[QuickTidal]

Decided to get into my new copy of A PRINCESS Of MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs and read the story again.

[Serenity]

I'm about halfway through Neal Asher's The Voyage of the Sable Keech and it's starting to get really good

[QuickTidal]

Wow, I forgot one of the reasons A PRINCESS Of MARS is so good was Burroughs attention to small details, like WHY creatures have more than 4 appendages, or why he can jump so high or punch things so hard, or even just the aspects of the creatures he runs into. Every time I think about the "science" behind a lot of his ideas, he explains them. For a book written in 1912, that's impressive.

[Abyss]

Finished Butcher's CODEX ALERA.

And it was good.

In a DAMN FUCKING AWESOME HOLY DRAGONFUCKNUTS KABOOM sort of way.

More in the ded-thread, but what a treat to read an entire fantasy series, without an elf or a dragon in sight, and have it get THAT good. Highly recommended - first book is weak, everything after rawks.

Now to see what the TRP coughs up... i'm feeling some sf or spy stuff...

[Abyss]

Tried the first DEXTER book. Feh. 50 pages and back into the TRP it goes. It's not like i need a book to at all resemble a tv series, but this was just... dull. So on top of knowing where it's going, i'm wasn't enjoying the read.

Switched to Rollins' AMAZONIA. Way WAY better.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 27 September 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:

Tried the first DEXTER book. Feh. 50 pages and back into the TRP it goes. It's not like i need a book to at all resemble a tv series, but this was just... dull. So on top of knowing where it's going, i'm wasn't enjoying the read.

Don't expect the rest of the book, or the others in the series to be better. I have a friend who is a Dexter fan and he tried more than one and said they all sucked.

[polishgenius]

Agreed, the first Dexter isn't very good, and I've heard that it only goes downhill from there. Apparently the rest of the series just gets silly and supernatural.

[stone monkey]

Just finished Kill The Dead by Richard Kadrey. Almost as much fun as its predecessor Sandman Slim and I'm intrigued to see where he's taking the story now. I guess I'll see when Aloha From Hell comes out.

[Salt-Man Z]

Picked up Ghost Story at the library on the way home from work.

Boo. Yeah.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 27 September 2011 - 03:15 PM, said:

Abyss, on 27 September 2011 - 03:10 PM, said:

Tried the first DEXTER book. Feh....

Don't expect the rest of the book, or the others in the series to be better. ...

polishgenius, on 27 September 2011 - 04:06 PM, said:

Agreed, the first Dexter isn't very good, and I've heard that it only goes downhill from there. Apparently the rest of the series just gets silly and supernatural.

Noted. Believed. Book moved from bottom of TRP to top of 'donate/giveaway' stack.

[MTS]

It seems it was really only the novelty of the premise that caused it to be developed for TV rather than the actual qualities of the book itself, cos as far as they go (I finished the 2nd), they're very ordinary.

[Abyss]

So it would appear. I'm far from an 'adaptation must needs resemble the source' fanatic, but in this case the tv series REALLY improved over mediocre books.

[Salt-Man Z]

Holy crap. Ghost Story should have been named Even More Changes. It's like Mirror Universe Dresden Files meets It's a Wonderful Life meets Back to the Future II.

Hold me, I'm scared.

[QuickTidal]

Finished up my re-read of A PRINCESS OF MARS by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and started right into THE GODS OF MARS.

[HoosierDaddy]

Re-reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King.

Beyond the normal fantastical horror aspect to the story (it is King, after-all), what I really like about this is how it captures and conveys the secret language of a relationship. You can feel the intimacy between the characters and just say, "Yeah, I get that." Probably King at his most romantically Romantic.

This post has been edited by HoosierDaddy: 29 September 2011 - 02:57 AM

[LadyMTL]

HoosierDaddy, on 29 September 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

Re-reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King.

Beyond the normal fantastical horror aspect to the story (it is King, after-all), what I really like about this is how it captures and conveys the secret language of a relationship. You can feel the intimacy between the characters and just say, "Yeah, I get that." Probably King at his most romantically Romantic.

I really ought to go back and re-read some Stephen King, I was addicted to his stuff 'back in the day' but the last new one I read of his was "Cell"; it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I saw that "Under the Dome" (I think that's the name?) is now on sale at Chapters but I don't know...his new work hasn't grabbed me.

Anyway! I just started "Crack'd Pot Trail" last night. Once that's done I'm out of new books until my parcel arrives...I might do a re-read of "The Book of Lost Things" while I wait.

This post has been edited by Maia Irraz: 29 September 2011 - 11:57 AM

[polishgenius]

The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern. It's pretty awesome so far.

[QuickTidal]

Having neared my re-read of THE GODS OF MARS by Burroughs, I can't fathom starting anything new right now, I dunno why. So I am re-reading TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT on my Kindle.

[HoosierDaddy]

Maia Irraz, on 29 September 2011 - 11:57 AM, said:

HoosierDaddy, on 29 September 2011 - 02:57 AM, said:

Re-reading Lisey's Story by Stephen King.

Beyond the normal fantastical horror aspect to the story (it is King, after-all), what I really like about this is how it captures and conveys the secret language of a relationship. You can feel the intimacy between the characters and just say, "Yeah, I get that." Probably King at his most romantically Romantic.

I really ought to go back and re-read some Stephen King, I was addicted to his stuff 'back in the day' but the last new one I read of his was "Cell"; it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. I saw that "Under the Dome" (I think that's the name?) is now on sale at Chapters but I don't know...his new work hasn't grabbed me.

Anyway! I just started "Crack'd Pot Trail" last night. Once that's done I'm out of new books until my parcel arrives...I might do a re-read of "The Book of Lost Things" while I wait.

I enjoyed Cell because I like it when King just starts a book with tons of people dying gruesomely. It wasn't his best plot, and I think it would have worked better as a longish short-story. Under the Dome is almost too verbose for what it's going after, and the dissection of ideology more saw than scalpel and transparent, but I also quite enjoyed it. I just think I like the way he writes as he almost always immediately grabs my attention and gets me turning pages. Of his newest works, (Cell, Duma Key, Lisey's Story, Under the Dome, Full Dark, No Stars (4 novellas ala Different Seasons [but nowhere near the quality of DS]) Lisey's Story is by far my favorite.

[worry]

Of those I've read Lisey's Story and Cell, and I agree with you on both counts. Lisey's Story is a really well-captured glimpse into intimacy. The actual suspense/villain aspect of the story is kind of old hat by-the-number Stephen King (and not done poorly), but the relationship stuff and the grief was raw and fascinating. I just ordered Duma Key, and I'm waiting for Under the Dome to come down in price (still kinda up there even used). Or I could probably just visit a library.

Of all his post-accident books (which I think is a fair place for a division, and pretty neatly also lines up with the 21st century), I've read a few more: Dreamcatcher, Black House, Dark Tower V-VII, Blaze among them...all of which were mixed bags. But my very favorite, even surpassing Lisey's Story, was From A Buick 8. I dunno what it was...it was relatively short for King, it had direct if backgrounded ties to the Dark Tower stuff, and not very much happens in it...but it captured a mood -- laid back, leisurely paced, and creepy -- that I really enjoyed.