ixoy wrote: » Next up: some new Malazan-based work from Erikson with 'The God is Not Willing'. Only been waiting for this for over a decade.
coffee_cake wrote: » The book was interesting but like one big long interlude. I only way to describe it. Xyr was doing my head in Reading the new Tchaikovsky and enjoying it Shards of Earth Maybe one day I'll give Dogs of War another go, I didnt get into it at all
Just finished 'The God is Not Willing' by Steven Eirkson, the first in his Witness trilgoy and it's very enjoyable. Even if part of a trilogy, it stands alone quite well and feels quite streamlined running about half the length of a standard Malazan novel. Dealing with the fallout of some events a decade on from "The Crippled God", it's got classic Malazan marine banter, memorable characters (love Stillwater), plenty of bits that go over my head as ever, more lore, philosophical marines, monsters. Nothing like Kharkanas in tone and definitely worth a read.
Getting back into Iain M Banks' Excession after putting it down: there is something almost unreadable about Banks' sci-fi novels, to me anyway. As always the actual prose and language is evocative and rich but the narrative ... I dunno. Too dense? Impenetrable? It's not necessarily cold, but It's like Banks wanted to smother the text with layers of the unfamiliar, mixed with often confusing segues of unnamed or trivial characters. I do like it: but It's that form of novel you really need to be in the mood for. He never wrote anything as a casual read.
It makes for a fascinating contrast with someone like Becky Chambers: her novels are arguably as full with the uncanny and distinctively alien - but she still finds the ordinary, relatable voice within. Banks either couldn't or didn't care if the reader felt detached from his collection of robots and humans. His worlds are no less engrossing but he asks the reader to really engage.
Abercrobies "Shattered Sea Trilogy" - Time to get these books out of my to read list, a nice easy read so far.
Just finished Half a King, its really nothing like Abercrombies other stuff. It really is Young Adult reading, its very light and fluffy.
* "Exit Strategy" by Martha Wells, the fourth book in her Murderbot series. Thought this was an improvement on the slightly disappointing previous instalment. The plot was more focused and Murderbot itself got to further their storyline both from a plot and character perspective. It nicely lined itself up for the fifth (longer) book.
Not sure who mentioned it but thanks for the suggestion of Death Gate Cycle... I've read almost all of Weis and Hickmans other stuff years back hut wasn't even aware of this. Just finished all the books. Great mix of fantasy and scifi concepts.
Not quite sure where to go next. Like others will wait for a few new Malazan books before getting stuck in... Suggestions? Thanks in advance
Ever read the book of swords series by Saberhagen? More vintage than Death Gate and better, I thought the Death Gate ran out of steam in the last novel.
Personally working through the "Traitor Son Cycle" by Cameron. On the third book. Interesting organization where he keeps multiple story lines going without them straying too far apart. A fair amount of typos and missed edits. Reminds me somewhat of the Jim Butcher stuff in that the author's hobby (medieval combat) flows into the work (Butcher was a keen martial artist and his books ended up as endless fight scenes.)
I'm reading the second book in this series and couldn't agree more. The typos are very sloppy in places. Still enjoying it though!
The errors reduce in the Masters and Mages series but there was still enough to be annoying.
I've started on Cold Iron by Cameron but haven't heard of Saberhagen... Added to the list, thanks!
I'm finding Project Hail Mary hard work. Like The Martian the structure is very much science problem- equations- science solution. The dialogue can be very simplistic and as for the characterisation, it's the exact same character as in The Martian, who I suspect is the exact same character as Andy Weir. The memory loss device is a big problem too, and extremely convenient at times.
Just started The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin.
Serious goodness from the past. Her father was a famous anthropologist who worked with the last wild human in California
I'm currently slowly getting through Thief's Magic. It's fine, nothing gripping but not bad as such either. I'm not a big fan of Canavan so I'm not sure why I picked it up.
On the other hand, I was told I should read Rothfuss anyway, even if it's not likely to be finished. Both of those books arrived this morning so that might motivate me to finish the other book!
Half way through Cibola Burn . Read 1-3 before the show came out, so different perspective catching up.
Enjoying it, took a few chapters to get to grips with the new POV characters.
Really looking forward to this one (saw on twitter and couldn't resist)
I had a holiday so plenty of reading by the pool/on the beach.
Read the 4 books in teh genghis khan series by conn igulden.
they were good. enjoyable.
Then the 4 books in the "war of the roses" series from him too. Currently finishing up the fourth.
Also enjoyed these.
Next will either be "the god is not willing" or possibly I may re-read some Dune books, since the trailer for the upcoming movie has reminded me of it. I have read it before but about 30 years ago as a teenager, so I expect it will be different this time around.
Highly recommend "Bored of the Rings." Great parody. Though, I remember the 'Muddy Waters' from Howya Dune, pretty funny stuff.
If you enjoy fun sci-fi Niven and Pournelle's Inferno well worth a punt; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inferno_(Niven_and_Pournelle_novel)
About 30% into The Last Watch (The Divide #1, cos books now are trilogies by default): enjoying the premise, and its characters so far successfully ride the line between Wheadon+ era patter, and organic or conversational tones. The smart-ass character is only intentionally annoying, rather than the please shove him out the airlock feeling the Poochies can leave the reader/viewer with. And while the inciting incident has already happened, the story still feels like it hasn't quite taken off; so knowing that it's the first book, I worry I'm going to finish the book on a cliffhanger and very little resolved.
Just finishing up " A Plague of Words", the fourth and penultimate book in the Traitor Son Cycle. It feels like he worte book 4 & 5 as a single book, then split in to two.
Can't see how to add spolier tags on the new interface, so will keep this vague. I was hoping the fifth book would explore more of the fantastical & otherworldy elements touched on in the fourth book. The protaganist has developed as a character and matured, but we don't see too much of that at this point due to the wider cast.
I think I'll be similar to yourself, will read the fifth book to find out how it ends but I've become a bit disconnected from the series at this point.
Make sure to post back when you've finished it. Interested to see what your final opinion was.
Just finished "Half a World", Book 2 in Shattered Sea Trilogy. Better than Book 1 but still light and fluffy compared to Abercrombies darker material. Will get through Book 3 to complete the series but not in a big hurry to.
will do!
Reading The Dark Tower, book 7 - The last in the series. Anyone else think this is pure tripe??????? Only about 20% in and just getting through it to finish out the series. Book 6 was not great either if I remember.
