What Are You Reading?

Fian

Gary kk wrote: »

The way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson is worth a read.

Very understated.

I am nearly finished "the book of koli". It is very good, it is YA but well written and well worth reading and I am looking forward to the sequel.

Set in a dystopian post-war future England, where those who can obtain/activate surviving technology are the equivalent of wizards/rulers. Particularly as those without access to such weapons need to be protected from a world full of leftover drones and deadly bio-engineered flora and fauna.

ixoy

Some more books finished:

"Mirror Dance" by Lois McMaster-Bujold, the 8th book in the Vorkosigan Saga depending on how you order them. Thought this was an excellent installment, possibly the best so far and it dealt very well with events from the previous. Bujold's great with her characterisation here and the writing, as ever, is a cut above most of the genre. Definitely a strong series.

"Soulsmith" by Will Wight, the second book in his Cradle series, which is part of the Wuxia-genre (strong mystical Asian-influenced books). A short snappy read which was a lot of fun and a step up from the previous book. 5 more books to go, although one book is about a 1/4 of the length of a standard fantasy tome.

"False Gods" by Graham McNeill, the second book in the Horus trilogy. Acclaimed as these are for Warhammer 40k novels, I found it hard to get involved. Too much descriptions of battle suits,not enough to distinguish characters. The writing is pretty decent and there's some interesting ideas but I was a little bored. Maybe the 40k universe isn't for me (and I've got loads of them due to Humble Bundle offers).

"The Heart of What was Lost" by Tad Williams is a novella set between "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" and his new fantasy series set in the same world. "Memory, Sorrow and Thorn" - which I read decades ago now - was a classic for me and helped shape the genre (it was influential for the likes of GRRM). Really liked this - it told its story very well, pacing was spot on, time for proper characterisation and importantly neatly re-introduced the world. An excellent example of a bridging novella.

"Blood of Empire" by Brian McClellan, the final book in his "Gods of Blood and Powder" trilogy. I liked this one but I think it fell at the final hurdle. There was a lot of build up and the various strands tied together but in a rushed way with a little bit of an ex-Machina ending. So a sort of disappointing end which doesn't really negate the fact that the series overall was very enjoyable.

coffee_cake

Re read Magician yesterday. Very long time since I read it last and it's as brilliant as ever. Really good writing. Stuck in my brain along with the empire trilogy.
Got fed up trying to read absolute dross, i tried Thinblade yesterday also but it's just not great so gave up.
Reading a free sample of The Time Ships now, not bad

seagull

I felt towards the end that Feist had pushed it too far and the series was starting to feel a little stale. The recurrent thing about Pug losing everyone he loved was also becoming a little tiresome.

coffee_cake

seagull wrote: »

I felt towards the end that Feist had pushed it too far and the series was starting to feel a little stale. The recurrent thing about Pug losing everyone he loved was also becoming a little tiresome.

I think i only ever got a hold of one sequel or so, didn't follow it along. I might try it again now that I can just stick them on the kindle in the right order

lordgoat

Decided to re-read all of Feist. Loving it all, nice easy enjoyable romps.

groovie

Hello, I'm reading WOT book 3, and I like it.

Igotadose

Just finished "The Knight" and "The Wizard" by Gene Wolfe. Not new books, early 2000's. Typical Gene Wolfe - well written, someone has amnesia (or something like it), inter-dimensional travel, weird monsters and weird motivations for the central characters.

Glebee

The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie.
Reminds me why I love The First Law world setting/story arc. Excellent story that gets straight into the action. I really love Abercrombies stuff...

donegal_man

Glebee wrote: »

The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie...

Probably my favourite post First Law Abercrombie book. Each character is so well painted it's like spending time with them.

Xofpod

The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin.. About a third of the way in and loving it. Fantastic world building and really gripped by the different plot threads. Can definitely see myself following with the other books.

Thargor

Xofpod wrote: »

The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin.. About a third of the way in and loving it. Fantastic world building and really gripped by the different plot threads. Can definitely see myself following with the other books.

Great series, tore through it.

Anyone read Cavern of Black Ice and it's sequels? Found the series today and it sounds good. Read a few comments online that it would have been a very famous series if it wasn't constantly being overshadowed by new Game of Thrones books releasing at the same time back in the day.

Jayd0g

Xofpod wrote: »

The Fifth Season, NK Jemisin.. About a third of the way in and loving it. Fantastic world building and really gripped by the different plot threads. Can definitely see myself following with the other books.

Loaded this up today, looks promising!

Lady Haywire

Jayd0g wrote: »

Loaded this up today, looks promising!

I loved that series. Enjoy!

I've been faffing about on Scribd reading everything & anything these days. Cogheart books, finished Fred the Vampire Accountant books, all the Creepy Hollow books by Rachel Morgan.
Sarah Rockwood's Phoenix series was probably the stand out one so far in my random reading.

RMDrive

Just finished ... Seveneves (reading) - loved it, particularly the first part ... and The Three Body Problem (audible) - good, not great.

Just started ... Anathem - good god the start has way too much architecture in it ... and The Traitor Baru Cormorant (audible) - not loving the reader's style.

Thargor

RMDrive wrote: »

Just finished ... Seveneves (reading) - loved it, particularly the first part ... and The Three Body Problem (audible) - good, not great.

Just started ... Anathem - good god the start has way too much architecture in it ... and The Traitor Baru Cormorant (audible) - not loving the reader's style.

Seveneves I thought was the best science fiction Id read in years but then I read Anathem, stick with them, mindblowing books.

Manach

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher. Its been so long, so long.

ixoy

Thargor wrote: »

Anyone read Cavern of Black Ice and it's sequels? Found the series today and it sounds good.

Yep and I enjoyed it. In fact a poster took their username from one of the books. It's set in the same world as her 'Sword of Shadows' series and you'd lose something by not reading this first.

However, there's one huge caveat, and that is that it's not finished and the last book came out in 2010. J.V. Jones has suffered, I believe, some issues and is slowly (very slowly) getting back to writing. She's working on the next book (which I think would be the final) but it's not guaranteed. Just be warned.

nhur

Thargor wrote: »

Seveneves I thought was the best science fiction Id read in years but then I read Anathem, stick with them, mindblowing books.

I'll back you up on Anathem 100%! (Seveneves... Not 100%... Maybe 80% )
Really looking forward to rereading it as I think I'll enjoy the start more having read it...
Loving Cryptonomicon atm... Really like his style of writing.

ixoy

Read recently:

'The Last Emperox', the final book in John Scalzi's 'The Interdependency' trilogy. I was a bit disappointed with this one. I found Scalzi too often had characters summarise their actions ('Previously on..'), which was distracting, and it ended a bit weakly (there's no follow up planned). Humour was still good and it's a quick read, but didn't become memorable.

'Under the Skin' by Michel Faber. Bearing little resemblance to the film spun out of it, it's an interesting read let down by a rather abrupt ending. The sense of alienation in it is well done but I'd have liked a bit more of an exploration of the lead character's origins. It all felt a little flat in the end, although I'll give Faber some dues for having decent prose.

'The Poison Song' by Max Gladstone. This is the sixth book in the Craft series. I like the world he's created but this time it was a bit let down by a similarity with China Mielville's far superior 'The City and the City' as it too featured the idea of two cities existing in the same space, the version of which you see depending on your beliefs. It also took too long for the reveals when it could have teased them out more.

'The Poison Song' by Jen Williams, the final book in her 'The Winnowing Flame' trilogy. Excellent conclusion to a series I really liked that had some great twists on familiar tropes, such as vampire elves and alien life forms. It tied together all previous plots well, the characters (who I liked) all had their arcs concluded in a fitting manner and it had some strong action sequences. Definitely interested in seeing what she does next.

mcgovern

Finished a few books recently.
Priest of Lies by Peter McLean. If continues to closely resemble Peaky Blinders but skips a few seasons and has the added plot of a quiet war between two countries which the main character is dragged into. It is quite good and I'm looking forward to the inevititable sequel.
After that it was Bone Silence by Alastair Reynolds, the 3rd and final book in his YA space pirate series. This continued the form of the others in the series in that it was a really interesting universe, but quite a boring plot. After 3 books I still couldn't tell the two main characters apart and most of the other characters were instantly forgetable.
Followed that by Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky. A spider turned humanoid to help fufill a prophecy. This is the weakest of Tchaikovsky's books I've read. I guess it is more about prejudice and belief, but large parts were bland, and apart from one large, unseen plot twist, the ending was fairly signposted.
Next up was The Fisherman by John Langan, which is a horror rather than SF/F. There are basically two entwined stories. One set in present times and another set 100 years ago. The one in the past is much more fleshed out and better told. If it was just that one I'd probably give it 5/5 but overall it's still a solid 4/5.
No reading We Are Legion by Denis E. Taylor. It's about an engineer who wakes up 150 years in the future but his mind is now running on a computer. It's a good easy read so far.

Thargor

ixoy wrote: »

Yep and I enjoyed it. In fact a poster took their username from one of the books. It's set in the same world as her 'Sword of Shadows' series and you'd lose something by not reading this first.

However, there's one huge caveat, and that is that it's not finished and the last book came out in 2010. J.V. Jones has suffered, I believe, some issues and is slowly (very slowly) getting back to writing. She's working on the next book (which I think would be the final) but it's not guaranteed. Just be warned.

Ah okay I'll put it on hold then and look into the other series, thanks for that.

keane2097

Manach wrote: »

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher. Its been so long, so long.

Didn't know that was out, happy days! Another one coming in three months too apparently.

keane2097

I'm listening to Rendezvous With Rama on Audible while reading summaries of the Dresden Files books to remind myself of the story-lines. I often expect classic sci-fi to be a bit ****e and I'm always wrong. RWR is absolutely class 70% of the way through, as was Ringworld, as was Stars My Destination, as was anything by Asimov I ever picked up. I must try to remember this.

Trojan

Rendezvous With Rama: class. I think that was Clarke at his best.

Igotadose

Thargor wrote: »

Great series, tore through it.

Anyone read Cavern of Black Ice and it's sequels? Found the series today and it sounds good. Read a few comments online that it would have been a very famous series if it wasn't constantly being overshadowed by new Game of Thrones books releasing at the same time back in the day.

Got about 1/3 through "Cavern of Black Ice" and gave up. To each their own, but the writer leaves a lot to be desired. Lines like "Her skin shone like buttered toast" are pretty pathetic imo. Also, fair number of misused/inappropriate words, a sign of bad editing, one that jumps to mind was "The ancient wood had been treated with preserves." That made me laugh out loud - strawberry? raspberry? Preservatives is what was wanted.

keane2097

keane2097 wrote: »

I'm listening to Rendezvous With Rama on Audible while reading summaries of the Dresden Files books to remind myself of the story-lines. I often expect classic sci-fi to be a bit ****e and I'm always wrong. RWR is absolutely class 70% of the way through, as was Ringworld, as was Stars My Destination, as was anything by Asimov I ever picked up. I must try to remember this.

Finished RWR last night and the ending was very satisfying. My Goodreads review is 'Just perfect' which sums it up. The follow-ups written by some other chap - yay or nay?

I've started the new Dresden Files book on Audible now. They're good craic.

cdgalwegian

keane2097 wrote: »

I'm listening to Rendezvous With Rama on Audible while reading summaries of the Dresden Files books to remind myself of the story-lines. I often expect classic sci-fi to be a bit ****e and I'm always wrong. RWR is absolutely class 70% of the way through, as was Ringworld, as was Stars My Destination, as was anything by Asimov I ever picked up. I must try to remember this.

I stayed away from Asimov thinking the same. Must give him a try.

Trojan

Just on the classic sf buzz, I am not currently re-reading "A Fall of Moondust" by Clarke, but it should be on my list. For me it's one of the best in its class (in and out of sf genre).

Igotadose

Trojan wrote: »

Just on the classic sf buzz, I am not currently re-reading "A Fall of Moondust" by Clarke, but it should be on my list. For me it's one of the best in its class (in and out of sf genre).

Ray Bradbury's one I'd recommend for great classic SF that's brilliantly written.