[Dark Wolf]

I finished Shaun Hutson's "Body Count". The novel is not entirely a horror one and can be taken as a thriller as well. Despite a few aspects that didn't appeal to me very much I had an entertaining and fun read. (My full review)

[Deornoth]

I've just finished reading Mike Resnick's 'Starship: Rebel' in which Captain Wilson Cole (a square jawed space hero if ever you saw one) starts to take the fight into Republic space... It's pulpy space opera roots mean that you know how it's going to end but 'Starship: Rebel' is still a very entertaining read that's full of all the stuff that I like best about sci-fi (laser guns, big space battles and wierd aliens). My full review is over Here.
I'm now finishing off the 'Busted Flush' Wild Cards collection...

[Wanderer]

After a long period of having nothing interesting to read , spending hours in Waterstones and Borders LOOOKING for something to read and coming up short - I am reading three books at once

Homicide - A Year on the Killing Streets - by David Simon

I loved the Wire and this is by that TV Masterpiece's creator...only 100 odd pages into it but it's very realistic and gritty and detailed. I love the atmosphere and the detail. Heck I Love Baltimore

The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko

and

Scar Night - Alan Campbell.

[Valgard]

Have recently finished Homicide a year on the Killing streets and I can say you are in for a treat. It is a brilliant book, fascinating to read with so much information but also caring for the homicide detectives and their lives and pains. I am really looking forward to the release of Corner his story of the life in the year of a corner boy in baltimore. If you enjoyed the wire you need to read this book as you will recognise a number of the characters from the show in the book.

I am reading The Judging eye at the moment and it is great so far really enjoying it at the moment.

[polishgenius]

Wanderer, on Jan 15 2009, 06:44 PM, said:

After a long period of having nothing interesting to read , spending hours in Waterstones and Borders LOOOKING for something to read and coming up short - I am reading three books at once

Homicide - A Year on the Killing Streets - by David Simon

I loved the Wire and this is by that TV Masterpiece's creator...only 100 odd pages into it but it's very realistic and gritty and detailed.

Not read it yet, but isn't that because it's... well, real?

[teholbeddict]

I'm still on my Black Company kick, currently reading Bleak Seasons by Glen Cook! This series is getting better by the minute, I can't believe I didn't pick it up before now! Thanks again to Salt-Man Z!

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Started reading A feast for Crows by Martin. A bit annoyed that he's dumping all possible info of the previous books as if we readers are idiots who don't remember what he has already written.

[Salt-Man Z]

Glad you're really enjoying the Black Company, tb! By the way, check your copy of Bleak Seasons if it's the MMPB version: if you're missing page 200, you can find the text here. (I can also send you a Word version that I made, that can be cut out and inserted into your book.)

[teholbeddict]

Shit! Thanks for pointing that out Salt-Man I am missing page 200! Would it be possible for you to send me the Word version you did up? I'd like to add it to the book if I can. I'll PM you with my email!

[Mentalist]

Finished "Tjorn", book 1 of "The Seven Beasts of Raileg"-the new series by Perumov.
for obvious reasons, it's hard not to compare this with Book 1 of the "chronicles of the Rift"-Perumov's biggest and best work up to date.
"Tjorn" does not benefit from the comparison. The story seems to be much more linear, as we follow a single group of characters around for the entire book.
Teh background is mildly intriuguing, and the Perumov still delivers SE-style, leaving large portions of the big picture out, but the linearity and lack of multiple PoVs left me far less interested than "Wooden Sword, Diamond sword" did.
The preview cahpter of Book 2 introduces a diff character and possibly a different storyline. I'll pick it up when I get the chance to see if Perumov can make it more interesting.

in the meantime, I shall finally give "The blade itself" a try.....

[The Drum]

Salt-Man Z, on Jan 16 2009, 03:46 PM, said:

Glad you're really enjoying the Black Company, tb! By the way, check your copy of Bleak Seasons if it's the MMPB version: if you're missing page 200, you can find the text here. (I can also send you a Word version that I made, that can be cut out and inserted into your book.)

I bought the Black Company a few weeks ago but decided read something else first as I'd just finished MBotF and heard it was quite similar. I think i bought the first of the Omnibus' editions. Does this have a page missing or is it just the PB of that book?

[Salt-Man Z]

Bleak Seasons hasn't been published in an omnibus yet, so no worries there. (It's book 7 of the series; only the first 6 books have gotten the omnibus treatment so far.) Also, it's apparently only the MMPB that's got the error resulting in skipping page #200 (if I recall, page #99 is printed twice) but I don't know if it was corrected in later printings or not. I've seen the hardcover at Half Price Books, and it looks to have all the pages intact.

Also, I should say that you shouldn't worry much about Erikson and Cook's work being very similar. The Black Company and MBotF series are really quite different animals; it's obvious that Erikson took a lot of cues from Cook, but stylistically and thematically, they're really very different.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 16 January 2009 - 04:27 PM

[Apocalypse Now]

Which one is Bleak Seasons? I have two Black Company chronicles, two books with the first 6 books in them. I'm on The Silver Spike now and for some reason I just stopped, not because I didn't like it, but because I was all Black Company'd out. I read the First Law trilogy. Then Return of the Crimson Guard came in the mail. Looks like Black Company will have to wait.

[Salt-Man Z]

The Black Company series:

ORIGINAL TRILOGY:
1. The Black Company
2. Shadows Linger
3. The White Rose
Omnibus (1-3): Chronicles of the Black Company

SPIN-OFF:
3.5. The Silver Spike
BOOKS OF THE SOUTH:
4. Shadow Games
5. Dreams of Steel
Omnibus (4-5,3.5): Books of the South

GLITTERING STONE:
6. Bleak Seasons
7. She Is the Darkness
8. Water Sleeps
9. Soldiers Live
(No omnibus edition yet)

[HoosierDaddy]

While I really enjoyed all of the Black Company books, Cook really evolves in his writing style, especially once you get to the Glittering Stone quadrology . I like them equally, but for different reasons.

I finished Strorm Front, the Dresden Cycle book 1 tonight. Interesting, funny, and strange. Harry Potter meets pcp.

[Mentalist]

any idea on whether Glittering stone will all be one omnibus or if they'll split it into two?

[Salt-Man Z]

No idea. The MMPB page counts for the books are: 319, 319, 317 (955 total); 313, 311, 346 (970 total); but then Glittering Stone goes: 316, 470, 470, 566 (1822 total). I don't know what 1822 corresponds to in TPB pages, but even at a 20% page reduction, it would still be pushing 1500 pages. They probably wouldn't put that all in one volume.

[DarkGothicGirl]

Now reading Host by Faith Hunter.

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

Apocalypse Now, on Jan 16 2009, 03:58 PM, said:

Which one is Bleak Seasons? I have two Black Company chronicles, two books with the first 6 books in them. I'm on The Silver Spike now and for some reason I just stopped, not because I didn't like it, but because I was all Black Company'd out. I read the First Law trilogy. Then Return of the Crimson Guard came in the mail. Looks like Black Company will have to wait.

I had to take a break from the series during the Silver Spike as well. Of the entire series it is probably the one I liked the least. I would appreciate hearing from anyone who has read Glen Cook's other works. I've picked up a couple since reading the Black Company and was unimpressed. Has he written other novels outside of the Black Company that are worth reading?

Amusingly, seeing the other topics in this forum, I finished Neil Gaiman's American Gods about a week ago and am currently reading Anathem by Neal Stepthenson.

[HoosierDaddy]

The Black Company Chronicles are the only ones I've read by Cook. 'Bout the Silver Spike... I think that was a rather arbitrary piece of literature by Cook meant to appease fans who didn't like the way that series ended and the second one began.