Recent Posts
Right now I'm reading Torchwood: Skypoint by Phil Ford, and Robots Have No Tails by Henry Kuttner. After that, my reading list is:
Trading in Danger by Elizabeth Moon
Primary Inversion by Catherine Asaro
Shadowland by Peter Straub
We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson
The Integral Trees and The Smoke Ring by Larry Niven (re-reading actually)
Swords Against Wizardry, Swords of Lankhmar, Swords and Ice Magic by Fritz Leiber
Necroscope: Harry and the Pirates
Two novellas and a short piece set during the "Lost Years" of the series. An excellent bit of classic Harry Keogh.
And can you believe that those nutsacks at Barnes and Noble didn't carry it? When I called the lady asked if I wanted her to order it for me. I said no thanks, that I'd get it through Amazon - which I did, for less money and just two days from order to delivery.
A Dresden book-"Proven Guilty". I accidently skipped this one and read "Small Favor" last week, so I picked it up. It's ok. Not the best. Sometimes Jim Butcher's geekery is too much for me to handle. And man, Harry just needs to get laid and relax.
And what's with all the blonds?
There's some really neat action in this one though. It's ok, not my favorite Dresden, but I don't hate it.
starting on "Traders, Guns & Money"
""Ever since Warren Buffett memorably described derivatives as "financial weapons of mass destruction" there has been a thriller waiting to be written about them. Derivatives have frightened otherwise right-thinking people for some time. In part this reflects a natural tendency to fear what we do not understand." --Financial Times"
Just finished Swords Against Wizardry and am really still loving Leiber the first time around. With only two books left to go, I'm thinking about slowing down and mixing up my reading a bit.
Three to go, if you count The Knight and Knave of Swords, a much-later-written set of Fafhrd & Gray Mouser porn stories, by Leiber as a dirty old man.
Just finished Swords Against Wizardry and am really still loving Leiber the first time around. With only two books left to go, I'm thinking about slowing down and mixing up my reading a bit.Three to go, if you count The Knight and Knave of Swords, a much-later-written set of Fafhrd & Gray Mouser porn stories, by Leiber as a dirty old man.
Porn? Really. Reviews seem pretty mixed. Are some of these stories more worth reading than others? I might cherry-pick based on advice.
I finally gave in and started The Anubis Murders. I was going to wait until I got a certain group of adventures to a future Egyptian-analog adventure I have been planning, but it was too shiny and I was weak.
Porn? Really. Reviews seem pretty mixed. Are some of these stories more worth reading than others? I might cherry-pick based on advice.
Soft, as I recall -- like "Cinemax After Dark" or something -- but hardly what you'd call high fantasy. Been years since I read that one, but I remember there was a softcore novella in which the Mouser spent most of his time in something like an imprisonment spell (while Fafhrd made out with some djinn), then there was a very brief non-romance story about a pair of color-coded assassins sent by Death (yawn) -- as if that hadn't already been done to death (yuk) -- and I don't remember what else, if anything. I do distinctly remember thinking that none of the stories really added anything to the saga, and that the whole collection really was better off left out. YMMV.
Finished up all my previous reading. Now I'm eating my way through Greg Keyes "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" fantasy series. It's fantastic! I'm only through the first of 4 so far, so it may change later, but so far it's the best fantasy I've read in a long time. My only real qualm is that he changes which group of people he focuses on literally each chapter. IT gets frustrating when you get really into a story, then there's a cliffhanger and it moves to a garden party scene that at the moment you couldn't care less about. But ya. All in all, check this one out. Very well written characters and a creative magic system that I can finally get behind.
Finished up all my previous reading. Now I'm eating my way through Greg Keyes "The Kingdoms of Thorn and Bone" fantasy series. It's fantastic! I'm only through the first of 4 so far, so it may change later, but so far it's the best fantasy I've read in a long time. My only real qualm is that he changes which group of people he focuses on literally each chapter. IT gets frustrating when you get really into a story, then there's a cliffhanger and it moves to a garden party scene that at the moment you couldn't care less about. But ya. All in all, check this one out. Very well written characters and a creative magic system that I can finally get behind.
I've read up to the Blood Knight and it's really good. I've just heard that the last book is pretty weak, so I'm likely going to wait until it comes out in paperback.
I've read up to the Blood Knight and it's really good. I've just heard that the last book is pretty weak, so I'm likely going to wait until it comes out in paperback.
Aww. I hate when good series do that to me! And as for the waiting, that's what a library is for. Dependinghow the rest of it goes though, I might just buy them. In which case I always wait for the Paperback. It's like my personal credo. Haven't yet found a book I'd prefer a hardcover of. It's like you're paying extra for nothing.
Recently finished:
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
- Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Book of the Damned by Charles Hoy Fort
Currently reading:
- Drood by Dan Simmons
Up next:
- New Lands by Charles Hoy Fort
- Lo! by Charles Hoy Fort
- Wild Talents by Charles Hoy Fort
- The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss
Patrick Curtin
(Pathfinder Adventure Path Charter Subscriber; Roleplaying Game, Campaign Setting, Companion, Battles Case Subscriber)
- The Two Georges by Harry Turtledove and Richard Dreyfuss
A pretty good one there Shiny, interesting premise of a non-Revolution America and the suspense is pretty good in it too.
I just started A Canticle for Leibowitz. Lord o'mighty how'd I miss reading this so for so many years? It's awesome!
It really is a novel that trancends its genre and tale and becomes something more. Of lesser impact, but still a good read for those who wish to revist the Texarkana Empire is Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman , a later sequel set sometime after the Fiat Lux chapter in the first book.
I just finished rereading Obsidian Butterfly for about the fourth time. A really good book, probably the high water mark for the Anita Blake series before she began to get obsessed with tawdry sex scenes.
Recently finished:
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
What did you think?
I'm rereading all the Wheel of Time books in expectation of the next one. When I heard that the 'last book' was being split into 3 I thought it was a case of the publisher squeezing every last drop out of a cash cow. When I discovered part 1 was 800 pages I got all excited. I read the first one yesterday, a tempo I'd better not keep up :-)
Recently finished:
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- Last Argument of Kings by Joe AbercrombieWhat did you think?
I'm rereading all the Wheel of Time books in expectation of the next one. When I heard that the 'last book' was being split into 3 I thought it was a case of the publisher squeezing every last drop out of a cash cow. When I discovered part 1 was 800 pages I got all excited. I read the first one yesterday, a tempo I'd better not keep up :-)
Is there news on the next Wheel of Time book coming out soon?
Mona Lisa Overdrive It's the third part in a trilogy and it's been a while since I read the first two. Gotta remember the significance of some of these people. Gibson's writing style doesn't really help..
I'm waiting for my review copy of Steven Erikson's DUST OF DREAMS (the ninth and penultimate volume of the MALAZAN BOOK OF THE FALLEN). I'm continuing the Pratchett re-read, just finishing PYRAMIDS and going straight into the glorious GUARDS! GUARDS!
Recently finished:
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
What did you make of the trilogy? I've seen enormous variations in people's response to the ending, in particular.
THE TWO GEORGES is my favourite Turtledove novel. Pretty entertaining, quite focused and very clever in places. He should write stand-alone novels more often rather than nine-book mega-series.
Is there news on the next Wheel of Time book coming out soon?
THE GATHERING STORM, Book 12 of the WoT, is releated on 3 November 2009 in both the UK and USA. Book 13 follows in November 2010 and the 14th and final, honest, we-mean-it-this-time book, A MEMORY OF LIGHT, comes out in November 2011.
Blood Meridian- Like most Cormac McCarthy novels I've read, it wasn't so much enjoyed as endured. It's definitely an amazing book that deserves the praise it's received and there are some really beautiful passages of description before another horrific slaughter happens. Cowboys were terrible people, that's what I learned from this novel.
The White Tiger- A satisfying, sardonic look at the realities of life in India. Balram, your tour guide/narrator writes a long missive to the visiting Minister of China about entrepreneurship and his own rise from a servant to a successful business owner. Hint: eavesdropping, murder and blackmail really help.
It's interesting to me how this obsession with D&D that we all share worms its way into everything. I found things to use in both novels for my own games; in Blood Meridian, it's easy to imagine that social bonds between Glanton's band of scalp-hunters as applying to the typical adventuring party/mercenary group. There is no friendship, no attachment: merely proximity. As soon as a comrade can't carry their own weight... well, room for some new blood. The hell they raise in every town they go through also reminds me of some of my own players (though they are much more benign).
The White Tiger and the India presented therein gives me a lot of ideas for a caste-based society (even if India has done away with it on a formal basis). The best description the narrator gives of his society is that of a chicken coop (the poor being the chickens, naturally). They can smell the blood of their slaughtered fellows, their fate lies right above them, but they sit complacently. Why doesn't the far larger lower class rise up against their jailers? "This is a chicken coop patrolled from the inside.", he explains. Peer pressure keeps the individual in line with the group and curtails anyone reaching above their station. The good people at Bioware making Dragon Age already use the caste system for their dwarves, so it's not an original idea. But my players would still probably enjoy it.
I ordered a used copy of "The Blade Itself" and I'm still waiting for it. Went looking for "City of Thieves" to read in the meantime, but my local Barnes and Noble doesn't have it and the idea of paying cover price really bothers me, anyways. So I guess I'll just have to wait.
What did you make of the trilogy? I've seen enormous variations in people's response to the ending, in particular.Recently finished:
- The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie
- Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie
- Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
I like the fact that Abercrombie took every chance to take the opposite tack of what the Stereotypical Fantasy reader would expect. The ending seemed, well, realistic, as opposed to a deus ex machina happy ending. Very well orchestrated.
Blood Meridian- Like most Cormac McCarthy novels I've read, it wasn't so much enjoyed as endured. It's definitely an amazing book that deserves the praise it's received and there are some really beautiful passages of description before another horrific slaughter happens. Cowboys were terrible people, that's what I learned from this novel.
Really? I thought it was a great book, very enjoyable. I was hooked from page 1 and I never wanted to put it down. I can see where you would get the "cowboys are horrible" reaction, but I found it to be a bit more general then that. more like "life is horrible", or "life is full of things we want to avoid". Anyhow, I found the prose and descriptions beautifully written and the conversations engaging. This is a book I recommend to most people who ask me for them.
Blood Meridian- Like most Cormac McCarthy novels I've read, it wasn't so much enjoyed as endured. It's definitely an amazing book that deserves the praise it's received and there are some really beautiful passages of description before another horrific slaughter happens. Cowboys were terrible people, that's what I learned from this novel.Really? I thought it was a great book, very enjoyable. I was hooked from page 1 and I never wanted to put it down. I can see where you would get the "cowboys are horrible" reaction, but I found it to be a bit more general then that. more like "life is horrible", or "life is full of things we want to avoid". Anyhow, I found the prose and descriptions beautifully written and the conversations engaging. This is a book I recommend to most people who ask me for them.
It was a beautifully written book; I guess what I was saying is that it's not really a beach book or light reading by any stretch. I wouldn't say that The Road was a book you enjoy, either. It couldn't be called fun, which is why I say 'endured'. It's like going to see Schindler's List. Powerful? Yeah. Worth seeing? Absolutely. See it twice? Ehh, probably not.
Aristodeimos
(Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Adventure Path, Campaign Setting, Companion, Modules, GameMastery Maps Subscriber)
I'm currently reading "The Man with the Iron Heart" by Harry Turtledove. It's an alternate history WWII story that essentially overlays post-Iraq War insurgency over post-WWII occupation. Haven't finished the book, so I don't have a real opinion to give, but the fact that I'm 300 pages into it and haven't stopped is a good sign.
It was a beautifully written book; I guess what I was saying is that it's not really a beach book or light reading by any stretch. I wouldn't say that The Road was a book you enjoy, either. It couldn't be called fun, which is why I say 'endured'. It's like going to see Schindler's List. Powerful? Yeah. Worth seeing? Absolutely. See it twice? Ehh, probably not.Blood Meridian- Like most Cormac McCarthy novels I've read, it wasn't so much enjoyed as endured. It's definitely an amazing book that deserves the praise it's received and there are some really beautiful passages of description before another horrific slaughter happens. Cowboys were terrible people, that's what I learned from this novel.Really? I thought it was a great book, very enjoyable. I was hooked from page 1 and I never wanted to put it down. I can see where you would get the "cowboys are horrible" reaction, but I found it to be a bit more general then that. more like "life is horrible", or "life is full of things we want to avoid". Anyhow, I found the prose and descriptions beautifully written and the conversations engaging. This is a book I recommend to most people who ask me for them.
Funny you should mention that, 'cuz I actually read most of that book on a beach. Not arguing with you, it's just a funny coincidence. I get your meaning better now I suppose, though "endure" really seems rather negative. Like I endured "In the skin of the Lion" in high school. reading that seemed like work.
...And to be honest, I don't know why i'm still going on about this. I'm probably just subciously procrastinating my term papers by trying to start a fight over a word...That's kinda pathetic.
Finished Matthew Rileys Icestation, and it was the best thing I've read in a long time. If anybody enjoys Military Suspense with lots of action, I highly recomend this one. The guy seems to have a good grasp on how to pull off a plot without insulting the reader.
Riley's a good read. I've read about 4 of his books (including Ice Station) so far and haven't been disapointed yet.
Porn? Really. Reviews seem pretty mixed. Are some of these stories more worth reading than others? I might cherry-pick based on advice.Soft, as I recall -- like "Cinemax After Dark" or something -- but hardly what you'd call high fantasy. Been years since I read that one, but I remember there was a softcore novella in which the Mouser spent most of his time in something like an imprisonment spell (while Fafhrd made out with some djinn), then there was a very brief non-romance story about a pair of color-coded assassins sent by Death (yawn) -- as if that hadn't already been done to death (yuk) -- and I don't remember what else, if anything. I do distinctly remember thinking that none of the stories really added anything to the saga, and that the whole collection really was better off left out. YMMV.
I'm going to have to agree here. I would pass on that volume.
Taking a break after dropping Book 4 (House of Chains) of the Malazan series by Steven Erikson. I love the series but Karsa Orlong really isnt one of my favorite characters.
Ive returned to the old school goodness of Terry Brooks' Shannara series this summer. Ive reread Sword, Elfstones, and Wishsong. Im currently about 1/3 way into Scions. Relaxing reads.
Recently attempted (2nd attempt) Off Armageddon Reef by David Weber. Im giving up on this one, way too long winded with semi-dull narrative.
Finished Matthew Rileys Icestation, and it was the best thing I've read in a long time. If anybody enjoys Military Suspense with lots of action, I highly recomend this one. The guy seems to have a good grasp on how to pull off a plot without insulting the reader.Riley's a good read. I've read about 4 of his books (including Ice Station) so far and haven't been disapointed yet.I had a very good time reading Ice Station but I thought some of it was really, really stupid. . .
I don't mean that in a totally disparaging way though. I love a good trashy, read sometimes.
I mean, I loved how the action unfolded - it was tight and kept me turning the pages - but some of it was undeniably stupid.** spoiler omitted **
It was like reading a Michael Bay treatment. I did enjoy myself, but it came with a hearty helping of "suspension of disbelief".
Suspension of disbeleif.. absolutly required. When I say insult the reader I mean how some writers will pull something out of their butt at the last few pages just to wrap it up nice and tidy. I did find the things you mentioned silly but eh, I've read dumber plot devices.
I've finally gotten around to reading my Fantasy Masterworks edition of Elric by Michael Moorcock. After the madness of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I needed something a tiny bit more sane.
I've don't think I've ever heard the words 'Elric' and 'sane' being used in the same sentence before ;-)
I've finally gotten around to reading my Fantasy Masterworks edition of Elric by Michael Moorcock. After the madness of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I needed something a tiny bit more sane.I've don't think I've ever heard the words 'Elric' and 'sane' being used in the same sentence before ;-)
Emphasis must be on the Tiny... but Moorcock has written crazier stuff than the Elric Saga, the Cornelius Chronicles, the main character is a functioning and active hermaphrodite
I even heard rumors of an obscure BBC movie based on them....but have been unable to track them down
But its a bit James bond, Austin Powers, Meets Sgt Pepper, Becomes Jesus and gets laid somewhat indiscriminantly
Emphasis must be on the Tiny...I've finally gotten around to reading my Fantasy Masterworks edition of Elric by Michael Moorcock. After the madness of Hunter S. Thompson's Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas I needed something a tiny bit more sane.I've don't think I've ever heard the words 'Elric' and 'sane' being used in the same sentence before ;-)
Got it in one. Compared to Fear and Loathing, it IS sane. But only just.