[HoosierDaddy]

worrywort, on 01 October 2011 - 07:09 AM, said:

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.

I've read From a Buick 8 quite a few times, own it, and re-read it occasionally when I want to have a nice chill at night. What Lisey's Story captures in language, From a Buick 8 captures in the art of story-telling. The entire book is about telling stories. If there is one thing King does well it is tell stories and he just as easily translates it into the written word as he does the language of LS.

Black House is incomplete unless you have The Talisman as background, and Dreamcatcher is perhaps his least favorite book I've read of his and I still liked it (I haven't read Bachman's Blaze yet, will eventually).

[worry]

Yah, I read the Talisman and loved it. I wouldn't call Black House a let-down, since I didn't expect it to reach such heights, and I enjoyed it the whole way through, but it's just not in my top tier. He's got a gift for storytelling, you're right, and for producing fairly complete, realized characters, which is obviously what makes his horror elements so effective when they arrive. Blaze is actually quite interesting in how it (minor general spoiler, not event-related) repurposes and references some elements of Of Mice and Men.

I mentioned it in that recent horror rec thread, but The Tommyknockers is by far my least favorite King novel. Concept is neat, execution is way off, and there's just something about it that doesn't flow at all -- which is especially weird as he's one of the most welcoming writers around. But generally speaking, like you, I tend to like most of what he does regardless of whether it's fully successful, just because he has such a facility for storytelling.

[MWKarsa]

Well I should have gone straight from A Clash of Kings to A Storm of Swords but I made a detour to a SW book, Conviction, and while it wasn't bad it's just brutal to go from Martin's writing to a SW penned book. Decent story though there some parts that had me cringing and the bad guy plot is wearing super thin. Even as an OG SW fan, yes one old enough that I got to see the original movie in the theater, I will probably finish out this series and be done with reading SW for quite some time if not forever. The writing is just generally awful and using multiple authors makes for choppy plotlines through a series plus characters are written differently depending on the author's tastes and views. I've just found that what was once a nice diversion to a world I used to cherish has turned into aggravating experience that makes me wonder how some this junk can be written.

Thankfully I'm back to A Storm of Swords and loving it so far.

[Serenity]

Finished Neal Asher's The Voyage of the Sable Keech, then read his Prador Moon, and have now started the last book in his Spatterjay series, Orbus. Great characters, awesome action sequences, evils aliens, gore all over the place. These books are frelling awesome

[acesn8s]

I finished An Empire in Black and Yellow over the weekend and moved on to Dragonfly Falling.

[Abyss]

Salt-Man Z, on 23 September 2011 - 01:22 PM, said:

Still going through Butcher's Side Jobs. I just finished "The Warrior", and it just might be my favorite Dresden story ever.

it IS a great short. I could read an entire book about Michael.

Serenity, on 26 September 2011 - 11:30 AM, said:

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

Loved that series. VOYAGE isn't quite as awesome as SKINNER, but it's still Super-pirates vs Aliens goodness.

polishgenius, on 29 September 2011 - 09:57 PM, said:

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

Hearing good things about this book.

HoosierDaddy, on 01 October 2011 - 03:07 AM, said:

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

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

...Stephen King.
...

...the last new one I read of his was "Cell"; it wasn't bad but it wasn't great either. ...

...

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. ...

I tried to start CELL but a particular scene in FORGETTING SARAH MARSHALL basically ruined the book for me.

I went off King like a decade ago after an utterly non-impressive run culminating with THE REGULATORS. Just bleh.

HoosierDaddy, on 01 October 2011 - 07:29 AM, said:

...
Black House is incomplete unless you have The Talisman as background,...

worrywort, on 01 October 2011 - 07:03 PM, said:

Yah, I read the Talisman and loved it. ...

Another one i couldn't get past the first chapter on. The language was TOO laid back for me to want to keep reading and the portal fantasy elements just felt like something written for 12-yr olds, which is not what i want from either author.



Finished Rollins' AMAZONIA. Fun 'thrill-ride walk thru the jungle try not to get eaten or stabbed' book with a bit of sf worked in. Jungle settings are a lot of fun when done well and despite the 'which character gets eaten next' trope, it was well done with some great action scenes. Enjoyed.

Library tells me EMBASSYVILLE is standing by, so that's next up.

[Salt-Man Z]

So, yeah, Ghost Story was great, even if I had some issues with it. Loved loved loved the angel of death and Uriel.

I'm about 30 pages into Neal Stephenson's Reamde and it's highly readable. Though I also own The Baroque Cycle, Anathem, and Snow Crash, Cyptonomicon is the only other book of his I've read, and this reminds me a lot of that one. I really liked Crypto, but it did take me over a month to read. Hopefully I can get through Reamde more quickly.

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Finished The Graveyard Book By Neil Gaiman. As always with Gaiman, the premise is brilliant, but I was a bit torn on the actual content. Some of the stories were really great but others were just ok. In the end,I really don't know wether it was actually worth it or not. Oh,well.

Started a re-read of A Games Of Thrones as i wait to get my hands on ADWD.

[Baco Xtath]

Just got back from my vacation in Myrtle Beach. While there, I read the Midnight Mayor by Kate Griffin, Death Masks by Tim Hutcher or something, and Sweet Silver Blues by Glen Cook. I absolutely loved the Midnight Mayor, it's very Mieville-esque, as previously pointed out by polishgenius, and I loves me some Mieville. Death Masks was just awful, I mean come on...just fucking with you Abyss...it was great and I can't wait for the next. I bought Introducing Garrett P.I. by Glen Cook after finding $20 on the ground and thinking, hey, free book. Anyway, Garrett P.I. is freaking awesome. I picked it up because someone mentioned it was similar to Dresden in the "More books" thread, and I'm so glad I did. The first book is only 222 pages so it's a real quick read and well worth anyone's time, funny as hell and bad ass. If you like Dresden, I can almost guarantee you'll like Garrett.

Just started reading Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding and it seems like it's going to be pretty good. It was that or Thunderer by Felix Gilman. I flipped a coin and Wooding won.

This post has been edited by Baco Xtath: 03 October 2011 - 07:56 PM

[Mott]

Just finished Death Masks and I think this one is my absolute favourite so far, just brilliant. Gathering my thoughts on it past this seems difficult . The ability to connect with the characters is great and I really warmed up to Susan again.

Also I can't get this out of my head but am I the only one that thinks 'Billy and the Werewolves' sounds like the name of a band? It really should be, I'm tempted to start one.

Onto The Last Hero next while I wait for the next Dresden book to come.

[Use Of Weapons]

Reading Robin Hobb's _The Dragon Keeper_. Slow burner, but I'm liking it so far.

[End of Disc One]

Just finished Changes. Hands down the best Dresdencrack

[amphibian]

End of Disc One, on 04 October 2011 - 03:14 AM, said:

Just finished Changes. Hands down the best Dresdencrack

Every raw chunk of Dresdencrack is the best - until you get the next one. Let's see your reaction post-Ghost Story.

[Serenity]

Abyss, on 03 October 2011 - 03:12 PM, said:

Serenity, on 26 September 2011 - 11:30 AM, said:

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

Loved that series. VOYAGE isn't quite as awesome as SKINNER, but it's still Super-pirates vs Aliens goodness.

Yeah, Voyage took a while to get going but once it got there it was great fun. Prador Moon was even better, I thought: quite old-fashioned in its short-and-to-the-pointiness, but chock full of BIG action, clever ideas and great characters - more than some SF books three times its length, imo. Orbus looks like being just as good, so far, although I'm only a hundred pages in

[Abyss]

Passing time until i pick up EMBASSYVILLE in a day or two, i started Charlie Stross' ACCELERADO but it didn't grab me... several unfortunate echoes of Sterling's DISTRACTION which i read not too long ago and really didn't enjoy.

Switched to Hogan/Del Toro's THE STRAIN. Much MUCH better.

[QuickTidal]

Abyss, on 04 October 2011 - 02:08 PM, said:

Switched to Hogan/Del Toro's THE STRAIN. Much MUCH better.

Both THE STRAIN and its sequel THE FALL are good, not great, but solidly good supernatural thriller material.

[worry]

Speaking of alt-vampires, I'm reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. About 200 pages in, and all is well.

[JPK]

Finished Ghost Story a week ago and damn it if I'm not in a slump. I have a huge trp right next to my bed but nothing from it seems to be gripping me right now. Wasn't even this bad off after tCG but I had the Heroes saved for that. Might just wait out the week for the Cold Commands.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 04 October 2011 - 02:16 PM, said:

Abyss, on 04 October 2011 - 02:08 PM, said:

Switched to Hogan/Del Toro's THE STRAIN. Much MUCH better.

Both THE STRAIN and its sequel THE FALL are good, not great, but solidly good supernatural thriller material.

About 100 pages in, and it's not brilliant, but considering the typical reader knows exactly where the story is going, i give the author's credit for building the tension.

worrywort, on 04 October 2011 - 10:11 PM, said:

Speaking of alt-vampires, I'm reading The Passage by Justin Cronin. About 200 pages in, and all is well.

Good to know. it's in the TRP.

Hurr Durr, on 05 October 2011 - 10:25 AM, said:

Finished Ghost Story a week ago and damn it if I'm not in a slump. I have a huge trp right next to my bed but nothing from it seems to be gripping me right now. Wasn't even this bad off after tCG but I had the Heroes saved for that. Might just wait out the week for the Cold Commands.

Yah, i had to go frivolous and silly after a run that included THE HEROES, DWD, TCG and GHOST STORY. My readymeatz were just blown out. Read a steadily degrading pile of books for a while just to let them settle.

THE STRAIN is holding my interest nicely, but am about to run into trouble with EMBASSYVILLE from the library, thus on a deadline, and COLD COMMANDS landing next week. Hopefully i can shift the vampires to standby, get thru Mieville in time to power thru COLD, then finish STRAIN.


- Abyss, feels another burn-out coming on...

[QuickTidal]

After I finish my re-read of TOWERS OF MIDNIGHT I have a few books in my TRP, but I haven't the foggiest which I'll go for.

I've got the following:

THE NIGHT CIRCUS - Erin Morgenstern
MOZART'S LAST ARIA - Matt Rees (Historical fiction who-dunnit thriller)
TARZAN OF THE APES - Edgar Rice Burroughs
IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS - Erik Larsen (non-fic)
AGE OF WONDER: HOW THE ROMANTIC GENERATION DISCOVERED THE BEAUTY AND TERROR OF SCIENCE - Richard Holmes (non-fic)
DIVERGENT - Veronica Roth (YA)