What Else Are You Reading? July 2014

[Walter]

Full Dark, No Stars

[Joseph]

Cold Vengeance ended on a complete cliffhanger, so it's on to Two Graves (still by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child), which should close this particular chapter of Agent Pendergast's increasingly tortured existence.

[Lindsay]

Michael wrote: "I'm astonished at the hi-velocity of suck in most current fantasy/sf. I thumb through these ten pound masses of bland, imagination-free text looking for even one juicy image or vibe and have to go ..."

Can you give a few examples of books written 25+ years ago that so out-perform the books of today?

[Michael]

Lindsay, I wish it wasn't so easy.
This is just from the 70's/early 80's:

The Deceivers............................................Alfred Bester
Creatures of Light and Darkness...............Roger Zelazny
The Sword of the Demon...........................Richard Lupoff
Fifth Head of Cerebus................................Gene Wolfe
Viriconium...................................................M. John Harrison
Gloriana......................................................Michael Moorcock

.........these are just a few of the obvious ones, I could run this list for pages.

[Lindsay]

Ok, that gives me a bit of a feel for your taste.

Have you tried China Miéville? Particularly his Bas-Lag books? I think you'd find that Perdido Street Station has much the same sense of the baroque that most of those novels have.

How about Steven Erikson? (Not my taste, but he always reminds me of Moorcock). Another writer that gives me a strong stylistic sense of Moorcock (self-indulgent, baroque) is Kate Griffin.

I would also think you'd like pretty much anything N.K. Jemisin has written, although she has a much more modern sensibility than the list you posted.

And of course, both Gene Wolfe and M. John Harrison are still writing ...

[Pat]

I've finally decided to have a bash at The Name of the Wind. Time to see what all the fuss is about

[Lindsay]

Good timing. It's the pick for August.

[Pat]

Lindsay wrote: "Good timing. It's the pick for August."

Heh... I heard about 10 minutes ago. Spooky.

[Eric]

The old 1993 book, Striptease

[Dara]

Finished Half a King yesterday (My review) Not my favorite Abercrombie but a quick, enjoyable tale. Diving back into Dust of Dreams.

[Bryan]

I read The Strain, and was really disappointed.

[Chad]

I haven't had huge luck with indie books in the past but I loved this series Take the Star Road and finished them all in the last week or so. It had all the coming of age as a starship crewman fun that seems hard to find these days. Reminded of a cross between Heinlein juveniles and David Weber's military sci-fi...or maybe the Helmsman. Hmm could be nostalgia...

P.S. Bill Baldwin's the Helmsman has been re-released on ebook!! Yay!!

The Helmsman

[Fredrik]

I'm reading The Goblin Emperor, and it's really good! Young man suddenly thrust into the role of Emperor of the Elflands, and having to rapidly learn how to navigate the complexities of the imperial court.

[Mark]

Kushiel's Dart Starting this before the end of July, so really this will be my August read, but I have all ready started it.

[Walter]

Kushiel's Dart is a gorgeously written novel, the literary equivalent of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. Hope you enjoy.

[David Sven]

Finished the second book of The Raven's Shadow series with Tower Lord on Audible.
My review

Starting The Queen of Bedlam by Robert McCammon, also on Audible

[Michele]

Taking break from the Outlander series (I'm up to book 7) and reading Patricia C. Wrede's Frontier Magic series.

Starts with The Thirteenth Child. It's very good (though YA if it matters), a bit of a mash up of Little House on the Prairie meets Lady Trent's Natural History of Dragons.

About an alternate USA (US of Columbia! Thanks Columbus!) where magic is normal and the challenges of settling the Wild West which is teeming with dangerous magical creatures instead of Native Americans.

[Elizabeth]

I'm reading - was a BOM in another group I'm in and I immediately picked up sequel and then straight into book 3 !

[Joe Informatico]

Just finished The Shadow Throne and have been making my way through the Ship of Magic audiobook.

[Sky]

Finished Blood Song (5 Stars!) on to Tower Lord, then _may_ skip the The Name of the Wind re-read until closer to the release of The Slow Regard of Silent Things and instead start Theft of Swords and the whole Riyria series.

[Bryan]

I'm almost done with Max Barry's Lexicon, which is a lot of fun.

[terpkristin]

It's been a really hectic week at work with a big customer meeting, hence not much time to read. I'm currently in the middle of a book I'm beta-reading for one of the Foil & Phaser folks (I'm quite behind on that and feel awful about it) as well as listening to either Throne of Jade or Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation, depending on what suits my mindset as I listen (usually when driving to/from doctor appointments and/or work functions). I would like to finish the beta book this weekend but we shall see what else lies in store. I want to jump in on a re-read of NotW but need to finish my other commitments first.

[Lindsay]

Bryan wrote: "I'm almost done with Max Barry's Lexicon, which is a lot of fun."

The Writer and the Critic did an in-depth analysis on this one in episode 37.

[David Sven]

Finished China Mieville's The Scar
My review

Continuing my Mieville binge with The City and the City

[Bryan]

Would that be this one, Lindsay?

[Lindsay]

Indeed. Hyperlinks work better when you type href= instead of href- :)

[Whitney]

Even though I am still reading I, Robot I have started Kindle unlimited audio and ebook of Dawn

[Sandi]

I'm currently listening to Shield and Crocus and am very confused. I'm also reading Adulthood Rites. I had to jump right into that after finishing Dawn. I signed up for the free trial of Kindle Unlimited because both books were on it.

I recently finished listening to The City by Dean Koontz and I really liked it. It's more magical realism/thriller than horror. I also listened to Dreams of Gods & Monsters. The first book in that series is still the best, but this is better than the second.

[Whitney]

Sandi wrote: "I'm currently listening to Shield and Crocus and am very confused. I'm also reading Adulthood Rites. I had to jump right into that after finishing Dawn...."
hm I might have to check out The City.Is it on unlimited?

[Sandi]

Chakara wrote: "hm I might have to check out The City.Is it on unlimited?"

No. It's published by Random House. I don't think they're on the Kindle Unlimited program. Plus, it's a new release. I doubt we'll ever see new releases by big name authors on the program.

[Whitney]

Fishsticks!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Hey hey hey I am back from three weeks of no Internet. Phew!

I started Crux by Ramez Naam last night and I am enjoying it so far, a good followup to Nexus.

[Misti]

I finished up Sword & Laser Anthology. I really enjoyed it. Great job to everybody who contributed to it. Now I'm continuing with my Dresden Files re-read with Fool Moon.

[Walter]

Finally getting around to reading The Ghost Bride. Received an ARC for it some time back in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Whitney]

Misti wrote: "I finished up Sword & Laser Anthology. I really enjoyed it. Great job to everybody who contributed to it. Now I'm continuing with my Dresden Files re-read with Fool Moon."

I think the audios ruined these for me I keep falling asleep listening to the first one and having to start all over. The guy sounds bored to death of everything.

[Ben]

I listened to The Caves of Steel during a long drive yesterday. I liked it a lot, was really pleasantly surprised by how well it held up for a serialised book from the 1950s.

[Phil]

Just finished The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. I had mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand I thought it was really well written and enjoyed most of it. On the other hand, I could have done without the completely unlikable viewpoint character , Jazel. I was also a little disappointed the entire book turned out to be just getting the band together for the adventures to come later.
Just starting Maus, II: And Here My Troubles Began by Art Spiegelman.

[Jenny]

I'm reading The Sandman, Vol. 6: Fables and Reflections, Boneshaker, & I'm listening to The Robots of Dawn.

[Mark]

Walter wrote: "Kushiel's Dart is a gorgeously written novel, the literary equivalent of a Georgia O'Keeffe painting. Hope you enjoy."

Thx, It is very different type of writting style to what I normally read, it takes something to get your head round it. But I am really enjoying it.

[Carolina]

Sandi wrote: "I also listened to Dreams of Gods & Monsters. The first book in that series is still the best, but this is better than the second....."

I loved the whole series, have you read the novella Night of Cake & Puppets?

Me, since the last time I posted in the thread I have finished Brilliance, The Sea of Monsters, Cress (I am really liking the Lunar Chronicles), Sisters of Treason, The Titan's Curse, The Picture of Dorian Gray and just yesterday I finished Geek Love and it was absolutely amazing!!!

[Jenny (Reading Envy)]

Carolina wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I also listened to Dreams of Gods & Monsters. The first book in that series is still the best, but this is better than the second....."

I loved the whole series, have you read the no..."

I really enjoyed Geek Love too.

[Carolina]

Jenny (Reading Envy) wrote: "Carolina wrote: "Sandi wrote: "I also listened to Dreams of Gods & Monsters. The first book in that series is still the best, but this is better than the second....."

I loved the whole series, hav..."

I saw your review, it was very good :D

[Rob, Roberator]

Another weekend, another review round-up.

First I listened to Mr. Mercedes for SFFAudio (My Review). Far from his best work, but still enjoyable in my opinion.

Then I listened to The Diamond Age which I found to be a bit of a letdown. (My Review)

Finally I finished reading Half a King which was a bit underwhelming (My Review)

[David Sven]

@Rob - Your link for Mr Mercedes loops back to this thread

[Rob, Roberator]

David Sven wrote: "@Rob - Your link for Mr Mercedes loops back to this thread"

Doh. Fixed it. Thanks!

[Olivia "So many books--so little time.""]

Currently I'm reading Queen of Angels by Greg Bear. I've just started it, but it seems good. Before starting this book I started, but didn't finish, Ender's Game. I found it disappointing.

[[deleted user]]

Finished up Assassin's Quest. Disappointing ending to a wonderful trilogy. Times like this I really wish GR had half stars. Here's my review

I'm going on to some DarkFuse stuff, and I want to finish The Time Ships also.

[Paolo]

Right now six chapters into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

Murakami's style of storytelling unfolds at such a pace and with a certain beat/rhythm that reading it feels so serene and relaxing. Excellent for a cool, quiet morning or a rainy day. And he has this way of making the most mundane situations more interesting and relateable than they usually are.

So I'm enjoying this so far.

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Before this, I finished re-reading The Giver last week.

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And for August, I'll be reading The Name of the Wind (for this group's discussions) and Fear of Flying for another group's August discussions :)

[Dara]

Taking another break from Dust of Dreams (seriously, this book is a slog) to read The Name of the Wind.

[Dharmakirti]

Paolo wrote: "Right now six chapters into The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle.

Murakami's style of storytelling unfolds at such a pace and with a certain beat/rhythm that reading it feels so serene and rela..."

I've only read two Murakami novels so far, 1Q84 and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and I get what you mean by the beat/rhythm. I look foward to reading more. The Wind-Up Bird Chroncile is the next Murakami novel that I will be reading.