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Flights of Fantasy discussion
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Books & Discussions
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What are you reading in July 2014?
I am also reading The Girl with All the Gifts and enjoying it so far! It kind of reminds me of The Passage, what with the extraordinary girl and apocalyptic setting. I'll have to see if the comparison holds out to the end.
Sinistmer wrote: "I am also reading The Girl with All the Gifts and enjoying it so far! It kind of reminds me of The Passage, what with the extraordinary girl and apocalyptic setting. ..."Haven't read The Passage yet. But it just got bumped up on my tbr list.
I'm STILL working on Mr. Mercedes. Still not liking it. I'm wondering if maybe he had the gardener write it for him or something (that would explain Jerome.) because it's just... =\ I can see King's style there... but it's like a bad impersonation. There's not ONE character that I like or can identify with in this book... which I think is a first for me with King. I really hope the gardener did write this and that it's a fluke and that King forgets he mentioned making this a trilogy and instead finishes The Talisman's trilogy or writes a new book or something. Because... I don't think I can bring myself to read more of this.
I feel like I need to turn in my King Fan card now or something.
I'm nearly done with the Dresden series. Then I think I will move on to catching up with Diskworld and other series set aside for Dresden. Then I'll start again on the Vorkosigan saga which was my second big series goal for finishing this year.Mr Mercedes is on my list as well. My library has the CDs, but I am 6th in line for them.
I'm actually quite hooked on Mr. Mercedes. I called in sick yesterday, so was still groggy from being worn out and from meds. But I kept going with the "just one more chapter".
I love it when a book makes me want to read it. It's such a fresh feeling after the chore of Way of Kings.....
It is so weird how different our reactions are, Chris. I am having to push myself just to finish, and every page contains a new eye-roll moment for me. I'm really not liking it at all. :(But, you can't please all of the people all of the time, so I'm sure he'll just be heartbroken that I didn't like it while he is counting the fresh millions rolling into his bank account. LOL
Chris wrote: "I'm actually quite hooked on Mr. Mercedes. I called in sick yesterday, so was still groggy from being worn out and from meds. But I kept going with the "just one more chapter".
I love it when a..."
You've been sick, too? :(
I agree, Chris! I'm really enjoying Mr. Mercedes too!My only complaint so far, and it's more of an observation really, is that I've noticed a lot of pop culture/television references that will eventually really date this book.
The pop culture stuff has always been big in his books, but I don't disagree with you that there's a lot of references in this one. A LOT. Too many. It feels like... King is trying too hard to be hip and cool with the slang and trying to reconnect with a younger audience, and not succeeding. It's coming across fake and unnatural at best to me. Everyone in this book sounds like they're 45 - even the kids and teens - but then King went back in and threw in all the "cool" terms he has heard or invented to sit on top of that when he thought it would work. The exception was Holly who I thought WAS a teen at first... but the more involvement she has in the book, the more she comes to sound just like everyone else. This book just feels like it was written for an older audience... and then someone said "No, this won't do at all. We need to interest the younger readers. Let's call a computer a 'glowbox' here, and a kid a 'shorty' there... NOW we're getting hip! (Ow, my hip!)"
*sigh*
Not working for me at all.
Maybe that stuff isn't bothering me because I'm old and unhip too..Hard to say.
Gosh, you guys are making me want to read Mr. Mercedes!Feel better, everyone.
Trying to work on the Dangerous Women stories at work, on audio.Bleh. There's some boring ass shit in this book. If this kind of project is what keeps GRRM away from writing his book, he needs to stop.
I think I might officially be over Brandon Sanderson....
I have Words of Radiance and it's pretty much last on the tbr tower.
Hopefully you're using it as the base. Otherwise that tower will likely tip over...
Chris wrote: "Trying to work on the Dangerous Women stories at work, on audio.Bleh. There's some boring ass shit in this book. If this kind of project is what keeps GRRM away from writing his book, he needs to..."
You probably shouldn't bother with Rogues either. I don't know what it is about short stores that they seem so looong. This one definitely feels like Dangerous Women 2.0.
Finished Boy, Snow, Bird.... The book had an okay concept. But nothing happened. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. I felt like that was a big waste of time.
Ugh. I thought Rogues might be better. Oh well. I do like some of these. I just hit a stretch of boring ones. The Sanderson wasn't bad, just could have been shorter.
Nienna wrote: "Finished Boy, Snow, Bird.... The book had an okay concept. But nothing happened. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. I felt like that was a big waste of time."Is that a retelling?
Read Shovel Ready this morning. Spartan writing, okay storyline, meh characters.Just finished Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet. One of my nephews has to read it over the summer for school, figured I'd give it a shot too. A good story, a bit overly schmaltzy and predictable throughout, but still a nice afternoon read. Being familiar with some of the locations in the book was a plus.
Chris wrote: "Hopefully you're using it as the base. Otherwise that tower will likely tip over..."LOL
I got Rogues yesterday but haven't started with it yet.
☆αlly☆ (litєrαry єscαpist) wrote: "Nienna wrote: "Finished Boy, Snow, Bird.... The book had an okay concept. But nothing happened. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. I felt like that was a big waste of time."Is that a ret..."
You'd think so... But you'd be wrong.
The concept was a very interesting take on Snow White BUT the author does very little with it. Very disappointing.
Slightly spoilerish about the general plot -
(view spoiler)
It wasn't a horrible book. The author can write. But I had problem with the plot - or lack of one.
Even though you're not enjoying it, thanks for the reminder about 'Rogues'. I keep forgetting to order it from the library. I only want it for one story... :>
I'll read the Martin story and the Abercrombie at least. And Lynch. And Gaiman. And Rothfuss.Actually, there are a lot I'm interested in there. If Martin would just stop with telling everyone to send their "meh" novellas to him.
Nienna wrote: "☆αlly☆ (litєrαry єscαpist) wrote: "Nienna wrote: "Finished Boy, Snow, Bird.... The book had an okay concept. But nothing happened. Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zilch. I felt like that was a..."That's disappointing.
The Lynch and Rothfuss stories in Rogues are both excellent.
Ala wrote: "The Lynch and Rothfuss stories in Rogues are both excellent."Whew. Something to look forward to then.
Ala wrote: "The Lynch and Rothfuss stories in Rogues are both excellent."I haven't read the Rothfuss one yet but I loved the Lynch one. And I haven't even read any of his books yet. I will.
I don't want to turn anyone off of Rogues. I'm just not a big short story reader. I always get bored with these kinds of books. If you like short stories you'll probably enjoy it more.
I'm not a big short story reader either, but there were a few authors whose next books I'm dying for and figured these shorts would at least help a bit.BTW, for anyone who doesn't know, the Lynch short has nothing to do with the Gentlemen Bastards.
This Joe R. Lansdale story is pretty cool...(Dangerous Women)
Welp, I've started on Malazan.Wish me luck.
Chris wrote: "This Joe R. Lansdale story is pretty cool...(Dangerous Women)"I picked up a Lansdale book the other day at a used book store. I was surprised to realize it was a series.
Nicki wrote: "Yay! Good luck.I'm not sure how you'll feel about book one, but I'll be surprised if books two and three don't hook you."
I read book one before and enjoyed it. Doing the reread of it now and plan to keep going until I'm done.
Good luck! Give you what, until Monday?
Pffft. Ive got plans this weekend. So probably more like Tuesday :PIt'll probably be a week or two, realistically. Unless I get sucked into the world at some point, like book 5 of Dresden. If that happens, it'll be a day or two of can't-sleep-must-read.
Ala wrote: "Pffft. Ive got plans this weekend. So probably more like Tuesday :PIt'll probably be a week or two, realistically. Unless I get sucked into the world at some point, like book 5 of Dresden. If tha..."
Oooh! I wish I read fast enough to keep track.
BTW, whats up with that class?
Ala wrote: "BTW, for anyone who doesn't know, the Lynch short has nothing to do with the Gentlemen Bastards. "Good to know. Maybe I'll read it, then.
Class just isnt for me, MrsJ.I enjoy being classless.
Ala wrote: "Class just isnt for me, MrsJ.I enjoy being classless."
pffft!
It looks like a lot of fun AND video games.
:(
I keep thinking I would really dig Malazan but I'm not ready to begin that huge series just yet. I finished Blindsight, which really blew my mind. I'll post some thoughts in a few days when I can make sense of the whole thing. For now let me just say it instantly became one of my favorite books ever.
I started a book which had been TBR for waaaaaay too long.... The Wind Through the Keyhole. I love the Dark Tower, I grew up waiting for every next book to come out and I don't really know what took me so long to get started on this one. I'm happy to be hanging out with Roland and the gang again.
I also started reading Culture and the Death of God along with a friend. It's been about a year since I've read any nonfiction, we'll see how it goes.
Finished The Diviners yesterday. I liked it, but didn't love it... I liked the story and ambience well enough, but there was something about it that kept me from being fully engaged. It probably didn't help that a lot of people are introduced who aren't entirely relevant to the story. I feel like they will be relevant to future stories - but it's a weird way to go about it.Started Spellcast today, because I wanted a break between my murder mysteries, and this seemed like it'd be good for a frothy summer read - plus 'theater', so, yay.
Not far enough in to make a judgement call, except there are already too many people to keep track of, and the writing style hasn't quite thrilled me.
I'm readingSomething More Than Night. It's somewhere between okay and good. It's written as a urban-noir-fantasy. An angel is killed and another is trying to find the killer. The story is okay. The worldbuilding is fun. But the lead character isn't charismatic enough to carry a book like this. And it reminds me too much of (a failed) Dresden. Love the cover though:
That is a nice cover.
Nienna wrote: "...The worldbuilding is fun. But the lead character isn't charismatic enough to carry a book like this. And it reminds me too much of (a failed) Dresden.Love the cover though:
"Well, poo. I was eyeing this one, too. FYI, top review on book page had this shelving: cover-better-than-book
:)
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Flights of Fantasy
Books mentioned in this topic
Ruin and Rising (other topics)Wings of Fire (other topics)
Taken (other topics)
Dracula (other topics)
Maleficent (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Peter S. Beagle (other topics)Andre Norton (other topics)
Isaac Asimov (other topics)
I usually have one "main book" that I read straight through - though I do sometimes have a secondary "workout book".
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I barely touched 'The Diviners' this weekend, because I was more in a viewing mode. I started Merlin on Friday, and I'm almost through Season one.