What we're reading in August...

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Finished Prador Moon (Neal Asher does Night of the Crabs :)). Then went to Bloodstock, and while I was there read Galactic Empires Vol 1, edited by Brian Aldiss (not to be taken seriously; from his introduction, Aldiss certainly didn't) and Master of Space and Time by Rudy Rucker (more lightweight than I remembered it). Now I'm reading The Grain Kings by Keith Roberts.
 
I've started reading Jasper Fforde's latest Thursday Next novel: The First Among Sequels. I am, however, a little disappointed five chapters into the book: Fforde has so far only repeated stuff we know, deliberating on funny concepts already explored in previous books; I've hardly even chuckled, where Something Rotten had me howling from the start.
 
I started Wolves of the Calla yesterday. The first 3 Dark Tower books were very good. I wasn't as keen on Wizards and Glass. I like the 'new' character, Father Callahan, but I'm less enamored of the demon fetus/Mia sub plot.
 
Finally had a chance to get back to LeFanu's The Wyvern Mystery, after having to set it aside for nearly a week:(...
 
Read a couple of authors that are new to me. First was Will Thomas' Some Danger Involved. About a Victorian private inquiry agent. Very good.

Next, thanks to Connavar's recommendation, I read Under the Eagle and enjoyed it. Will be getting the other books in the series now.

Now reading Lindsey Davis' Last Act in Palmyra. A lighter note on the Roman Empire, takes place about 30 years after Under the Eagle. Vespasian is now emperor. It's a Roman detective story. It might be lighter, but Davis is still accurate in her depictions of Roman life.
 
murphy said:
Read a couple of authors that are new to me. First was Will Thomas' Some Danger Involved. About a Victorian private inquiry agent. Very good.

Next, thanks to Connavar's recommendation, I read Under the Eagle and enjoyed it. Will be getting the other books in the series now.

Now reading Lindsey Davis' Last Act in Palmyra. A lighter note on the Roman Empire, takes place about 30 years after Under the Eagle. Vespasian is now emperor. It's a Roman detective story. It might be lighter, but Davis is still accurate in her depictions of Roman life.
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Hehe you read Under The Eagle cause of me and i read Old Man's War cause you recommended it so much first time i saw the name of the book months ago :)
 
Nesacat said:
A collection of short stories by A.S. Byatt entitled Elementals.
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Hi Nesa

I've heard of this and I must say it really appeals to me but not having read any of Byatt's other works, I'd really appreciate your feedback on this one.

Thank you muchly :)

Ada
xx
 
Finished The Grain Kings by Keith Roberts. Some good stories - especially 'Weihnachtsabend' and 'The Lake of Tuonela' - but a couple were a little dated. Next up is a reread of a favourite, Metrophage - part of my "challenge" this year to reread a favourite sf novel each month.
 
Adasunshine said:
Hi Nesa

I've heard of this and I must say it really appeals to me but not having read any of Byatt's other works, I'd really appreciate your feedback on this one.
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My two favourite books of hers is The Little Black Book of Stories and another collection entitled The Djinn In The Nightingale's Eye.

Elementals is a very short collection around the themes of fire & ice. All the stories have a female protagonist and have some legend or myth involved. There's the lamia and there's the Bible for instance.

The Little Black Book Of Stories looks at seemingly regular occurrences from a dark, odd point of view. The first story, for example, is about two young girls sent away to the country during the war. They are placed in an old manor house on the edge of a forest. There's a legend about the house and one day the girls see something in the forest. It is to shape the course of their lives.

The Djinn In The Nightingale's Eye the title story is an old, old one. There is a Djinn and three wishes to be granted. Only this time the woman does not wish for all the things one would think she would wish for.

Of her books, the ones I love best would be Possession as well as Angels & Insects. Possession is split between the present and the Victorian era. The lives of two Victorian poets is unravelled through a series of letters and journals by two academics in the present day.
 
I'm on the home stretch with the Dark Tower; just started book 7 last night. I love the characters the most. I'm having trouble grasping the concepts of the different worlds, some true and some not. I'm hoping it will all start to make more sense during this last read.
 
Culhwch said:
I've just started in on The Prestige, by Christopher Priest, and am working my way through Gaiman's collection of Fragile Things.
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The Prestige was pretty good. Let me know what you think of the writing style.

Last night I finished A Clockwork Orange, and just started reading RAH's Citizen of the Galaxy.
 
Other way round - the film is an adaptation of Christopher Priest's novel.
 
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