May's (Mostly) Marvelous Literary Musings

[nj1]

I quite enjoyed this actually(possibly because it was £1.50 from t'market), but yeah the style's not the greatest and it takes a while to get to the point.
Would be interested to hear what your final opinion is!!? I think there's a couple of follow-ons, but haven't laid eyes on them as yet.

Not a bad book overall, I just don't understand the whole St Clair abduction, what was the point? I thought the ideas about the founding of the Templar was well thought out, but I was just getting into Hugh De Payens and the switch to St Clair and the events that happened to him just felt like padding the book out.
At the end of the book, there was the first chapter of the next book (forgot what it's called ) and it read OK but the story seems to have jumped a good few years to the time of Saladin, don't know if i'll go looking for the next book, but maybe I'll pick one up if it's cheap enough.

Now reading To Ride Hells Chasm by Janny Wurts, my first book by this author and haven't managed to read much as yet, but although the style of writing seems a bit difficult to grasp at first (got a bit confusing as to who's doing what at the beggining) I'm starting to get hooked, Mykkael seems to be an interesting character and things are running along nicely.

 

[Tansy]

Just finished Fevre Dream by GRRM, which while not my usual type of book I really enjoyed it and makes me want to read more of his other stuff outside of ASoFaI.

Now reading The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie and it's early days but Gotka seems to be shaping up to be an interesting character

 

[Nesacat]

Finished a few books over the last several days:

The Mystic Masseur by V.S. Naipaul
... is the story of ganesh, from failed primary school teacher and struggling masseur to author, revered mystic and MBE ...

The Truth (almost) about Bharat by Kavery Nambisan
... Bharat, aka Vishwanath, aka Tarzan - teenage philosopher, nearly-there general practitioner and heartbroken victim of unrequited love - takes some time off to chronicle his life: an amazing saga of tender-hearted dacoits, heroic medics, gorgeous women, and assorted encounters with underwear...

The Anomalies by Joey Goebel (was way fun Marky )
... five eccentric misfits who form a rock band and question convention in their small Kentucky town. Outspoken Luster lives in the ghetto with his crack-selling brothers and longs for stardom. Eight-year-old Ember wants to destroy the world while her eighty-year-old, sex-crazed babysitter, Opal, lives for partying. Iraqi Ray loves Americans despite fighting them in the Gulf War. And Aurora, a gorgeous, Satan-worshipping teen wants men to stop objectifying her...

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I have to say, I liked her Tiger & Del series much better than the Shapechangers. I thought it was much better written.

So far I'm only about 5 chapters in, and I'm not really impressed by what I've read so far. I think this was her first book, and if that's true, it definately shows. Not the greatest writing, but I'll keep going and see where it leads.

 

[Teresa Edgerton]

Yes, it was her first book, and I agree with murphy that the Tiger and Del stories are better written -- and much more interesting.

I'm reading The Lamplighter (the second book of The Monster Blood Tattoo), by D. M. Cornish. So far, it's living up to the first book.

 

[elvet]

I spent the long weekend rereading the Sunsword books. Have just started book 4 (Sea of Sorrows) and I can't wait to get back to it. They are so much better the second time around; I'm just soaking up every word. I can't recommend these stories enough.

 

[murphy]

I spent the long weekend rereading the Sunsword books. Have just started book 4 (Sea of Sorrows) and I can't wait to get back to it. They are so much better the second time around; I'm just soaking up every word. I can't recommend these stories enough.

Agreed. Hope she writes faster on the follow-ups to The Hidden City though.

 

[Taltos]

Found a book to read Michael Swanwick Iron Dragon's Daughter - about 3/4 through, with a lot of mixed feelings - world setup is great, fantasy creatures in a steam-punk world. At the same time I find story to be a bit lacking - started out as Oliver Twist, then continued as teenager troubles etc.
still - something is missing - maybe the ending will put everything into perspective but thats just a hope.

 

[iansales]

Now on the third book of Ian Watson's Books of the Black Current, The Book of Being.

 

[purple_kathryn]

I'm about half way through the reality dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton

and my there's a lot of sex in it.

I'm not say that it's a good thing or a bad thing but if you're easily offended you might want to avoid. Also there are some religious overtones so again if you take offensive at things not agreeing with your religious POV - avoid.

 

[AE35Unit]

I'm about half way through the reality dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton

and my there's a lot of sex in it.

I'm not say that it's a good thing or a bad thing but if you're easily offended you might want to avoid. Also there are some religious overtones so again if you take offensive at things not agreeing with your religious POV - avoid.

Ah thats put me off a bit! Why can't we just have SF in a SF book,enough with sex religion and politics!

 

[Simian]

I'm about half way through the reality dysfunction by Peter F Hamilton

and my there's a lot of sex in it.

Have to say, this is why I gave up on The Reality Dysfunction about two thirds of the way through. Not because it's full of sex per se, but because it's full of badly written, puerile, and in some cases utterly illogical sex. To a lesser extent I found Hamilton's use of sexual orientation as an indicator of 'goodness' or otherwise to be pretty offensive (without wanting to give anything away, the good guys are all strapping, virile and heterosexual; the bad guy..less so). Shame, because otherwise it was shaping into an enjoyable story underpinned by some pretty interesting ideas.

 

[Talysia]

After finishing The Earthsea Quartet, I'm moving on to Le Guin's The Other Wind, the most recent Earthsea book.

 

[j d worthington]

Ah thats put me off a bit! Why can't we just have SF in a SF book,enough with sex religion and politics!

There are plenty of those about; always have been. Certainly, there's no need for them to be in every book. On the other hand, there's no reason for such things not to be in a science fiction novel (or short story) any more than any other type of literature. After all, these are important parts of the human experience, and ultimately that's what drives all good fiction, whether it be science fiction or otherwise. What is important about using such things, frankly, is to do it well. If it's juvenile or puerile, handled clumsily or without honesty, then it's just bad writing... no matter what the subject matter may be....

As for my current reading: have now finished Laing's The Haunted Omnibus, and am going to attempt finishing Moskowitz' Under the Moons of Mars by this weekend....

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Well, I finished the first book in Shapechangers Song by Jennifer Roberson (since it was an omnibus editions) and did not really enjoy it. I don't plan to read any further in the series. Thank goodness the book only cost me $0.50!

Now moving on to The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. This will be the first book by him I have read.

 

[murphy]

Well, I finished the first book in Shapechangers Song by Jennifer Roberson (since it was an omnibus editions) and did not really enjoy it. I don't plan to read any further in the series. Thank goodness the book only cost me $0.50!

Now moving on to The Dragonbone Chair by Tad Williams. This will be the first book by him I have read.

It's a much better book. However, you might like The Sword-Dancer Saga by Roberson featuring Tiger & Del. Start with Sword Dancer.


Now reading Jennifer Fallon's The Immortal Prince. Very, very good story and I'm looking forward to getting my hot little hands on the next two books.

 

[Nesacat]

Just finished reading The Best of Cordwainer Smith. Thank you GOLLUM for sending me this one. I've read the odd story by Smith but have never read a collection so this was quite an adventure.

The book contains:
Scanners Live In Vain
The Lady Who Sailed The Soul
The Game of Rat and Dragon
The Burning of the Brain
The Crime and Glory of Commander Suzdal
Golden the Ship Was - Oh! Oh! Oh!
The Dead Lady of Clown Town
Under Old Earth
Mother Hitton's Littul Kittons
Alpha Ralpha Boulevard
The Ballad of Lost C'mell
A Planet Named Shayol

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Thanks Murphy. I looked them up on Amazon and they do sound interesting. If they have it at my local bookshop I may just give them a go.

 

[elvet]

It's a much better book. However, you might like The Sword-Dancer Saga by Roberson featuring Tiger & Del. Start with Sword Dancer.


Now reading Jennifer Fallon's The Immortal Prince. Very, very good story and I'm looking forward to getting my hot little hands on the next two books.

Since we seem to enjoy many of the same books, I'm going to look these up as well. I have a pilgramage of sorts to Bakka, the Toronto SF and F bookstore. Michelle West still works there part time. They usually have a great selection of complete series. Nothing worse than finding only the latest books, as so often happens in the regular bookstores.

 

[GOLLUM]

Just finished reading The Best of Cordwainer Smith. Thank you GOLLUM for sending me this one. I've read the odd story by Smith but have never read a collection so this was quite an adventure.

Glad you liked it.

You know I have a beautiful HB edition of all of Cordwainer's short fiction. Sadly you can't handle it until you come visit me.... *No it's not bribery I tell ya!...