What Are You Reading?

Sarky

Death's Head, David Gunn. Pulpy noir-ish unashamed shooty explodey goodness with hookers, cyborgs and a bloody-minded sociopath for a main character that makes far too many things explode. Not much for profound commentary on the human condition, but there's lasers. Lasers and an equally bloody-minded sociopathic gun with AI.

orestes

You had me at hookers Sarky

Trojan

I love Bio of a Space Tyrant.

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I started Cloud Atlas but found it very slow going at the start. Normally I'd ditch it but I've heard good things about it. Any thoughts? Definitely worth sticking with it?

myk

Trojan wrote: »

I started Cloud Atlas but found it very slow going at the start. Normally I'd ditch it but I've heard good things about it. Any thoughts? Definitely worth sticking with it?

I haven't read Cloud Atlas, but I read Ghostwritten by the same author and I thought it was excellent.

ixoy

Just started "The Prefect" by Alastair Reynolds. Other than some clunky dialogue, I'm greatly enjoying this RS novel which has a good mystery running through it and some neat concepts.

Knasher

I am reading Ian Irvine's books atm, just finishing the second book in the third series. Overall pretty decent books, although the first set could really use a second edition as there alot of small errors as well as some larger ones with the pacing (there is a very long chase sequence in the first book, and a couple of times our heroine is captured only to escape again, except it doesn't actually say that she escaped, or how, just that she is going again - guess I could argue that it conveys the franticness (is that a word), but it just comes off as confusing). Overall though its a pretty good story, I only have one more in the series (so far) to go, but I can't find it in normal sized paperback, and I hate buying irregularly shaped books. Ian M. Banks I'm looking at you :P.

mcgovern

Finished The Temporal Void, which was good but still a bit disappointing
Started Market Forces by Richard Morgan, which so far is a bit slow for me.

Dades

Now about 2/3rds through on "Against a Dark Background" by Iain M Banks.

My favorite of his SF/Culture stuff so far (reading in order).

mcgovern

mcgovern wrote: »

Finished The Temporal Void, which was good but still a bit disappointing
Started Market Forces by Richard Morgan, which so far is a bit slow for me.

Market Forces is probably his weakest novel yet, and the end is a bit sudden.
Now reading the 3rd book in the Saga of the Seven Suns.

Sir Digby Chicken Caesar

Captain Mords Spiced 42 inch Bum 25-5-09 wrote: »

in the sprit of the thread.. I am now reading the dragonbone chair - tad williams. it's been so long since I've read it I think I've forgotten enough that it's gona be all new again.

finished this last night. Two months it took me. What the hell have I done to myself.

ixoy

Currently reading "Renegade's Magic" by Robin Hobb, the final book in her much-maligned "Soldier's Son" trilogy. I'm quite enjoying it but the series isn't up to the standard of the other three trilogies that she's written under her Hobb pseudynom. Still it's above average so far and hopefully wraps up conclusively.

CiDeRmAn

Just reading On by Adam Roberts, brilliant, that man has yet to disappoint me!

ixoy

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Just reading On by Adam Roberts, brilliant, that man has yet to disappoint me!

I had never heard of him until recently when he caused a stir, in sci-fi circles, by slamming the Hugo nominations as being boring (much like the Emmys).

Spunge

Started reading dan simmons' hyperion last night. im about 100 pages in and really enjoying it so far.

spongeman

Try Carrion Comfort from Simmons as well.

Utterly superb.

Tricity Bendix

About one third of the way through Feist's Magician and I'm thinking to myself, how could I have been a fantasy fan for years and not read this book? I'm loving it a lot.

Gonna start Hobb's third trilogy when I'm done with Feist. Still digesting the Liveship Trader business. I loved the first book of that trilogy due to the copious amounts of political economy in it, but the rest of it was all just a bit much. Its like the ending to her first trilogy - an over-the-top expolsion of fantasy - only spread over two books instead of two chapters.

ocianain

Just finished Ciarain Carson's retelling of The Tain, fantastic read, couldn't put it down! 3/4 through Hillaire Belloc's retelling of Tristan and Isoulte.

Shryke

I'm alternating between Sandman and Hellboy comics. Currently I'm reading Stanilgrad by Antony Beevor. I'm half way through and it's completely riveting. It actually gives me a bit of a rush at times.
After I finish that I'll probably jump on more Discworld, we'll see how it goes.

Ping Chow Chi

Just finished Replay by Ken Grimwood. It is the best book I have read in years, in fact I am very tempted to pick it up and read it again.

Its about time travel (kind of) and what a person may do if they have the chance to re-live parts of their life over again.

Can't recomend this book enough really!

ixoy

Just started "Quarantine" by Greg Egan. Never read him before but I've heard he's a good author in the hard sci-fi genre and what I've seen so far seems interesting.

fenris

Just back from my hols where I mercilessly doubled up by listening to audiobooks when I couldn't read - wife not hugely impressed!

I went on a Brandon Sanderson binge - the mistborn trilogy followed by Elantris (as recommended earlier in this thread - good pulp, you just keep reading even though you know that you will be knackerd in the morning)

Skin Trade by Laurell K. Hamilton (yep it is just like the others but closes off the Mother of darkness bit. In my defense it was a backup book as I wasn't expecting to finish the others)

The Steel Remains - Richard Morgan (Good fantasy, different from his Tak Kovaks novels but homophobes need not apply!)

Currently reading Haze by Modesitt, with a restart of the Malazan Books of the Fallen planned, probably as a reaction to all of the easy reading of the last few weeks!

I am debating whether to slip in Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" before the Malazans as I have had enough pulp/formulaic books which are fun but hold no real surprises, and I am not sure if "The Blade Itself" fits this category or not!


This thread is great for finding new (to me) authors.

ixoy

fenris wrote: »

I am debating whether to slip in Joe Abercrombie's "The Blade Itself" before the Malazans as I have had enough pulp/formulaic books which are fun but hold no real surprises, and I am not sure if "The Blade Itself" fits this category or not!

Good timing - I'm just reading "Before They are Hanged" by Joe Abercrombie - the sequel to "The Blade Itself".

In terms of plot I don't think the books are particularly adventurous with the usual barbarian warring kingdoms, ancient mages, etc. The difference is a bit more with the style and characters. The novels are quite cynical in tone and many of the characters are world-weary veterans (something you also see a bit of in the Malazan series). It's quite refreshing. Another thing I've also noticed is that he writes good - but very violent and brutal - battle scenes. Very visceral.

Definitely enjoying it so far, more so than the first book. It doesn't revolutionize the genre but it does good the standard format a good kick up the rear.

Shryke

You haven't read Last Argument yet Ixoy.
Definitely go with Abercrombie. You'll get a few surprises.
I finished Stalingrad a while back and it was a very good read. Went through The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time and I thought it was very well done. I'm half way through Into the Wild at the moment. The guy isn't exactly moving me. In many ways I think well done but he just acted very stupidly in the end. And once I finish that I'll be reading Witches Abroad.

PADRAGON

Just started House of Chains of the Malazan.This is the fourth in the set i
read the first two and i'm hooked.Not too worried about skipping three,they
seem to stand alone very well.I know i'll get to them all in time.
Highly recommended.

PADRAGON

orestes wrote: »

Gotta agree, the first 100 pages of Donaldsons Covenant Chronicles bored me to tears (I had to be physically forced to read it, no joke) but once I got into it I fecking loved it

I'm reading Piers Anthonys Bio of a Space Tyrant atm, on the second one now and frigging loving them.

I'm only just getting into sci-fi, any recommendations greatly appreciated folks

Could'nt agree more about Covenant.At first its bit of a slog but its so worth
it.My favourite fantasy set by a long way.
Donaldson has a sci fi series called the Gap.
Check it out you wont be disappointed.

Sarky

PADRAGON wrote: »

Just started House of Chains of the Malazan.This is the fourth in the set i
read the first two and i'm hooked.Not too worried about skipping three,they
seem to stand alone very well.I know i'll get to them all in time.
Highly recommended.

They stand alone fairly well (Later books don't. For example I wouldn't read Toll The Hounds without reading both Gardens and Memories, too much established stuff taken for granted), although I bet you'll be kicking yourself reading Memories of Ice later on when you pick up on stuff you saw in the other books. Then again, I'm still kicking myself for not picking up on stuff from the 3rd or 4th time I read through them.

Shryke

Currently about half way through Witches Abroad. I know Pratchett isn't the deepest author out there but some of his stuff can be very insightful and touching. And the humour is always great, but I find the witches to be maybe the weakest group to follow. But the cat is awesome.

Illkillya

PADRAGON wrote: »

Could'nt agree more about Covenant.At first its bit of a slog but its so worth it.

Same here... the first 150 pages of the first Thomas Covenant was awful, but once you get over that then there are 8(?) good books to go.

PADRAGON

Sarky wrote: »

They stand alone fairly well (Later books don't. For example I wouldn't read Toll The Hounds without reading both Gardens and Memories, too much established stuff taken for granted), although I bet you'll be kicking yourself reading Memories of Ice later on when you pick up on stuff you saw in the other books. Then again, I'm still kicking myself for not picking up on stuff from the 3rd or 4th time I read through them.

Yeh i'm starting to see what you mean.I'm halfway through house of chains and lots of things are clicking in to place.I'll definitely read memories next.
Every other character seems to get a new name with each book.I'm sure
theres lots getting by me.
I read part of an interview with Erikson he said you cant ghost through his books they demand a certain amount of work.
Seems worth it so far.

Branoic

Just after finishing Feist's latest, Rides a Dread Legion, and starting now into R Scott Bakker's next one, "The Judging Eye". His original Prince of Nothing trilogy absolutely blew me away.

ixoy

Just starting Neal Asher's "The Skinner", the first in his Spatterjay sequence (set in the Polity universe of his Agent Cormac books, although chronologically some time after them).

Liking it so far - Asher's flair for inventive alien life is on show again in the seriously screwed up ecology of Spatterjay. Characters haven't grabbed me yet - they seem a little thinly drawn - but I'm only at the start so it needs more time. It's less "punk" than the Cormac series - in fact it appears quite low-tech. Interesting to see where it goes, although the title of the next book in the sequence looks to be a mild spoiler for this entry...

Shryke

Finished Witches Abroad and more Hellboy. I'm now about half way through The Hitchhikers Guide! I've read the first one once before but I was pretty young and don't really remember it too well so it might as well be my first time. I got the box set of five really cheap in a second hand book shop. It was still wrapped in the plastic. Happy out.

Zion21

"On Human Nature" just got it from amazon. Very interesting.

Galen

Finished the Star Trek Destiny trilogy by David Mack and now I'm half way through the Brass Man by Neal Asher

PADRAGON

Illkillya wrote: »

Same here... the first 150 pages of the first Thomas Covenant was awful, but once you get over that then there are 8(?) good books to go.

Yeh the next ones due next year and the last in 2013. {sigh}
wishing my life away....

anonymous_joe

Started on George RR Martin's works.

Generally seems ok-ish so far.

Shryke

Now reading The Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

meditraitor

Just picked up the 9th Malzan novel by Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams. Read a few pages on my lunch break ........ might have to take the rest of the day off

Sarky

It's out?

*cancels all appointments for the month*

Shryke

meditraitor wrote: »

Just picked up the 9th Malzan novel by Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams-

What!? How did I not know this was out? There's my next purchase.

ixoy

Shryke wrote: »

What!? How did I not know this was out? There's my next purchase.

The date's been set for a while. I'm picking up my copy on Thursday!

meditraitor

Sarky wrote: »

It's out?

*cancels all appointments for the month*

Picked it up from Waterstones (Jervis SC) yesterday,

Johnny Storm

ixoy wrote: »

Just starting Neal Asher's "The Skinner", the first in his Spatterjay sequence (set in the Polity universe of his Agent Cormac books, although chronologically some time after them).

Liking it so far - Asher's flair for inventive alien life is on show again in the seriously screwed up ecology of Spatterjay. Characters haven't grabbed me yet - they seem a little thinly drawn - but I'm only at the start so it needs more time. It's less "punk" than the Cormac series - in fact it appears quite low-tech. Interesting to see where it goes, although the title of the next book in the sequence looks to be a mild spoiler for this entry...

I read in Asher's short story collection ("the Engineer Reconditioned), that he was exposed to an illustrated biology textbook on marine parasites at an early age and obviously this has an a profoundly disturbing effect on him.:eek:
He may not be the most literary of SF writers but he is entertaining and he keeps them coming at a readable standard....

ixoy

And now, like others here, I'm also reading "Dust of Dreams". Nice light reading

Johnny Storm wrote: »

I read in Asher's short story collection ("the Engineer Reconditioned), that he was exposed to an illustrated biology textbook on marine parasites at an early age and obviously this has an a profoundly disturbing effect on him.:eek:
He may not be the most literary of SF writers but he is entertaining and he keeps them coming at a readable standard....

It makes me think of the Magic Undersea Kingdom in "The Little Mermaid" and what would happen if it was sent to Hell... Very enjoyable stuff even, as you say, he isn't as literary as say Neal Stephenson. Cracking reads.

bonkey

Picked up DoD yesterday.

Currently finishing book 3 of the Night's Dawn trilogy (re-reading). Should be done over the weekend, and then its off to see what the Malazan boys are up to.

pljudge321

Went into town today to pick up Dust of Dreams. Waterstones have it at 17.99 whilst everywhere else I checked had it for about 24. Seems good so far, looks like we will be learning quite a bit more about the K'Chain Che'Malle in this one, which is good as they've been the most ambiguous race so far in the series.

ixoy

Four people simultaneously reading the same novel on this thread - must be a record!

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

Currently reading "Renegade's Magic" by Robin Hobb, the final book in her much-maligned "Soldier's Son" trilogy. I'm quite enjoying it but the series isn't up to the standard of the other three trilogies that she's written under her Hobb pseudynom. Still it's above average so far and hopefully wraps up conclusively.

I thought the first book was pretty good, the 2nd was difficult - I didn't like the way the plot went and not into these Specks guys. Haven't bothered to get the 3rd book, maybe if I see it for a couple of quid in the 2nd hand section I might get it, but after book 2 I'm not much interested at all. What a huge fall from the heights of the Assassin series (and Livetraders was bloody good too).

Dades wrote: »

Now about 2/3rds through on "Against a Dark Background" by Iain M Banks.

My favorite of his SF/Culture stuff so far (reading in order).

Yeah I thought that was fantastic. My favourite is The Player of Games, but I regularly re-read Against a Dark Background, Consider Phlebas and Excession when I run out of sf and need a quick fix.

mcgovern wrote: »

Finished The Temporal Void, which was good but still a bit disappointing

I just finished it too, it wasn't bad - put it this way, I immediately checked to see when the next was due (the fecker had me tricked into thinking it was a 2 book series like the last). The Edeard stuff was more interesting in the 2nd book than the first.

Been thinking about doing a re-read of Feist from Magician up, been a long time and I want to read the new serpent ones, so I'd rather have Riftwar etc fresh enough.

PADRAGON

meditraitor wrote: »

Just picked up the 9th Malzan novel by Steven Erikson, Dust of Dreams. Read a few pages on my lunch break ........ might have to take the rest of the day off

Jesus theres nine of them?
Almost finished house of chains or rather its almost finished me.
My head is officially wrecked.
I feel like i should start again from the beginning.

Im also reading the wasp factory.
Frank seems a real charmer so far.:eek:

meditraitor

PADRAGON wrote: »

Jesus theres nine of them?
Almost finished house of chains or rather its almost finished me.
My head is officially wrecked.
I feel like i should start again from the beginning.

Im also reading the wasp factory.
Frank seems a real charmer so far.:eek:

:pac: Nine released, one to go (although dust of dreams is part one of the a two part finale)......
The toblakai trilogy to coma after