What literary delights are you delving into this December?

Chewed through Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself, which was very very good, reminded me a lot of Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, the prose being an exception here, of cause, but I hear that it gets a lot better in Before They Are Hanged so I'm not that worried. Every time I read a chapter on Glokta, vivid memories of Tyrion Lannister seems to flash through my head and that in itself not a bad thing:D... Parts with Collem West and his sister Ardee seemed very real and touching...(felt sad reading it :eek:) and West himself was like Eddard Stark minus the "Nobility";)...All in all great characters with a fast paced plot and lots of gratuitously described action. I'm practically salivating for the next volume:D. Anyway sorry to digress...started and already halfway through Neil Gaiman's A Game of You, fifth volume in his Sandman sequence.

Cheer's, DeepThought
 
Slowly reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad while dipping in and out of Wampeters Foma and Granfalloons by Kurt Vonnegut.
 
Spending Book Tokens....
Just starting the Baker's Boy trilogy by J.V. Jones......
 
Stenevor said:
Slowly reading Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad while dipping in and out of Wampeters Foma and Granfalloons by Kurt Vonnegut.
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My only question is: who are you going to get to pay for your whiplash?:p (Excellent books, but... what a combination!)
 
Working my way through seasonal classic Winters Tale by Mark Helprin.
Also dipping in and out of all the Culture novels to date in order to sharpen up for the release of Matter later this year.
 
I got away from posting for a while with travels and other distractions, but here goes again with my last couple of reads.

I recently completed my first by Spider Robinson, Callahan’s Crosstime Saloon. It’s a collection of short stories set in a Long Island area tavern, circa 1970’s. They are humanistic, character driven stories, with few of the typical Sci-Fi elements (space ships, aliens, ray guns, etc.). It was a nice change of pace from the more typical Sci-Fi fare. I enjoyed his writing, with a number of nifty phrases and sayings, and his characters were engaging. This one goes on my recommended list, with a couple of caveats. It didn’t strike me as sexist or chauvinistic, but it’s a male oriented/dominated book (I only recall a couple of female characters). It’s also somewhat dated and may not appeal as much to younger readers (under 40). I also note that it’s a short work. My copy is only 170 pages, plus a short forward by Ben Bova and an intro by Robinson. It’s not a major commitment to try this one out. Personally, I’m looking forward to reading more in this series from time to time (there are several sequels).

The last book I read was Coyote, by Allen Steele. It’s the story of a bunch of political renegades who highjack the first ship sent from earth to colonize a habitable planet around a relatively nearby star. It set in the near future and grounded in current scientific theory and speculation. It attempts to explain the technology and logistics based on current scientific theory and speculation, rather than just assuming the existence of fantastic new technologies. It also includes of few diagrams and maps to accompany the story. I wish more books did this. It was easy to read and somewhat entertaining, but a pretty average story in my opinion. I generally like stories of this type and will probably check out a sequel or two at some point, but I wouldn’t put it on my recommended list.
 
After my second re-read of Pratchett's (masterpiece?) Night Watch, the chronologically logical next book is of course Guards! Guards!, to check up on Sam Vimes some years later.
 
Now moving onto the final part of The Dark Tower series...The Dark Tower itself. And I swear reading this series in such quick succession is physically wearing me out...!
 
I remember suffering through Heart of Darkness back in high school. I would not be tempted to read it again. Easier to watch Apocalypse Now.....
 
Bikewer said:
I remember suffering through Heart of Darkness back in high school. I would not be tempted to read it again. Easier to watch Apocalypse Now.....
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Almost finished now and Ive enjoyed it, top writing, very atmospheric. Funny enough some of the books that I was forced to read and really didnt get on with while at school I have since re-read and loved.
 
Re-reading Iain M Banks' Look to Windward. Not sure his books work as well on re-reads though:(
 
Against A Dark Background does, I think. Mind you, it is one of my favourite sf novels :)
 
Absolutely loved Mockingbird by Walter Tevis. Fantastic end of humanity story with a bit of grit and feeling to it. I recommend it to anyone exploring the post apocalyptic cum population explosion genre from the seventies. In a similar vein I'm reading Where Late the Sweetbirds Sang, by Kate Wilhelm, and found the first part a bit flat, but then it gets more interesting when the new ones go exploring.
 
I just think it's a lot of fun. It's a series of set-pieces in a quest, in which Sharrow loses every plot coupon shortly after finding it... and yet still manages to win in the end.
 
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