[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 18 March 2019 - 05:42 PM, said:

Night's Dawn is my favourite of Hamilton's series I love it. Didn't realise Sonnie's Edge is set in that universe tbh.

I found one of them at the used bookstore which I grabbed, but it's not the first one. Good to know you like that one too.

[worry]

Finished Alice Isn't Dead. It was okay. It didn't read at all like a restructured podcast, and apparently it's a different take on the same plot, but it functions as a novel well enough. It doesn't try to recreate the arch tone of Nightvale either, and is self-contained without needing any familiarity with the podcasts. And as a bonus, a lot of the action actually takes place in my neck of the desert, and it even name checks my hometown which is pretty rare. Prose is okay with occasional flashes of cleverness. The main character is good, the plot and themes are good, the villains are kinda cool. But there's never really any scares, no building of dread, no atmosphere, so for a horror novel (and that's what it is), it never really gets you to that place you want to be. I'd give it like a 2.7 out 5.

[Tiste Simeon]

QuickTidal, on 18 March 2019 - 06:24 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 18 March 2019 - 05:42 PM, said:

Night's Dawn is my favourite of Hamilton's series I love it. Didn't realise Sonnie's Edge is set in that universe tbh.

I found one of them at the used bookstore which I grabbed, but it's not the first one. Good to know you like that one too.

Yeah they're great though the Void Trilogy is pretty much just as good tbf. Commonwealth Saga not quite up there but it's only two books and despite the size, they fly through.

[polishgenius]

I finished Elizabeth Bear's Ancestral Night, a big expansive fun space opera. It's not her best work, and it's also imo a bit below other recent works that are kinda similar to aspects of it, but it is nonetheless a lot of fun and I would recommend reading it. But then Bear is one of my favourite authors these days.
But after her Jacob's Ladder trilogy because despite it being barely necessary for them to even be in the same universe, she made the odd decision to explicitly spoil the ending of that series in this book. And that series is probably her best work, in my opinion, so it should be read anyway.

Also: it's a fucking great time to be a space opera fan right now. There's absolutely bucketloads hitting all of a sudden.

[End of Disc One]

I'm in the middle of some great books right now.

Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky - Amazing. Shadows of the Apt is pretty good, but this is a million times better.
The Shadow of What Was Lost by James Islington - Interesting and enjoyable. Easy to read but at the same time there are a lot of characters and concepts to keep straight.
The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron - Book 3 of Traitor Son and by far the best of the series so far. Halfway through so we'll see if it keeps it up.
And everyone's favorite GGK book, Tigana

[Mentalist]

Finished "Anubis Gates" . Decent time-hopping fun, though I know next to nothing about the 19th century English literary scene, so those bits were all just empty words to me.

Next in commute before trying something big again, I'll do a palate cleanser. I think Ilona Andrews' "Gunmetal Magic" should do nicely.

[Abyss]

Briar King, on 19 March 2019 - 01:13 AM, said:

Much like my 3rd nipple Tigana is extraneous and kind of freaky.

FTFY.

[Tsundoku]

Finished Kellanved's reach. My word, that was ... pacey.

Echoing other comments expressing a desie that it could have been 2 books, or been slowed down in pace. I would have liked to see thm get to that point in a decade or 2 of everyone getting to know each other.

It sort of seemed like ICE felt like he had a quota of cameos to write, and not enough time or word count with which to do it.

Good fun though, all the same.

This post has been edited by Tsundoku: 19 March 2019 - 09:41 AM

[Aptorian]

I keep postponing beginning Kelanved's Reach.

I keep bringing books home from work instead.

Finished The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling. Thoroughly enjoyable detective novel. I especially loved the new assistant Robin and her fascination with Strikes work. It gave the book a sense of wonder and joy.

Already made a reservation for the second book and will be following the series.

I'm also reading the Belgariad series by David Eddings. I'm fairly certain I've read some of this before but it must be decades ago, so it all feels new if familiar.

Finished the first book yesterday and began the second one today. They're easy to read and refreshingly short books. The setting and premise is of course very worn but it's well written.

Also reading a Steam Punk Anthology written and published by a Danish Sci-fi Club. There's something charming about Victorian era fantasy. It just fits perfectly together.

This post has been edited by Aptorian: 19 March 2019 - 10:08 AM

[QuickTidal]

Aptorian, on 19 March 2019 - 10:06 AM, said:

Finished The Cuckoo's Calling by Robert Galbraith/JK Rowling. Thoroughly enjoyable detective novel. I especially loved the new assistant Robin and her fascination with Strikes work. It gave the book a sense of wonder and joy.

Already made a reservation for the second book and will be following the series.

You're aware there is a TV show too right?

[Aptorian]

Ooohh. Doesn't look bad. Stopped half way through since it seemed to go into details about later books.

The casting of Strike fits the look somewhat, he just needs to be a head taller and weigh an extra 30-50 kilos.

Is it a mini-series like BBC's Sherlock or something longer like Elementary?

[QuickTidal]

Aptorian, on 19 March 2019 - 02:44 PM, said:

Ooohh. Doesn't look bad. Stopped half way through since it seemed to go into details about later books.

The casting of Strike fits the look somewhat, he just needs to be a head taller and weigh an extra 30-50 kilos.

Is it a mini-series like BBC's Sherlock or something longer like Elementary?

BBC One mini-series, I guess because each "season" is a book but are short.

The Cuckoos Calling season is 3 eps.
The Silkworm season is 2 eps.
Career Of Evil season is 2 eps.
And the forthcoming 4th season based on Lethal White is going to be 4 eps.

[polishgenius]

End of Disc One, on 18 March 2019 - 11:50 PM, said:

The Dread Wyrm by Miles Cameron - Book 3 of Traitor Son and by far the best of the series so far. Halfway through so we'll see if it keeps it up.

It gets even better.

[Macros]

finished a reread of the Low Town trilogy, still an awesome ending.

going to have another go at the book of amber

[Chance]

Still reading Cassandra Kresnov series now on 23 Years on Fire and it is still often pretty damned entertaining, if not particularly deep. Perfectly fit for my only an hour here an there reading.

Macros, on 20 March 2019 - 07:27 AM, said:

finished a reread of the Low Town trilogy, still an awesome ending.

So few authors have the guts for that kind of ending.

[acesn8s]

75% of the way through The Dragonbone Chair. I should have reread this a long time ago.

[Tiste Simeon]

acesn8s, on 20 March 2019 - 01:18 PM, said:

75% of the way through The Dragonbone Chair. I should have reread this a long time ago.

That whole series is on Audible has anyone heard it and is it worth me spending 4 credits on? Quite a big fan of Tad Williams other stuff..

[Andorion]

So I am all caught up on Seanan McGuire's October Daye books, and IMO this series rates alongside Dresden and Rivers of London in terms of urban fantasy. Absolutely superb character writing.

Also today I finished the first book of McGuire's Incryptid series - Discount Armageddon and this seems like a more light take on urban fantasy which is still pretty entertaining.

[QuickTidal]

Tiste Simeon, on 20 March 2019 - 03:45 PM, said:

acesn8s, on 20 March 2019 - 01:18 PM, said:

75% of the way through The Dragonbone Chair. I should have reread this a long time ago.

That whole series is on Audible has anyone heard it and is it worth me spending 4 credits on? Quite a big fan of Tad Williams other stuff..

I've not listened on Audible yet, but the narrator is Andrew Wincott and he makes it sound like you're sitting around an old fireplace and an well-spoken gentleman is telling you a fairytale. Such an evocative voice.

As to the series, it's one of my all time favourites and has a place of honour on my shelf.

[Salt-Man Z]

Andorion, on 20 March 2019 - 04:09 PM, said:

So I am all caught up on Seanan McGuire's October Daye books, and IMO this series rates alongside Dresden and Rivers of London in terms of urban fantasy. Absolutely superb character writing.

Also today I finished the first book of McGuire's Incryptid series - Discount Armageddon and this seems like a more light take on urban fantasy which is still pretty entertaining.

Check out her "Indexing" series too, if you haven't already: two books about a team of operatives responsible for dealing with fairy tale narratives taking over the real world. Great stuff, and a really unique twist on the urban fantasy genre. I do still need to get into the two series you mentioned.