Books

[Pope]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

 

good stuff! should've read it ages ago

[Blarghagh]

I read The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

 

Fantastic book. I love Gaiman's vision.

[cronicler]

Codex Alera. Despite the creative background, it suffers from too much (and not enoug at the same time) plot, too little time (and pages) and too much interludes.

 

It generally felt a bit "young adult" title with a lot of overlysimplified motivations but in the end, it was an enjoyable series.

[Oerwinde]

I got into the start of A Game of Thrones.. read the first 4 or 5 books. But I found the last two I read were like hammering my head into a wall and I just forced myself to finish them. So I gave up on the series. Might try again in a few years mayhaps...

 

Well, so far theres only 4 books. The 3rd one is my favorite so far.

 

Just started reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies. So far its really hard to read. Its a period piece and uses period language and while its easy enough to understand, like the Lord of the Rings books the way its written makes reading it a chore.

[Walsingham]

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland

 

good stuff! should've read it ages ago

 

Through the Looking Glass is even better.

[Purkake]

Finished Patrick Rothfuss' Name of the Wind. It's pretty good, too bad it's part one of a trilogy and the other two are yet to be released...

[Raithe]

Picked up the omnibus Belisarius I - the first two books in the series.. now it's going to make me shell out for the next two omnibus to round out the whole collection for my personal library...

[Monte Carlo]

Re-reading Bomber by Len Deighton for the tenth or so time. I'm not being hyperbolic when I suggest it's one of the best war novels ever written.

 

I can't believe it spawned Memphis Bell which while an OK-ish type of movie, dancing perilously on the borders of Meh, it doesn't reflect the brilliance of the novel (about incidentally, a RAF bomber crew - they'd only make a movie about an American one which I suppose gave them the plot-crucial opportunity for Harry Connick Jnr to play the piano).

 

Deighton's novel shows us the consequences of a bombing raid on a small German town in the summer of 1943, through the eyes of the German civilians, a luftwaffe radar controller and the crew of a RAF bomber. The aerial war over Europe isn't exactly an area of WW2 that I'm overly interested in, but the power of the narrative and Deighton's eye for detail grab me in a way few of his other novels have (and he is a fine author).

 

Highly recommended to fellow forumites.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Monte Carlo

[Purkake]

Read A Colder War, a short story by Charles Stross that is an alternate history piece taking place after Lovecraft's At the Mountain's of Madness. Interesting stuff, but pretty depressing...

[Shryke]

started the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb

 

already read the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies - thought i'd bridge the gap between the two

[Purkake]

Finished Mission of Honor, the latest in David Weber's neverending series. It had a little too much talking and too little action, but had some nice resolution(finally), reveals and an awesome setup for the future.

[Hurlshort]

started the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb

 

already read the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies - thought i'd bridge the gap between the two

 

I just started the Rain Wilds chronicles, which is the conitunation of the Liveship series. Great so far, Robin Hobb is definitely one of my favorite authors. I hope she returns to the Soldiers son world, I thought it was pretty great.

[Guard Dog]

Now reading The Overton Window by Glen Beck and Martin Eden by Jack London

[Shryke]

started the Liveship Traders trilogy by Robin Hobb

 

already read the Farseer and Tawny Man trilogies - thought i'd bridge the gap between the two

 

I just started the Rain Wilds chronicles, which is the conitunation of the Liveship series. Great so far, Robin Hobb is definitely one of my favorite authors. I hope she returns to the Soldiers son world, I thought it was pretty great.

 

awesome, that's definitely next on the list

 

been really slack with reading lately, so only about half way through the second Liveship Traders book. quite liking it so far though

[Shrimp Flavored Chips]

I've decided to make it a point to read as much trashy sci-fi/adventure/fantasy literature as possible this summer. Since making this decision I've read Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie and Feed by Mira Grant. I'm about to start The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt. I'll admit I chose each of these based at least 30% on the cover art (which is awesome in each case). Best Served Cold was only okay, I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Feed was actually better than I thought it would be, though it's the first book in Trilogy and now I'm stuck waiting for the rest of the series to be released. Same thing happened to me with Steig Larsson's Millenium books.

[Purkake]

Isn't Best Served Cold supposed to be a seuqel/prequel to the First Law Trilogy? It might be better if you have already read those.

 

In related news, I'm reading The Blade Itself bz Joe Abercrombie and it's pretty interesting so far.

[Shrimp Flavored Chips]

Maybe. According to the interview with Abercrombie at the end, it's a standalone novel set in the same world. Which I wouldn't say really qualifies it as a sequel or prequel.

 

And I did enjoy reading it, but I don't consider it a must read.

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying his other work.

[Darth InSidious]

I've decided to make it a point to read as much trashy sci-fi/adventure/fantasy literature as possible this summer. Since making this decision I've read Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie and Feed by Mira Grant. I'm about to start The Kingdom Beyond the Waves by Stephen Hunt. I'll admit I chose each of these based at least 30% on the cover art (which is awesome in each case). Best Served Cold was only okay, I wouldn't particularly recommend it. Feed was actually better than I thought it would be, though it's the first book in Trilogy and now I'm stuck waiting for the rest of the series to be released. Same thing happened to me with Steig Larsson's Millenium books.

If I can make a recommendation, definitely take a look at Dead Romance. Not exactly trashy but well worth a look.

[Raithe]

The Screwtape Letters - CS Lewis.. depending on how you approach it, there's a lot of..humour in it. Screwtape (a demon) writing letters to his nephew Wormwood, giving advise on how to undermine faith and promote sin in an unnamed Englishman.

[Walsingham]

1759. I nomally don't read back beyond 1800, but I thoguht I'd give this a go. Brilliant discussion of why the year 1759 is a fulcrum on which the world turned. Plus the best bit is I have an easy peg to remember when the events decsribed happened. I need these pegs to orient all the other factoids I read.

 

Very well written, and chock full of tasty nuggets, like oreo cookie ice-cream.

 

Hang on, I've not had breakfast...

[Purkake]

Finished the First Law Trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. It's a really nice deconstruction of a whole lot of fantasy cliches, but also brutally depressing

Edited August 5, 2010 by Purkake

[Wrath of Dagon]

Re-reading Bomber by Len Deighton for the tenth or so time. I'm not being hyperbolic when I suggest it's one of the best war novels ever written.

 

I can't believe it spawned Memphis Bell which while an OK-ish type of movie, dancing perilously on the borders of Meh, it doesn't reflect the brilliance of the novel (about incidentally, a RAF bomber crew - they'd only make a movie about an American one which I suppose gave them the plot-crucial opportunity for Harry Connick Jnr to play the piano).

 

Deighton's novel shows us the consequences of a bombing raid on a small German town in the summer of 1943, through the eyes of the German civilians, a luftwaffe radar controller and the crew of a RAF bomber. The aerial war over Europe isn't exactly an area of WW2 that I'm overly interested in, but the power of the narrative and Deighton's eye for detail grab me in a way few of his other novels have (and he is a fine author).

 

Highly recommended to fellow forumites.

I tried to buy that once, but it seems to be out of print. I guess I'll check again next time I'm buying books.

[Guard Dog]

Now reading Winterbirth by Brian Ruckly. It's the first fantasy novel I've read since the last WoT book came out. So far it is ok, not great. The land sounds a little like Scotland and there is a Gaelic/Viking theme to it.

[Purkake]

Now reading Winterbirth by Brian Ruckly. It's the first fantasy novel I've read since the last WoT book came out. So far it is ok, not great. The land sounds a little like Scotland and there is a Gaelic/Viking theme to it.

Try A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin and/or The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie if you want some non-traditional fantasy

[Guard Dog]

Now reading Winterbirth by Brian Ruckly. It's the first fantasy novel I've read since the last WoT book came out. So far it is ok, not great. The land sounds a little like Scotland and there is a Gaelic/Viking theme to it.

Try A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin and/or The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie if you want some non-traditional fantasy

I've read all of ASOIAF more than once. I agree with you, they are superb. I'm not a big fan of Fantay generally speaking but I love Martins work. I'm a little weary of WoT but I'm sticking with it.