[polishgenius]

Yeah, Perdido Street Station is the book to start with for Mieville. Although The Scar is a much stronger novel and stands alone, so you could try it anyway even if you don't quite click with PSS; plus, all his other work is entirely different from the Bas-Lag books (which those two belong to), so really, any shout is good. I love everything he's written apart from King Rat.

Briar King, on 10 November 2014 - 05:41 PM, said:

There was talk of a Steam Punk era Alera not long after Alera 6 released but that's all kinda way on the back burner and prob won't ever happen because of his new epicly epic fantasy series that's coming.

Alera! Fucking A!

No more Alera... Fucking SHIT!!!

The steampunk is a separate project and the first book is well under way, might be out next year. The 'epic epic fantasy epic' may come after that, iirc.

[End of Disc One]

amphibian, on 10 November 2014 - 04:42 PM, said:

However, it's a significant achievement for him to push out the story and progress the meta-story. This is an author who is trying his damndest to give us an ending to the Discworld, despite something that is crippling his mind. His daughter seems to be actually holding off from stepping in and doing this herself, which is commendable.

Is there any word on about how many books there will be to get to said ending?

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 10 November 2014 - 04:42 PM, said:

Andorion, on 10 November 2014 - 03:19 PM, said:

Finished Raising Steam, and I have to admit to being badly let down. There were practically no jokes worth the name. Pratchetts wry humour and sly wordplay which form the core of his books were missing in action. It felt more like straight narrative rather than the twisted Discworld style I know and love.

It seems the Alzheimers is much worse than feared. I wonder if he did all the writing. It just seemed off.


On a much happier note, my next read will be Willful Child.

The set-ups were there and some of the jokes still worked. The lack of revisions and extensive editing process showed in those situations.

However, it's a significant achievement for him to push out the story and progress the meta-story. This is an author who is trying his damndest to give us an ending to the Discworld, despite something that is crippling his mind. His daughter seems to be actually holding off from stepping in and doing this herself, which is commendable.

I still liked Raising Steam. It's not as good as Thud, let's say, but it's still a decent Discworld book.

polishgenius, on 10 November 2014 - 04:45 PM, said:

No, his daughter hasn't started helping him. However, he doesn't physically write/type himself anymore, because he can't. He either uses voice recognition software or dictates, and that's obviously caused a change in how he does things.


However however, I liked Raising Steam. It wasn't as smartly plotted as his best, older works, certainly- it does go pretty much from point A to point B without many twists- but it had an energy about it and I disagree that it wasn't funny. I certainly found it much better than Unseen Academicals and about equal to Snuff.

The set ups were all there, this book had the potential to be a great book. It is better than Unseen Academicals. But you know, I didn't get that gripping feeling as I neared the ending. Things just seemed to go a bit too smoothly. It felt like Pratchett had the plot outline down, but somewhow while executing it, something went wrong. But he is still a genius and yeah the meta-story of the Discworld and its gradual modernization does progress. i wonder though if the story of the Discworld can have and End as we understand it.

[Morgoth]

So I finished The Gone Away World by Nick Harkaway, which was a pleasant read. Inventive, funny, exciting, but predictable. Not that being predictable is inherently a negative thing, and in this book it worked quite well. I already read his Angelmaker previously, which I probably enjoyed more.

Now onto The Popes: A history by Viscount John Julius Norwich

[Serenity]

Finished The Mangle Street Murders, which I thoroughly enjoyed in a sub-Holmesian kind of way, and now made a start on Cornwell's Death of Kings.

[Tiste Simeon]

Just finished reading Willful Child. So freaking hilarious. Have posted more in the subforum, but I was giggling all the way through it!

Dunno what to read now, I have a fairly extensive TRP but I think I will leave SF/F for a quick jaunt into trashy murder/thriller/forensic type books. I normally find them very cheap in charity shops etc. and usually have one or two knocking about that I enjoy reading from time to time. I got one for free recently so I think I will read that now. No idea what it's called, what it's about or who wrote it but I love that kind of thing from time to time!

[Chance]

Ran through Foxglove Summer and found it delightful, a great improvement perhaps because we get quite a few answers to stuff running back to book 1.

[QuickTidal]

Chance, on 12 November 2014 - 05:40 PM, said:

Ran through Foxglove Summer and found it delightful, a great improvement perhaps because we get quite a few answers to stuff running back to book 1.

And how about that doozy of a cliffhanger from the last book? Is that dealt with?

[Mentalist]

Finished "Fifty degrees below". I like this series. There's this really weird dynamic of combining the terribly mundane with the world-changing, with random science and philosophy and some mysticism thrown in the mix. It works, because somehow almost every element resonates with me somehow.

Will certainly pick up the last book in the trilo. For now my transit reading will be "Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe", getting me back on my Moorcock kick.

[Chance]

QuickTidal, on 12 November 2014 - 05:41 PM, said:

Chance, on 12 November 2014 - 05:40 PM, said:

Ran through Foxglove Summer and found it delightful, a great improvement perhaps because we get quite a few answers to stuff running back to book 1.

And how about that doozy of a cliffhanger from the last book? Is that dealt with?

There is minor development in a rather nice way, it is not dealt with.

This post has been edited by Chance: 13 November 2014 - 09:52 AM

[QuickTidal]

Cool, thanks Chance.

As for me, I'm not about halfway through Conn Iggulden's 2nd War Of The Roses book TRINITY...and it has what has ot be "hands down" one of the best historical fiction battle sequences I've read. The First Battle of St. Albans is handled extraordinarily well. With the Henry's factions within the town defending him, Jasper Tudor's welsh archers defending the barricades set up, and while York and Salisbury attack the barricades...Warwick..the Kingmaker sneaks 300 men in through backyards and in between houses. And you get POV's for all those viewpoints throughout. It's just really deftly handled.

[Gorefest]

Currently reading 'The lions of Al-Rassan' by Guy Gavriel Kay. Interesting read, sort of an alternative history of the Iberian peninsula around the 12th century..

[McLovin]

The Sabbat Worlds Crusade grinds on in STRAIGHT SILVER.

Dunno why but I just don't get tired of the gauntcrack.

[Salt-Man Z]

So I'm working on the first Vampire Hunter D novel by Hideyuki Kikuchi (translated by Kevin Leahy) and it's...well, it reads kinda like a badly-dubbed anime, where all the dialogue consists of the characters shouting cliches or hyperbolic exclamations at each other. And the omniscient narrator makes asides and infodumps to the reader, which makes the story flow awkwardly. How much of that is translation and how much of that is from the original Japanese, I couldn't tell you. Story-wise, it's...okay? so far, I guess. Really, it's much like reading a comic book translated into prose. I'm about halfway through, and I own the next two books (I found them all on clearance for a buck or two each) so we'll see if this one's decent enough to warrant continuing the series. On the plus side, they're only like 200 pages each, which is really all I was looking for at the moment.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 13 November 2014 - 09:15 PM

[Maark Abbott]

The Blinding Knife - Brent Weeks.

It's decent so far. The occasional one-and-a-half page long chapters are a little jarring.

[Stormcat]

I just finished the Broken Eye and I really liked it. I think the series is good.

just started Whispers of War (The War for the North) by Sean Rodden. So far I like it.

[Serenity]

I finished Cornwell's Death of Kings last night and have now started on Shogun.

[acesn8s]

Serenity, on 14 November 2014 - 10:59 AM, said:

I finished Cornwell's Death of Kings last night and have now started on Shogun.

How was Death of Kings?

Shogun is excellent.

[Serenity]

acesn8s, on 14 November 2014 - 01:17 PM, said:

Serenity, on 14 November 2014 - 10:59 AM, said:

I finished Cornwell's Death of Kings last night and have now started on Shogun.

How was Death of Kings?

I thought it was mostly a return to form. I didn't enjoy The Burning Land so much but this one, although not as good as the earlier books in the series, was a step in the right direction, for me anyway.

acesn8s, on 14 November 2014 - 01:17 PM, said:

Shogun is excellent.

Good to know! I'm only a couple of chapters in and liking it already.

[HiddenOne]

Shogun does rock, BK. I think there is a follow up but I've never read it.


Still working on Words of Radiance, now past the middle -once I got going on this book, I have been reading some every night