Finished the Earthsea trilogy last night with The Farthest Shore: Good stuff. Don't care for her views on life/death from my own metaphysical convictions, but a good yarn. I think The Tombs of Atuan is probably my favorite of the three. Hooray for used paperbacks under a buck!
Does he own, say, a second class winery?
Almost finished The Fall (Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro)...a very good read!
Getting close to finishing A Spell for Chameleon.
Finished The Deed of Paksenarrion. Wow, that must have been the fastest 1024 pages I have ever read! Great stuff, would like to thank the readers on this board for suggesting it or else I would have missed this one completely. Definitely one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. Some great nods to D&D; (besides the obvious paladin stuff) a little bit of Hommlet, Lloth, drow, druids, St. Cuthbert and even a baelnorn. Page turning delight!
I had the exact same thing. You just can't put it down.
Elizabeth Moon is, IMO, pretty much like that in all her books. In fact I'd say she is absolutely my favorite 'guilty pleasure' novelist.
A reading Mote in Gods Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle,I love this book; try reading "Gripping Hand."
Frig...just read everything if both of these guys wrote it. But yeah - Mote in God's Eyewas just unreal in how good it is. I mean its been 20+ years sense I read it...I don't remember half the titles I've read in that time but I'm sure this would be in the top 25 or so.
Trying to burn through Erikson's Memories of Ice (Yah, right) to get to Guillermo Del Toro's The Strain.
Yeah I'm currently re-reading Garden's of the Moon because everyone I know tells me its awesome so I must have some how missed it the first time. Sadly I'm kind of missing it the second time as well. I like some parts and am less thrilled with others. It often seems to be confusing just for the sake of it.
Re-reading George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, just got into A Feast for Crows again, remembering why I liked it so much.
Will you let me in on the secret?
Actually my complaint is he has the same friggen disease as half the fantasy writers out there. He can't manage to get to the plot. I loved the first book as I thought it did a phenominal job of setting up the world...and then the second just kind of continued on teh same vein, obscene amounts happen but the story never really progresses, the third is basically the same.
Robert Jordan had the same problem as do a ton of Fantasy Authors in my opinion. Personally I think an author should have a basic idea of what there story is about and the main plot thrusts before they ever start...otherwise we get these wandering narratives that turn into not particularly good soaps as the author meanders around with no real idea of where (s)he is actually going.
An example of how to tell a story would be Tad Williams Otherland series. Its big, four large books but it does a reasonably good job of constantly advancing the plot from the start to the finish.
Besides occasionally trying to grind through Gardens of the Moon and slowly falling ever further behind in reading Paizo APs I'm reading Chris Wickerman's The Inheritance of Rome: A history of Europe from 400-1000 AD.
Picked it up because I'd always been curios 'just what happened to the people of the Roman Empire after it collapsed?
Besides occasionally trying to grind through Gardens of the Moon and slowly falling ever further behind in reading Paizo APs I'm reading Chris Wickerman's The Inheritance of Rome: A history of Europe from 400-1000 AD.
Picked it up because I'd always been curios 'just what happened to the people of the Roman Empire after it collapsed?
The Disappearing Spoon by Sam Kean. A not-too-heavy look at the periodic table with lots of entertaining stories about it and the elements. No, really, it's very interesting and entertaining.
The Einarinn series by Juliet McKenna. Going through old books, trying to decide which ones to keep, so now I'm on book 4....
I'm currently reading two books:
The Triumph of the Sun by Wilbur Smith (Fall of Khartoum, 1885 in the Sudan, fictional heroic adventure novel set with the Mahdist-British war as a background)
Day of Infamy by Harry Turtledove, what if alternate history book about what would have happened had the Japanese followed up the Pearl Harbor attack with a seaborne invasion of Hawaii.
I just finished the first three Dresden Files books, with Grave Peril today. I can't wait for the store to receive the others in the series. Whoot!
and btw, Bob is my favorite character.
Reading Conn Iggluden's Wolf of the Plains series about Ghengis Khan. The first book was startling good, but the second, Lords of the Bow, cannot carry the story with the same amount of steam. About halfway through; hopefully it will pick up.
Recently finished Revelation Space, found it to be semi-"meh". Some parts made me feel like I had to have a Phd in astronomy to get past some parts.
Currently back into the Malazan series, book #4 House of Chains. Love Erikson's series.
I'm reading Bram Stoker's Dracula.
Reading Conn Iggluden's Wolf of the Plains series about Ghengis Khan. The first book was startling good, but the second, Lords of the Bow, cannot carry the story with the same amount of steam. About halfway through; hopefully it will pick up.
I did almost the exact thing. The second book just lost me. I haven't picked it back up yet since I put it down a while ago.
Well, besides my oral reading, I've added I, Strahd for silent reading. Might as well vamp on out.
Finished the Earthsea trilogy last night with The Farthest Shore: Good stuff. Don't care for her views on life/death from my own metaphysical convictions, but a good yarn. I think The Tombs of Atuan is probably my favorite of the three. Hooray for used paperbacks under a buck!
My favorite of the three is also The Tombs. I think I like it the most because it is the most atypical fantasy story of the original three. Oddly enough, when I passed them around my gaming group and friendship circle, The Tombs was everybody else's least favorite.
I would recommend all of the rest of the Earthsea books she wrote as well. Just be warned: there is a huge difference in tone and the concerns become much more adult.
Also, I would also recommend an old collection of her essays called The Language of the Night. It served me as a guidebook to early (Lord Dunsany to the 1960s) fantasy and sci-fi novels and also introduced the concept of a Socialist Hobbit Party, which I thought was funny.
I'm currently reading two books:
The Triumph of the Sun by Wilbur Smith (Fall of Khartoum, 1885 in the Sudan, fictional heroic adventure novel set with the Mahdist-British war as a background)
Day of Infamy by Harry Turtledove, what if alternate history book about what would have happened had the Japanese followed up the Pearl Harbor attack with a seaborne invasion of Hawaii.
"The Innovation Playbook" by Nicholas Webb. Very good.
In service,
Rich
www.drgames.org
Currently reading World Without End, Ken Folliet on breaks at work and Terry Brooks Druid of Shannara at home. I'm re-reading all of Terry's books right now because I introduced them to my wife; she is hooked on them and wants to talk to me about them so I need to refresh my memory.
For an English class I'm enrolled in I recently read a bunch of books by Zora Neale Hurston: Mules and Men (collection of African-American folklore), Dust Tracks on a Road (her autobiography) and Their Eyes Were Watching God (considered her masterpiece and pretty awesome if you like books about love instead of swords).
For fun I recently started the John Carter of Mars series by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
I link these two authors because, well, genre preference aside ZNH's got ERB beat on all levels. I can understand that ERB is important for helping to establish a genre that we all love and adore, but honestly the guy's writing is pretty lackluster. Can't say that I could recommend reading him except for historical interest. I know Moorcock spent some time hashing out ERB's universe early on and I don't understand why he'd bother.
This quote ...
"Teen girls of the world, I don't blame you. Vampire fiction is the junk food of our literary diets; we can only go so long without another fix. But there are better ways to curb the cravings than the watered-down, unfeminist, plotless, wooden daydreams of Mrs. Meyer. This list is to help you get some more nutrition in your undead reading"
... lead me to this link ...
So now I just started Hotel Transylvania by Chelsea Quinn Yarbro
A Shorter History of Rome by M. Cary and John Wilson. Short, to the point and full of military campaigns. What Rome should be.
Dexter is Delicious, by Jeff Lindsay. Next up: The Historian, by Elizabeth Kostova.
Right now, I'm reading Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons.
One of the secondary villains is a mind-vampire named the Reverend James Sutter. Terrifying.
That book is excellent.
The Rev. James Sutter is, indeed, a scary piece of work.
I just finished Small Jobs; the Dresden files anthology of short stories; has one story that takes place right after Changes; man, I am burning for the next book in the Series; this cliffhanger is down right cruel to us fans.
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Best American Nonrequired Reading 2010
Excellent anthology; gathered from a variety of venues, nicely collected.
my little one, my wife, and i are working our way through the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. it's pretty good so far. we've even tossed around the idea of some classical-greek gaming.
I am thinking of reading all of those; thanks for the heads up; I studied lot of history in college; so know lot of Greek and Roman and Egypt stuff so can point you to some stuff if you like. hehe most of our monsters come from Pliny's encyclopedia; the first encyclopedia ever, but by our standards; fiction; but was written with an Imperial Grant.
my little one, my wife, and i are working our way through the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. it's pretty good so far. we've even tossed around the idea of some classical-greek gaming.
I am thinking of reading all of those; thanks for the heads up; I studied lot of history in college; so know lot of Greek and Roman and Egypt stuff so can point you to some stuff if you like. hehe most of our monsters come from Pliny's encyclopedia; the first encyclopedia ever, but by our standards; fiction; but was written with an Imperial Grant.
i downloaded New Argonauts from here awhile back, and now i'm thinking i'll be able to put it to good use for a short campaign.
what is the storyline here? are you enjoying it?
Romulus, My Father by Raimond Gaita.
For class I've recently read: Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man (pretty awesome on the whole) and August Wilson's Ma Rainey's Black Bottom (pretty alright).
For fun I finished Tom Geoghegan's Which Side Are You On?: Trying to be For Labor When It's Flat on Its Back which had a bunch of recent (70s-80s) labor history of which I wasn't aware. Of particular interest to me was the story of the destruction of the American steel industry and the fact that the Teamsters only got the right to vote for International union officers in 1989 because of not-yet-mayor Giuliani's anti-mob lawsuits.
Oh, and now I'm reading Roger Lancelyn Green's Myths of the Norsemen. RLG was one of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis's associates in the Inklings who wrote a series of mythological books for children: Tales of the Greek Heroes, The Trojan War, Tales of Ancient Egypt, etc. All of the ones that I've read so far are highly recommended as both introductions to the subject matter (although toned down for children) and as a refresher for those who already know (some of these Viking myths I've never read before).
With William Gibson's new one out, I'm going back and re-reading Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. Just finished PR today and liked it even more than when it first came out.
Funny thing is, since the technological jumps in the last twenty years, PR feels like every other William Gibson book even though I don't think you can call it sci-fi.
Anyone else like this book?
Just finished Whisper of Venom and am making my way through Towers of Midnight
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I am currently reading
John Irvings: Last night on Twisted River; I love this author though I would say I am having trouble getting through this novel until many of his previous ones.
Blackout: Connie Willis: started this and then put it down.
Stardust: Joseph Kanon: not sure what I think about it yet.
James Sutter: Pathfinder Chronicles City of Stangers: I think this is well done but I am not finished yet.
I just finished:
Spies of the Balkans: Alan Furst : enjoyable read I like his character development and if you like the spy novel from the WWII era I would suggest this. He creates vivid characters and is historically pretty well on track you get a good feeling of the time period.
I finished the Strahd book weeks ago, but Dracula took longer since I was reading it aloud to Mrs. M. We quite enjoyed Dracula. Now I'm reading Gollancz's big Leigh Brackett anthology. Go-o-od.
Just finished The Power of One, at my wife's insistence.
Next on the list is Krista Tippett's Einstein's God: Conversations About Science and the Human Spirit , sent to me by Jerry Coyne as a gag.
"Heartstone", by C.J Sansom and "Slaget om Kursk, Historiens största Pansarslag"
Just finished Why We Suck by Dr. Denis Leary. Still reading Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere.
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With William Gibson's new one out, I'm going back and re-reading Pattern Recognition and Spook Country. Just finished PR today and liked it even more than when it first came out.
Funny thing is, since the technological jumps in the last twenty years, PR feels like every other William Gibson book even though I don't think you can call it sci-fi.
Anyone else like this book?
Yes, really like Pattern Recognition.
I'm halfway through his latest one, Zero History, and I feel the same though I would categorise it as making the contemporary feel like science fiction. He manages to do that with technology, culture and even places. A lot of the book is set in London and even though most days I'm in the places he describes they still feel different.
"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. :-)
