[Salt-Man Z]

 QuickTidal, on 09 May 2012 - 01:26 PM, said:

I got a surprise ARC in the mail from the UK last night from Angry Robot imprint Strange Horizons, and so I am reading Kim Curran's debut SHIFT....which so far is pretty damn fine YA material!

That one of Amanda's books?

[Mentalist]

Well, I finished the Unremembered. Seemingly, almost immideately after my last post, the book really picked up, with its last third being failry enjoyable. nothing groundbreaking in any of it, but I retain interest enough to pick up volume 2.

Before I sink my teth into the awesomeness of my TRP, I've also got another book I picked up on a whim a while ago--"Mardock Scramble", a Japanese cyberpunk tome by ToW Ubukata. I picked this up a while ago, at another Chapters sale, I believe. Gonna give it a shot.

[QuickTidal]

 Salt-Man Z, on 09 May 2012 - 03:01 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 09 May 2012 - 01:26 PM, said:

I got a surprise ARC in the mail from the UK last night from Angry Robot imprint Strange Horizons, and so I am reading Kim Curran's debut SHIFT....which so far is pretty damn fine YA material!

That one of Amanda's books?

Yeppers.

It's a good one. She chose well.

[Tiste Simeon]

Graphic novels! In the library I popped into today, I found the following, all by Neil Gaiman:
Preludes & Nocturnes
Endless Nights
Season of Mists
The Dream Hunters
Brief Lives.

Now I realise I am missing a bunch of them but they were all of them in there. Do I need to read them all in order? Will I miss out big time if I don't read the ones in between?

Anyways, I also got one out by Alan Moore called Smax. And it's flippin hilarious.

[QuickTidal]

 Tiste Simeon, on 09 May 2012 - 07:36 PM, said:

Graphic novels! In the library I popped into today, I found the following, all by Neil Gaiman:
Preludes & Nocturnes
Endless Nights
Season of Mists
The Dream Hunters
Brief Lives.

Now I realise I am missing a bunch of them but they were all of them in there. Do I need to read them all in order? Will I miss out big time if I don't read the ones in between?

Anyways, I also got one out by Alan Moore called Smax. And it's flippin hilarious.

Um, there Is a story progression. Your missing THE DOLL'S HOUSE and DREAM COUNTRY...with the latter weighing on later choices and story arcs...and you are missing A GAME Of YOU and FABLES & REFLECTIONS both of which also have main arc stuff.

I find reading everything in order enhances my experience with SANDMAN...so I think I'd highly recommend doing so.

I think there is enough in even the standalone stuff to fill out Dream and the Endless to make it worth your while to find those missing books.

Just my opinion.

But you COULD dive straight into PRELUDES for a taster before finding the missing books.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 09 May 2012 - 08:06 PM

[LadyMTL]

I am currently reading Michelle Moran's "Madame Tussaud" and so far, so good...tis a lightweight historical novel but it's nicely paced and well written so yah. I likes.
After that I have Glen Cook's "An empire unacquainted with defeat" to start as well as Matt Ruff's "The Mirage." And then I'll be out of new things to read, sigh.

[Salt-Man Z]

 Maia Irraz, on 09 May 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

And then I'll be out of new things to read, sigh.

Is...is such a thing even possible?

[LadyMTL]

 Salt-Man Z, on 09 May 2012 - 09:31 PM, said:

 Maia Irraz, on 09 May 2012 - 09:13 PM, said:

And then I'll be out of new things to read, sigh.

Is...is such a thing even possible?

Apparently it is, in the sense that I haven't been to my local bookstore in a dog's age and am lacking inspiration as to what to buy / try next. Plus I'm seriously running out of room in my 4 bookshelvs so I'm trying to limit my new purchases to Kindle ebooks. Basically yeah, for the time being I'll be doing re-reads...but considering the entire Malazan series is going to be re-read first it shouldn't be too bad.

[Jade-Green Pig-Hog Swine-Beast]

Waiting, waiting, waiting...

I should think Olympos will arrive tomorrow. Maybe.

[Tiste Simeon]

 QuickTidal, on 09 May 2012 - 08:06 PM, said:

Um, there Is a story progression. Your missing THE DOLL'S HOUSE and DREAM COUNTRY...with the latter weighing on later choices and story arcs...and you are missing A GAME Of YOU and FABLES & REFLECTIONS both of which also have main arc stuff.

I find reading everything in order enhances my experience with SANDMAN...so I think I'd highly recommend doing so.

I think there is enough in even the standalone stuff to fill out Dream and the Endless to make it worth your while to find those missing books.

Just my opinion.

But you COULD dive straight into PRELUDES for a taster before finding the missing books.

Thanks man, erm... So I started reading Preludes (after finishing the splendid Smax) and... well pretty much I'm hooked now, and I need the rest of them!!
Gonna hunt me some more libraries!

[JPK]

just finished A Shadow in Summer. Onwards to Woken Furies!

[T77]

Finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman. This has been on my TBR pile for a while now, I've not been to eager to read it due to the relatively low rating on Amazon, and seeing how polarizing the reviews were. From the moment I started it I was immediately drawn in. I really enjoyed his prose and ability to describe a scene. There wasn't anything earth shattering or original about the plot, but I thought he did a good job with it. He took a Harry Potter/Narnia theme and took it to a higher level. Sort of what Gene Wolfe did with The Knight/Wizard, taking the typical sword and sorcery tale and just doing it better. I don't think he did it to the level that Gene Wolfe did though. I thought I would be bored during the magic school part, but I was not. The book was not perfect, but on the whole, I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading the sequel, The Magician king.

My thought on why this received a low rating, it was a NYT best seller and I think a lot of people who are not into fantasy gave it a low score. That's not to say that most who are into fantasy will like it, I just don't think it would rate as low among them.

[rhulad]

I want to say that my next book shall be 50 Shades of Grey. But I couldn't say that and keep a straight face, or any of my (admittedly small amount of) dignity. I am now reading Blood Rites. Just finished Heroes Die which was... FUCKING AMAZING.

[Ulrik]

Rereading Abercrombie... I almost forgot how raw was final of trilogy.

[QuickTidal]

 rhulad, on 11 May 2012 - 05:44 PM, said:

I want to say that my next book shall be 50 Shades of Grey.

I think it's hilarious that while there seem to be so many people currently complaining about sexism in books...and the trilogy that is currently rocking the shit out of the bestseller list and selling like JK Rowling or Twilight is a series of erotic books about an older dude who controls a young woman, both socially and sexually...and she lets him.

So funny.

[End of Disc One]

It was my understanding that Twilight was very sexist as well.

[worry]

 T77, on 11 May 2012 - 02:05 PM, said:

Finished The Magicians by Lev Grossman. This has been on my TBR pile for a while now, I've not been to eager to read it due to the relatively low rating on Amazon, and seeing how polarizing the reviews were. From the moment I started it I was immediately drawn in. I really enjoyed his prose and ability to describe a scene. There wasn't anything earth shattering or original about the plot, but I thought he did a good job with it. He took a Harry Potter/Narnia theme and took it to a higher level. Sort of what Gene Wolfe did with The Knight/Wizard, taking the typical sword and sorcery tale and just doing it better. I don't think he did it to the level that Gene Wolfe did though. I thought I would be bored during the magic school part, but I was not. The book was not perfect, but on the whole, I really enjoyed it. I will definitely be reading the sequel, The Magician king.

My thought on why this received a low rating, it was a NYT best seller and I think a lot of people who are not into fantasy gave it a low score. That's not to say that most who are into fantasy will like it, I just don't think it would rate as low among them.

I've said it before (maybe in this very thread), but when I read this I thought it was a one-off -- and therefore something of a squandered opportunity, no matter how well written and savage the satirical elements. But when I learned it was just the first book in a series, that instantly improved my opinion of it. I still didn't love it (as like a 5-star book), but it's good stuff.

[polishgenius]

I think a major reason why The Magicians is so divisive is because the main protagonist is a colossal prick and moaner and a lot of people have a hard time sticking with him. The second book, though, being a progression of his hero's journey, is less problematic, but I guess the people for whom that would be a thing never got that far.

I didn't mind though. I love the way Grossman portrays magic, it's fantastic.

[QuickTidal]

 End of Disc One, on 11 May 2012 - 08:23 PM, said:

It was my understanding that Twilight was very sexist as well.

And I believe the Grey series actually began life as a Twilight Fan-fiction that the author tweaked to be her own characters.

[worry]

And she's already on the 50th shade?? That was fast.