[QuickTidal]

Salt-Man Z, on 16 November 2010 - 04:01 PM, said:

FotJ is actually going to tackle some Jacen Solo/Caedus issues, which I thought were handled well. The main problem with the series so far is (after the first five books) is the draaaaagging out of any plot arc not including Luke and Ben. Oh, and having Daala be Chief of State is, of course, the height of ridiculousness; her character is handled amazingly inconsistently through the series.

The funny thing, you're right, Daala being Chief of state is ridiculous, but I'm starting to think it is completely on purpose. Like the authors KNOW that having this person who was SO against the republic for so long as its successor societys' chief of state is a choice that will stir up a better story....I dunno. Maybe they needed a scapegoat for the role of the person exiling Luke Skywalker offworld. I dunno, she's not bothering me too much because I expect her to be silly, petty and Empire-ish. I suspect it has more to do with her role with the Imperial Remnant and her fight against Cadeus.

I expect the Luke Ben storyline to arc over the nine books (not that I wouldn't like it to go somewhere quicker mind you) so I kind of saw that coming. I assume we haven't changed that much from the Legacy books where some are a lot of filler...that said, the legacy books TEMPEST, EXILE and FURY are some of the best I've ever read in the EU, so hopefully there is some of that on the way. We shall see. I'll keep reading them anyways, cause I likes me some Jedi's and Sith.

@Abyss: Yeah, after reading a few of Allston's SW books I would certainly look into his non-SW books, cause I really enjoy him as an author.

As an aside Abyss...imagine if they got Matt Stover (who wrote the Revenge of the Sith tie-in) to write one of these long arcing SW series. Oh man, the chaos and blood and swearing that would result!

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 16 November 2010 - 07:16 PM

[Abyss]

Abyss, on 16 November 2010 - 06:41 PM, said:

Toke, on 16 November 2010 - 06:20 PM, said:

I just finished Memories of Ice and planned to read something else than Malazan to keep things fresh. But alas, nothing seems to catch my interest. Tried to read Gilman's Thunderer but my mind was wandering in MoI all the time. Dark Tower comics did little better.

Perhaps I must stop fighting this and surrender to Steven Erikson once again.

Resistance is futile. Go read HOUSE OF CHAINS.

Toke, on 16 November 2010 - 06:57 PM, said:

I hope Bauchelain and Korbal will give me the fresh break from the social-life-consuming epicness.

That's good too!

QuickTidal, on 16 November 2010 - 07:13 PM, said:

...As an aside Abyss...imagine if they got Matt Stover (who wrote the Revenge of the Sith tie-in) to write one of these long arcing SW series. Oh man, the chaos and blood and swearing that would result!

Don't even get me started on Stover writing licensed properties - i respect the fact that he makes more $ from a SW book (or whatever) than from the entire Caine series, but fuck me like a chicken pot pie that is just wrong on an existantial level. The SW gods would never let him do the sort of thing we know he could with that property...

"These are not the droids you're looking for and if you so much as tilt that helmet to look at me sideways I will rip it off your face and shove it up your ass and then use my lightsaber to solder it in place."

"Luke, i am your father."
"Well you're STILL an asshole!"

"Did you just wipe your ass on an Ewok?"
"The latrine was out of toilet paper, what was i supposed to do?"

[champ]

just finished RotCG in time for SW, though tad too early...

decided rather than start something new (Codex Alara after SW) i am going to read Gemmell - King Beyond the Gate, classic!

[Fist Gamet]

Morgoth, on 16 November 2010 - 09:43 AM, said:

@Fist Gamet - It doesn't get better.

I suspected as much. I don't think I will bother, and that dissappoints me greatly as I like all his earlier work.

[Harvester]

Finished Jasper Kent's Twelve .. you know when you read a blurb and think "wow this sounds cool", but when you read the actual book you are like "wow this could have been so much better"? Well that doesn't even describe it.

This post has been edited by Harvester: 17 November 2010 - 08:16 AM

[Ulrik]

champooon, on 16 November 2010 - 07:44 PM, said:

i am going to read Gemmell - King Beyond the Gate, classic!

Hehee,you too? I began probably seventh reread tomorrow

[Use Of Weapons]

Reading Diamond Star, the latest in Catherine Asaro's saga of the Skolian Empire. It's a bit more lightweight than some of the others. Waiting in the wings is Michelle Sagara [West]'s Cast in Secret.

[champ]

Ulrik, on 17 November 2010 - 08:24 AM, said:

champooon, on 16 November 2010 - 07:44 PM, said:

i am going to read Gemmell - King Beyond the Gate, classic!

Hehee,you too? I began probably seventh reread tomorrow

love the book! tenaka is just a legend!

[QuickTidal]

Harvester, on 17 November 2010 - 08:13 AM, said:

Finished Jasper Kent's Twelve .. you know when you read a blurb and think "wow this sounds cool", but when you read the actual book you are like "wow this could have been so much better"? Well that doesn't even describe it.

Yeah, I've actually heard that, which is the reason I stayed away. It feels like a little bit of "been there, done that with vampires"...but maybe that's cause I am so sick to death of vampires...they've been saturating fiction for like 5 years now and it pisses me off. Authors need to start being original again.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Canticle"
loved it. The plot goes crazy. And the characters are still mostly all solid. except for when they fall into the classic tropes. Like Neb.

but overall, the book is gooooood

next up: will give Book of the New Sun a try...

[QuickTidal]

Nearly finished Star Wars Fate Of The Jedi (Book 2) OMEN by Christie Golden...and so far it seems that the choice to use Golden instead of Traviss as the third author....working well!

[Use Of Weapons]

Finished Cryoburn at 2am last night (having started reading at 9, fully intending to stop and go to bed at a decent hour). Another great installment in the saga of Miles Vorkosigan and his extraordinary parents/relatives/friends. But I fell asleep with tears still streaming into my pillow thanks to the last chapter and 5 epilogue scenes of 100 words each. If I even think about the last of these, I can feel myself start to well up again. Bujold, what have you done?

[Salt-Man Z]

QuickTidal, on 19 November 2010 - 12:42 PM, said:

Nearly finished Star Wars Fate Of The Jedi (Book 2) OMEN by Christie Golden...and so far it seems that the choice to use Golden instead of Traviss as the third author....working well!

Traviss was (is) an outstanding author* but her work stood so far apart from Allston's and Denning's in LotF that the series suffered for it. Golden was able to insert herself seamlessly and effortlessly into the EU and the series, which really impressed me.

*I highly recommend Traviss' 6-book original SF series, The Wess'har Wars.

[QuickTidal]

Salt-Man Z, on 19 November 2010 - 04:09 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 19 November 2010 - 12:42 PM, said:

Nearly finished Star Wars Fate Of The Jedi (Book 2) OMEN by Christie Golden...and so far it seems that the choice to use Golden instead of Traviss as the third author....working well!

Traviss was (is) an outstanding author* but her work stood so far apart from Allston's and Denning's in LotF that the series suffered for it. Golden was able to insert herself seamlessly and effortlessly into the EU and the series, which really impressed me.

*I highly recommend Traviss' 6-book original SF series, The Wess'har Wars.

I absolutely agree that she's a great author...but yeah, my thoughts exactly on what she tried to write about and achieve with LotF was completely different from her two comrades and yeah, that was one of my main issues with LotF...but yeah, so far Golden is keeping true and me-likes.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Finished Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Fantastic novel! Well, written, original concepts, interesting worldbuilding, memorable characters. I'm really glad I've read this.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 19 November 2010 - 07:07 PM

[Stingray]

Just finished Stonewielder .

Before that been on a bit of a classic fantasy trip. And by classic I mean ancient. 'History of the kings of England' by Geoffrey of Monmouth (dating from the 12th Century) - which includes the first written version of the King Arthur tales. Definitely to be classed as fantasy rather than history, unless you believe that Britons in the dark ages wore shining armour, were chivalrous and went to Rome and kicked the butt of the Roman Empire, having beaten the Saxons, the Gauls and anyone else they could find.

And before that, the grand-daddy of them all 'The Epic of Gilgamesh', from c. 2,000 BC. It's a poem reconstructed from dozens of fragments found across Mesopotamia, but reading it you can't help but acknowledge the debt owed to it by the whole of modern fantasy. Clean it up a bit and it could easily be set in any modern fantasy world. It's a not much of a stretch to compare the travels and encounters Gilgamesh and his companion Enkidu with certain aspects of Seven Cities. Strongly recommended to any fan of fantay literature who wants to know where it all comes from.

Next on the list - Beowulf. After that, back to normality for a while before The Crippled God comes along.

[Chance]

Bauchelain the Evil, on 19 November 2010 - 07:07 PM, said:

Finished Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny. Fantastic novel! Well, written, original concepts, interesting worldbuilding, memorable characters. I'm really glad I've read this.

It is an amazing book for certain.

Just finished Black Lung Captain finding it very entertaining and part three of the Ketty Jay series has been added to books to wait for.

[QuickTidal]

Finished up with OMEN by Christie Golden and now I am onto the 4th Ryria Revelations book THE EMERALD STORM by Michael. J. Sullivan. Woot woot!

[Yellow]

About halfway through First Heretic, the latest in the Horus Heresy series. I'll whisper it softly, but it's actually quite good! I haven't read any of Bembski-Bowden's books before and hopefully he'll get more in this series. Chaos actually feels like Chaos in this one, it's a nice change.

These books are coming out so fast I'm not having much time to read anything else... which is a shame, because most of them are trash and I'm only reading them for nostalgia. Oh well, Stonewielder soon.

[QuickTidal]

I just finished the 4th Ryria Revelations book by Michael J. Sullivan, and I am going to start either SW: Fate Of The Jedi ABYSS by Troy Denning, or THE PATH Of DAGGERS by Jordan. Haven't decided which yet, but part of me thinks it will be the Star Wars books as I can likely knock that one off in a day or two and then start on the next Jordan.