What Are You Reading?

drake70

Thargor wrote: »

His next one is out this August, Chronicle of the Fallers.

Yeah, that will be book two, "A night without Stars".

I still have the Void trilogy to read after JU.

Plenty to keep me occupied.

nhur

vasch_ro wrote: »

Just finished the Destroyer, its like airport lounge Fantasy, enough of a story to keep you ticking over and loads of pretty full on sex scenes, more than I have ever read in any other fantasy novel, but Wool is unmissable, what a book I would strongly recommend Wool for your read

Almost finished Destroyer... Pretty much exactly as you said. One thing that really upsets me about it is the use of "then" sometimes instead of "than" and a consistent misuse of "discrete" instead of "discreet"! Call me a pedant but it ruins any flow for me Defo easy reading with an overrepresentation of scenes of an... intimate... nature. But overall enjoyable. Looking foward to the next one... After Wool.

Paddy Samurai

Addictive stuff.About a hundred pages in and loving it.
A horror/urban fantasy mash-up with a storyline should'nt work but does....big time.

In 1119 A.D., a group of nine crusaders became known as the Poor Fellow-Soldiers of Christ and of the Temple of Solomon--a militant monastic order charged with protecting pilgrims and caravans traveling on the roads to and from the Holy Land. In time, the Knights Templar would grow in power and, ultimately, be laid low. But a small offshoot of the Templars endure and have returned to the order's original mission: to defend the roads of the world and guard those who travel on them.
Theirs is a secret line of knights: truckers, bikers, taxi hacks, state troopers, bus drivers, RV gypsies--any of the folks who live and work on the asphalt arteries of America. They call themselves the Brotherhood of the Wheel.

keane2097

Nearly finished Tigana.

I dunno what to make of it. It has serious pacing issues and the author has an awful habit of saying the same thing two or three times in various ways over the course of a couple of pages.

I also feel the wrong characters get the bulk of the page time, and there are a couple of aggravating tropes in there.

Having said that, I can't say I'm not enjoying it. I've never considered packing it in which I'm not slow to do with other books and have looked forward to reading it several evenings.

I've about 15% left of it so I'll see how it finishes up, but I'd say I'm 50+% likely to read the follow up, which is a decent result compared to how I feel at this stage with most fantasy novels.

Nody

Going through Second Foundation trilogy on audio; finished the first two and started the third one. They are helping flesh out the story and are written with the blessing of the Asimov foundation.

wyrn

I'm struggling with the 1st Foundation book. Finding it difficult to get stuck in. I'd start to get into it and the BAM a time jump.

Nody

wyrn wrote: »

I'm struggling with the 1st Foundation book. Finding it difficult to get stuck in. I'd start to get into it and the BAM a time jump.

Well the first trilogy is exactly that; a set of short stories built around one grand arc. Later books become full fledged books continuing the overall story arc and/or giving history before the whole series start (the second foundation series is specifically this with three stories in three books).

ixoy

22% into "Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay. Have a holiday in China coming up so thought that this, based clearly on China, would be a good choice. It's typical Kay - nice prose, good world building, interest characterrs and slow but in a relaxing way.

keane2097 wrote: »

I've about 15% left of it so I'll see how it finishes up, but I'd say I'm 50+% likely to read the follow up

There's no follow up.. Most of his books are solo works although broadly set in the same world. Tigana isn't one of those though.

shrapnel222

ixoy wrote: »

22% into "Under Heaven" by Guy Gavriel Kay. Have a holiday in China coming up so thought that this, based clearly on China, would be a good choice. It's typical Kay - nice prose, good world building, interest characterrs and slow but in a relaxing way.


There's no follow up.. Most of his books are solo works although broadly set in the same world. Tigana isn't one of those though.

Both the Chinese ones are fantastic.

85% into children of earth and sky, and was very disappointed with the first 2 thirds where i thought he was just taking the piss ( a lot of old references to previous books and very soft story lines), however the last third has really picked up, although i'm not sure it can salvage the book at this stage.

FWIW, another to steer clear of his is Ysabel. Really awful, and his foray into the nordics "the last light of the sun" was also underwhelming.

Trojan

"Home: Interstellar: Merchant Princess" by Ray Strong.

Better than expected, decent fast paced space opera. Initially I thought it was going to be YA focused - which I'm not a fan of - but while it would be suitable for a YA audience, I think fans of traditional space opera or military scifi will enjoy it.

It's a fast paced plot with a detailed universe and characters with a bit of depth and backstory. I had a few issues with the writing at times - for example, the close quarters combat scenes could be significantly improved.

It's no Peter F Hamilton, but PFH fans should find it enjoyable. I'm looking forward to Ray Strong developing as an author and what he produces next. I was somewhere between 3 and 4 stars - I read it in two sittings so I have to give it 4 for that stickiness.

Trojan

Currently reading the first Witcher 'real' novel, after reading the two prequel "short story collections". The very first one was slow to get into but it certainly sped up from there. Very interesting.

For anyone else wondering about this:

The Witcher Reading Order

The Last Wish (short story collection - they're in chronological order so it's almost like a straight novel)
Sword of Destiny (short story collection)
Blood of Elves (beginning of novels)
Time of Contempt
Baptism of Fire
The Tower of Swallows (aka The Swallow’s Tower)
Lady of the Lake

The first five books have official English translations and the last two have very good fan translations available. Official translations of both are expected soon.

nhur

productive holidays... caught up with Fitz and the Fool trilogy, read the Destroyer and Wool - and now I've started on Hyperion!

Destroyer was a fun read. Wool was unputdownable. I basically lived in silence while reading it... I think other people were talking but I was too wrapped up in the book! (similar experience with Sky Lords btw)

Thanks to all for the suggestions

keane2097

Finished Tigana eventually. I thought the ending

in terms of the overall plot was a bit too neat and tidy, but I really liked how the ending for the individual characters was anything but.

Dianora's final scenes pack a serious wallop.

Overall despite some irritations and whatnot I think I enjoyed it quite a lot.

Trojan

keane2097 wrote: »

Finished Tigana eventually.

A question about GGK: is his stuff in the lines of regular fantasy?

I read The Fionavar Tapestry years ago and enjoyed it, but looking at the titles and blurbs of his other books, they're not compelling me to read.

seagull

Trojan wrote: »

A question about GGK: is his stuff in the lines of regular fantasy?

I read The Fionavar Tapestry years ago and enjoyed it, but looking at the titles and blurbs of his other books, they're not compelling me to read.

I've found that with a number of his books. I was given Sailing to Sarantium, and it's a really good book which I've read a couple of times (and might just revisit when I get through the Imager series I'm reading currently). If I'd picked it up and read the blurb, I probably wouldn't have bothered reading it.

I'm not sure if I'd describe it as regular fantasy, but then again, that's quite a hard idea to pin down. It's not swords and sorcery, or dragons and elves.

Buford T. Justice XIX

seagull wrote: »

I've found that with a number of his books. I was given Sailing to Sarantium, and it's a really good book which I've read a couple of times (and might just revisit when I get through the Imager series I'm reading currently). If I'd picked it up and read the blurb, I probably wouldn't have bothered reading it.

I'm not sure if I'd describe it as regular fantasy, but then again, that's quite a hard idea to pin down. It's not swords and sorcery, or dragons and elves.

It's more 'normal', I suppose. It's historical fiction really with a few bits of magics based on the beliefs of the times I suppose, but with the names changed. The Lions of Al-Rassan was based on the moorish occupation of Spain and Sailing to Sarantium based on Constantinople.

keane2097

Tigana is inspired by Italian city states also

OwaynOTT

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

It's more 'normal', I suppose. It's historical fiction really with a few bits of magics based on the beliefs of the times I suppose, but with the names changed. The Lions of Al-Rassan was based on the moorish occupation of Spain and Sailing to Sarantium based on Constantinople.

I never knew that! Will really have to read Lions of Al-Rassan so.

nhur

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

It's more 'normal', I suppose. It's historical fiction really with a few bits of magics based on the beliefs of the times I suppose, but with the names changed. The Lions of Al-Rassan was based on the moorish occupation of Spain and Sailing to Sarantium based on Constantinople.

historical fiction? sign me up! thanks a mil - another tranche of books added to my list (loved the James Clavell historical fiction)

edit: where should I start?

Thargor

Read nearly all of Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson on a long bus journey yesterday, oh my God what an absolute steaming pile of crud, the guy cant write, at all, and people keep recommending his books like hes the main sci-fi/fantasy writer these days, its completely baffling.

Ive mentioned it before but theres this new style of writing in a lot of sci-fi these days and its hard to describe but it always involves this smug streetsmart nerd impressing other people, it comes up over and over again in books like The Martian and others, just really low quality writing, no craft to it at all, feels like some crappy Tumblr writer releasing under a load of pseudonyms. You see the same cliches over and over again, the exact same love interest every time etc, its so irritating and its everywhere these days. I wouldn't mind it too much but these are the books that make it onto the bestseller lists over and over again and it encourages others to imitate them.

shootermacg

Thargor wrote: »

Read nearly all of Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson on a long bus journey yesterday, oh my God what an absolute steaming pile of crud, the guy cant write, at all, and people keep recommending his books like hes the main sci-fi/fantasy writer these days, its completely baffling.

Ive mentioned it before but theres this new style of writing in a lot of sci-fi these days and its hard to describe but it always involves this smug streetsmart nerd impressing other people, it comes up over and over again in books like The Martian and others, just really low quality writing, no craft to it at all, feels like some crappy Tumblr writer releasing under a load of pseudonyms. You see the same cliches over and over again, the exact same love interest every time etc, its so irritating and its everywhere these days. I wouldn't mind it too much but these are the books that make it onto the bestseller lists over and over again and it encourages others to imitate them.

I stopped after the mistworld trilogy. It was absolutely shocking how bad those books were. I'll never read another from him.

Fian

I am trudging through the end of judas unchained atm. Looking forward to finishing it so i can move on to a better book. I enjoyed the nights dawn trilogy, these two just aren't grabbing me though. Maybe because i am reading them immediately after the first three tales of the malazan books.

Based on this thread I have a few Guy Gavriel Kay on my kindle waiting for me to start when i finish this, after that I will return to re-reading the tales of the malazan series, re-read the first three up to memories of ice immediately before deciding to take a break and read the confederation handbook, was really enjoying re-reading them but looking forward to reading some GGK since I like historical fiction.

Any recommendation for which GGK i should read first? Thinking of Tigana since it was mentioned in this thread but would be grateful for any suggestions.

Fian

shootermacg wrote: »

I stopped after the mistworld trilogy. It was absolutely shocking how bad those books were. I'll never read another from him.

The stormlight books are very good, really enjoyed them both.

Agree that some of his books are poor, he does churn them out quickly. Way of kings and words of radiance on the other hand - I would recommend. YMMV of course, just my opinion.

alchemist33

After a long hiatus away from SFF reading, i've started Ancillary Justice by Ann Leckie. I've heard so many people recommend it that when I saw it in the library I had to have a go. Fairly good so far, requiring quite a bit of concentration!

machalla

Fian wrote: »

Based on this thread I have a few Guy Gavriel Kay on my kindle waiting for me to start when i finish this, after that I will return to re-reading the tales of the malazan series, re-read the first three up to memories of ice immediately before deciding to take a break and read the confederation handbook, was really enjoying re-reading them but looking forward to reading some GGK since I like historical fiction.

Any recommendation for which GGK i should read first? Thinking of Tigana since it was mentioned in this thread but would be grateful for any suggestions.

Its a long time since I read Tigana but from what I recall it was worth reading yes. I think I would appreciate it more now than back when it came out.

I read The Lions of Al-Rassan more recently. It was an interesting take on the moorish states of Spain (in an alternate world). All of the books do I think stand alone so any of them should be easy to pick up and get something from without a lot of previous back-story. I enjoyed it overall.

A possibly similar style might be Cecelia Holland's work. I remember being very taken with Floating Worlds which is a future history. Perhaps worth a look also.

Trojan

Just finishing The Witcher series. Really enjoyed the first 6 books, but feel that the last book (Lady of the Lake) is letting the whole series down. I know it's a fan translation but I can get past that, but the sequences are totally disjointed and there's no flow to it at all.

Ms Doubtfire1

Just started book 3 of the muirwood series by Jeff wheeler and despite a bit of a slow start they are a great read..totally engrossed!

seagull

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

It's more 'normal', I suppose. It's historical fiction really with a few bits of magics based on the beliefs of the times I suppose, but with the names changed. The Lions of Al-Rassan was based on the moorish occupation of Spain and Sailing to Sarantium based on Constantinople.

I suppose there's a lot of Gemmell's books that would fit into the same category. The Rigante are essentially highlanders in disguise.

Fian

Just want to thank those in this thread who drew my attention to GGK. About a thrid of the way into "tigana" and really enjoying it. Reminds me of patrick rothfuss actually.

machalla

Fian wrote: »

Just want to thank those in this thread who drew my attention to GGK. About a thrid of the way into "tigana" and really enjoying it. Reminds me of patrick rothfuss actually.

I'm glad to hear you're enjoying it. I'm thinking of revisiting it myself now.

I did enjoy Rothfuss, Name of the Wind. The second book (The Wise mans fear) lost it by the end as far as I remember.

I'll see if he can pick it up once more in the third book but I really get tired of these never ending chain series unless they are particularly notable. I somehow got myself roped into reading 4 of this series after thinking it was a single book originally. The premise is interesting the characterisation is woeful. Yet, I read 4 of them.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Painted_Man

I'm currently muddling through the Three Body problem and finding it hard going at times. Possibly the translations or the differing mindset. It reads like a very old style SF book to me. It hardly begins as a story till halfway through and I'm nearly 80% through and still getting back story.

I seem to be having a hard time finding something decent to read lately.

I gave up on this 70% of the way through.

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/22733729-the-long-way-to-a-small-angry-planet

A huge disappointment and I cannot understand how it has so much regard. I also found Ancillary Justice another wildly overrated book.

In reserve I'm keeping American Gods (Neil Gaiman) as a book to read soon before this new tv series comes out and ruins it for me.

If anyone is looking to read a slightly difficult book that seems to be worth it at the end, Zone one - Colson Whitehead fits the bill I think. I was not wild about it to start but something clicked in it by the end for me. Its as if he swallowed a thesaurus for much of the book, be warned.
It is another zombie apocalypse but a little bit more thoughtful and interesting. It reminded me a little of world war z (the book, not the film) but from a single point of view.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10365343-zone-one?from_search=true

So, does anyone have any recommendations or warnings for books that they just couldn't finish or fascinating ones that paid off in the end?