What Are You Reading?

sxt

Just about to delve into 'Mythago Wood' by Robert Holdstock

kismet80

Just finishing Charlene Harris' Dead until Dawn.
I'm sorry I ever bought it. I got drawn in by peer pressure
It is two parts drivel, one part sex (and not even good at that) and all the rest is utter crap.
How they ever came up with a decent series like True Blood out of it has me completely baffled.

AnCapaillMor

kismet80 wrote: »

Just finishing Charlene Harris' Dead until Dawn.
I'm sorry I ever bought it. I got drawn in by peer pressure
It is two parts drivel, one part sex (and not even good at that) and all the rest is utter crap.
How they ever came up with a decent series like True Blood out of it has me completely baffled.

Same here, the books are like dexter in that the TV shows are 100 times better. Tried 1 or 2 of the others and they were worse.

Lauras5839

I'm currently reading "The Magician's Apprentice" by Trudi Canavan, I'm about a hundred odd pages in and I'm really liking it so far

Macca3000

Lauras5839 wrote: »

I'm currently reading "The Magician's Apprentice" by Trudi Canavan, I'm about a hundred odd pages in and I'm really liking it so far

Love the Black Magician series. I have Magician's Apprentice to read as well and I think her new book is out for the follow on trilogy.

214horatio

im currently reading beatrice and virgil by yann martel, its quite a strange book but i had to read it after reading his masterpiece that being the life of pi.

Lauras5839

@Macca I can see why you like the books so much, I can't put the one I'm reading down! Looking forward to reading her other books too.

I also love Terry Brooks, he's well worth a look too

Macca3000

214horatio wrote: »

im currently reading beatrice and virgil by yann martel, its quite a strange book but i had to read it after reading his masterpiece that being the life of pi.

I'm going to get slaughtered for admitting this but I think I may be the only person who never got what was so wonderful about Life of Pi. Then again I'm also the only person I know who thinks the Alchemist was boring.:(

Lauras5839 wrote: »

@Macca I can see why you like the books so much, I can't put the one I'm reading down! Looking forward to reading her other books too.

I also love Terry Brooks, he's well worth a look too

Yep, really looking forward to the new trilogy. She's almost finished the second book according to her website. Just have Justin Lee Collins' autobiography to get through...

ixoy

Currently on "Lisey's Story" by Stephen King. It's not too much on the horror/fantasy. Not bad although his writing style annoys me at times.

GisforGrenade

I am reading Dragon Haven by Robin Hobb, its brilliant, a proper page turner. It just reminds me how good an author Robin Hobb is with the one exception of the Soldier's Son Trilogy, I really don't know what she was thinking with that series. Generally I have no interest in Dragons as they are a bit of a tired trope but Hobb breaths new life into them, the detail is quite impressive.

OxfordComma

Macca3000 wrote: »

I'm going to get slaughtered for admitting this but I think I may be the only person who never got what was so wonderful about Life of Pi. Then again I'm also the only person I know who thinks the Alchemist was boring.:(

You're not alone! I didn't like Life of Pi at all, personally.

I've actually never read any proper fantasy yet, but I've a copy of Magician sitting on my shelf so I'm going to give that a go. I've heard a lot of good things about it

bonkey

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Is there a set date for Esselmont's new book?

Stonewielder? First Ed due in October. Thats the £99, 300-copy limited edition.

Given that I have first-edition copies of NoK and RoTG, I'm thinking seriously about springing for it....

bonkey

Currently reading Shadows of the Apt series, by Adrian Tchaikovsky.

Pretty good...certainly good enough to buy books 3 and 4...

RocketFalls

The October Country by Mr. Bradbury.
Again. I make a habit of reading that around five times a year. Beautiful piece of work, if not exactly science fiction. Although I've always felt that Bradbury veered more towards the atmospheric, camp-fire sort of storytelling as opposed to the so-called 'hard science fiction' anyway.

Incidentally, has anybody read Kathleen Ann Goonan? I picked up a copy of 'Light Music', and was pretty astounded. Kind of annoyed that it's the fourth book in a cycle, since the others are impossible to come by.
'Nanopunk', I think the genre is called. I recommend it highly.

Zapp Brannigan

bonkey wrote: »

Stonewielder? First Ed due in October. Thats the £99, 300-copy limited edition.

Given that I have first-edition copies of NoK and RoTG, I'm thinking seriously about springing for it....

No way would I spring that amount for Esselmont. Erikson maybe, but not Esselmont.

Woow_Aqualung

The Mote in Gods Eye.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

It is brilliant. Nearly finished. The writting just flows from the pages.

Out of interest how many people have read A Clockwork Orange? It's one of my favourite books, but when I tell people this they give me a look of disgust, and the conversation peters off.

mcgovern

Woow_Aqualung wrote: »

The Mote in Gods Eye.

"And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?"

It is brilliant. Nearly finished. The writting just flows from the pages.

Out of interest how many people have read A Clockwork Orange? It's one of my favourite books, but when I tell people this they give me a look of disgust, and the conversation peters off.

I've read it, and while I enjoyed it, I wouldn't say it was one of my favourites.
Just finished Neal Asher's "Cowl".

El Tarangu

Woow_Aqualung wrote: »

Out of interest how many people have read A Clockwork Orange? It's one of my favourite books, but when I tell people this they give me a look of disgust, and the conversation peters off.

Definitely preferred the film (not too often that you can say that)

ixoy

mcgovern wrote: »

Just finished Neal Asher's "Cowl".

What did you think?

I've just started "Hilldiggers" (also by Neal Asher).

El Tarangu

I've got a book of his called 'Line of Polity' on the bookshelf at home. Can I read that as a stand-alone book, or will it not make sense unless I've read the previous title in the series?

ixoy

El Tarangu wrote: »

I've got a book of his called 'Line of Polity' on the bookshelf at home. Can I read that as a stand-alone book, or will it not make sense unless I've read the previous title in the series?

Read it in sequence as they're definitely connected. Start with "Gridlinked".
The Polity universe has a number of series set within it, including the Agent Cormac series.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

neal stephenson - quicksilver

book shop wasnt able to get the books I ordered, so I just picked this up frmo the shelf. it's quite big so hopefully it's also quite good.

bonkey

Great book. You are aware, I assume, that its the first of a trilogy, and the other two are equally large?

/currently taking a break from sci-fi / fantasy, and re-reading The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins)

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

yeah, i thought the fact that quicksilver itself was made of three 'books' was what the trilogy reference i saw online was referring too but if quicksilver is as good as you say, then 2 more equally large books wont be a problem at all

ixoy

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar wrote: »

yeah, i thought the fact that quicksilver itself was made of three 'books' was what the trilogy reference i saw online was referring too but if quicksilver is as good as you say, then 2 more equally large books wont be a problem at all

It's also very light in terms of science-fiction. Sure it's a fictional novel about the Enlightenment and how science was developed, but don't expect anything like a Steampunk setting or the like. It's rooted in a lot of historical fact.
I found the series at times wonderful but also frustrating. The sheer detail meant the plot got lost at times. It's a very impressive piece of work but I didn't always care to read it.

madrab

Currently reading Xenocide the 3rd book in the enders game series

getting a bit bored of it at the moment, really liked the first one but this one is far too preachy

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

ixoy wrote: »

It's also very light in terms of science-fiction. Sure it's a fictional novel about the Enlightenment and how science was developed, but don't expect anything like a Steampunk setting or the like. It's rooted in a lot of historical fact.
I found the series at times wonderful but also frustrating. The sheer detail meant the plot got lost at times. It's a very impressive piece of work but I didn't always care to read it.

you can sing that, I'm not very far in at all and i'm already varying wildly from enjoying it to finding it a struggle. It feels like i'm reading something written by someone who knows they're a damned good writer, but wants to make sure I'm left with that impression too.

to be honest, I'm considering leaving it aside for now and breaking out tad williams - otherland for a long over due re-read.

bonkey

madrab wrote: »

Currently reading Xenocide the 3rd book in the enders game series

getting a bit bored of it at the moment, really liked the first one but this one is far too preachy

I found that the "original" series really went downhill....Enders Game itself was really the only great book there.

The "Shadow" series, though....that was worthwhile. Again, though, book 1 is the highlight.

Shryke

Reading Inverted World by Christopher Priest. The man deserves so much more recognition. I've read a few of his others already and I've never been dissapointed. The opposite in fact.

Woow_Aqualung

bonkey wrote: »

I found that the "original" series really went downhill....Enders Game itself was really the only great book there.

I hated (And still hate) Enders Game. The writting was too clunky and you could tell that the author loved writting about Ender and his army flying around that battle room.

Thats my two cents.

mcgovern

Now reading Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

josephtoole

Anything by Arthur C. Clarke really. The City and the Stars was probably the best book I've ever read, Rendezvous with Rama was great too. Timestorm with Stephen Baxter I would also recommend.

AVOID The Last Theorem, a collaboration between him and Frederik Pohl. One of the most boring and utterly uninteresting books ever. Avoid.

Woow_Aqualung

josephtoole wrote: »

Anything by Arthur C. Clarke really. The City and the Stars was probably the best book I've ever read, Rendezvous with Rama was great too. Timestorm with Stephen Baxter I would also recommend.

AVOID The Last Theorem, a collaboration between him and Frederik Pohl. One of the most boring and utterly uninteresting books ever. Avoid.

What about 2001:A Space Odessey? I've always considered reading it, but I've heard the film is better.

mcgovern

Woow_Aqualung wrote: »

What about 2001:A Space Odessey? I've always considered reading it, but I've heard the film is better.

I quite enjoyed it and the sequels, though I don't remember much from the sequels so they weren't amazing.

Timestorm that josephtoole is reading, is, I guess, either a mistake or a new edition containing Book 1 (Time's Eye) + Book 2 (Sunstorm) of the Time Odyssey that I'm currently reading the 3rd book of.
Also, The Light of Other Days, another collaboration between Clarke and Baxter, is I think much better than the Time Odyssey series.

Zapp Brannigan

Started The Warrior Prophet last night. Really liked the catch-up at the start as it's been a while since I read the previous book.

mcgovern

mcgovern wrote: »

Now reading Firstborn by Arthur C. Clarke and Stephen Baxter.

Finished this yesterday and actually really enjoyed it, need to order the 4th one now
Started Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss and while it can be quite predictable at times, it's still very good.

Johnny Storm

josephtoole wrote: »

Arthur C. Clarke...The City and the Stars was probably the best book I've ever read,....

It's pretty amazing by any standards (but especially considering how long ago it was written)

ixoy

Currently reading "The Gathering Storm" by Brendan Sanderson (working off notes from Robert Jordan). As it's the 1,345th instalment in the "Wheel of Time" series, it's good to see that it finally seems to be ramping up to an end. There's a bit of pace so far that I hope keeps up.

mcgovern

mcgovern wrote: »

Finished this yesterday and actually really enjoyed it, need to order the 4th one now
Started Non-Stop by Brian Aldiss and while it can be quite predictable at times, it's still very good.

Finished that yesterday, good read
Now onto Line War by Neal Asher.

Trojan

Just finished "The Folding Knife" by KJ Parker. Story of a Machiavellian type ruling a Roman style city. Well written but very fast paced, maybe a bit too fast. I really enjoyed it right up to the end but she did a Gemmell on it and crammed the ending into 40 pages instead of 200.

I'd give it a 5/10, just.

pljudge321

ixoy wrote: »

Currently reading "The Gathering Storm" by Brendan Sanderson (working off notes from Robert Jordan). As it's the 1,345th instalment in the "Wheel of Time" series, it's good to see that it finally seems to be ramping up to an end. There's a bit of pace so far that I hope keeps up.

Next one is out November 2nd. I can't imagine what its like being someone who started the series in 1989 and is still hanging in there.

ixoy

Trojan wrote: »

Just finished "The Folding Knife" by KJ Parker. Story of a Machiavellian type ruling a Roman style city. Well written but very fast paced, maybe a bit too fast. I really enjoyed it right up to the end but she did a Gemmell on it and crammed the ending into 40 pages instead of 200.

How does it compare to the Engineer trilogy? That too featured a Machiavellian type in Vaatzes.
Also curious: What technical angle features here? The Scavenger trilogy had forging, the Engineer trilogy had ... engineering, the Fencer trilogy had... fencing.

I've got Parker's "The Company" on my reading pile, so hopefully it's good.

pljudge321 wrote: »

Next one is out November 2nd. I can't imagine what its like being someone who started the series in 1989 and is still hanging in there.

I started at Book 5 and then filled in Books 1-4. So I reckon that's me going since about 1994 (it was a PB version). Damn that's a long time!

I've been reading Feist longer, since before the publication of "The King's Buccaneer", probably not long after "A Darkness at Sethanon" came out. Reckon about 1990 or so! Damn... that's real long. 23 novels later and I'm still going.

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

How does it compare to the Engineer trilogy? That too featured a Machiavellian type in Vaatzes.
Also curious: What technical angle features here? The Scavenger trilogy had forging, the Engineer trilogy had ... engineering, the Fencer trilogy had... fencing.

Business/macro-economics, but it wasn't as detailed as the Engineer trilogy (which is the only other KJP I've read).

It was much faster paced than Engineer, and the protagonist is not quite as manipulative as Vaatzes (which would be difficult to achieve in any event!).

If you're stuck for something to read, definitely worth a look, but there's much better quality reading out there. I'd equate it to some of Robin Hobb's latest stuff.

mcgovern

mcgovern wrote: »

Finished that yesterday, good read
Now onto Line War by Neal Asher.

Finished that at the weekend, and then Prador Moon, also by Asher, both very enjoyable, though the main moment of Prador Moon is mentioned in several of the other Polity books, so the suprise is kinda ruined by that.
Next up is A Second Chance at Eden by Hamilton.

matrim

Currently reading Trudi Canavan, Age of the Five Trilogy.

bonkey

Just started re-reading the first two books of Peter Hamilton's Void trilogy.

IIRC, book 3 is out this summer sometime

NotInventedHere

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny from the science fiction masterworks series It's based on buddist and hindu mythology and it's brilliant.

Macca3000

matrim wrote: »

Currently reading Trudi Canavan, Age of the Five Trilogy.

It's not bad. Nowhere near as good as her Black Magician trilogy.
Wrapped up Age of the Five too fast. Could have easily got another book out of it. Didn't explore the Wilds nearly enough as she should.

Still enjoyable though.

ixoy

Currently reading "Shadow Gate" by Kate Elliott, the 2nd in her Crossroads trilogy. Liking it so far and it helps that it's not too long since I read the first book (six months ago). I like her style and she's got engaging (if slightly depressed!) characters.

Also reading Greg Egan's "Luminous" - a collection of short stories. Interesting so far. Egan's got some mind for high ideas on him - one story manages to credibly mix mitochondrial DNA with quantum theory. Now that's hardcore sci-fi.

JellyBeana

Just finished Game of Thrones by R.R. Martin and moved straight on to book two. It's the most well-written story I've ever come across, can't wait to get through the other books.