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I just read Nothing to Lose a Jack Reacher novel because I watched the Jack Reacher movie and despite Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise there were parts of the film I enjoyed and found the character interesting. Yet when I read the book I became less enthused.
Also reading Donna Leon's detective Brunetti's series a [i]A Venetian Reckoning 9/i] I am liking this book better. Interesting to read and get a glimpse of the 1990's time period from someone else's view I was actually over in Europe at the time period and it was fun to reminisce some.
I just finished The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker.
I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.
Moby Dick is absolutely hilarious social commentary. I wish somebody had told me that years ago. It's one of my favorites.
Kudos to CH for managing Steinbeck. We had to read The Red Pony and The Chrysanthemums in high school. I was so horribly depressed by both of them that I haven't ventured into his work again.
I broke down and bought The Lies of Locke Lamora yesterday based on several enthusiastic recommendations. We'll see how it goes. Little Locke has just grown up, so I'm not all that far into the book.
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Moby Dick is absolutely hilarious social commentary. I wish somebody had told me that years ago. It's one of my favorites.
Really? I have not read it. I suppose after a bunch of Faulkner last year, and given that I am about to undertake some Steinbeck, I really shouldn't feel intimidated by Moby Dick, but for some reason I do.
I just finished The Golem and the Jinni by Helene Wecker.
I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.
I did enjoy the series so far by PR. I await the third book and hope it is as adventurous as the second.
I'm reading 10% happier by Dan Harris.
I just read Nothing to Lose a Jack Reacher novel because I watched the Jack Reacher movie and despite Tom Cruise being Tom Cruise there were parts of the film I enjoyed and found the character interesting. Yet when I read the book I became less enthused.
Nothing to Lose, A Wanted Man, Bad Luck and Trouble, Running Blind, and Killing Floor are, by a very wide margin, the absolute worst of the bunch, IMHO.
My favorites were The Affair, 61 Hours, The Hard Way, One Shot, Persuader, and The Enemy.
Child is a very inconsistent writer. None of his novels would ever qualify as literature, but that said, the difference in quality from the worst to best is a far greater range than I'm used to, and so it's always with trepidation I pick up a new one: I might love it and finish it in a sitting, I might enjoy it but find it unremarkable, or I might hate it and wish he'd stop writing.
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I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.
One of the most painful books I've ever read. Feels a lot like bad fan fiction for the first book. I'm not feeling confidant about the third book being good, at all. That's really sad because the first book I read with a constant smile on my face.
Just started "The Blade Itself" by J. Abercrombie, because of all of the rave reviews from everyone. I'm reading it as a break between books 2 and 3 of Otherland, and as such it serves it's purpose very well - it's action packed, fast paced, witty filler. As a fantasy novel, though, I find it lacking in several ways. Still a fun read.
One of the most painful books I've ever read.
I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.
Mostly because of how heavy it is. I swear to God, I'm going to be so much stronger after I'm done reading it.
I should probably eat lots of protein to build muscle mass.
;-)
PS
I like the Abercrombie books. Richard K Morgan has a kind of similar fantasy series that's real good too.
I've found the Rothfuss books are very, very prone to dramatic different levels of enjoyment from person to person. Some people love them dearly. Some consider them absolute failures. And some like one but loathe the other, like Snow here.
The guy who introduced me to him loved Wise Man's Fear just as much as he did Name of the Wind and I have a feeling I probably will too if only because our tastes in books are similar.
I broke down and bought The Lies of Locke Lamora yesterday based on several enthusiastic recommendations. We'll see how it goes. Little Locke has just grown up, so I'm not all that far into the book.
I hope you enjoy it -- it's one of my favourite recent reads.
Currently I'm reading Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry and Amongst Thieves by Douglas Hulick.
I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.One of the most painful books I've ever read. Feels a lot like bad fan fiction for the first book. I'm not feeling confidant about the third book being good, at all. That's really sad because the first book I read with a constant smile on my face.
Just started "The Blade Itself" by J. Abercrombie, because of all of the rave reviews from everyone. I'm reading it as a break between books 2 and 3 of Otherland, and as such it serves it's purpose very well - it's action packed, fast paced, witty filler. As a fantasy novel, though, I find it lacking in several ways. Still a fun read.
I've just started The Name of the Wind, so hopefully I'll enjoy it.
I really enjoyed The Blade Itself, but wasn't 100% sold on it until right at the end. The final scenes with Logan are brilliant, and I felt that Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings were really strong continuations of the story.
Haven't read any of the stand alone books set in the same world yet, from memory there's three of them. Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country.
Finished The Crimson Campaign. Still working on Well of Ascension, and picked up Warbreaker.
I broke down and bought The Lies of Locke Lamora yesterday based on several enthusiastic recommendations. We'll see how it goes. Little Locke has just grown up, so I'm not all that far into the book.I hope you enjoy it -- it's one of my favourite recent reads.
Currently I'm reading Code Zero by Jonathan Maberry and Amongst Thieves by Douglas Hulick.
Agreed on the Lies of Locke Lamora, I absolutely loved it. Really enjoyed Red Seas Under Red Skies as well, had some brilliant moments in it, I particularly enjoyed the moment when
“Tonight is delicate business. Misstepping in Port Prodigal after midnight is like pissing on an angry snake. I need – “
“Ahem. Originally, we’re from Camorr.”
“Oh. Be on the boat in five minutes.”
I know a lot of my friends didn't like the constant flashbacks and side stories, but I thought they really helped set the tone and scene. The one about handball in the first book is great, gave a perfect understanding of how the Camorri think.
I'm a bit wary of picking up Republic of Thieves, I've heard really mixed reviews of it... guess I'll have to read it at some point if I want to continue with the series though, assuming we don't end up with a massive gap between books again.
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I just started The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss.One of the most painful books I've ever read. Feels a lot like bad fan fiction for the first book. I'm not feeling confidant about the third book being good, at all. That's really sad because the first book I read with a constant smile on my face.
Just started "The Blade Itself" by J. Abercrombie, because of all of the rave reviews from everyone. I'm reading it as a break between books 2 and 3 of Otherland, and as such it serves it's purpose very well - it's action packed, fast paced, witty filler. As a fantasy novel, though, I find it lacking in several ways. Still a fun read.
I've just started The Name of the Wind, so hopefully I'll enjoy it.
I really enjoyed The Blade Itself, but wasn't 100% sold on it until right at the end. The final scenes with Logan are brilliant, and I felt that Before They Are Hanged and Last Argument of Kings were really strong continuations of the story.
Haven't read any of the stand alone books set in the same world yet, from memory there's three of them. Best Served Cold, The Heroes and Red Country.
Does the worldbuilding ever get any better than it is in the start of the first book? because so far it's a collection of fairly standard medieval tropes with no new twist whatsoever... but then again, maybe it's just me being spoiled by Sanderson when I expect anything more than that of a fantasy setting...
I think the real strength of The First Law trilogy is actually the characters rather than the world. It really is just meant to be a gritty fantasy world.
That said, they do go into more of the history and magic of it in the next two books, and I really enjoyed how it developed. Don't expect anything on the scale of the Mistborn or Stormlight Archive settings though.
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I think the real strength of The First Law trilogy is actually the characters rather than the world. It really is just meant to be a gritty fantasy world.
That said, they do go into more of the history and magic of it in the next two books, and I really enjoyed how it developed. Don't expect anything on the scale of the Mistborn or Stormlight Archive settings though.
That's a useful answer, thanks :)
If we are at it, here's advice for the Name of the Wind - it's one of the most fun books, ever, if you can embrace the fact that the main character is a Mary Sue instead of being annoyed at it. See it as the entire point of the story, and you'll see that this is about the best variation of the Mary Sue concept ever made.
Hah, yeah I was kind of thinking that when I read the back of the book this morning. I picked it up as part of a "3 for 2" sale a store here had on the books that made some yearly list of most popular books, didn't even look at it at the time since I'd been told to read it by so many people.
Actually while I think of it, there was another book that made the list which I've already read, and would recommend highly. The Night Circus. Fantasy, but very subdued fantasy set in Victorian England. The best way to describe it is as a fairy tale, about a contest held between two magicians, using their apprentices as proxies. The apprentices constantly try to outdo each other with their works of magic, using them to build and maintain the Circus of Dreams, a circus that travels unpredictably and opens only at night.
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Formerly local girl makes good!
Has anybody read 'Ancillary Justice'? With it winning the Clarke and Nebula awards, it sounds promising.
I'm finishing up a Star Wars book called "Kenobi," about Obi-Wan/Ben's experiences shortly after going into exile on Tatooine. The author chose to write it in "Western" style, so it reads like an Old West novel in space. I thought it was quite appropriate given the tone of the original trilogy, and the book *really* fits with the day-to-day life scenes in the first act of "Star Wars."
Finished reread of Barker's Imagica, and promptly statted up Nullianacs, Oethacs, and Gek-a-Gek.
Am considering tackling Sam Harris' The Moral Landscape next.
I'm finishing up a Star Wars book called "Kenobi," about Obi-Wan/Ben's experiences shortly after going into exile on Tatooine. The author chose to write it in "Western" style, so it reads like an Old West novel in space. I thought it was quite appropriate given the tone of the original trilogy, and the book *really* fits with the day-to-day life scenes in the first act of "Star Wars."
Your post marks the first time in over a decade I've felt real interest in any Star Wars book.
What would you say to someone like me, with almost no knowledge of the SW extended universe? I saw the 6 movies, and read half a dozen or so of the early novels, and that's about it. I've never even seen anything from the "Clone Wars" animated series. Would you mention any source as good for providing background for this "Kenobi" book, or will the 6 movies suffice?
(I have almost no knowledge of Westerns either, but I'm sure that's OK. Heh.)
Moving through Elaine Cunningham's Windwalker trilogy. For non-fiction, a biography of Duke Ellington. Makes me want to go and (re)listen to the records, so must be alright...
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Your post marks the first time in over a decade I've felt real interest in any Star Wars book.
I am usually not one to recommend books I haven't read yet myself, BUT... I am a huge fan of the amazing duo who wrote "Leviathan's Wake", James S. A. Corey (in reality Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank), and they recently did a critically acclaimed Star Wars story about Han Solo between movies 4 and 5. It might be worth a look.
Formerly local girl makes good!
Has anybody read 'Ancillary Justice'? With it winning the Clarke and Nebula awards, it sounds promising.
I'm still waiting on my Hugo Award voting packet, but sadly Orbit decided to include only excerpts from its 3 nominated novels (which includes Ancillary Justice). And of the other 2 nominees, I've already read one, and the other is the entire Wheel of Time series, which I'm not keen on tackling. Hopefully the novella/novelette entries make it worth the membership fee.
I recently started reading Player of Games from Ian Banks' Culture series, but it's just sooooo slooooow. I probably won't pick it up again.
It's actually really good - I highly recommend it, if you can get through the slow part.
Ian Banks' writing, from what I've read of it, is very much so like that in general. His stuff - although containing action on occasion - is very much so more involved with the people and their feelings and ideas and how those interact.
Really great stuff.
EDIT: Bother. Lousy Alias getting set as my default for a game... sigh.
It's actually really good - I highly recommend it, if you can get through the slow part.
Ian Banks' writing, from what I've read of it, is very much so like that in general. His stuff - although containing action on occasion - is very much so more involved with the people and their feelings and ideas and how those interact.
Really great stuff.
Well, he already spent the first 20-25% of the book just setting up the blackmail scheme to get the protagonist involved in the plot. That's like 120 pages just for one lousy blackmail, padded with long stretches of ennui. Blech.
Your post marks the first time in over a decade I've felt real interest in any Star Wars book.
What would you say to someone like me, with almost no knowledge of the SW extended universe? I saw the 6 movies, and read half a dozen or so of the early novels, and that's about it. I've never even seen anything from the "Clone Wars" animated series.
I have to admit that, after being wheedled mercilessly until I broke down and read Zahn's "Thrawn" trilogy some time ago, I ended up enjoying them quite a bit. Those are the only Star Wars books I've read, however, and will probably remain so.
What would you say to someone like me, with almost no knowledge of the SW extended universe? I saw the 6 movies, and read half a dozen or so of the early novels, and that's about it. I've never even seen anything from the "Clone Wars" animated series. Would you mention any source as good for providing background for this "Kenobi" book, or will the 6 movies suffice?
The six movies will suffice. Ben namechecks a past affair that was apparently mentioned in the Clone Wars cartoon, but it's not even a minor plot point or anything. It draws heavily on the first part of the original "Star Wars" movie, while taking some of the more important details from the new trilogy. It doesn't read like a lot of other Star Wars books, and that's a good thing.
I have to admit that, after being wheedled mercilessly until I broke down and read Zahn's "Thrawn" trilogy some time ago, I ended up enjoying them quite a bit. Those are the only Star Wars books I've read, however, and will probably remain so.
If you only read one set of Star Wars books, the Thrawn trilogy is the way to go. They are entirely self-contained aside from knowledge of the movies and tell a great story. Too many of the other Star Wars books require reading ten previous books to understand the back story.
Thank you, TarSpartan. I'm sold now.
Has anybody read 'Ancillary Justice'? With it winning the Clarke and Nebula awards, it sounds promising.
It's on my to-read shelf, along with Mira Grant's Parasite (another Hugo nominee). I've only heard good things, and a lot of those have been from people who aren't necessarily huge fans of the SF genre.
Well, he already spent the first 20-25% of the book just setting up the blackmail scheme to get the protagonist involved in the plot. That's like 120 pages just for one lousy blackmail, padded with long stretches of ennui. Blech.It's actually really good - I highly recommend it, if you can get through the slow part.
Ian Banks' writing, from what I've read of it, is very much so like that in general. His stuff - although containing action on occasion - is very much so more involved with the people and their feelings and ideas and how those interact.
Really great stuff.
Yes... but it all comes back. All of it. Everything he set up there that seems entirely unimportant is not unimportant.
You may eventually disagree on whether or not it was "worth" it - which is fine - but he actually wastes nothing, despite any appearance to the contrary.
Thank you, TarSpartan. I'm sold now.
You're welcome. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Taking a break from Virgil et al. to retread The Gulag Archipelago, wanting inspiration for my scarred witch in Way of the Wicked.
Reading A Dance with Dragons, When True Night Falls, The Ogre's Pact, Planeswalker and A Wise Man's Fear at the moment. All in various places, like bed, car, etc.
Eventually need to get back to and finish the last two Dresden Files books.
Island In the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling - neat idea, so far.
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Reading A Dance with Dragons, When True Night Falls, The Ogre's Pact, Planeswalker and A Wise Man's Fear at the moment. All in various places, like bed, car, etc.
Eventually need to get back to and finish the last two Dresden Files books.
I absolutely love When True Night Falls, and the rest of the Coldfire trilogy. I never would have come across them except that one of the students in the high school my mother teaches at left a copy of Black Sun Rising in her colleague's Legal Studies class, and none of the students claimed it after 6 months of her pointing out it was there to every class. So it got sent up to me.
I need to get around to reading the prequel Friedman wrote for it, Dominion, which I'm told is all about how Tarrant became the Hunter.
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[Scans the thread]
John Steinbeck, Patrick Rothfuss, Daniel Abraham, Joe Abercrombie, Virgil, I love all that shiznit.
Got to the issue of The Unwritten which is the choose-your-own-adventure origin story for Lizzie Hexam (of Dickensian fame). I thought it was pretty brilliant, but I wish I had the original issue; in the trade I found it pretty frustrating trying to flip it back and forth. Also makes me feel like I am missing something.
Player of Games is brilliant. I think at least a big part of the idea is that you get a chance to understand how people live in the Culture. I enjoyed it immensely, but I can see where some might think it's slow.
Player of Games is brilliant. I think at least a big part of the idea is that you get a chance to understand how people live in the Culture. I enjoyed it immensely, but I can see where some might think it's slow.
More or less. I've only read a few of Ian's novels, but it's the one that gave me the greatest insight into those who lived in the Culture and how the Culture actually "governs" itself (for whatever that means).
I was simply stunned how everything - everything - comes back and is entirely relevant. It was... really tightly written.
Finished Locke Lamora and truly enjoyed it. I don't know what he plans to do with the characters after this, but it stands alone beautifully. Recommend.
Starting Ancillary Justice now. One chapter and two pages in and I'm very intrigued.
Reading A Dance with Dragons, When True Night Falls, The Ogre's Pact, Planeswalker and A Wise Man's Fear at the moment. All in various places, like bed, car, etc.
Eventually need to get back to and finish the last two Dresden Files books.
I absolutely love When True Night Falls, and the rest of the Coldfire trilogy. I never would have come across them except that one of the students in the high school my mother teaches at left a copy of Black Sun Rising in her colleague's Legal Studies class, and none of the students claimed it after 6 months of her pointing out it was there to every class. So it got sent up to me.
I need to get around to reading the prequel Friedman wrote for it, Dominion, which I'm told is all about how Tarrant became the Hunter.
I never heard of Dominion! I started reading her newest Magister trilogy, and it's also quite excellent (if a bit more... cynical, maybe?), though I was expecting it to be connected to the Cold Fire trilogy at first (I was, from what I can tell, wrong; or if it is, it's so disconnected as to have no real bearing).
I'm a big fan of Friedman in general, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
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Reading A Dance with Dragons, When True Night Falls, The Ogre's Pact, Planeswalker and A Wise Man's Fear at the moment. All in various places, like bed, car, etc.
Eventually need to get back to and finish the last two Dresden Files books.
I absolutely love When True Night Falls, and the rest of the Coldfire trilogy. I never would have come across them except that one of the students in the high school my mother teaches at left a copy of Black Sun Rising in her colleague's Legal Studies class, and none of the students claimed it after 6 months of her pointing out it was there to every class. So it got sent up to me.
I need to get around to reading the prequel Friedman wrote for it, Dominion, which I'm told is all about how Tarrant became the Hunter.
I never heard of Dominion! I started reading her newest Magister trilogy, and it's also quite excellent (if a bit more... cynical, maybe?), though I was expecting it to be connected to the Cold Fire trilogy at first (I was, from what I can tell, wrong; or if it is, it's so disconnected as to have no real bearing).
I'm a big fan of Friedman in general, though, so take that with a grain of salt.
It's my third time through the trilogy, and I loved it. The introduction is absolutely chilling, and the entire concept of the world is really fascinating. I too never have heard of Dominion, but I'll check it out. C.S. Friedman is a female? Just another point in favor of doing away with those nonsensical distinctions between female and male authors.
Also, I'm totally reading Black Sun Rising and not True Night Falls at the moment. Oops.
Friedman's Wiki Page indicates that she is.
I looks like Dominion is exclusively an e-book? I do have to admit: while interesting to see that world again, I didn't think that The Wilding was anywhere near as good as In Conquest Born - it felt much more like a "write by the numbers" book than the other.
I've yet to read Legacy of Kings, but Wings of Wrath leaves so many unanswered questions, I can't really guess how it's going to end.
The Madness Season, This Alien Shore are both exquisitely written. Friedman, like Cherryh, does alien thought very well, compared to many authors (though Cherryh's a bit better at it, I think; but Friedman gets human alien thought extremely well, and creates rather fabulously fantastic worlds).
I don't know how many times I've read the Coldfire Trilogy - at least three or four, though it's been years since my last read-through.
... and, /nerdgush. Sorry.
CS Friedman is CJ Cherryh caliber? Color me intrigued.
CS Friedman is CJ Cherryh caliber? Color me intrigued.
... no. They are very different authors.
Friedman worked on Vampire: The Masquerade games and... strangely enough... it shows in subtle but tangible ways.
That same "vibe" is present somewhere in all of her works, even when they have nothing to do with anything we'd consider vampires (or vampires at all).
It's... a fascinating recurring undercurrent, and not one that I'd be able to name without having noticed that she was part of that gaming company.
That's not to say that she writes gaming-style books. She does not.
But her books and Cherryh's are very, very different.
They simply have a propensity to get inhuman (or very strange human) thinking down very well.
Friedman is more "modern dark fantasy" vibe than anything in Cherryh's style, in general, even when it's not modern and not fantasy.
EDIT: to be clear, I highly recommend her, but if you go in expecting Cherryh 2.0, you'll be disappointed. They're different authors with different styles, with a minor bit of overlap in that they both touch fantasy and science fiction at times. I happen to enjoy both.
Earlier in this thread, I mentioned having read the Dragonlance Chronicles ("Dragons of Autumn Twilight", "Dragons of Winter Night" and "Dragons of Spring Dawning") three times. This trilogy novelized the "DL" series of modules, arguably the first Adventure Path in TSR's history. I said that I was reading "Autumn Twilight" for the fourth time.
That first novel details how the heroes go through the adventures of the first and second modules in that series. The second novel in the trilogy jumps ahead, completely skipping the story of how the heroes overcame the challenges of the third and fourth "DL" modules. I found it disconcerting, the first time I started that second novel.
I didn't mention that when I read the Dragonlance Chronicles for the third time, it was after the publication of "Dragons of the Dwarven Depths", the first book of the Lost Chronicles trilogy. Written about 20 years after the original Chronicles, this book finally detailed the story of the third and fourth DL modules. I was able to finish "Autumn Twilight" and take an aside to read "Dwarven Depths" for the first time, before moving on to "Winter Night".
I liked "Dwarven Depths". I thought it fit into the original Chronicles pretty well. OK, maybe one or two things didn't QUITE jive. For instance...
So recently, when I finished "Autumn Twilight", there was no question that I would cover "Dwarven Depths" a second time. So I am. I'm 95% through it.
(I hated the other two "Lost Chronicles" books, but that's another story.)
I'll confess that I couldn't even finish the other two books. What I hated in what I DID read of book 3 was that...