[Aptorian]

You know thinking about it, I can't even recall if I finished the second book. Was it called Dragonfly falling or something something mantis?

Like Morgoth I absolutly despise those books. While he is capable of writing some solid action, there is no flow in the books. It's just one tedious segment after an other with lots of travel and uninteresting characters doing this and that but suitably half-assed. What made those books interesting was the Nazi Bee empire and the homicidal mantis warriors but there's just not enough good stuff to keep my attention.

[polishgenius]

Morgoth, on 09 May 2010 - 06:12 PM, said:

This is a dirty dirty lie, Tehol. Don't listen to him. I don't have the strength to write yet another rant about why these books are shit, but somehow the author managed to make a really cool setting only to butcher it piece by piece through the books.

Have you ever read James Lovegrove's Worldstorm? Just because you mentioned the setting, Lovegrove doesn't use the bug stuff - it's an elemental thing - but otherwise the setting is similar in terms of how the powers are used and how it affects society, and it's utilised much better, I thought. A book I never hear anyone talk about, so I thought I'd bring it up...


Anyway, as for Tchaikovsky, I thought the books are alright, but I've only read the first two and not in a huge hurry to pick up the third. Probably will at some point though.

[Fist Gamet]

Kraken! I couldn't really wait until I had finished my current read before starting it. Pretty good so far.


PS - Got to agree with Morgoth and Apt on this one, I got about halfway through Empire of Black and Gold before ditching it and sending it straight to Charity Shop heaven. Just did not engage me on any level. I agree that what seemed at first to be a very interesting and novel idea was wasted in his hands, imho.

[Illuyankas]

Checking out the Hyperion omnibus. Good so far, will be good to have by the bedside after my op tomorrow.

[Astra]

Just finished Shadow's Edge (Night Angel, #2) by Brent Weeks.
Good, solid sequence to The Way of Shadows. I enjoyed reading it. This book is an improvement on The Way of Shadows and surprisingly enough, there are no annoying characters. Night Angel is a very good series so far.

Immediately started the third and the last book in the Night Angel trilogy, Beyond the Shadows.

[champ]

got 3 books on the go at the moment because they're all pretty bad but determined to finish them as i've read all the others in the series

Feist - At the Gates of Darkness - about 2/3 through - just drab affair, the series could of ended 4/5 books ago, determined to stick with Feist though due to fact I've read his other work and the series coming to an end soon

Tchaikovsky - Salute the Dark - about 2/3 through - good chapter/bad chapter/good chapter/bad chapter no decent flow to keep you hooked

Llyod - Grave Thief - 100 pages left - series just gan down hill after a medicore start but bought the first 3 books and no way was not reading them

once these finished i will allow myself to get back to reading good books - back to Dresden, up to book 6 and gotta say, total quality!

[Morgoth]

A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge. Intriguing book all in all, but I've come to realize that reading Cook's Sci Fi have spoiled me in regards to language. Man does this guy bombard you with text. The book could easily have been cut by a third if not more without a single event being removed.

[Illuyankas]

Illuyankas, on 11 May 2010 - 08:11 PM, said:

Checking out the Hyperion omnibus. Good so far, will be good to have by the bedside after my op tomorrow.

I read the whole of Hyperion over a day, and then nearly the entirety of Fall of Hyperion while waiting for my op. Polished off the last fifty pages when I woke up and left.

I liked it.

[Aptorian]

Illy you read to fast. Slow down. Reading all of Hyperion in one day is ridiculous. Sweet baby jesus man!

[Illuyankas]

It was only the first two books, dude. I didn't even read Endymion or the other one.

[Animace]

Morgoth, on 09 May 2010 - 06:12 PM, said:

This is a dirty dirty lie, Tehol. Don't listen to him. I don't have the strength to write yet another rant about why these books are shit, but somehow the author managed to make a really cool setting only to butcher it piece by piece through the books.

Such potential, shat on from great height by appallingly bad characters.

Except for the mantis dude.

[Aptorian]

I also liked the Nazi Bee commander. He was awesome in his practicality.

Anyway, back on topic.

Done with Dresden. Now reading The Atrocity Archives by Charlie Stross. It's a lot more technical than I imagined, but very interesting. Waiting anxiously for the tentacles to hit the fan.

[MTS]

Reading Steppenwolf by Herman Hesse. It's not nearly as interesting as I've been led to believe, but there's some engaging philosophy near the beginning that I enjoyed.

[Use Of Weapons]

Finished Cordwainer Smith's short story collection The Rediscovery of Man last night. Wow, I'd forgotten how good these were. 'Scanners Live in Vain' and 'The Dead Lady of Clown Town' had me in tears.

Started M. John Harrison's Light today. Only a few pages in, and I like the style. Expecting great things from this.

[ObsoleteResolve]

House of Suns by Alastair Reynolds.

Shadowline by Glen Cook.

The Midnigth Mayor by Kate Griffin.

[HoosierDaddy]

I'm currently about 150 or so pages into Empire of Black and Gold.... and I want to punch Che in the face. Talk about a misnomer. Cheerwell? Bullshit. You should be called Depressedemo.

[Aptorian]

Yeah. Cheerwell is basically your stereotypical annoying bitch that authors inject into their story to piss of their readers for no other reason than that is what everyone else seems to be doing.

[Morgoth]

H.D., on 14 May 2010 - 10:15 PM, said:

I'm currently about 150 or so pages into Empire of Black and Gold.... and I want to punch Che in the face. Talk about a misnomer. Cheerwell? Bullshit. You should be called Depressedemo.

At some point people should learn to listen to me.

[QuickTidal]

Morgoth, on 14 May 2010 - 11:10 PM, said:

H.D., on 14 May 2010 - 10:15 PM, said:

I'm currently about 150 or so pages into Empire of Black and Gold.... and I want to punch Che in the face. Talk about a misnomer. Cheerwell? Bullshit. You should be called Depressedemo.

At some point people should learn to listen to me.

I think I plan to listen to you from now on....Empire of Black and Gold was BAD.

[Use Of Weapons]

Finished over the weekend: Light by M. John Harrison. Great writing, great concept, really disappointing ending. For a book with such promise, it really failed to deliver. Loved the structure though.

Reading now: The Fifth Head of Cerberus by Gene Wolfe. Wolfe is an author I've bounced off of in the past, so this is my last try at reading something of his. Have to say that the introduction by Adam Roberts, where he completely ruins the entire plot of the novel, was more than a little agonising.