[amphibian]

Clockwork Apt, on 02 March 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Okay. So, do you recommend just starting from the first series or?

The guy sure seems like a prolific author. How big are these books?

Which author are you talking about?

[Aptorian]

Asher.

[Mentalist]

I have the second Polity book sitting in front of me tight now (The Line of Polity).

it is on the "new" MMPB format, about a few cm taller then the dresden books. it's page count is around 650.

"Gridlinked" is a fairly good intro into his universe. I don't recall any major infodumps, but the book flowed really well.
the second book was good, too.

the third was ordred, but is apparently out of stock in canadaland.

I've also read a standalone novel "Hilldiggers" by Asher, which is also set in the Polity Universe, and features a character from Spatterjay, though i'm not sure if there's any actual connection to that cycle. that book was pretty brilliant, too.

[Abyss]

jitsukerr, on 02 March 2011 - 03:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 02 March 2011 - 03:16 PM, said:

... but Tigana [...] a struggle to even finish. Weak books indeed.


1) The tv show never happened.

I'm going to throw in the qualifier that CHASM CITY is very different from the books that follow on REVELATION SPACE. Those are brilliant. CHASM is basically urban fantasy in an sci fi setting and not really a good example of Reynolds' work.

I've also enjoyed all the Asher i've read, tho i have yet to get into his POLITY series. COWL is mindfuckingly briliant time travel war fun the THE SKINNER is superpirates versus aliens and therefore pure win.

I disagree with all of the above. I think that, in general, Abyss's tastes and mine run fairly similarly. But:

1. Tigana is right up there with GG Kay's best achievements, and for me it is the stand-out work among his oeuvre.
2. I watcched the Dresden TV series again recently, and it really isn't that bad, and some episodes are actually very good. I urge those who rejected it on first watching to try again.
3. Chasm City, while certainly different in focus and ambition from the Revelation Space novels, is still an absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable SF work, and Reynolds's trademark style is as effective, if on a smaller canvas. I'd agree it's not typical of his work, but that's not to say it's worse.
4. Cowl sucks dragonballs. Cowl is, in fact, a dragonfucknutsucker.

I respect your right to hold your own opinions, notwistanding that you are clearly wrong, cold and dead inside, and/or a cylon. And possibly you smell weird.


Here's the funny thing tho'... Tigana is the sort of book that people tend to love or hate (for that matter same goes for Chasm City and Cowl). If Tigana had been my first GGK book, i suspect I would not have bothered reading the rest of his work. Instead, i read LIONS first. loved it. Read ARBONNE. Loved it. Read SARANTINE. Frikkin loved it. By the time i got to Tigana my expectations were high and the book failed on every one of them. Same with CHASM CITY and Reynolds... after the mind blowingness of REVELATION SPACE, Chasm is... well... pedestrian, tho i give it the cool setting. And again, if I had read CHASM first, that may have been it for me and Al'.

It's the funny thing with authors who write a lot of standalone - if any book can be someone's first, any book can bring you in or kick you out. Most people aren't going to read TCG as their first dose of Erikson or FEAST for GRRM.


Also, COWL is fucking brilliant and Jits' brain should be perforated by a timeline-devouring tentacle monster for suggesting otherwise. But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

- Abyss, not wrong.

[King Bear]

Abyss, on 02 March 2011 - 10:51 PM, said:

jitsukerr, on 02 March 2011 - 03:41 PM, said:

Abyss, on 02 March 2011 - 03:16 PM, said:

... but Tigana [...] a struggle to even finish. Weak books indeed.


1) The tv show never happened.

I'm going to throw in the qualifier that CHASM CITY is very different from the books that follow on REVELATION SPACE. Those are brilliant. CHASM is basically urban fantasy in an sci fi setting and not really a good example of Reynolds' work.

I've also enjoyed all the Asher i've read, tho i have yet to get into his POLITY series. COWL is mindfuckingly briliant time travel war fun the THE SKINNER is superpirates versus aliens and therefore pure win.

I disagree with all of the above. I think that, in general, Abyss's tastes and mine run fairly similarly. But:

1. Tigana is right up there with GG Kay's best achievements, and for me it is the stand-out work among his oeuvre.
2. I watcched the Dresden TV series again recently, and it really isn't that bad, and some episodes are actually very good. I urge those who rejected it on first watching to try again.
3. Chasm City, while certainly different in focus and ambition from the Revelation Space novels, is still an absorbing and thoroughly enjoyable SF work, and Reynolds's trademark style is as effective, if on a smaller canvas. I'd agree it's not typical of his work, but that's not to say it's worse.
4. Cowl sucks dragonballs. Cowl is, in fact, a dragonfucknutsucker.

I respect your right to hold your own opinions, notwistanding that you are clearly wrong, cold and dead inside, and/or a cylon. And possibly you smell weird.


Here's the funny thing tho'... Tigana is the sort of book that people tend to love or hate (for that matter same goes for Chasm City and Cowl). If Tigana had been my first GGK book, i suspect I would not have bothered reading the rest of his work. Instead, i read LIONS first. loved it. Read ARBONNE. Loved it. Read SARANTINE. Frikkin loved it. By the time i got to Tigana my expectations were high and the book failed on every one of them. Same with CHASM CITY and Reynolds... after the mind blowingness of REVELATION SPACE, Chasm is... well... pedestrian, tho i give it the cool setting. And again, if I had read CHASM first, that may have been it for me and Al'.

It's the funny thing with authors who write a lot of standalone - if any book can be someone's first, any book can bring you in or kick you out. Most people aren't going to read TCG as their first dose of Erikson or FEAST for GRRM.


Also, COWL is fucking brilliant and Jits' brain should be perforated by a timeline-devouring tentacle monster for suggesting otherwise. But that's just my opinion. I could be wrong.

- Abyss, not wrong.

Tigana is my favourite GGK, followed by Lions. Also loved Sarantine Mosaic. A Song for Arbonne was IMO his weakest I've read. Interesting that there is always so much variation on opinion over GGK's works. Arbonne is my girlfriend's favourite GGK. I don't see much future for us

[Grace]

Mm, now I'm very curious about Tigana... I got it a few weeks back but haven't gotten to it yet as I was attempting to do my DoD reread (finished it an hour or so before I went to buy TCG yesterday evening!). I've read all of GGK's other work besides Fionavar and Ysabel, and I absolutely adored Lions (my favorite), loved Sarantine, enjoyed Last Light, and liked but was more ambivalent about Arbonne and Under Heaven. Wonder which side of the fence I'll fall on for Tigana.

[QuickTidal]

Ysabel is a study in Fail.

[Salt-Man Z]

Chalk me up as another who found Chasm City enjoyable, but underwhelming compared to the rest of that series. I read the "trilogy" first, long before I ever read CC, and it just wasn't as mind-blowing as those others. That said, it's still a great book; Tanner's dream sequences in particular are quite eerie and memorable.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 03 March 2011 - 03:23 AM

[MTS]

It's fascinating how polarising GGK's books are. With him it's definitely a 'love or hate' scenario. Ysabel and the Fionavar Tapestry are really the only GGK books that I could conceivably consider as being unenjoyable. The others are all fantastic. If I were to rank them?

Sarantine Mosaic
Under Heaven
Lions of Al-Rassan
A Song For Arbonne
Last Light of the Sun
Tigana

Ysabel
Fionavar Tapestry

As of right now, I'm reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as a part of my 'read one classic novel every month' initiative this year. A little hard to get into, but he kinda reminds me of Cormac McCarthy.

[Mentalist]

I am yet to read Under heaven,, and I heard many, many bad things about Ysabel, so i'm staying the hell away from it.

of the rest:
Sarantine
Arbonne
Lions
Fionovar
Last Light
Tigana

mind you, this doesn't mean Tigana is Bad. but compared to the jaw-dropping awesomeness of Sarantine (which I feel SE tried to emulate in TtH), it's a major letdown.

[King Bear]

ALMOST bought Storm Front today. All that stopped me was the price: $28 NZ (12 pounds) for what looks like a shortish length book. The same place was selling DOD for cheaper. Checked online though, and can get it for $12 NZ (5 pounds) from the uk book depository. Book prices here really are ridiculous.

Sooooooo, since this is DresdenCRACK, I assume I should order more than just the first book? The first three maybe? I'm not sure I want to buy them ALL at once, JUST IN CASE I DON"T LIKE THEM.


I mean, there is always one isn't there? Maybe this one will be me.

Also, haven;t ordered from book depot before. Anyone know how long my order would take to get to NZ?

Edit: Also ALMOST bought The City & The City. But that was fucking $45 NZ paperback.

This post has been edited by Bombur: 03 March 2011 - 11:02 AM

[King Bear]

MTS, on 03 March 2011 - 03:27 AM, said:

It's fascinating how polarising GGK's books are. With him it's definitely a 'love or hate' scenario. Ysabel and the Fionavar Tapestry are really the only GGK books that I could conceivably consider as being unenjoyable. The others are all fantastic. If I were to rank them?

Sarantine Mosaic
Under Heaven
Lions of Al-Rassan
A Song For Arbonne
Last Light of the Sun
Tigana

Ysabel
Fionavar Tapestry

As of right now, I'm reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as a part of my 'read one classic novel every month' initiative this year. A little hard to get into, but he kinda reminds me of Cormac McCarthy.

I like this initiative. I might have to do something similar, because it's high time I read more 'mainstream' classic fiction.

Now, I had a copy of Crime and Punishment floating around somewhere...

Dammit and I'm still 2 cantos from the end of Inferno. Where the HELL did I put that one?

[MTS]

Crime and Punishment is fantastic, although Dostoyesky makes my head hurt sometimes. It's really a fascinating story, and he's a great author, but for the love of God, stay away from The Brothers Karamazov. Couldn't even make my way through a third of that book.

As for Dresdencrack, maybe get the first one from a library or something? Then if you like it you could buy the rest of the series?

[Use Of Weapons]

MTS, on 03 March 2011 - 03:27 AM, said:

As of right now, I'm reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as a part of my 'read one classic novel every month' initiative this year. A little hard to get into, but he kinda reminds me of Cormac McCarthy.

Copycat My initiative! My resolution!

(Though I'm doing really badly -- halfway through Great Expectations, my January book! I want to finish it before starting The Wise Man's Fear.)

[King Bear]

MTS, on 03 March 2011 - 11:35 AM, said:

Crime and Punishment is fantastic, although Dostoyesky makes my head hurt sometimes. It's really a fascinating story, and he's a great author, but for the love of God, stay away from The Brothers Karamazov. Couldn't even make my way through a third of that book.

As for Dresdencrack, maybe get the first one from a library or something? Then if you like it you could buy the rest of the series?

The Library?

Excuse me?

Now why would I go and do something as eminently logical as that?

[caladanbrood]

Clockwork Apt, on 02 March 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Okay. So, do you recommend just starting from the first series or?

The guy sure seems like a prolific author. How big are these books?

They're pretty quick reads to be honest. Definitely not door-stoppers, but bigger than Dresden.

[MTS]

jitsukerr, on 03 March 2011 - 11:41 AM, said:

MTS, on 03 March 2011 - 03:27 AM, said:

As of right now, I'm reading Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury as a part of my 'read one classic novel every month' initiative this year. A little hard to get into, but he kinda reminds me of Cormac McCarthy.

Copycat My initiative! My resolution!

(Though I'm doing really badly -- halfway through Great Expectations, my January book! I want to finish it before starting The Wise Man's Fear.)

I wasn't copying you, I was...inspired.

[Use Of Weapons]

Hah, just like Monty Python's Spamalot was lovingly ripped-off from inspired by The Holy Grail

[King Bear]

Briar King, on 03 March 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

Bombur, on 03 March 2011 - 10:51 AM, said:

ALMOST bought Storm Front today. All that stopped me was the price: $28 NZ (12 pounds) for what looks like a shortish length book. The same place was selling DOD for cheaper. Checked online though, and can get it for $12 NZ (5 pounds) from the uk book depository. Book prices here really are ridiculous.

Sooooooo, since this is DresdenCRACK, I assume I should order more than just the first book? The first three maybe? I'm not sure I want to buy them ALL at once, JUST IN CASE I DON"T LIKE THEM.


I mean, there is always one isn't there? Maybe this one will be me.

Also, haven;t ordered from book depot before. Anyone know how long my order would take to get to NZ?

Edit: Also ALMOST bought The City & The City. But that was fucking $45 NZ paperback.

I had thought you might go with Codex Alera?

Dresden's urban setting won me over, that and there just seems to be more love for it around here. Might be some time before I get to Dresden anyway. Have an order of 3 books (incld tCG) to get through, PLUS now reading Crime and punishment, PLUS my gf ordered me a few books I've been muttering about. This is to make up for NO BIRTHDAY GIFT last year. I'm thinking I'll be getting two or more of the drawing of the dark (EPIC DIVINE BEER!), anubis gates, on stranger tides, monarchies of god omnibus 1, and the broken sword.

To be fair on her, she did get me an awesome b'day gift this year.

Was going to read dresden while waiting on those orders, but C&P is now filling that gap.

This post has been edited by Bombur: 03 March 2011 - 01:50 PM

[QuickTidal]

Bombur, on 03 March 2011 - 01:42 PM, said:

Briar King, on 03 March 2011 - 01:07 PM, said:

Bombur, on 03 March 2011 - 10:51 AM, said:

ALMOST bought Storm Front today. All that stopped me was the price: $28 NZ (12 pounds) for what looks like a shortish length book. The same place was selling DOD for cheaper. Checked online though, and can get it for $12 NZ (5 pounds) from the uk book depository. Book prices here really are ridiculous.

Sooooooo, since this is DresdenCRACK, I assume I should order more than just the first book? The first three maybe? I'm not sure I want to buy them ALL at once, JUST IN CASE I DON"T LIKE THEM.


I mean, there is always one isn't there? Maybe this one will be me.

Also, haven;t ordered from book depot before. Anyone know how long my order would take to get to NZ?

Edit: Also ALMOST bought The City & The City. But that was fucking $45 NZ paperback.

I had thought you might go with Codex Alera?

Dresden's urban setting won me over, that and there just seems to be more love for it around here. Might be some time before I get to Dresden anyway. Have an order of 3 books (incld tCG) to get through, PLUS now reading Crime and punishment, PLUS my gf ordered me a few books I've been muttering about. This is to make up for NO BIRTHDAY GIFT last year. I'm thinking I'll be getting two or more of the drawing of the dark (EPIC DIVINE BEER!), anubis gates, on stranger tides, monarchies of god omnibus 1, and the broken sword.

To be fair on her, she did get me an awesome b'day gift this year.

It is safe, nay... very safe and quite a good idea to order the first 3 Dresden books, as the first two are good, but the 3rd book will prove to you what we mean about Dresdencrack...

Trust me.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 03 March 2011 - 01:50 PM