What Are You Reading?

ixoy

Glebee wrote: »

Trying to get through The Wise Mans Fear, finding it very hard work to be honest...:mad:

Well take your time. It's not like he's bothering much bringing out the next one.

Glebee

Fcuk me, i thought it was hard work before. Just got to the Felurion section. I want to end it all now... horrible.

Nody

Finished "The Vagrant" by Peter Newman; it's new take on scifi based in a dystopian world were (what I can best describe as) a demonic rift (think WH40k demons rather than Christian demons) has opened and spread it's chaos through out the world while the old gods are in decline still fighting a rear guard action against the taint. We follow one man, the vagrant, as he pursues something through out this world as we get told his goal, reasons and the history of the world step by step. Not the best book ever read but the world is very different and it has potential as a series (I got book 2 and 3 as well).

For now however I'm on to the Empire of Silence by Christopher Ruocchio; book 1 in the Sun eater series.

lordgoat

Finished Malazan Book 6

Reading the Ian C Esslemont companion books now

Igotadose

Just finished "The Good Guys" by Steven Brust. Brust's non-Draegaeran novels can be kind of spotty in my experience. This one is o.k., secret societies keeping Magic around but not making trouble for the populace at large.

Now reading "The Incrementalists" by Brust and Skyler White. So far, not impressed. Again, a non-Draegaeran novel.

Gave up on "Six-gun Tarot" by Belcher about 2/3 through. Blech. Unimaginative junk, and this time the bad guys speak Lovecraft not Irish.

Thargor

I went off The Expanse ages ago but started reading the most recent 2 and Im completely hooked, Persepolis Rising was good but Tiamat's Wrath is fecking brilliant, probably because we're finally getting answers about the Protomolecule. One more book to go next year.

pixelburp

Same, picked up Nemesis Games recently after an enforced spell away from the series. The series always manages to portray a written version of "out of the frying pan..", especially with the latest, arguably most shocking catastrophe to date.

Trojan

I'm reading City of Stairs - first book of The Divine Cities trilogy by Robert Jackson Bennett. I'm about 40% in, liking it so far.

Nody wrote: »

Finished "The Vagrant" by Peter Newman; it's new take on scifi based in a dystopian world were (what I can best describe as) a demonic rift (think WH40k demons rather than Christian demons) has opened and spread it's chaos through out the world while the old gods are in decline still fighting a rear guard action against the taint. We follow one man, the vagrant, as he pursues something through out this world as we get told his goal, reasons and the history of the world step by step. Not the best book ever read but the world is very different and it has potential as a series (I got book 2 and 3 as well).

Is this the book with the protagonist who doesn't speak? I think I got a few pages in and couldn't get into it. Anyone read books 2 & 3 - is it worth the effort?

Nody

Trojan wrote: »

Is this the book with the protagonist who doesn't speak? I think I got a few pages in and couldn't get into it. Anyone read books 2 & 3 - is it worth the effort?

Correct; the explanation is given about 2/3rds in to the book as what happened. I'll come back once I'm reading the follow up books :P

mcgovern

Nody wrote: »

Correct; the explanation is given about 2/3rds in to the book as what happened. I'll come back once I'm reading the follow up books :P

I wasn't a fan of the first one so didn't bother getting it but Dealz have one of the sequels for €1.50.

ixoy

28% into "The Dark Defiles" by Richard K. Morgan, the final book in his "A Land Fit for Heroes" trilogy. It's been five years since I read book two (I'm still trying to finish off old series!) but it's been pretty easy to get to grips with. It's more grimdark and, so far, well written but not offering anything particularly new. A comfortable read.

Before that I read "Poseidon's Wake" by Alastair Reynolds, the final book in his "Poseidon's Children" trilogy. It was.. okay. It's got the usual "ancient alien artifact" piece in there, which isn't as explored as in depth as it could have been and the resolution isn't exactly riveting. The series is best known though for it being the "elephants in space" one. And here's where Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time/Ruin" duology has ruined this for me - Reynolds uplifted elephants are, frankly, rubbish next to the work Adrian put into the mindset of his animals. There's little sense of anything about them and the fascination the characters have for them never feels warranted by the reader. Not a bad series, but just read the Children of.. series again. Or his 'Dogs of War'.

Dades

Finally finished Cage of Souls (Adrian Tchaikovsky) while on holidays.

Wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it really, really grew on me. One of those rare books that halfway through I was *aware* of how much I was loving it. Haven't had one of those reads for a long time.

For some reason it just worked for me. I've read Dying Earth stuff before (The Book of the New Sun) and could take or leave it, but this tale echoed another book I loved - a contemporary (non-SF) classic - Shantaram.

For those who've read it (without giving anything away) the backstory of the character Sergei is one of the coolest *whoa* moments I've read.

Moved straight onto Children of Ruin after this.

Trojan

Still reading City of Stairs, but accidentally started The Quantum Magician and I'm kinda hooked.

Fian

This time of year you can almost see the increase in throughput of books because of holidays. In my case I was on the beach daily all last week with my kindle, about to head away again on Tuesday night with my wife and kids.

I read the prince of nothing trilogy, it is very good but I had hoped for it to be truly brilliant. didn't really live up to the hype but I enjoyed it.

Went on to read "East of Eden", that was truly brilliant and did live up to every bit of the hype.

Next up is 11/22/63 (Stephen King.) which also has a bit of hype about it, so I will see which way that one goes.

Dades

Fian wrote: »

Next up is 11/22/63 (Stephen King.) which also has a bit of hype about it, so I will see which way that one goes.

I was a huge King fan in my youth, and this was my gateway back in a few years ago. Really enjoyed it... like slipping on an old pair of shoes. Got me reading him again have read a few more since.

shrapnel222

Dades wrote: »

Finally finished Cage of Souls (Adrian Tchaikovsky) while on holidays.

Wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it really, really grew on me. One of those rare books that halfway through I was *aware* of how much I was loving it. Haven't had one of those reads for a long time.

For some reason it just worked for me. I've read Dying Earth stuff before (The Book of the New Sun) and could take or leave it, but this tale echoed another book I loved - a contemporary (non-SF) classic - Shantaram.

For those who've read it (without giving anything away) the backstory of the character Sergei is one of the coolest *whoa* moments I've read.

Moved straight onto Children of Ruin after this.

big fan of shantaram also (even though the sequel is rubbish), so you've definitely got me curious about that one.

Dades wrote: »

I was a huge King fan in my youth, and this was my gateway back in a few years ago. Really enjoyed it... like slipping on an old pair of shoes. Got me reading him again have read a few more since.

enjoyed 11/22/63 also but don't read his latest one (the outsider), it's incredibly poor.

daragh_

Just started 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf'.

Had planned to read it over my holidays but the last Neal Stephenson was a total slog and ate up all my free time.

Recent reads include Ann Leckie's 'The Raven Tower' which I was very impressed with and 'Provenance' by the same author, which was a bit of a let down tbh.

Hello forum. First time posting here - mostly I live over in the Cycling Forum.

Xofpod

daragh_ wrote: »

Just started 'Black Leopard, Red Wolf'.

Cracking book. Pretty sure to divide opinion though; definitely not for everyone.

Dades

shrapnel222 wrote: »

big fan of shantaram also (even though the sequel is rubbish), so you've definitely got me curious about that one.

Yeah, it shares a lot of the same beats... first person tale told after the fact... lots of prison, hardship... many different 'lives' with a different cast of characters. Of course one is set in Mumbai one in the future with a dying sun!

shrapnel222 wrote: »

enjoyed 11/22/63 also but don't read his latest one (the outsider), it's incredibly poor.

I kinda enjoyed The Outsider with the exception of the final act. Go figure!

mcgovern

Dogs of War was very good, you are really feeling for the main character and you forget that he is a huge beast of teeth and claws!
After that it was Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. This one I didn't like. It felt more like a children's story, with motivations and decisions making no sense. I got it on sale but it is very short (90 pages) so full price is definitely over charging. It was nice to see a non-western style setting, but a good portion of those pages was spent worrying about rubbing her ointment into her hair and skin.
Also read The Rage of Dragons. This one is also loosely African based but it is much better and I can see why this was picked up by one of the big publishers (was originally self published). It has a lot of action and fairly original magic system, my only complaint would be that the main character is a bit annoying, but I think that is done on purpose. Will be picking up the sequel whenever it comes out.
Now reading First and Only, the first book in Gaunts Ghosts series by Dan Abnett in Warhammer 40k universe. I'm struggling to get engaged with this one, not sure why but it hasn't grabbed me yet.
Also reading Rosewater by Tade Thompson. It's another sci-fi with an African bent. Feels a bit like District 9, though the alien, the main character etc are all very different, and it is set in Nigeria rather than South Africa.

Glebee

Finally got through The Wise Mans Fear and in the end Im not sure what to make of it. It was a massive slog in parts for me and overall I was sort of disappointed with it. I would probally read the 3rd book if it ever gets published but it needs to be something special to make this trilogy something special for me.

Next up: Deadhouse Gates..

cdgalwegian

Just finished Gridlocked, Neal Asher, as recommended here. What took a while to get used to was the casual use of future technologies. There were no descriptions or much explanations about them; the characters just used them. This was quite refreshing, and helped with moving the story along, which moved along quite nicely. This was a debut novel, and the main character wasn't fleshed out very well, but despite this, it was a great read as hard sci-fi, where even though the sci-fi is very realistic, it takes a back seat to the action. This makes it very promising for the Agent Cormac series, as well as his other series (he's prolific!).
A little disappointing was the introduction of the Dragon and the Maker, who came late to the game, but more annoying was the confusion it left me in at the end, as to what exactly the Maker was, and what role it played. A quick gander on the Information Superhighway showed me I wasn't alone.
Really looking forward to reading more.

Paddy Samurai

Priest of Lies by Peter McLean (book 2 in series)
About 25% in and enjoying it big time. As said previously it has the peaky blinders vibe with magic and swords.
I am developing a taste for the Grimdark fantasy genre.

When Tomas Piety and his Pious Men returned from the war, he just wanted to rebuild his crime empire and look after his people. But the sinister Queen's Men had different ideas and whether he likes it or not, he's now a spy as well.Now, half the city of Ellinburg lies in ashes and the webs of political intrigue are stretching out from the Queen's capital to pull Tomas in. Dannsburg is calling.
In Dannsburg the nobility fight with words, not blades, but the results are every bit as bloody. In this pit of beasts, Tomas must decide once and for all whether he is truly the people's champion . . . or just a priest of lies.

Paddy Samurai

Paddy Samurai wrote: »

Priest of Lies by Peter McLean (book 2 in series)
About 25% in and enjoying it big time. As said previously it has the peaky blinders vibe with magic and swords.
I am developing a taste for the Grimdark fantasy genre.

Finished this today....

Although I was enjoying the first third of the book I kinda felt in the back of my mind that this was just more of the same and nothing new.But then it was BOOM! and off to Dannisburg for a change of senery and a injection of new characters that IMO really kickstarter the whole thing again.
Love the way it ended and will be counting the days till part three.

Now I just need to figure out what to read next as I have a good few partly read book series and a good few stand alones to choose from.Last time I checked there where 80+ unread books on my shelf.
First world problems...

Johnny Storm

Just read Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time". Its one of the most original and compelling SF books I have read in the last few years.
Warning - it has a sequel and the synopsis for that book drops a big spoiler for "Children of Time" right in the first sentence. Avoid the synopsis until you have finished the first book is my suggestion.

Thargor

Johnny Storm wrote: »

Just read Adrian Tchaikovsky's "Children of Time". Its one of the most original and compelling SF books I have read in the last few years.
Warning - it has a sequel and the synopsis for that book drops a big spoiler for "Children of Time" right in the first sentence. Avoid the synopsis until you have finished the first book is my suggestion.

Yes I was very impressed by it, the sequel is a great read aswell, Im sounding like a broken record now but I cant believe that Hawk and Hyena crap was written by the same author as Shadows of the Apt and Children of Time.

Does anyone else just fecking love generation ships/colonization storylines? Its by far my favourite sub-genre of sci-fi. Just finished Shipstar and Bowl of Heaven by Larry Niven, great read. It was probably Rama by Arthur C Clarke that kicked it off for me though.

Dades

Thargor wrote: »

Does anyone else just fecking love generation ships/colonization storylines? Its by far my favourite sub-genre of sci-fi. Just finished Shipstar and Bowl of Heaven by Larry Niven, great read. It was probably Rama by Arthur C Clarke that kicked it off for me though.

Love that genre too, again starting with Rama.

The sequel to Stephen Baxter's Flood - Arc, is some pretty hard generation ship SF.

Loved Flood and Arc (a third in the series less so).

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Also halfway through Children of Time, though am sharing time with Cosm (Gregory Benford) which fell onto my kindle last week.

Thargor

Dades wrote: »

Love that genre too, again starting with Rama.

The sequel to Stephen Baxter's Flood - Arc, is some pretty hard generation ship SF.

Loved Flood and Arc (a third in the series less so).

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Also halfway through Children of Time, though am sharing time with Cosm (Gregory Benford) which fell onto my kindle last week.

What's the third in the series? I thought there were only 2?

Dades

Thargor wrote: »

What's the third in the series? I thought there were only 2?

Not quite a sequel.... but there was this follow-up book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25123838-landfall

I gave it a go and then went off and read something else. Possibly I left it too long after Arc, and didn't do my reading-up on the universe first.

Thargor

Dades wrote: »

Not quite a sequel.... but there was this follow-up book:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/25123838-landfall

I gave it a go and then went off and read something else. Possibly I left it too long after Arc, and didn't do my reading-up on the universe first.

Oh yeah I vaguely remember that actually, sounds like it's pretty bad, might just pirate it.