What Are You Reading?

keane2097

keane2097 wrote: »

Yeah I found after getting a few chapters in it was diverting enough but not exactly a masterpiece so I put it away for a while. I've gone back to Robert Harris and his Cicero books, going through the second one called Lustrum now. Very entertaining.

Finished Lustrum, very enjoyable indeed. Anyone with a bit of a grá for Roman history would be well advised to get stuck in.

Zapp Brannigan

I'm now on 'The Dragon Reborn' in my re-read.

All is well so far.

OwaynOTT

Sleepy wrote: »

The Great Hunt - Book 2 of The Wheel of Time.

Really getting into this now, it's gone from "meh, this is okay, I'm not sure I see what all the fuss was about" to one of those "can't put it down and go to sleep" reads. I know the series stagnates heavily before Sanderson rescues it in the last few books but so far, I'm really enjoying it.

Jordan himself turned it around with Knife of Dreams and its really only books 8-10 that could have been trimmed down with maybe even losing a book.
The slower pace isn't as noticeable now that therecall released.
I think Jordan did a comparatively good job when you see how George RR Martin is all ready struggling with his series. Its a difficult task and I know of nobody who has achieved a multi book epic series without difficulties.

It's also highly debatable whether Sanderson saved anything.

Trojan

Agree with most of the above, except I think you're being a bit harsh on Sanderson. His first book was a breath of fresh air and really re-vitalised the series for me. We had actual answers to questions! We had plotlines being completed! Stuff happened quickly. That was pretty revolutionary after reading the likes of Wearisome Heart and Crossroads of Tedium.

OwaynOTT

Trojan wrote: »

Agree with most of the above, except I think you're being a bit harsh on Sanderson. His first book was a breath of fresh air and really re-vitalised the series for me. We had actual answers to questions! We had plotlines being completed! Stuff happened quickly. That was pretty revolutionary after reading the likes of Wearisome Heart and Crossroads of Tedium.

Gathering Storm was excellent but could of done with more editing and a bit more work done.
I don't blame Sanderson for the problems with the last 2 books but rather the Jordan estate and Tor. No way 3 books was needed and more time was needed to sort it out considering Sanderson released 2 other of his own books in the same time frame. Actually it could be said that Sanderson could do with doing more editing and drafting of his work in general.

mcgovern

pH wrote: »

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Martian-ebook/dp/B009IEXKXI/ref=zg_bs_362827031_3

Wow wow wow wow wow (5 stars!)
(and it's 0.77p on amazon.co.uk)

A Modern day Robinson Crusoe, part McGyver, part science lesson part thriller.

If this is the start of the self-publishing ebook revolution then count me in!

Just finished this, to anyone who missed pH's recommendation, or was in two minds about it, honestly, go and get this now! Very interesting, at times very funny, and a nail biting finish. What more could you ask for!

Next up, Night of Knives, my first book by ICE.

Bits_n_Bobs

About 85% through The Martian and it's been a grand little read, not going to set the world on fire but pleasant and definitely worth the euro or whatever it cost. Thanks to the op for the heads up

ixoy

mcgovern wrote: »

Next up, Night of Knives, my first book by ICE.

And I'm 16% into "Blood and Bone", the last Malazan book by ICE. It's grand so far but his writing style isn't as good as Erikson's - it's all a bit plainer.

Also dipping into "The Guns of Avalon" as well, the second book in his Amber series.

gufnork

I'm just finishing 'The Bloody Crown of Conan' and have started 'Sign of the unicorn', the 3rd in the Amber chronicles. Loving the Conan stories, . Although I still prefer the short stories, and the Amber Chronicles are a great read. I've the 5th in the Gor Chronicles lined up, 'Assassin of Gor' and the 6th in the 'Wild Cards' series to get to, 'Ace in the Hole'. Some good stuff to look forward to there.

Wabbit Ears

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

How was the daylight war, read the painted man and was so so about it.

The reviews online pretty much slated it and a lot of the comments were bang on the money, The daylight war doesn't happen in this book at all and There is a lot of focus on Inverna, A pretty much secondary character.

That said I really enjoyed it and ripped through it in a few days and look forward to the next installment.

Arawn

Wabbit Ears wrote: »

The reviews online pretty much slated it and a lot of the comments were bang on the money, The daylight war doesn't happen in this book at all and There is a lot of focus on Inverna, A pretty much secondary character.

That said I really enjoyed it and ripped through it in a few days and look forward to the next installment.

My take. It was probably the worst in the series. I also find the bit where he goes over parts already covered in the previous books Ie a certain guys rise +injuries+marriages to be completely pointless and just padded out the number of pages.

It's not a bad book but after waiting so long it was meh.


The next in Kavothe series from Patrick Rothfuss better not be like this

shockwave

Arawn wrote: »

My take. It was probably the worst in the series. I also find the bit where he goes over parts already covered in the previous books Ie a certain guys rise +injuries+marriages to be completely pointless and just padded out the number of pages.

It's not a bad book but after waiting so long it was meh.


The next in Kavothe series from Patrick Rothfuss better not be like this

I felt the same way, there was an awful lot of waffle which annoyed me.

Probably the worst of the 3 books.

Raif Severance

shockwave wrote: »

I felt the same way, there was an awful lot of waffle which annoyed me.

Probably the worst of the 3 books.

I already had a hard time finishing the 2nd Book and this is Worse? Damn!

Dan_Solo

I finished Blue Diablo by Ann Agguire and it was square on OK material. Nothing too inventive or outlandish. Chugged along alright I guess.
Now onto The Trilisk Ruins by Michael McCloskey. Saw the cover on the web by complete accident and decided why not. I'm only a few chapters in but I'm find it a refreshingly straight forward semi-military SF yarn so far, build on action but not entirely brainless. I like the planet it's set on too and there's a few good ideas in it.

Arawn

shockwave wrote: »

I felt the same way, there was an awful lot of waffle which annoyed me.

Probably the worst of the 3 books.

aye he just needs to move it on at this stage, tbh I felt the ending could of been done sooner and he could of set up the next book nicely but now i'm very meh

jaxdasher

Currently reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi. Very interesting so far eastern theme cyber punk. Really feel the Ghost in a Shell vibe.

mcgovern

Finished Night of Knives the other day, it was better than I was expecting, though perhaps not quite as good as Erikson's stuff.
Now about 60% through The Cold Commands by Richard Morgan. I can't remember most of who is who, or even distinguish between the different factions, which is not a good sign, but its a decent read and doesn't go out of its way to shock you as much as the first one.

shockwave

About halfway through 'Wool' and really enjoying it, I hope the rest of the trilogy is as good as this.

OwaynOTT

Finished The Martian and it's my favourite read of the year so far. I really cannot fault it. Funny and loads of calculations, what more would you want.
Thanks to whoever originally recommended it on here.
Up next will either be Daylight War or finished off First Law Trilogy.

Sideshow Mark

May have taken over two months but made it through Dance Of Dragons & Feast of Crows. Quite liked them, but found some sections very heavy going (especially Reek -rhymes with very difficult to read, and most of the Meereen stuff).

A good way through Lauren Beukes' Zoo City and really liking it."Futuristic Noir thriller where His Dark Materials meets District 9", is the short version, hope the ending doesn't disappoint.

Already downloaded The Martian for my next read.

Arawn

OwaynOTT wrote: »

Finished The Martian and it's my favourite read of the year so far. I really cannot fault it. Funny and loads of calculations, what more would you want.
Thanks to whoever originally recommended it on here.
Up next will either be Daylight War or finished off First Law Trilogy.

first law deffo first law

OwaynOTT

Arawn wrote: »

first law deffo first law

It's a reread. :pac:

Arawn

OwaynOTT wrote: »

It's a reread. :pac:

I stand by what I said

OwaynOTT

Arawn wrote: »

I stand by what I said

It's a really great trilogy all right.

ixoy

4% into "The Hydrogen Sonata". Since this will be the last Culture novel I'll get to read, sadly, by Iain M. Banks I'm both eager and hesitant. So far it's got the enjoyable mix of weirdness and humour and I hope it continues to please.

giftgrub

I'm on Peter F. Hamilton's "Great North Road" his usual excellent standard.

Taking me ages to read though, not a reflection on the book. juts have loads going on at the moment and little time to do any reading (demanding kids who wont leave me alone...)

donfers

the people who have borrowed dark eden by chris beckett from me, despite their varying tastes, have to a man and woman, said they enjoyed it so i thought i'd give it a shout in here, a really enjoyable scifi read....just shortlisted for the clarke award too folks, worth a peak

pH

Extinction Point - Paul Antony Jones

Another self-published amazon £1.77 SF bestseller - but this one falls a little flat. By no means terrible and if you like post apocalyptic fiction (and I do) then it's definitely worth the 177p it costs, it just could be tighter with some better plot decisions. So 3/5 with the hope that the rest of the series improves.

After reading Wool/The Martian/Extinction Point in the last few weeks, It seems the net/amazon/e-readers have finally started to allow authors skip the whole tedium of "publishing" and allow authors just get their works out there and let the public decide. I think it's tremendously exciting - no longer do books have to be either commissioned or accepted by a publisher and self publishing that never worked for real books as anything other than a vanity exercise is now commercially viable.

I'm looking forward to Broken Homes in July - but I'm wondering would I even consider paying £6.99 for a book by then!

mcgovern

Finished The Cold Commands, it was good but not great. I'll read the third book in the series when its out next year though.
Started Feersum Enjinn. Only 2% in but it has one of my pet hates, no page numbers, only percentage Still a small thing and seems interesting so far.

keane2097

Finished The Player of Games by Iain Banks, thought it was good, borderline very good. Looking forward to reading more Culture stuff having only read Consider Phlebas up to now.

Also, finally got around to finishing the second Black Company book Shadows Linger by Glenn Cook. It's pretty damn superb.

Moved on to something pretty different for the moment, Mother Tongue by Bill Bryson which is pretty much a history of the English language. Only a couple of chapters in but so far it's up to his usual standard of engaging prose and is very enjoyable.