Oktoberbookfest

I just finished Good Omens by Pratchett and Gaiman...I thought it was really good. Also Im a good three quarters through The Dark Tower, now I don't even have to say the series. Im on the last book and I want to see what's in that damned tower and I want to see Roland climb to the top lol. Anyways after this I'll either go for Neverwhere or something liek The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz (GooD GooD Book.)
 
I tried, I really did, to read the JV Jones, was well written, and interesting. But so drawn out! I got bored halfway through and skimmed the rest.
Now I'm onto the Martin, that is if my kids and hubby will give me a moment to read them!
 
"A Game of Thrones" for the book club, of course.

I'm also getting into a non-fiction book called "Blood of the Prophets", by Will Bagley, about a little-known but quite controversial event in American western history, the Mountain Meadows Massacre.

Also, just finished re-reading "Under the Banner of Heaven", by Jon Krakauer. This is the book that led me to "Blood of the Prophets".
 
Sorry, this is recycled off my blog again:

I had immense fun with Fritz Leiber's Swords and Deviltry, in which we are told of the first meeting between Leibers' fantasy duo, Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser. It's a fun adventure, little more, but it revels in throwing strange settings, swordlplay, magic and the occasional monster at us. While elements here have since become cliches, it is the manner of the telling that characterises the story as fantasy. I liked it so much I went and picked up two more volumes in the series, even though my financial state this month is not the best.

I'm also thoroughly enjoying Strange Doings, a collection of RA Lafferty's short sf stories. The breadth of imagination, the wonderfuly clear style and urbane wit, and the classic sf trick of having at least one 'oh, my' idea per story - brilliant! It helps that the tales are very concise, so I can actually read an entire story on my way to work, for instance. Do yourself a favour, read one of his stories too: http://www.scifi.com/scifiction/classics/classics_archive/lafferty4/
 
I just started The Knight by Gene Wolfe this morning....not far enough in to have made any opinions about it yet
 
I gave up on The Knight, I just couldn't get into it. So I started The Madman's Tale by John Katzenbach last night and so far, its great
 
I read American Gods by Neil Gaiman earlier this month (after Sandman, of course), and was really impressed by the scope and coherence of the whole thing. I really love long, well thought out books, with plenty of time to get to know the main characters.

So then I picked up Stardust (also Gaiman) from the local library and although a lot shorter and very much a fairy tale I still loved it. So much so that I completely stopped reading Herodotus' Histories while I read it (btw kudos to Lacedaemonian for a cool name, though I'm 380 pages in and I still don't know where Lacedaemonia is).
 
Lacedaemonians are Spartans.


Well, I'm off to a little town in the hills for an extended weekend. Taking a bunch of short story colections by classic sf authors (Murray Leinster, RA Lafferty, Cyril Kornbluth and James Tiptree, Jr.) and also A Game of Thrones, which I'll hopefully finish.
 
lol, yeah, they're Spartans... what I want to know is, which source did he get it from? The best book about the Spartans I've read is "Gates of Fire"... gotta re-read that some time.


Now reading, A Game of Thrones, Market Forces and Iron Council, all at the same time!!!
 
Besides "A Game of Thrones", which seems never-ending at this point, I'm reading the second volume of Piers Anthony's autobiography. Strange book, but some interesting insights as well.

I'm also reading something called "The Republican Noise Machine" by David Brock, in which he asserts that there actually is a right-wing plot to take over the media, and thus the United States. Interesting reading, especially in this period right before the presidential election here in the states. Brock should know what he's talking about, he used to be part of the right-wing media, before he got disgusted with it and with being used by it. Another of his books, "Blinded By The Right" is the story of his journey into and out of the right wing. Also an interesting book.
 
I did history at university as well as being quite well read, but to as where I first heard the name Lacedaemonia, I am unsure. I have read so many books about Sparta and Thermopylae that I can for the life of me think where. The Spartan by Valerio Massimo Manfreidi is quite good.

I have been reading Harlequin by Bernard Cornwell, and am almost finished. It is surprisingly good. George RR Martin recommended it and so am I. I may review this book when I have completed the series.
 
Ah, I had a great time on my long weekend, rambling through the prettiest little hill-town I've seen in a while and got to read quite a bit too. I read Good Omens by Terry Pratchett & Neil Gaiman - a very, very cool and funny apocalyptic romp! Brillaint stuff. Also read two more volumes in Fritz Lieber's chronicles of Fafhrd and Grey Mouser - again, I really loved these books. I've read 3 of the 7 collected volumes of Lieber's short stories about these two hero/thieves and simply have to find the other four now! I also read a few interesting short stories by James Tiptree Jr and RA Lafferty.
 
Pete - I love Bernard Cornwell's work. Have you read any of his Sharpe series?

I finally finished Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey thank goodnes. I'll post a review soon. Still in the midst of Eve, Aurelio's book and Shadowmarch the Tad Williams novel first serialized on the internet. Both going slowly because of my work schedule, but I'll get through them eventually!
 
I read three books this weekend, none of which were fantasy or sci fi though I would highly recommend PS I Love You by Cecelia Ahern to women....it's a good one if a little sad(ok ok I admit, I cried). I brought Split Heirs by Lawrence Watt-Evans and Esther M.Friesner to work with me today.
 
Hello. Second post on this here board. For some reason these pages load unbearably slowly on my spyware riddled laptop. Reading Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. So far, it's so good it makes me want to kick myself in the face.
 
ltbrown said:
Hello. Second post on this here board. For some reason these pages load unbearably slowly on my spyware riddled laptop. Reading Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds. So far, it's so good it makes me want to kick myself in the face.
Click to expand...
Hello and welcome to the Chronicles-Network! Have you tried Adaware and Spybot to get rid of that spyware? Firewalls are a good thing too.

Oh, and I don't think you'd want to kick yourself in the face. Might be a nice trick tho...
 
I'm something of a luddite, so thanks for the tip. I look into it.

Reynolds' book has me flailing my limbs with such wild geeky abandonment that I'm likely to accidentally kick anybody in the face if they come near me.
 
I reading dialogues of the dead, fascinating, and not your usual tv detective fare. quite complex and engrosing.
 
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