The Sword and Laser discussion
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What Else Are You Reading?
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What Else Are You Reading - September 2013
Reading Perfume by Patrick Suskind. I wish I could have read the book before the movie, as I already know what's going to happen. I think I'm going to tackle the Engineer Trilogy by K.J. Parker afterwards... I get a craving for Parker every now and then.
I've mad a start with Dracula. I kinda think I have a month and a half before Halloween so plenty of time of get through it...
Just started Odd and the Frost Giants. Finished Instructions. On a Neil Gaiman YA, and childrens roll.
Paul wrote: "Dara wrote: "Finished Assassin's Quest Friday and promptly threw the book across the room. I hated it."
I haven't read that one yet why did you hate it?
Did you like the first two?"
I don't want to spoil it for you if you are planning on reading it. It was meandering and extremely frustrating for me plotwise.
I loved the first one and was back and forth on the second but came to like it.
I finished three new books in September: Black Sun Rising (Review) The Lies of Locke Lamora (Review) und The Bonehunters (Review)Now I'm moving on to: Daughter of Smoke & Bone und Red Seas Under Red Skies
I just finished The Demolished Man, and am currently reading Red Seas Under Red Skies and The Warrior. I'm not sure where I'm headed next. Maybe I'll start the Dresden Files.
Mod
Me too. I know a few others are as well. It started slow for my liking, but really picking up finally.
Finished Rob Hobb's Golden Fool on AudibleMy review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Continuing on with Dresden also on Audible with Small Favor
Just finished Skirmishes by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, the 4th "Diving Universe" novel. Good stuff!
Mod
Oh good. :)
Walter wrote: "Reading Gone Girl."Hope that you like it, I really loved that book :)
This month I also started the R.I.P challenge so I started The Twelve and The Reckoning. Besides L'homme Démoli (my review) I finished The Casual Vacancy (my review) in audio. I'm also reading City of Ashes and I might bring The Demonologist in audio to my upcoming vacation :)
Working on Red Seas Under Red Skies as my main read, Post Captain as my commute audio book and Cat's Cradle on my kindle app. My part time, 10 minute read, is When Will Jesus Bring the Pork Chops?.
Carolina wrote: Hope that you like it, I really loved that book :)I'm enjoying it thus far. (view spoiler)
Haven't read The Twelve yet, will be interested in hearing your thoughts.
I just finished One of Our Thursdays Is Missing on audio and am now listening to Shards of Honour. In print, I just finished The Tyrant's Law and am considering skipping this month's laser in favor of quickly rereading The Lies of Locke Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies in advance of The Republic of Thieves. I read both right when they came out and in that time I've gotten married and had two kids, so I think I need the refresh.
Just finished In Enemy Hands.Here's my review.
I'm not exactly sure where to turn next. I need something fun, light, and fast. I'm reading too many "heavies" at present.
Mod
Lol. Another one. Everyone is getting ready for The Republic of Thieves
Mod
Here's my review.
I'm not exactly sure where to turn next. I need something fun, light, and fast. I'm reading too many "heavies" at present."
Depending on how much you mind tropes, I found
Theft of Swords fits that pretty well.
Hey, thanks Rob. I'll take a look and see if it fits my current mood.
Rob wrote: "Casey wrote: "Just finished In Enemy Hands.Here's my review.
I'm not exactly sure where to turn next. I need something fun, light, and fast. I'm reading too many "heavies" at present."
Dependi..."
Agreed. Not exactly breaking new ground but entertaining (to me at least).
I finished Echoes of the Goddess: Tales of Terror and Wonder from the End of Time and am about to start The Drowning City by Amanda Downum, which is one of those books I've had on my radar for a long time.
Casey wrote: "Just finished In Enemy Hands.Here's my review.
I'm not exactly sure where to turn next. I need something fun, light, and fast. I'm reading too many "heavies" at present."
I applaud your tenacity in getting through an audio version of a David Weber novel. I really like his stories, but would only approach them in text because I need to be able to skim or skip the infodumps and get on with the story.
Incidentally, IMHO, the next book after In Enemy Hands, Echoes of Honor, is one of the best in the Honor Harrington series. The following is a spoiler only for those who haven't read In Enemy Hands. (view spoiler)
@Clyde: Yeah, Weber and his info-dumping is something of legend. I don't know if it's because he doesn't have confidence in the reader's ability to piece things together on their own, or if there's some sort of odd pleasure he derives by just explaining every last damn detail. When he takes a break from the exposition, he's a good storyteller. I'm looking forward to hitting the next Honor book in the series. I'm reviewing it for www.sffaudio.com and so it will also be an audio version.
Mod
Oh good. Someone decided to take the plunge on those! I was a bit overwhelmed to volunteer for them.
Rob wrote: "Lol. Another one. Everyone is getting ready for The Republic of Thieves "Just a coincidence in my case. It's taken me until now to find a copy of Red Seas in a bargain store. It will probably be another year or two before Republic of Thieves shows up. Unless it's really bad, then it will be in the bargain bin by Christmas.
I like Weber too but if all the details were skipped I don't think they would be so interesting or enjoyable. Remove the infodumps and you would be left with something like 'Down Below Station'.
@Rob: It is a little overwhelming, but some of the stuff is good and this always helps.@AndrewP: Maybe so, maybe no. I tend to believe that if Weber cut away the info-dumps, we'd have something more similar to the Lost Fleet series in way of story presentation. But then again there's an adage about pulling threads.
Dara wrote: "Finished Assassin's Quest Friday and promptly threw the book across the room. I hated it.Now a quick read: The Alloy of Law before Steelheart next week."
I completely understand what you mean about Assassin's Quest. I couldn't stand to read it anymore (I couldn't will myself to turn the pages), so I listened to the audiobook while doing brainless tasks at work. I feel that a huge chunk of that book could have been edited out without losing any of the plot.
I think a lot of my frustration with this book was that it was so much longer than the first book in the series. A pet peeve of mine is when the length of books in a series increase over time. A 50 page increase or so is okay; however, more than doubling the page count is not cool. I know it probably seems weird but if the first book or two is 300 pages, I expect the rest of the series to follow that same format.
Completely unrelated, because this month's book pick was short, I have been on a reading binge!. Granted, several of them were books that I won through GoodReads giveaways or were galley copies that I agreed to review. I read Fool Moon, Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest, Club Dead, My Planet: Finding Humor in the Oddest Places, One Enchanted Evening: A Fairy Tale for Real People, and The Republic of Thieves. It has been a busy month! My Republic of Thieves review will be posted on the 24th. In the mean time, I must recommend Helen and Troy's Epic Road Quest, it was so much fun.
Just started listening to The Bone Season to see what all the hype/angst is all about. Exposition overload right from the start. Had to bump my listen down to 1x from a normal 1.5x to allow me to absorb what is going on.
Pamela wrote: "Dara wrote: "Finished Assassin's Quest Friday and promptly threw the book across the room. I hated it.Now a quick read: The Alloy of Law before Steelheart next week."
I completely understand wha..."
Exactly! That's what frustrated me so much. Half of that book could have been edited out. I only kept going to complete the trilogy.
I'm almost finished with Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance. Some great authors contributed to it (e.g., Gaiman, GRRM, etc.) but none of the stories I've read yet have really sung - it's kind of a testament to just how hard it is to write in Vance's universe.To chime in on the Honor Harrington thread discussion, I think the infodumps are necessary because the plot development from book-to-book often relies on technological improvements so without the info, it would look like a deus ex machina. Unrelated, I like Weber for being a Mil-SF author with strong female characters - plural (not just a few tokens but throughout the series) and for writing enemies that sometimes are noble people with good motives. That said, after reading all of them through At All Costs, I just burned out on the series. Is it worth picking up again?
Alan wrote: "That said, after reading all of them through At All Costs, I just burned out on the series. Is it worth picking up again? .."You might want to try Weber's Safehold series, especially if you are into 'Age of Sail' type books.
AndrewP wrote: "Alan wrote: "That said, after reading all of them through At All Costs, I just burned out on the series. Is it worth picking up again? .."You might want to try Weber's Safehold series, especially..."
Thanks, I've read a couple of those as well. Does it bother you that (view spoiler)?
Started Deadhouse Gates, book #2 in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series. Hope I don't struggle with it as much as I did with Gardens of the Moon.
Alan wrote: "I'm almost finished with Songs of the Dying Earth: Stories in Honour of Jack Vance. Some great authors contributed to it (e.g., Gaiman, GRRM, etc.) but none of the stories I've read yet have really sung..."I didn't get through it for that reason, although I don't think I read Gaiman's or GRRM's stories. The one huge exception was Kage Baker's "The Green Bird." Still not enough to raise the SNR of the collection of a whole past threshold, but I was sort of amazed at how she could write in a voice that was clearly Vance-inflected yet also clearly her own. (Versus most of the other authors, who were obviously trying but couldn't seem to write naturally or well in Vancian diction.)
Me, I'm reading Dust of Dreams, Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln, and Talking About Detective Fiction. Which makes my reading list look more diverse than it actually is. On deck are Alif the Unseen, Railsea, and maybe Brave Story. (That's a more typical lineup.)
I just finished The Prestige by Christopher Priest because we're discussing it next on SFF Audio, and wow, the ending completely surprised me. It has a supernatural component in common with Infinite Jest, a connection I never would have expected.Now I have a few books to try that were on the Booker longlist but didn't make it to the shortlist, but I feel bad for them so I'm going to try anyway.
And then I'm going to start The Anubis Gates because I've never read anything by Tim Powers (if you have, did I pick the right book to try?)
Jenny wrote: "... And then I'm going to start The Anubis Gates because I've never read anything by Tim Powers (if you have, did I pick the right book to try?) "I haven't read Anubis Gates but On Stranger Tides is wonderful and is the favorite book of someone I know who's a big Tim Powers fan.
OkI got Kinslayer- The Lotus War Book 2 By Jay Kristoff Just Started But enjoying that
Finally Got Started On Jim Butcher's Codex Alera Series
Managed to start Paul Cornell's London Falling. I love Cornell but I'm struggling a bit with it...sort of feel Like I'm hearing one side of a conversation but I'm only 1/4 way in.
Re-reading Dick's Do Androids Dream Of Elecric Sheep because it's been awhile.
Struggling a bit with the short - Book of Ptath by A E Van Vogt
Reading A A Milne's Pooh Books...because I want too...and the Hundred acre wood is my happy place.
Finished Emperor of ThornsMy review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Continuing on with Peter F Hamilton's Void Trilogy with The Temporal Void
Currently reading Railsea, then onto The Emerald Storm by Michael Sullivan.
This month I finished the Dark Tower series by Stephen King with The Dark Tower. Still not sure what to think of the ending of this great story, maybe have to reread some parts before I write my final review.Also read the Daemon books (DaemonFreedom (TM)) by Daniel Suarez. A nice action packed read.
Today I finished Kafka on the Shore a typical Haruki Murakami story.
Oh hey I'm reading The Demolished Man. I know this thread is supposed to be about the books you're reading aside from the official pick, but it has been a while since I participated.
I finished Thunderball, which was a good time. I've started Dexter is Delicious and am liking it better than the previous two before it. So far.
Mod
Next I'm starting Reaper's Gale with Malazan Fallen
and Steelheart with The Not A Book Club Club
Jenny wrote: "I just finished The Prestige by Christopher Priest because we're discussing it next on SFF Audio, and wow, the ending completely surprised me. It has a supernatural component in common with Infinit..."Hi Jenny, I'm reading Anubis Gates right now (about 1/3 complete) and so far I quite enjoy it. My only complaint regarding the novel is that some of transitions (especially the transitions that involve a change in POV character) can be a little confusing....I can read a paragraph or two before I realize that POV character has changed.
The Anubis Gates is the second Tim Powers novel I've read. The other novel I read was Declare (think Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy with djinn) which I also very much enjoyed. I will for sure be reading more his stuff.
Ah thanks! I just read the prelude so far (prologue, I'm in a music mode, ha) and it looks like it moves quickly to a more modern time period, which will be nice!
Jenny wrote: "Ah thanks! I just read the prelude so far (prologue, I'm in a music mode, ha) and it looks like it moves quickly to a more modern time period, which will be nice!"You don't stay in the modern time period for very long. I would say of the 150 pages I've read, most of the action takes palce in/around 1810.
I'm still working my way through Mann's The Magic Mountain with another Goodreads group. As mentioned in my above comments to Jenny, I'm also reading The Anubis Gates. I would love if S&L picked a Tim Powers novel for a future read.
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The Sword and Laser
Books mentioned in this topic
The Night Circus (other topics)Abaddon's Gate (other topics)
Fool's Fate (other topics)
The Darwin Elevator (other topics)
Battle Royale (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Stephen King (other topics)C.S. Lewis (other topics)
Brian McClellan (other topics)
Amanda Downum (other topics)
Amanda Downum (other topics)
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My review http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/...
Continuing next week with Reaper's Gale