along are you?

[QuickTidal]

About 70 pages in:

Spoiler

Samian and Kate have arrived at the Pit and have met the Reapers team, and she's given Derek's note to Livvie to meet him at a hotel.

[Andorion]

QuickTidal, on 04 November 2014 - 06:21 PM, said:

About 70 pages in:

Spoiler

Samian and Kate have arrived at the Pit and have met the Reapers team, and she's given Derek's note to Livvie to meet him at a hotel.

Just wait till the shit hits the fan. This book also has a couple of the funniest scenes in the series

[polishgenius]

So I blew through Ancillary Sword. Odd- I've seen, as mentioned previously, a couple of reviews naming it as a typical 'middle book', but I found it the opposite- while elements from it will clearly be used to further the over-arching plot, it's very much a self-contained story with a very definite and, in my opinion, strong endpoint. I think some people are going to be thrown because where the first one was quite a large-scale space-opera story, this second one takes time out to tell a much more narrowly-focused, personal tale. Which is not the normal way around to do it. Personally I felt it really worked, though. Still got that Banks-ian vibe, but where that was Excession, all expansiveness and big ideas, this is more Against a Dark Background (though not nearly as grim...).

If this is meant to be a trilogy, which I believe is the case, though, the final book is gonna have to either be quite chunky or move at a hectic pace to fit everything in. Neither would necessarily bad, but it'd be a change.

[worry]

Chance, on 25 October 2014 - 03:01 PM, said:

worry, on 23 October 2014 - 08:33 PM, said:

Halfway into The Gone-Away World. Harkaway shoulda called it The It's-Going-Away-Soon-I-Promise-Just-Let-Me-Talk-About-Everything-Else-First-Please World.

Does it seem worth the bother so far? Got about a couple of chapters in some time ago and only found it rambling along rather then actually catching my interest.

worry, on 25 October 2014 - 07:25 PM, said:

I like it but I don't love it. There have been occasions (the early chapter that largely features Master Wu, for instance, or later the interactions between the shopkeep and his wife and kids) that have been incredibly strong, like he's a motormouth version of Vonnegut, and then there's moments where the literary tricks he's pulling off are thinner and more transparent, and just come off as half-cooked rambling. I've accepted that it's his style here, that I will encounter both crests and troughs, and I won't know if it was "worth it" till the end.

Finished the book and ultimately found it to be worth the long trip through the flashback. It's just impossible to say why without spoiling things. But the latter half has a lot to recommend about it.

Now reading: Range of Ghosts.

[Andorion]

Second chapter of Max Gladstone's Full Fathom Five. Pretty good so far.

[Andorion]

Finished Full Fathom Five. A lot slower than the first two books, but the conclusion was very satisfying. But some parts of the book grated. Now on to Raising Steam


Edit: Just found out that I will probably be able to get my hands on Willful Child pretty soon. In that case, it automatically makes the top of the TRP.

This post has been edited by Andorion: 09 November 2014 - 01:03 PM