[Bauchelain the Evil]

Finished Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. This book was excellent and I loved the chapters that dealt with Zakalwe's backstory, especially the last few chapters when we get the title's explanation ( that scene was particularly disgusting) and of course the ending that left me in a "what the.." mode.

[Ain't_It_Just_]

Just finished Turn Coat.

Spoiler

I'm actually sad Morgan is dead, he was pretty badass.

Now I must locate Changes...

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 19 August 2010 - 10:56 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 August 2010 - 10:16 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 August 2010 - 09:51 PM, said:

...Did you hear they moved the new Sigma book from ...now....until next June I believe. He had it done and in, but the publishers schedule is too squeezed to get it out with any fanfare.....WTF?! Booooo!

I have the last 5 in the TRP, so it's no bother to me just yet. I liked Sandstorm and stumbled on the rest at various sales, so i'm good for a while now.

Map Of Bones and The Judas Strain are my faves, both because of the historical stuff they deal with.

Just started MAP. Liking so far. Pattern is similar to SAND but i think Rollins improved his pacing a bit and DAMN the man rights a good action scene.

Dolorous Menhir, on 20 August 2010 - 05:03 PM, said:

Abyss, on 19 August 2010 - 07:08 PM, said:

Dolorous Menhir, on 19 August 2010 - 06:33 PM, said:

Chasm City, Alistair Reynolds.

DM - am i confusing you with someone else or is this like your 4th re-read?

Must be Abyss, must be. I'm working through Reynolds for the first time, and it's a very pleasant surprise.

Enjoy! REVELATION SPACE is one of my favourite sf books.

ansible, on 25 August 2010 - 04:49 AM, said:

Fist Gamet, on 24 August 2010 - 02:15 PM, said:

Following on from the excellent and brilliant Redemption Falls (think I mentioned that already ) This week I will be mostly reading Shogun. Actually, I devoured the first 150 pages at the first sitting, which I don't normally do but I was surprised at how good it was. For some reason I never imagined the language would be so...colourful and gritty. And in the reading of it I am also learning Japanese!
Wakarimasu ka?

I've said this before, but I love Shogun. I just convinced my fiancee to read it, she's halfway....

Brilliant book. All the japanese i know i learned from it.

Ain, on 25 August 2010 - 11:11 AM, said:

Just finished Turn Coat. ...
Now I must locate Changes...

Oh yes you must. I actually envy you reading it for the first time. SO MUCH Dresdencrack goodness.



Paused the RCG re-read to get into Rollins' MAP OF BONES.

Have THE GUNSLINGER graphic novels going on the side.

- Abyss, multi-tasking.

[stone monkey]

Currently reading The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

[HiddenOne]

Reading "The Elysium Commision" by LE Modessitt. I just finish books 1-5 of MBotF and thought I'd take a small break (to save my marriage & job ) so...it's sort of liking throwing the car into reverse at top speed down the mountain. Not fair to the book, but what can you do?

Most of his other work I like, but his sci-fi just doesn't cut it for me

[masan's saddle]

Midnight Tides reread and it is splendid.

[worry]

stone monkey, on 25 August 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

Currently reading The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

Whoa. I did not realize the version I have is "incomplete". I wonder what I'm missing!

[QuickTidal]

Just finished Terry brooks latest, BEARERS OF THE BLACK STAFF....great great volume! Another cracker in the Brooks crosses over his two series books.

Picked up Brandon Sanderson's THE WAY OF KINGS....what n effing gorgeous book outside AND inside!! TOR kind of outdid themselves.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It was okay, surely not on par with other Gaiman novels I've read.

[NikitaDarkstar]

Bauchelain the Evil, on 27 August 2010 - 09:02 AM, said:

Finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It was okay, surely not on par with other Gaiman novels I've read.

Funny that is one of my favorites by him, but it's a good idea to have read American Gods first. But each to their own I suppose. (Besides his very best work is his short stories in my opinion )

Personally I'm currently reading Tounges of Serpents, part 6 of Naomi Noviks Temerarie series, which I loved a few years ago. But now, well it's okay but she really could have ended it at part 5, and compared to what I've been reading the last few years (SE, ICE and Gaiman) they feel alot more childish than what I remembered, but I've stared it so I'll finish it, not everything can be epic afterall.

[Ain't_It_Just_]

Abyss, on 25 August 2010 - 04:35 PM, said:

Ain, on 25 August 2010 - 11:11 AM, said:

Just finished Turn Coat. ...
Now I must locate Changes...

"wriggles with anticipation"

Reading The Blade Itself. Interestingly...interesting.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

NikitaDarkstar, on 27 August 2010 - 09:26 PM, said:

Bauchelain the Evil, on 27 August 2010 - 09:02 AM, said:

Finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It was okay, surely not on par with other Gaiman novels I've read.

Funny that is one of my favorites by him, but it's a good idea to have read American Gods first. But each to their own I suppose. (Besides his very best work is his short stories in my opinion )

I have read American Gods and it is one of my favorite books, which is why I was rather disappointed by Anansi Boys.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 31 August 2010 - 10:07 AM

[Daeghrefn]

I just started Primitive Mythology, the first volume in Joseph Campbell's series The Masks of God. Fascinating stuff, as is typical with Campbell, but his sentences are irritatingly lengthy and complicated.

[goldmill]

Recently finished Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrell....man, I wish I could get that time back. The overall idea was pretty interesting as well as a few of the minor characters and antagonist but it took WAY too long to get into them. At 1000 pages in MMPB, it could have been 300-400 pages fewer easily and been a much tighter story.

Currently reading Taltos by Brust. LIking it a lot so far. It seems his writing improves with each Vlad novel.

[Riot]

re reading S M Peters - Ghost Ocean.

[QuickTidal]

Bauchelain the Evil, on 30 August 2010 - 08:15 AM, said:

NikitaDarkstar, on 27 August 2010 - 09:26 PM, said:

Bauchelain the Evil, on 27 August 2010 - 09:02 AM, said:

Finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. It was okay, surely not on par with other Gaiman novels I've read.

Funny that is one of my favorites by him, but it's a good idea to have read American Gods first. But each to their own I suppose. (Besides his very best work is his short stories in my opinion )

I have read American Gods and it is one of my favorite books, which is why I was rather disappointed by Anansi Boys.

Agreed. If you've read American Gods...Anansi Boys seriously pales in comparison. That said, the short story featuring the protagonist from AG that is in the Fragile Things collection is quite good! Perhaps it's that the Anansi character seemed so interesting in AG an when shown in the full light of his own book (even one where he is not in it all that much) he becomes much more pedestrian. Or it's probably that Shadow and Wednesday were so badass...

[stone monkey]

worrywort, on 25 August 2010 - 10:38 PM, said:

stone monkey, on 25 August 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

Currently reading The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

Whoa. I did not realize the version I have is "incomplete". I wonder what I'm missing!

This is the edition I have

That article also mentions George Perec's La Disparation, a novel which doesn't have a single occurance of the letter E, which was translated into English, still without the letter E, by Gilbert Adair as A Void (which some of my friends still refer to as "that weird book he read") - it's a deeply weird and frankly rather hilarious book btw; just seeing the knots he ties himself in by trying to avoid certain forbidden words made me giggle all the way through it. There's apparently a German translation too, still without the letter E, which I suspect would have to be seen to be believed.

Perec, presumably because he was insane or something, also wrote a novella called The Exeter Text where the only vowel he used was the letter E.

I first heard of these, it should come as no surprise, in Douglas Hofstader's wonderful book about translation (amongst other things) called Le Ton Beau De Marot (don't worry, it's not actually written in French). If you can find a copy (it took me a couple of years to finally get hold of it; pre-internet) you should have a look at it.

stone monkey - free associating...

This post has been edited by stone monkey: 31 August 2010 - 10:06 PM

[Binder of Demons]

Just started reading "The Infinity Concerto/Serpent Mage" duology by Greg Bear. I first read this maybe 15 years ago, and i'm curious to see how it stands up, since i had read almost no fantasy at that point (Only got that book because I loved Greg Bear's early sci-fi novels, "EON" and "ETERNITY"). Seems a bit young adult-ish thus far, which doesn't bother me generally but I never really got that feel from his sci-fi stuff?

It will also be interesting to see how he deals with the SIDHE in comparison to Jim Butcher's take in The Dresden Files.

[Use Of Weapons]

Embarked on the last Black Company omnibus, The Many Deaths of the Black Company, which collects Water Sleeps and Soldiers Live. Looking forward to

Spoiler

seeing how Croaker, Lady, Murgen et al get out of the situation they were in at the end of She Is The Darkness.

This post has been edited by Abyss: 01 September 2010 - 01:35 PM
Reason for edit: Black Company SPOILERS

[HoosierDaddy]

Jit, that's a pretty nasty spoiler for anyone who hasn't read through the original Black Company.