What Are You Reading?

kirk buttercup

Xofpod wrote: »

Wait for the twist. (All of the other posters are DEAD, having perished in the great Comic Con disaster of '07...)

ooh that's a really good twist

Glebee

Xofpod wrote: »

The Passage, Justin Cronin. Definitely deep in The Stand territory,but I enjoyed the jump in the time frame, giving very little idea of what's coming next.

Sound like my sort of thing, must check it out.

L

Just finished Uprooted because someone on here recommended it. It's really excellent - a genuine joy to read.

Thargor

L wrote: »

Just finished Uprooted because someone on here recommended it. It's really excellent - a genuine joy to read.

Hmmm, never heard of it and I like the author and its won rakes of awards, thanks for that.

Standalone aswell so you dont have to commit to multiple novels of filler material like a lot of fantasy these days.

OwaynOTT

L wrote: »

Just finished Uprooted because someone on here recommended it. It's really excellent - a genuine joy to read.

I was spouted about it a while back. Cannot say enough about it really and I don't enjoy any of her temaire(spelling?) books at all.

Was actually only talking about the book in work again today.

dudara

I finally got around to reading World War Z (don't quite know why I hadn't read it before). I liked the structure of the book. Made it very easy to read and dreew you in.

Also read "Revenger" by Alastair Reynolds - Definite Firefly vibes from this book, with an intriguing story and universe. Enjoyed it.

"Cumulus" by Eliot Peper - a near-future story of a Google-like tech giant which has taken over the running of parts of society. Fine, a bit pedestrian.

"Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch - a multiple worlds thriller, OK

I just realised that I bought "The Passage" ages ago, but I'm yet to read it. Next on the list

Thargor

You're in for a treat with The Passage definitely, the others in the trilogy were good but not classics like the first one.

Dades

dudara wrote: »

Also read "Revenger" by Alastair Reynolds - Definite Firefly vibes from this book, with an intriguing story and universe. Enjoyed it.

I started this but the first person perspective was wrecking my head.

The Passage was great, though.

smacl

Just finished The Stone Sky, the last book in N.K. Jemesin's Broken Earth trilogy. As with the first two books in the series I found it heartfelt and compelling stuff, very rewarding to read, finishing off the trilogy as it did very neatly. Like the first two books, the time lines are non-linear and way the story unfolds provides some fantastic twists. Pure genius in my very humble opinion.

Nody

Finished the Prince of Nothing trilogy; not quite sure the high praise as I felt it missed the mark to make it truly epic (such as running the story from the Construct's view) but still a good read; moved on the Aspect Emperor trilogy to complete the line.

ixoy

29% into "All the Birds in the Sky" by Charlie Jane Anders. It's an easy light read, more YA than I expected.

Also reading "Spoils of War" - the second collection of Adrian Tchaikovsky's Apt series short stories.

Before these I read "The Warrior's Apprentice" by Lois McMaster Bujold, the 2nd / 4th / however-you're-ordering-it book in the Vorkosigan Saga. Having had to do a mental adjustment to having Miles as the lead, I very much enjoyed it. Witty and smart. Thankfully many more yet for me to read.

Recently also finished up "The Story of Your Life". I enjoyed it although a little disappointed in "The Story of Your Life" as I felt the ending was weak and there didn't seem to be a point to it, although the linguistics piece was interesting.
Also in short stories I read Ken Liu's "The Paper Mengarie and Other Stories" which I liked. It's not just sci-fi - there's a good number of Chinese-influenced mythical stories in it too.

keane2097

Nody wrote: »

Finished the Prince of Nothing trilogy; not quite sure the high praise as I felt it missed the mark to make it truly epic (such as running the story from the Construct's view) but still a good read; moved on the Aspect Emperor trilogy to complete the line.

Nearly finished the second one. It's interesting stuff, the characters are good to very good, but the whole thing is starting to drag a fair bit.

nhur

keane2097 wrote: »

Nearly finished the second one. It's interesting stuff, the characters are good to very good, but the whole thing is starting to drag a fair bit.

Nody wrote: »

Finished the Prince of Nothing trilogy; not quite sure the high praise as I felt it missed the mark to make it truly epic (such as running the story from the Construct's view) but still a good read; moved on the Aspect Emperor trilogy to complete the line.

Finished it a week or so ago... can't believe it took me to the end of the trilogy to realise that it was actually crap!! (partial lol). The author certainly dreamed big but ultimately it's really difficult to read with all the myriad ways he has of referring to each of the bands/tribes etc ... the reader only sees the world (and battle/war) from one perspective and so has no stake in it or sense of what the side is fighting for... all this manages to disguise the complete lack of complexity in the storyline

needless to say i won't be going on to the next trilogy - Reading Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space atm

keane2097

nhur wrote: »

Finished it a week or so ago... can't believe it took me to the end of the trilogy to realise that it was actually crap!! (partial lol). The author certainly dreamed big but ultimately it's really difficult to read with all the myriad ways he has of referring to each of the bands/tribes etc ... the reader only sees the world (and battle/war) from one perspective and so has no stake in it or sense of what the side is fighting for... all this manages to disguise the complete lack of complexity in the storyline

needless to say i won't be going on to the next trilogy - Reading Alastair Reynolds Revelation Space atm

Hmm... Finished the second book last night, this is not an encouraging review. Going to dip into the last book at least, as I found the closing scene of the second book quite compelling.

nhur

keane2097 wrote: »

Hmm... Finished the second book last night, this is not an encouraging review. Going to dip into the last book at least, as I found the closing scene of the second book quite compelling.

Ha! yeah - I know the feeling... I had high hopes... Best to finish out the trilogy or you'd always wonder! just try not to get bogged down in the battles etc. and hit me up with ur take on the books

lordgoat

Finished Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow trilogy. Solid, bit long winded in places and every chapter ends in a drop which gets very tiresome. Worth a look though.

Zapp Brannigan

Started 'The Darkness that Comes Before'. I read this series years ago but I don't remember being that impressed, reckon it's worth another go.

Thargor

Ah Jaysus, I go to Italy for a week and I come back and the "What Are You Reading" thread has been taken over by morons!

Only joking, Im shocked that people dont like the Aspect Emperor series though, I can only describe it as near-perfect, up there with Game of Thrones and anything else. I was in Rome and I kept getting distracted by the last book, The Unholy Consult and having to sit down for an hour in cafes to read it.

It just seems to me the writing is on a complete other level to anything else in the genre, the whole story from the beginning wondering whats going on to the end of the Great Ordeal is as epic as it gets, I might just restart it now tbh, theres feck all else that compares in my opinion.

keane2097

Thargor wrote: »

Ah Jaysus, I go to Italy for a week and I come back and the "What Are You Reading" thread has been taken over by morons!

Only joking, Im shocked that people dont like the Aspect Emperor series though, I can only describe it as near-perfect, up there with Game of Thrones and anything else. I was in Rome and I kept getting distracted by the last book, The Unholy Consult and having to sit down for an hour in cafes to read it.

It just seems to me the writing is on a complete other level to anything else in the genre, the whole story from the beginning wondering whats going on to the end of the Great Ordeal is as epic as it gets, I might just restart it now tbh, theres feck all else that compares in my opinion.

Is that after the Prince of Nothing stuff?

After two books of that I still have hopes for it. I'd have a few little qualms with it so far but it's better than most fantasy I've read in the last few years for sure.

Incidentally, was it here or elsewhere I read about 'Senlin Ascends'? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

shootermacg

Thargor wrote: »

Ah Jaysus, I go to Italy for a week and I come back and the "What Are You Reading" thread has been taken over by morons!

Only joking, Im shocked that people dont like the Aspect Emperor series though, I can only describe it as near-perfect, up there with Game of Thrones and anything else. I was in Rome and I kept getting distracted by the last book, The Unholy Consult and having to sit down for an hour in cafes to read it.

It just seems to me the writing is on a complete other level to anything else in the genre, the whole story from the beginning wondering whats going on to the end of the Great Ordeal is as epic as it gets, I might just restart it now tbh, theres feck all else that compares in my opinion.

I have the author for anyone who dislikes the PoN series, Brandon Sanderson, not to hard to read and he keeps thing simple.

Thargor

keane2097 wrote: »

Is that after the Prince of Nothing stuff?

After two books of that I still have hopes for it. I'd have a few little qualms with it so far but it's better than most fantasy I've read in the last few years for sure.

Incidentally, was it here or elsewhere I read about 'Senlin Ascends'? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

Yeah Prince of Nothing trilogy and then the 4 books in the Aspect Emperor series set 20 years afterwards, its all one story, some of the subplots are straight out of the Lord of the Rings or Malazan Book of the Fallen, its pure epic.

nhur

lordgoat wrote: »

Anthony Ryan's Raven's Shadow trilogy. Solid, bit long winded in places and every chapter ends in a drop which gets very tiresome. Worth a look though.

+1 A spot on review

Thargor wrote: »

Aspect Emperor series ... near-perfect, up there with Game of Thrones and anything else.

near-perfect - from someone who's read the malazan!! it's not even close. And GoT I have to say is very far from perfect IMHO - though i loved the first few books until the shtick

i.e. killing off everyone until continuity itself was killed off

wore thin. However... given your enthusiasm I reckon there's a good chance of me reading the Aspect-Emperor trilogy - have to see for myself.

shootermacg wrote: »

I have the author for anyone who dislikes the PoN series, Brandon Sanderson, not to hard to read and he keeps thing simple.

I didn't like the PoN series because it's hard to read... i disliked it for other reasons... though chief among them that it was badly presented (which, tbh made it difficult to read).

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah Prince of Nothing trilogy and then the 4 books in the Aspect Emperor series set 20 years afterwards, its all one story, some of the subplots are straight out of the Lord of the Rings or Malazan Book of the Fallen, its pure epic.

Malazan is pure epic. Nothing comes close.

Nody

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah Prince of Nothing trilogy and then the 4 books in the Aspect Emperor series set 20 years afterwards, its all one story, some of the subplots are straight out of the Lord of the Rings or Malazan Book of the Fallen, its pure epic.

Epic? Rather straight forward Superman story with minimal divergences on the way so far. Any opposition to what I want? Face read them for the answer. Any fight? My super power moves means I dodge anything or book 2/3 spoiler

use my superior understanding of magic to pull of **** no one else can

.

The only thing that makes the books interesting are the side cast but they are simply there to show up much of a Superman he is. His opponents special power? Oh they can make anyone come men, child or woman to get them to share information. Seriously was it written by Hugh Hefner on a LSD trip or something? As I said earlier if they had told the story from the "enemy" it might been better but what I've read so far (Prince of Nothing, hundred pages in on Aspect Emperor) it's not "epic"; it's Superman

with Gandalf magic's powers and willing to use them

who has a straight fetch quest without any side routes. The closest story I'd compare it to would be something like Belgarion except they combined all the main and side characters into one and said go forth and collect stuff.

CalamariFritti

Just finished horsing through the Culture Series by Ian M Banks. Probably something a lot of you are familiar with and to those who are not, its a brilliantly crafted space opera high tech universe that fascinates and captivates well beyond each of the individual plots. I couldn't get enough of it, but sadly I'm now through all of them. Most readers will know that feeling.

Any idea of where to turn to for the next fix?

mcgovern

keane2097 wrote: »

Incidentally, was it here or elsewhere I read about 'Senlin Ascends'? Anyone have any thoughts on that?

It's very well written, prose is very good and it's not like anything else you will have read. Having said that, it's a bit too descriptive and not plot driven enough for me.

I finished Too Like The Lightning finally, that's one author I will be avoiding for ever.
Finished The Emperors Blade and managed to pick the second one up on sale. The first one is really just a setup for the rest of the books, and some of the twists were quite obvious, but I'd still recommend it.
Then read No Price Too High by C.J. Carella, second book in his warp marines series. It's pretty good, lots of action, lots of guns. Also lots of humans (actually just America really) winning despite the impossible odds but I'll forgive it that. My only concern is that it looks like it might be starting to go a bit supernatural, which is not needed when you've already got multiple alien races and advanced technology. I did pick up books 3+4 though.

After that I decided to do a bit of Halloween reading. First was Lovecraft County by Matt Ruff. It started really well, really hammered home the racial divide and segregation in America at the time. But it was lacking in the Lovecraftian horror and then bits it had didn't really add anything to the story.
Then I read Nod by Adrian Barnes, a dystopian novel where 99.9% of people can no longer sleep and gradually start going mad. This suffered (on a much smaller scale) from some of the things that affected Too Like The Lightning. Main character is an etymologist and it spends a bit too much time showing how clever the author is rather than advancing the story, which leads to a very unsatisfying conclusion.

Now splitting my time between Where Loyalties Lie by Rob J. Hayes, a pirate fantasy. It's a very uncommon setting so I'm quite enjoying it. Characters are a bit unbelievable but we haven't gotten much of their back stories yet so that may be explained.
Second book I'm reading is The Crippled God, book 10 in the Malazan Book of the Fallen. Can't believe I'm close to finally finishing it!

nhur

CalamariFritti wrote: »

Just finished horsing through the Culture Series by Ian M Banks.
Any idea of where to turn to for the next fix?

Pandora's star by peter f. hamilton?
have you read Asimov?

Fian

nhur wrote: »

Pandora's star by peter f. hamilton?
have you read Asimov?

Peter F. Hamilton was exactly who I was going to suggest after Ian M Banks, though i would have pointed you towards the reality disfunction rather than pandora's star. Stephen Baxter's books also - Raft, flux, the xelee sequence.

CalamariFritti

nhur wrote: »

Pandora's star by peter f. hamilton?
have you read Asimov?

Thanks.

Have read a few Asimovs. Decades ago mind you. Thanks again.

nhur

Fian wrote: »

Peter F. Hamilton was exactly who I was going to suggest after Ian M Banks, though i would have pointed you towards the reality disfunction rather than pandora's star. Stephen Baxter's books also - Raft, flux, the xelee sequence.

Reality dysfunction, eh? added to the list - thanks!! (baxter too)

ixoy

nhur wrote: »

Reality dysfunction, eh? added to the list - thanks!! (baxter too)

I'd go with Pandora's Star myself. It's a duology to start but if you like it, it's got more in subsequent series. It's epic too.
The problem with the Reality Dysfunction is that the ending is, in my opinion, pretty terrible and it left a bit of a sour taste.