[Ribald]

Just finished First Lord's Fury Book 6 of the Codex Alera by Jim Butcher. As per usual for Butcher it is a great read and whiled away this evening nicely.

[wolf_2099]

Just finished the Twelve. It was okay, felt like it was 100-150 pages too long, and didn't really have any suspense. I was never worried about any of the characters. The reveal at the end didn't make much sense either. I wouldn't recommend it.

Reading Miracleman now though, that's awesome, if not a little weird.

[QuickTidal]

Just started CAPTAIN'S FURY by Jim Butcher. Loving this series and this volume is already shaping up to be a doozy!

[Lisheo]

Just finished Perdido Street Station, and moving on to the Scar. Mieville is amazing.

[Binder of Demons]

Not sure why i did it to myself, but I just finished reading a book by australian author Matthew Reilly, called Seven Ancient Wonders, and it has to be one of the worst books i've ever had the misfortune to read. It's like a 10 year old has been made to watch a few series of 24 (for the hero's military training), and then watch the Da Vinci Code and National Treasure 1+2 back to back (for their sense of history), and then told to try and weave all that shite together into a single story.

Honestly, I'm struggling to describe how tedious the whole thing was, despite the constant 'action' and moments of apparent 'revelation'. The only saving grace is that, since the prose was so juvenile, the plot so wafer thin, and the suspense non-existent, i was able to fly through it in a couple of short bursts.

But thankfully, my wait for decent books is at an end, and I have Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch, and The Voyage of The Sable Keech, by Neal Asher to look forward to. Thank you local public library.

[kcf]

I finished up Finch by Jeff VanderMeer - I really enjoyed it. It's noir set in Ambergris and awesome (full review).

For a change of pace, next up is Unseen Academicals by Sir Terry Pratchett.

[QuickTidal]

Binder of Demons, on 01 December 2009 - 05:07 PM, said:

Not sure why i did it to myself, but I just finished reading a book by australian author Matthew Reilly, called Seven Ancient Wonders, and it has to be one of the worst books i've ever had the misfortune to read. It's like a 10 year old has been made to watch a few series of 24 (for the hero's military training), and then watch the Da Vinci Code and National Treasure 1+2 back to back (for their sense of history), and then told to try and weave all that shite together into a single story.

Honestly, I'm struggling to describe how tedious the whole thing was, despite the constant 'action' and moments of apparent 'revelation'. The only saving grace is that, since the prose was so juvenile, the plot so wafer thin, and the suspense non-existent, i was able to fly through it in a couple of short bursts.

But thankfully, my wait for decent books is at an end, and I have Red Seas Under Red Skies, by Scott Lynch, and The Voyage of The Sable Keech, by Neal Asher to look forward to. Thank you local public library.

Okay, this is pretty funny, if only because I fell into the SAME trap you did about 2 years ago or so when I bought this book.....please see below for my amazon.ca review of the piece of crap:

Sigh.

150 pages. That's all I could manage. I gave this book every effort. Alas, I could not finish it. This book has an interesting idea for it's plot. Take the Seven Wonders Of The Ancient World, connect them (Giza Pyramid Capstone pieces), and then have teams hunt for these lost wonders one by one. Good idea right? Of course. Sounds amazing. The Seven Wonders themselves are so completely fascinating, how on earth could this book go astray right?

Well, easily. It's unfortunately VERY poorly written. Reilly really DOES make someone like Clive Cussler (who writes middle-of-the-road historical adventure that is SOMETIMES entertaining) look like freakin' Dickens.

Before I go on, let me say that I LOVE historical/adventure books. Love them. James Rollins, Dan Brown, Michael Crichton and Steve Berry even to a certain extent.

Let's be clear, this book is written as if from the perspective of a kid describing his buddy playing a video game. Perhaps an 11 year old kid. I mean, the unnecessary punctuation (!!!!!), the EXCESSIVE diagrams, okay I get that you are trying to show me what you just spent a paragraph describing...but then why did you explain it to me. Why then didn't it just say: Jack West enters the long stone walled room and then (See Diagram 1a). Seriously. Half the book is diagrams. There is zero character development. I don't care even a little bit about anyone in this book. Oh, and as another reviewer said, there is WAY too much implausibility in this book even insofar as the plot. Too many things fit neatly into place. Oh, and don't get me started on apparently immortal crocodiles.

Whereas in contrast someone who is GOOD at this type of genre fiction like James Rollins makes me care even about a girl who dies in the prologue.

Matthew Reilly is NOT an author that I will ever choose to subject myself to again I think. Thankfully his other books don't sound like my cup of tea anyways.

If you want to read a REALLY good book about the seven wonders, that is well written, with memorable characters, and is hard as hell to put down... Then read MAP OF BONES by James Rollins...now THAT is a great book!

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Simon Clark's 'Ghost Monster', a tale of possession in a sleepy English coastal town (well it was sleepy...) I loved the concept but the execution didn't quite match it, shame really... My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off Dan Abnett's 'Titanicus' and starting on Paul Doherty's 'The Templar'.

[LadyMTL]

Ribald, on 29 November 2009 - 03:13 AM, said:

I just did a quick full read of Russell Kirkpatrick's Fire of Heaven Trilogy and the last two books took me forever to finish. I think there is a drinking game in the making there... just take a drink every time Leith whines. Of course that would mean that you would be drinking on your own and be completely titfaced by the time you reached chapter 5.

Ugh...I hated that trilogy! I like the idea of a drinking game, though. Although to make it really life-threatening, why not drink while they're all just walking somewhere? Lord knows two-thirds of the first book alone is just "they walked here, something minor happened, they walked there, something else happened, then they walked there and...then they kept walking." Oooh, shiver me timbers, that was exciting.
Total dreck, I tells ya!

And Lobo, I understand the whole Kovac' 1st person POV being a little off-putting. I had to get used to it too but I'm glad I did.

[Pilgrim]

Currently reading "Kushiel's Dart" by Jacquline Carey. I've seen these books in stores now for several years and held off, just not real sure of the premise or the author. About 200 pages in, the story is mildly interesting, if confusing, but I'm really hoping for an increase in the pace soon. This may be one I have a hard time finishing.

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Dan Abnett's 'Titanicus', Warhammer 40K tie-in fiction featuring giant robots shooting hell out of each other on a Mechanicum Forge World. The ending is never in any doubt but the fun definitely lies in getting there! Sobering and exhilarating in equal measure, my full review is over Here. 'The Templar' really wasn't working for me so I've put it down in favour of Ken Scholes' 'Canticle' (which is looking to be much better).

[Deornoth]

Finished reading Steve Perry's 'Indiana Jones and the Army of the Dead' where Indy has to get his hands on a fabled black pearl before the Nazis, Japanese soldiers... and zombies! I had a lot of fun reading this but couldn't escape from the feeling that it's Indy and Indy always wins through, right? This killed some of the tension for me. My full review is over Here. Now it's back to 'Canticle'...

[masan's saddle]

caladanbrood, on 20 November 2009 - 04:44 AM, said:

masan, on 20 November 2009 - 12:18 AM, said:

I just hope LAoK doesn't disappoint.

It shouldn't. Most people tend to agree that the third book is the best of the lot

Ok, finished LAoK and it didn't disappoint ! Abercrombie has imo created one of the best series of books of the last few years, although to nitpick a map would have helped as I couldn't "place" anybody or anything (particularly in relation to Adua and the North, let alone anywhere else). Also the ending was slightly unfulfilling as far as Logen and Ferro was concerned. Does Best Served Cold continue the story ? Does Abercrombie intend to continue the "series" ?

Anyway I am officially Glokta's newest fanboy ! Loveable, evil, genius, bastard that he is.

Fantastic character.

Just started The Lies of Locke Lamora, looks good so far....

[stone monkey]

Just started Demon Theory by Stephen Graham Jones; described by a quote on the cover as "...akin to watching horror director Wes Craven's Scream Trilogy with David Foster Wallace whispering in your ear..." which, if you're trying to sell a book to me, is exactly the way to go about doing it.

Also just picked up The Collector Collector by Tibor Fischer. I've read some of his short stories before and they were very interesting and clever; particularly of note is "A Portrait of the Young Artist as a Foaming Deathmonger", which turned out to be almost as funny as the title would have you believe. We'll see if he can manage it at novel length.

[caladanbrood]

Trying to decide which book to read next - it will be Chris Wooding, I know that for sure. Either The Fade, Retribution Falls or a reread of The Weavers of Saramyr.

[lobo the wolfman]

Brood, I've just stared Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls myself, and so far it is turning out into a fun read. Think of pirates with sky ships and big assed mechanical golems, so if that seems like it appeals to you, then l say give it a go.

[Salt-Man Z]

Rereading Gene Wolfe's The Book of the New Sun almost exactly a year since my first read. It's been a revelation so far.

[caladanbrood]

lobo the wolfman, on 07 December 2009 - 07:47 AM, said:

Brood, I've just stared Chris Wooding's Retribution Falls myself, and so far it is turning out into a fun read. Think of pirates with sky ships and big assed mechanical golems, so if that seems like it appeals to you, then l say give it a go.

I actually went for The Fade, through a random selection method of, urm... closing my eyes and picking one. But tbh I might just read them one after the other Let us know if it continues to be good!

[Imperial Historian]

I just read the fade and enjoyed it, interesting world and the female ninja assasin main character never came across as cliched, really enjoyed the way the story went backwards and forwards in time to tell the complete story, and the ending reveal was well pulled off.

Might go out and pick up retribution falls as I enjoyed his braided path series as well.

[Werthead]

Now reading a review copy of Alastair Reynolds' Terminal World. Based on the first two chapters, this may actually be his best novel so far, which considering his form is pretty damn impressive.