"tailchaser's song" by tad williams. i'm about 2/3 through it, and enjoying it very much. highly recommended for fans of fantasy and cats. :-)
I'll second that recommendation! I loved Tailchaser's Song but freakin' loathed most of what else Williams has written oddly enough.
I'm currently reading Sandersen's Warbreaker and Tanya Huff's Valor's Choice. Both are very good.
"tailchaser's song" by tad williams. i'm about 2/3 through it, and enjoying it very much. highly recommended for fans of fantasy and cats. :-)I'll second that recommendation! I loved Tailchaser's Song but freakin' loathed most of what else Williams has written oddly enough.
i can understand disliking williams' "memory, sorrow, and thorn" series, as it can be a little boring, but i enjoyed it.
i just finished "tailchaser's song." it was very good, with an unexpected twist at the end. i love when authors do that. :-)
Now I'm reading Gollancz's big Leigh Brackett anthology. Go-o-od.
Finished. Now I'll have to be on the lookout for my next LB fix.
In the mean time, James Branch Cabell's Figures of Earth.
i gave up on frank herbert's "dune" after 60 pages. it seemed oddly written and never really grabbed me.[/blasphemy]
now i'm on china mieville's "perdido street station." 150 pages in, and enjoying it. it's equally strange and fascinating.
i gave up on frank herbert's "dune" after 60 pages. it seemed oddly written and never really grabbed me.[/blasphemy]
now i'm on china mieville's "perdido street station." 150 pages in, and enjoying it. it's equally strange and fascinating.
Strange -- I had the exact opposite reaction. Dune grabbed me right away. Perdido Street -- I was so sick of boffing bug-ladies within 2 pages I din't want to continue. But I forced myself to go on... only to find that, halfway into the book, I was even less interested than I was at the end of chapter 1.
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Just finished NK Jemisin's "The Broken Kingdoms," sequel to "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms." It wasn't quite as good as the first, but that's not as bad as it might sound--since the first was really, incredibly good there's a whole lot of room to be worse than that and still excellent (which TBK was).
I was so sick of boffing bug-ladies within 2 pages I din't want to continue.
that's my favorite part. :-D
The Mask of Command by Sir John Keegan... Keegan is one of the worlds formost Military Historians and has a chair at Sandhurst, the British Military Academy. The Book itself is an in depth analysis of commanders and their style of leadershipfrom Alexander the Great to the Modern Post Nuclear Commander. Its a fantastic book filled with gems and wisdom from some of the greatest military minds of the ages.
For a class I read The Piano Lesson by August Wilson and am now reading Fences by the same playwright.
For fun I am halfway through two different books: From Columbus to Castro: A History of the Caribbean by Eric Williams and Julius Caesar by Michael Grant.
Not terribly surprised to find out that Caesar was a douchebag.
I M Davis's The Black Douglas. Fascinating background on Robert The Bruce's right hand man.
I'm finishing Machine of Death, a collection of short stories about (oddly enough) a device that can predict how an individual will die. Has anyone read it yet? I searched the boards, but nothing was returned. It contains a story by our very own James L. Sutter. I read his story last night and thought it was excellent. Surprisingly hopeful in a book about mortality, kind of refreshing. So if you see this message, Mr. Sutter - very nice work!
I get a lot of downtime at work so in the last few weeks I've read:
Catopolis - Anthology (short stories about cats by great fantasy authors, what's not to love?)
The Prince of Wolves - Fantasy (excellent)
The Name of the Wind - Fantasy (one of my current favorites)
The Left Hand of God - Fantasy (it was okay; I'll likely get the sequels)
Burton and Swineburne in the Strange Affair of Spring Heeled Jack - Steampunk/Historical Re-Write/Time Traveling Shenanigans (I highly recommend it...best villians ever!)
The Cat in the Cradle - Fantasy/Slight Romance (on the short side, but very enjoyable)
Magebound - Fantasy/Romance/Soft Erotica (very good, not for everyone's tastes though)
Volle - Fantasy/Romance/Political Intrigue/Stronger Erotica (only halfway through, but very good, also not for everyone)
2E Night Below Campaign Box - D&D campaign (dusting it off and running it again starting this weekend, have to keep brushing up)
And as soon as I finish what I'm working on now I'll be reading through Winter Witch.
I think that's about it for recent reads.
Almost forgot that I just finished 'The Magicians' by Lev Grossman, as well. Great book, terrible ending.
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I finished James Barclay's "Ravensoul" yesterday, the last book of "Legends of the Raven". Good heroic action fantasy.
The first two books of the "Chronicles of the Raven" lost a bit (in my eyes) because of the diverse point of views adapted in the story. I would have liked a more coherent approach to center the attention on the main characters of the story, but after the third book you get acquainted with the characters and the style of storytelling.
Recommended!
I still rate other books as "Highly recommended" (e.g. Brent Weeks - Way of Shadows) or "Highest possible recommendation" (Iain Banks - Player of Games, Dune, Ender's Game etc.).
Up the plate: the next Xanth novel (haven't read one for more than 3 years).
"Homage to Catalonia" George Orwell
...James Branch Cabell's Figures of Earth.
And finished. Not sure what I'll pick up next. Maybe the new PS book.
Been plowing through the Sharpe series by Bernard Cornwell. On the twelfth book now and I have to say it is a great adventure series that makes me want to know more about the Napoleonnic Wars.
How do you do that without Sean Bean to help? J/K ;)
For me, he's also the Scottish Lord. Not that I'd brag about seeing him in Shakespeare's Scottish Play.
For me, he's also the Scottish Lord. Not that I'd brag about seeing him in Shakespeare's Scottish Play.You a braggart? Never! ;)
That is something I'd dearly love to see myself.
I know! So silly, right?
The Lady was an actress that was new to me, but she supplied Grade A B&$~#. Just what the Poet ordered.
"Homage to Catalonia" George Orwell
!Viva la POUM!
Never understood everyone who uses Boermir as their reference for Sean Bean. For me, he's Richard Sharpe.
For me, he's a crooked real estate developer who murders little girls. YMMV.
"Homage to Catalonia" George Orwell!Viva la POUM!
A las barricadas! :)
Picked up a few used books in the 25 cent bin at a St. Vincent DePaul center.
Also stopped at a Barnes and Nobles and bought The Unwritten because it looked interesting.
Now to figure out which one to start....
Currently re-reading Dexter in the Dark by Jeff Lindsay. Also reading On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M.D. (I've got a daughter due in April!)
Knights in History and Legend by Constance Brittain Bouchard. Huge book, could double as my coffee table but has some great tidbits of information on knighthood, the origins of chivalry, and some fantastic pictures. Looking forward to analyzing it to death.
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Steven Brust's Brokedown Palace.
Also reading On Becoming Babywise by Gary Ezzo, M.A. and Robert Bucknam, M.D. (I've got a daughter due in April!)
Congratulations! Babies are a lot of work but a lot of fun, too.
I feel that I'd be remiss if I didn't point out that there's a lot of disagreement/controversy about whether Mr. Ezzo has any idea of what he's talking about with respect to children and/or whether his advice is more likely to be harmful than helpful. I'll leave it to you to Google up the discussions on that topic or not and make up your own mind as you see fit.
I just restarted the Petaybee series myself.
Full Dark, No Stars- Stepehen King
The Book Of Joby
Re-reading American Gods in the next week or so after I finish Full Dark.
Steven Brust's Brokedown Palace.Made more sense to me once I listened to the grateful dead song.
Good call. I don't know if it makes more sense, since I'm not done, but definitely a good call on the song.
Well, I liked Brust. And now I'm liking Elaine Cunningham's tale.
The Securities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418, related national instruments, and Securities Regulation in Canada by Mark Gillen.
I've sold that book before - but I'd never dream if reading it.
I'm reading the Library if World Religions volume on Protestantism at the moment.
The Securities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418, related national instruments, and Securities Regulation in Canada by Mark Gillen.
I've sold that book before - but I'd never dream if reading it.
I'm reading the Library if World Religions volume on Protestantism at the moment.
...And now I'm liking Elaine Cunningham's tale.Just finished Winter Witch today. I felt the plot was very weak.
I also finished today, and am curious about your reaction: not that I thought it was the most intricate plot, but for the sake of conversation.
The Dubliners by James Joyce
Goo-ood.
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I also finished today, and am curious about your reaction: not that I thought it was the most intricate plot, but for the sake of conversation....And now I'm liking Elaine Cunningham's tale.Just finished Winter Witch today. I felt the plot was very weak.
I think any story that introduces a plot device like an ability to control and rewrite (redraw) reality is a poor idea. This is a game breaker. What stops him from having Skywing describe Silvana and Majeed Nores to him so he can just draw them opening a nearby door and, poof!, there they are. Sure, it would be a short book and a s**+ty story, but that's what the author has created with just such a plot device.
This is just like introducing a ring of wishes.
"Here, have a ring of wishes. It will grant any wish you have."
"Great! I want a pony and a red flyer wagon and a super model and a space ship and..."
"Whoa! Whoa! That's too much. Uh, let's see... it will only grant you three wishes."
"Oh, okay, then my first wish is for more wishes."
"What?! No, no, that's not right. Actually it grants three wishes but not any wishes for more wishes."
So, Cunningham doesn't skip 300 pages by using the ability as any half wit would, but she leaves the reader asking why not?
Another plot hole is why Mareshka was sniffing around Declan in the first place. Would you spend time creating a cover identity and getting into position in the household of the child(ren) of your former mentor that left decades ago and who you know for a fact has died and whose soul is apparently now in your staff? Why? You have known ahead of time that his brother (the one who seemed more interested in spellcasting) is dead and that he has turned away from spellcasting. What is the motivation for such intense scrutiny and interest?
I don't read Elaine Cunningham and before this book I could have told you why. Today I earned my reason. What's worse is that I can't say it's her fault. It could just as easily have been her ghost writer.
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The Securities Act, R.S.B.C. 1996, c. 418, related national instruments, and Securities Regulation in Canada by Mark Gillen.
I've sold that book before - but I'd never dream if reading it.
I'm reading the Library if World Religions volume on Protestantism at the moment.
The Gillen book isn't bad but its a bit out of date, he needs to put out a new edition. It's not rocket science or anything, very approachable book.
I have moved on to The History and Law of Fisheries by Stuart A Moore and Hubert Stuard Moore - London 1903. It is a thrill a minute. First a commons in piscary and then woosh on the next page an exclusive fishery severed from the underlying solum and sold as a profit a prendre!
I am a free man friday at 4 pm.