[Morgoth]

During the holiday I read a lot. It was wonderful.

The best experience by far was the Familiar book 2 by Danielewski, though I also loved the newest by GGK. It was kind of wonderful being back to Sarantium, even though it's now conquered by the 'Ottomans'.

I also read a weird little book called The Dinosaur Knights, which was alright. Entertaining and quick, though not very deep. It did, alas, have the antagonist anally rape someone in order to establish that no, this man is the bad guy. Up until that point he was just someone with a different, and from what little we were told, not entirely unreasonable philosophy of government.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Black Man" last night. Good book, makes you think.

Not sure what to start now. I need a palate cleanser before anything serious, so I'll try "In Dark Service" next.

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 05 August 2016 - 01:34 PM, said:

Finished "Black Man" last night. Good book, makes you think.

Not sure what to start now. I need a palate cleanser before anything serious, so I'll try "In Dark Service" next.

In Dark Service by Stephen Hunt? Let me know how it turns out, I have been interested in it for some time

[Abyss]

Finished the MAGIC BLEEDS earbook, moved on to MAGIC SLAYS. Good fun, comments in the dedthread.

Started Stross' THE NIGHTMARE STACKS. I'm enjoying the new pov. Sure I miss Bob, but Alex has a lot of the things that made early series Bob shine.

Also spot-rereading FoD. Damn there is a LOT going on beneath the surface in that book.

[acesn8s]

Still reading Purge of Ashes.

Spoiler

The Caterpillar just got to Remn.

I've been trying to walk during my lunch breaks this summer. It has seriously eaten into my reading time.

[QuickTidal]

Briar King, on 07 August 2016 - 05:04 AM, said:

Outlander 3 pg 232. Holy shit Scott did that and that and that just happen???

It all happened!

[Puck]

A couple of chapters into Hobb's Assassin's Quest and loving it.

[Baco Xtath]

just finished Gibson's Peripheral, didn't care much for it. Also put down All the Birds in the Sky after 2.5 hours, really didn't like that one; all teenage angst and bullying. Day Watch was pretty good. I'll continue on to Twilight Watch at some point. Currently listening to the White Luck Warrior and I'll probably go on to the Great Ordeal next.

Babylon's Ashes has ben delayed till December. That was going to be my next listen. Oh well. At least I'll have a good Christmas listen.

Also 25% into the Once and Future Caesar. Not liking this one at all but I feel like I have to finish the series, or at least continue.

[Abyss]

Baco Xtath, on 07 August 2016 - 02:24 PM, said:

... put down All the Birds in the Sky after 2.5 hours, really didn't like that one; all teenage angst and bullying. ...

Also 25% into the Once and Future Caesar. Not liking this one at all but I feel like I have to finish the series, or at least continue.

re BIRDS yah that was my least enjoyed part of the book as well. It got far better, but the angstyteenage phase was meh.
re CAESAR... i utterly feel your pain.

[polishgenius]

I re-read Catherynne Valente's Radiance this week, and liked it even more than the first time, which was already a lot. Basically my dissatisfactions with the ending were mitigated by (1) knowing it was coming, (2) seeing what I think she was going for with it and how it's not as disconnected as it appears and (3), most importantly, knowing what the mystery is let me concentrate on all the personal, emotional, family stuff and that, it turns out, is the real point of this novel. Valente's one real flaw to date has been to come off a bit cold in pursuit of cleverness sometimes, but despite being her tricksiest novel yet this is also her most engaging.

It's also rather impressive to see someone do a love-letter to the visuals of cinema in prose. Valente's prose is as visually evocative as it comes.

Love it.


Anyway, I was just now browsing Kobo for my next buys and I saw that Markus Heiz's latest novel is coming out. Now, this wouldn't be of any interest to me, I haven't read any of his previous and don't really plan to, but the marketing spiel caught my eye because:

Quote

the worlds of the dark elves and the dwarves collide in what Malazan Empire calls 'Tolkien with a dash of Gemmell and a sprinkling of George R.R. Martin'.

Now I found that curious because we're not a review site, obviously. A quick dig told me that it comes from this topic years ago by Ribald.

So, do the owners/admin and indeed Ribald (who it appears still posts here but rarely) know about this? Are they happy with this? I don't really know the best place to ask, so I'm sticking it here and if it requires passing up the chain please do so. It seems a bit odd to be representing the opinions of a random forum member as the opinion of the whole site.

[worry]

Finished Prince of Fools by Mark Lawrence. I would describe it as "more of the same" but that's because ML's voice as an author really continues to shine through, and it's entirely welcome. He chooses his protagonists well, that's for sure. I was reading this in tandem with watching season 2 of You're the Worst, and the pairing of Jal and Jimmy was a real trip. That said, Snorri stole the show (meaning the book, not the show).

Now onto Winter's Heart by RJ.

[Macros]

polishgenius, on 07 August 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Anyway, I was just now browsing Kobo for my next buys and I saw that Markus Heiz's latest novel is coming out. Now, this wouldn't be of any interest to me, I haven't read any of his previous and don't really plan to, but the marketing spiel caught my eye because:

Quote

the worlds of the dark elves and the dwarves collide in what Malazan Empire calls 'Tolkien with a dash of Gemmell and a sprinkling of George R.R. Martin'.

Now I found that curious because we're not a review site, obviously. A quick dig told me that it comes from this topic years ago by Ribald.

So, do the owners/admin and indeed Ribald (who it appears still posts here but rarely) know about this? Are they happy with this? I don't really know the best place to ask, so I'm sticking it here and if it requires passing up the chain please do so. It seems a bit odd to be representing the opinions of a random forum member as the opinion of the whole site.

I definitely wasn't consulted on this.
To compare the Dwarves books to Tolkien and Gemmell is an insult to both. The books were overly long slogs, piss poor characterisation and just basically massively disappointing, I don't know why I was so harsh on myself as to read more than one. I really don't.

Eta - I agree that it's a random thing to cherry pick from, really, a malazan fan forum, with no attribute even to which member said it?
I was under the impression that fantasy fandom looked upon us as a shower of arseholes, and did not expect us to be touted anywhere as a good measuring stick of other works.

This post has been edited by Macros: 07 August 2016 - 08:32 PM

[Macros]

Just finished Hearts of Stone.

Quite a short book, I disliked the current day segments (the premise is a grandmother telling her grand daughter about her involvement in the resistance on the Greek island of Leftkas) they pulled me from the story too much.
The actual story itself, well enough told and does (Imo) a decent job of showing how peoples beliefs and lives were torn apart by the war. Nothing earth shattering, the action sequences are well enough handled, and a decent cast of characters leaves this an enjoyable read, if frustrating in places due to the flashforwards mentioned earlier. Still they generally weren't anything longer than 9/10 pages at a time.

I found it interesting as well as it focused on Greece's experiences in the war, most media we get on ww2 deals with the western front, and some Russia and Africa.

[Slow Ben]

Finished Changes. Just as heart wrenching and and emotional as the first time. Amazing book. On to Ghost Story.

Roll on Dresden re-read!

[Abyss]

Macros, on 07 August 2016 - 08:30 PM, said:

polishgenius, on 07 August 2016 - 07:38 PM, said:

Anyway, I was just now browsing Kobo for my next buys and I saw that Markus Heiz's latest novel is coming out. Now, this wouldn't be of any interest to me, I haven't read any of his previous and don't really plan to, but the marketing spiel caught my eye because:

Quote

the worlds of the dark elves and the dwarves collide in what Malazan Empire calls 'Tolkien with a dash of Gemmell and a sprinkling of George R.R. Martin'.

Now I found that curious because we're not a review site, obviously. A quick dig told me that it comes from this topic years ago by Ribald.

So, do the owners/admin and indeed Ribald (who it appears still posts here but rarely) know about this? Are they happy with this? I don't really know the best place to ask, so I'm sticking it here and if it requires passing up the chain please do so. It seems a bit odd to be representing the opinions of a random forum member as the opinion of the whole site.

I definitely wasn't consulted on this.
To compare the Dwarves books to Tolkien and Gemmell is an insult to both. The books were overly long slogs, piss poor characterisation and just basically massively disappointing, I don't know why I was so harsh on myself as to read more than one. I really don't.

Eta - I agree that it's a random thing to cherry pick from, really, a malazan fan forum, with no attribute even to which member said it?
I was under the impression that fantasy fandom looked upon us as a shower of arseholes, and did not expect us to be touted anywhere as a good measuring stick of other works.

fascinating. doesnt really say much for the books if they resorted to ganking bits and pieces like that, from a fan forum for a whole other series.

[Macros]

Most of my purchases arrived today, just in time for my birthday!

Going to start Eagle in the Snow tonight.
It's the hardback copy, second hand. With an absolutely beautiful colour map inside the front cover. Makes me want to play Rome total war again.

[QuickTidal]

Macros, on 08 August 2016 - 06:45 PM, said:

Most of my purchases arrived today, just in time for my birthday!

Going to start Eagle in the Snow tonight.
It's the hardback copy, second hand. With an absolutely beautiful colour map inside the front cover. Makes me want to play Rome total war again.

Hope you enjoy it Macros!

As for me, I finished Abnett's HORUS RISING and was pretty roundly blown away with it. As an opening salvo to the Heresy WH40k books, this was a quick and fantastic read. I've gone right into the second book FALSE GODS by Graham McNeill (and I bought the 3rd, 4th, and 5th so that Black Library doesn't screw me over on getting copies of them by putting them out of print or some shit).

[Macros]

Spoiler

 WP_20160808_19_46_20_Pro.jpg (1.87MB)
Number of downloads: 0

[D'iversify]

Through most of Lies of Locke Lamora - good stuff, and written with plenty of wit. Aware rest of Scott's work isn't thought of as being at the same high standard but will definitely read more of his stuff after this (if not immediately - The Great Ordeal overshadows all my current planned near future fantasy reading).

[Maark Abbott]

The Black-Sperm Warrior, page 490:

Well, it was only a matter of time before a Sranc raped someone to death. Gross.