[Werthead]

Songs of the Dying Earth by (deep breath) Robert Silverberg, Neil Gaiman, Kage Barker, GRRM, Tad Williams, Dan Simmons, Walter Jon Williams, Jeff VanderMeer, Mike Resnick, Glen Cook, Elizabeth Hand, Tanith Lee and Lucius Shepard, among many others.

[MTS]

That is the tribute to Jack Vance, yes? Looks good.

[Werthead]

Mappo's Travelling Sack, on Jul 16 2009, 01:10 AM, said:

That is the tribute to Jack Vance, yes? Looks good.

That's the one.

There is a an interesting introduction by Deant Koontz that makes him (Koontz) sound like a complete tool, and a much more interesting one by Vance himself in which he seems genuinely chuffed that so many of modern SF's 'big guns' came out to pay homage to him. His attitude was, "Dudes, these are just funny stories I wrote to stop myself going mad on a boat," which is fairly modest of him.

[Zhuangzi]

Recently discovered Thebookdepository.co.uk - so I bought a bunch of UK books not out in the US yet - all the Mike Carey books not yet out, the latest Robin Hobb, and the latest Ambercrombie.

[Use Of Weapons]

The first _Death's Head_ novel by David Gunn. Read the second a while ago, and am getting odd deja vu reading this one.

[Deornoth]

It all kicks off in the thrid Death's Head book...

Finished reading James Braziel's 'Snakeskin Road', a tale of human trafficking in a near future America that has been ravaged by a growing hole in the ozone layer. I loved the setting, and the plot had a suitable degree of urgency about it, but it was a real shame that none of the characters seemed to grow or develop over the course of the book. My full review is over Here. I'm now well into Alex Bledsoe's 'The Sword Edged Blonde'...

[Pilgrim]

I'm about halfway through Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap into Conflict "The Real Story" and I'm quite frankly amazed. The only thing I've read by Donaldson prior to this was the Unbeliever first chronicles, and the writing style is so different here it literally seems like an entirely different author. It's a great story and so far a really quick read, a sci-fi mystery/thriller of sorts. Good snack-sized fun, as it's little more than a novella. Has anyone else read this series? What do you think?

Pilgrim

[murphy72]

Now reading Wildfire the second in the Sarah Micklem trilogy about a camp follower in a medieval setting. Very well done and it reminds me a bit of Mary Gentle's Ash.

[Salt-Man Z]

Pilgrim, on Jul 16 2009, 09:45 AM, said:

I'm about halfway through Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap into Conflict "The Real Story" and I'm quite frankly amazed. The only thing I've read by Donaldson prior to this was the Unbeliever first chronicles, and the writing style is so different here it literally seems like an entirely different author. It's a great story and so far a really quick read, a sci-fi mystery/thriller of sorts. Good snack-sized fun, as it's little more than a novella. Has anyone else read this series? What do you think?

The GAP Cycle is probably the best sci-fi series I've ever read. If you like the first book, you'll love the rest; it only gets more and more epic from here out.

[Pilgrim]

Salt-Man Z, on Jul 16 2009, 10:55 AM, said:

Pilgrim, on Jul 16 2009, 09:45 AM, said:

I'm about halfway through Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap into Conflict "The Real Story" and I'm quite frankly amazed. The only thing I've read by Donaldson prior to this was the Unbeliever first chronicles, and the writing style is so different here it literally seems like an entirely different author. It's a great story and so far a really quick read, a sci-fi mystery/thriller of sorts. Good snack-sized fun, as it's little more than a novella. Has anyone else read this series? What do you think?

The GAP Cycle is probably the best sci-fi series I've ever read. If you like the first book, you'll love the rest; it only gets more and more epic from here out.

Cool. That's high praise. I'll plan on reading them all.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Alex Bledsoe's 'The Sword Edged Blonde' where a sword wielding private eye must solve a seemingly unsolveable mystery... This book sometimes strays too far into 'hard boiled American PI' territory and makes the fantasy setting a little harder to get into as a result. However, an intriguing mystery and a well rounded main character make this a very entertaining read and I'm looking forward to getting hold of the sequel. My full review is over Here. I'm now about halfway through Aaron Dembski-Bowden's 'Cadian Blood'...

[Astra]

Just finished Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

Overall impression – interesting story. Good book.
The beginning was very promising. I liked the protagonists and story line. Sort of a cross between of King’s Salems Lot and Rice’s The Interview with the Vampire. But somewhere about 2/3 into the story it lost something. It lost its momentum, some kind of spark. So, the book became a bit dull but towards the end it picked the pace once again and the ending is satisfactory.

However, there is one question that has not been answered:

Spoiler

If Vampire females died each time a new vampire was born, would not they run out of females eventually?

Before I plunge into The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb, I have decided to give Neil Gaiman a second chance and started Neverwhere. Nice beginning.

[Dolorous Menhir]

Pilgrim, on Jul 16 2009, 03:45 PM, said:

I'm about halfway through Stephen R. Donaldson's The Gap into Conflict "The Real Story" and I'm quite frankly amazed. The only thing I've read by Donaldson prior to this was the Unbeliever first chronicles, and the writing style is so different here it literally seems like an entirely different author. It's a great story and so far a really quick read, a sci-fi mystery/thriller of sorts. Good snack-sized fun, as it's little more than a novella. Has anyone else read this series? What do you think?

Pilgrim

It is AMAZING. (Read it a few months ago.)

Astra, on Jul 17 2009, 08:46 PM, said:

Just finished Fevre Dream by George R. R. Martin

However, there is one question that has not been answered:

Spoiler

If Vampire females died each time a new vampire was born, would not they run out of females eventually?

That's a good point.

Spoiler

Unless they always have twins or triplets, there isn't really a way round that, is there?

[lobo the wolfman]

Plowing though Scott Lynch's Red Seas under Red Skies, and so far it is shit hot.
Next is either The Darkness That Comes Before or Slash's autobiography.

[Deathsythe]

I have been reading volume 1 George RR Martin's Dreamsongs, I am not reading any of the stories in any particular order but so far I have been very pleased.

[polishgenius]

I'm currently reading Heroes Die by Matthew Woodring Stover. It's awesome.

[Fist Gamet]

Just finished The Fall of The Roman Empire by Peter Heather, which is a brilliant piece of narrative history and truly fascinating. Anyone who has read Tom Holland will enjoy this.
I am now reading The Name of The Rose by Umberto Eco and so far it is very, very good.

[Salt-Man Z]

Over the weekend, I finished Judge, the sixth and final book in Karen Traviss' sci-fi "Wess'har Wars" series. Very very good. It's one of those rare series that actually makes you look at the world in a different way afterward. Admittedly, the plot dragged a bit for the last half of the series, but I still highly recommend it.

Yesterday I started Alastair Reynolds' Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days. It's been over two years since I read the Revelation Space trilogy, so I'm surprised how easy it is to drop back into Reynolds' world. Good so far. I should be able to knock it back in a handful of days, and then it's on to Return of the Crimson Guard.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading 'Cadian Blood', an absolutely storming piece of military sci-fi (Warhammer 40K tie-in) that was only slightly spoilt by some one dimensional characters that contrasted with the ones that were fleshed out better. My full review is over Here. I'm now well into Jonathan Green's 'Evolution Expects' and the continuing adventures of one Ulysses Quicksilver...

[Salt-Man Z]

So last night I ripped through the rest of Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds. Wow. Well done, Mr. Reynolds. Diamond Dogs was creepy and horrifying and yet I couldn't put it down. I had my suspicions about the ending, and while I had guessed part of it, I was blindsided by the rest. I actually found the events of the final couple of chapters even more disturbing after I had finished, and images kept popping into my head last night while I tried to sleep. I'm honestly surprised at how visceral my revulsion is to

Spoiler

the fates of Childe and Swift

(very minor spoilers perhaps) but it was very well-written, and the way it ended in particular was superb. I can't say as much about Turquoise Days other than that I enjoyed it, and found it somehow moving and sad. Very good though.

Today I finally start in on Return of the Crimson Guard. I've heard good things and I've heard bad things, so I'm somewhat anxious, but I'm also excited to get back to the world of Malaz, having laid off since reading TtH last November.