The Sword and Laser discussion
What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - December 2012
Just finished House of Chains and immediately went for Midnight Tides.Then again, since this one starts on entirely different continent and with new chars, possibly I will use this to read some Abercrombie as it's on my Kindle for some time now...
Just finished Winter's Heart and wow was I impressed with it. Maybe my standards were a bit low after how slow the first two thirds of The Path of Daggers but I found that Robert Jordan finally got the pacing right with this one and it was an absolute pleasure to read from start to end. You can check my full review here .Going to read Fevre Dream next. A Song of Ice and Fire is all I've read from George R.R. Martin, and since we'll have a LONG time to wait for the next entry in the series it seems as good a time as any to check out what else he's written!
It'll probably also help in preparing myself for Crossroads of Twilight, maybe my expectations for it will be so low I'll be the one person to actually enjoy it? (wishful thinking!)
Mod
No. lol.
Right now I'm reading Succubus Blues for Vaginal Fantasy and The Fellowship of the Ring. I have tried to read The Fellowship of the Ring but felt that took too long to get started. Now I'm halfway through and I really like it.
David Sven wrote: "Aildiin wrote: "Finishing Orb Sceptre Throne. Next I think I am going to start The Hidden City"What do you think of Orb Sceptre Throne? It's my favourite Esslemont installment so far - I've yet t..."
It was pretty good.
It made me want to re-read some of the Malazan book but I already have a WoT re-read scheduled so it's going to have to wait.
But yes, I'm itching to re-read Memory of Ice and Deadhouse Gates ( Chain of Dogs !!!)
Finished The Bones of the Old Ones, which I highly recommend, and started the Obsidian and Blood omnibus (murder and magic in Tenochtitlan at the height of the Aztec empire) by Aliette de Bodard.
Rob wrote: "No. lol."Haha I'm not hopeful really, as much as I want to like it. Should be smooth sailing from there, so it shouldn't be TOO bad!
It's also surprising that thus far there hasn't been any arch or event that people really hated. The low scores some books get are due to the moments where nothing happens, because when things do happen, they're always really good.
Makes you wonder how much better the series would've been if only those parts had been edited :/
Got distracted by John Varley's Red Lightning. Kind of like a Heinlein juvenile on Mars, except the boy has to come back to Earth because of a near-apocalyptic event. First words of the book:"Mars sucks."
Audible just released an audio-only short story collection called Rip-Off!. The stories are by some of the best names in SF&F and they're narrated by some of the top narrators in the industry. The idea is for the author to use the first line from a famous piece of literature to create a new story. I've finished the first half and it's pretty good so far. Each story is prefaced by the author talking about his or her inspiration.
Tamahome wrote: "Got distracted by John Varley's Red Lightning."Distracted from Vorkosigan?
That must be a typo - couldn't happen...
Just read Toby Buckell's The Apocalypse Ocean, his new entry in the Xenowealth series that started with Crystal Rain. Excellent book.
David Sven wrote: "Tamahome wrote: "Got distracted by John Varley's Red Lightning."Distracted from Vorkosigan?"
Well Red lightning distracted me from Nexus which distracted me from Vorkosigan.
NMC wrote: "Just finished Before They Are Hanged. Superior Glokta was excellent, as usual, and Logen is becoming more fascinating, as well. Just wished we saw more of his berserker side.I'm on to Last Argume..."
Fabulous trilogy! You won't be dissapointed with the last book. I promise :)
Finished Assassin's Apprentice, just two days ago. I had never read Robin Hobb, which seems impossible for a fantasy fan, but sadly it was true. Really enjoyed it and looking forward to the rest of her books.
Reading Red Country now.
I've just finished Parable of the Sower which was amazing. I think that after I knock out a biography on my to-read list I'll take on Mistborn
Finished David Brin's Practice Effect - sort of a weak ending, though still an entertaining read. Moved on to Ray Bradbury's Now and Forever. The first of the pair of novellas it contains was amazing, vintage Bradbury. Started reading it and couldn't stop until the end. Holding off on "Leviathan '99" until I have another such block of time available.
Finished re-reading The Hobbit yesterday when I couldn't sleep. I had originally hoped to do a whole Wheel of Time re-read before A Memory of Light but that was not to be. Instead, I'm going to re-read the last two (The Gathering Storm and Towers of Midnight), so that'll be my reading this week and next when I'm not working and family-ing.I guess I'll also start Old Man's War at some point soon. Kinda funny to start off the new year ticking one book of my "2013 challenge" of finishing some books that I've purchased and not yet gotten to.
Just finished Fevre Dream and... ugh. It was one of those books that kept promising amazing things but then it got to the end and none of them actually happen. It's a book about steamboats, slavery, huge meals, racing and... oh, it also has vampires, kinda. I definitely didn't enjoy it very much and was hoping for a lot more from George R.R. Martin, though I guess I shouldn't necessarily judge him for the standard of his writing these days. Feel free to read my full review here.I suppose this is a great time to start Crossroads of Twilight, as it'll hardly disappoint me any more than Fevre Dream did. Maybe I'll actually enjoy it by comparison! (I'm just fooling myself aren't I? :/)
I heard his pre Hollywood writing is different. Maureen McHugh was talking about it on the Coode St podcast.
I can take or leave Game of Thrones, but Martin's The Armageddon Rag: A Novel had a huge influence on me. Every time I try to write down why it so impacted me, I can't quite articulate it. Truly something special.
Finished Brent weeks The Black Prism. My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/....
Straight on to his next book in the series The Blinding Knife
Daran wrote: "I can take or leave Game of Thrones, but Martin's The Armageddon Rag: A Novel had a huge influence on me. Every time I try to write down why it so impacted me, I can't quite articulate it. Truly ..."Terrific to see someone mention Armegeddon Rag - I agree. Straight awesome. It gripped me, totally, and I still think of it, years after reading.
Zipping through the stories in Moscow But Dreaming by Ekaterina Sedia, perfect for people who like Russian lit (dark, depressing) combined with fantasy. (My review is here).
Finished Obsidian and Blood (quite good and very different) and moved on to The Witch's Head, the second, I believe, novel by H. Rider Haggard.
And finished The Witch's Head (I had a lot of reading time on the bus) and started Stealer of Flesh by William King.
Finsihed our own Sky Corbelli's Wind-Scarred. Not bad. My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...Merry Christmas all
Finished The Fun Parts by Sam Lipsyte, a book of short stories due out next March. (You can read my review here; I got an ARC via NetGalley).I'm about 150 pages into Pirate Cinema by Cory Doctorow and I'm just not that into it. I WANT to be, so I'm going to give him another 50 pages to get me hooked. I loved Big Brother, and enjoyed Rapture of the Nerds, so I'm not sure what my issues are. Everything that happens smacks of convenience, and it really hurts the believability. Harumph, bah humbug.
Finished Stealer of Flesh (sword & sorcery in the classic mode) and started Swords against Tomorrow, an anthology of sword & sorcery stories from back in the day.
Just finished Before They Are Hanged and listening to Live by Night. I'm waiting for Last Argument of Kings to come in from the Library, so I jumped ahead when I saw for $2.99 a week bac - Old Man's War and am loving that.Also 2013 Baseball Forecaster: And Encyclopedia of Fanalytics for you baseball geeks out there.
Just finished Crossroads of Twilight and... fine, everyone who warned me was right. This book is an abomination. I had a really hard time getting through it and it definitely wasn't a rewarding experience. For what it's worth the ending is one of the most satisfying ever, if only because the book is actually over. Feel free to read my full review here. Me, I just want to pretend it never happened and move on to better things! Really looking forward to Knife of Dreams as it's meant to be a lot better and I'm done with what's thought of as the weakest point of the series.
So I end the year feeling a bit more literate I'm finishing it with 1984. I've had the book lying around for ages and it's almost embarassing I still haven't read it!
Mod
Lol
Just finished the The Art of Fielding and it was amazing. It's a baseball character development story that totally had me reeled in. Not your typical Sword and Laser fare, but if you want something different this is well worth it.
Finished Swords against Tomorrow and decided it was time to get caught up on the Dresden Files, which means beginning with Side Jobs: Stories From the Dresden Files.
Currently reading the novelization of The Dark Knight Rises. Just finished a charming little sci-fi book called Gamers than you can find for free in the ebook section on Amazon.Read the first few chapters of Truancy City which is the third and final book in the EXTREMELY underrated Truancy Trilogy, and working on getting the book so I can finish it. Highly suggest people read them all.
Have a crap ton of other stuff on the plate such as finishing Leviathan Wakes and starting some Joe Abercrombie stuff and some Robin Hobb stuff.
Yea, lot's to do seeing as how I just recently got back into actual reading.
Just finished 1984 and after Crossroads of Twilight it felt like a much needed breath of fresh air. I can't believe it took me this long to finally read it! Wow, what a masterpiece. I've been thinking about it for hours after finishing it and it'll definitely take a while for me to fully digest everything this book made me feel. Feel free to check out my review here, though I very much doubt I could ever do the book justice in words.Next up is Knife of Dreams which will hopefully pick up the pace after the bore fest that the last one was.
Somehow I got into turbo-consumption mode the last couple of weeks and went thru Old Man's War Heir to the Empire Dark Force Rising. I also finished off Before They Are Hanged audiobook. Now finishing off a couple of these trilogies w/ The Last Command (definitely finish over the weekend) and listening to Last Argument of Kings (will roll into 2013). Whew!!
@Jeff - Looks like you enjoy Steven Pacey
just finished Red Country, my last abercrombie to date. really enjoyed it, i hope he's writing fast! for those interested, review can be found herenext on the fantasy reading list is The Alloy of Law
Mod
I also listened to Dune, which I got as a free audiobook thanks to S&L! (My Review)
I'm now on to reading Fool's Fate which I hope to finish over the long weekend.
I also have gone through listening to most of The Gunslinger after getting stuck in traffic for an extra 3 hours due to snow during my long drive home.
David Sven wrote: "@Jeff - Looks like you enjoy Steven Pacey"Yeah I'm on an Abercrombie run right now. Pacey's damn good but if I drank while listening to these books, I'd be drunk every time he said "grimaced" and "sh*t". I chuckle each time I hear them now.
Mod
It's official, the series will be called Moon Gaiden from this point on. Feel free to check it out. Thankyou! ^_^..."
This is not the appropriate place for promotion.
Finished listening to Abercrombie's last book Red Country ...and he wept, as well indeed he might, because there were no more Abercrombie worlds to conquer.My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/.... sniff
Next up is Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn novel on Audible Alloy of Law
Have been reading The Dirty Streets of Heaven as well as Storm Front. Also read Cloud Atlas mid December. Next up is Old Man's War for Sword & Laser and Outlander for Vaginal Fantasy.
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Books mentioned in this topic
Ring (other topics)The Time Machine (other topics)
The Time Ships (other topics)
Doctor Who - The Wheel of Ice (other topics)
A Cavern of Black Ice (other topics)
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Jim Butcher (other topics)Joanne Harris (other topics)
William King (other topics)
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Aliette de Bodard (other topics)
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I really enjoyed that one, but maybe I'm just a sucker for post-humans.
I'm listening to Birds of a Lesser Paradise: Stories, and just got a copy of Moscow But Dreaming from NetGalley. I finished The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, but he was preaching to the choir. :P