February's Feast of Fantastical Fiction and Fact...

[murphy]

Hmmm. Just finished Morgan's The Steel Remains. It did not disappoint and I'm looking forward to more stories about the three main characters.

Now reading a first novel by Daniel Fox entitled Dragon in Chains. It has a distinctly asian flavor to it and the island referred to, where the boy emperor flees, is definitely based on Taiwan. Very promising so far.

 

[HoopyFrood]

Philip Pullman Northern Lights - picked up as I saw the movie and wanted to know how much it's differs from the book. As it turned out - the movie follows book pretty closely. I'll have to pick up the following books at some point.

Action-wise, yes, the events in film are pretty much the same as in the book. What the film lacks, however, is the whole essence of the book about the Authority and the rebellion against it.

While reading the previously mentioned book The Crescent and the Rose, there's lots of mention about certain Renaissance travelers. Rather liked the sound of one of them so today went to take his book out of the library. It's a fantastic book; old, with misshapen pages and copies of illustrations of "the Author in his Turkish dress" or "the author in the rack at Malaga" (poor bloke was tortured). And all written with the original spelling. So currently I'm perusing The Totall Discourse of The Rare Adventures and Painefull Peregrinations of long Nineteene Yeares Travayles from Scotland to the most famous Kingdomes in Europe, Asia and Affrica by William Lithgow.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I finished The Fall of Atlantis over the weekend. Boy is the title misleading. The book has very little to do with Atlantis at all. And the fall of Atlantis doesn't even happen during the books timeline. It wasn't a bad read overall, although the women getting angry/ranting/crying and then apologizing and throwing themselves into their sisters/friends arms got a little old. But overall a good story that I did enjoy.

Now I'm onto Kushiel's Avatar by Jacqueline Carey. I am really enjoying it so far.

 

[Hypnos164]

Just finished, in a day of long train journeys, Under the Skin by Michel Faber which I found enjoyable, well written and thought provoking in equal measure. I'm not sure I'd go as far in my praise as some of the critical ravings on the covers but still worth the time invested.

 

[Connavar]

Finished Mistborn last night and i have started reading American Skin by Ken Bruen.


A slight move from my fantasy library books with a short trip to one of my favorite crime writers.

 

[Allegra]

Action-wise, yes, the events in film are pretty much the same as in the book. What the film lacks, however, is the whole essence of the book about the Authority and the rebellion against it.

I agree. The filmmakers downplayed the religion issue very much (that's why we haven't heard any noise from Vatican). I remember reading Pullman's comments about it somewhere and he also said the film lost quite some money therefore it's hard to say when the 2nd film would be made.

Finished Pullman's Sally Lockhart quartet and liked them very much. Very pleasant read and Pullman's writing is spellbinding.

 

[gully_foyle]

Finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. Now reading Ubik by PKD. It's been a while since I read any of his work, and I've got a few on the pile.

 

[Grimward]

Having finished The Shrinking Man by Matheson, I'm now moving thru other books purchased previously, then ignominiously consigned to long imprisonment in boxes while awaiting construction rolleyes of our library. Have moved on to Desperate Measures, by Joe Clifford Faust. Reasonably entertaining thusfar, although its plot seemed almost soap-opera-like at the beginning. About a third thru, and the complexity has picked up nicely. Jury's still out, though...

Haven't seen much here about Faust....(let's not mistake this Faust for the classical one!)

 

[Rosemary]

Just finished GRAVE THIEF by Tom Lloyd. Part three of his Twilight Herald series. Not a bad book but the others were better imo. this one was just a build-up to the next book with a shock at the end. 6 out of 10.

I agree, nj1. Really enjoyed the first two volumes. Although I am up to chapter eight, I am finding it difficult to ‘get into’ The Grave Thief by Tom Lloyd. Not sure why though as some of the new characters are very interesting. His descriptions of the cities and lands are well done and so easy to imagine them. Hopefully the story will improve for me.

 

[soulsinging]

I abandoned 'Simple Plan' and just started Stone of Farewell, book 2 in Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn "trilogy."

I have my reservations about this one... a lot of people seem to abandon the series either during or after book one, and even those that finish acknowledge that it is a draining and slow-paced series. But they also say it's worth it and I just know it's going to drive me nuts not to finish it at this point, so what the heck?

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I'm reading:
- The Best Australian Essays 2008 edited by David Marr
- The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Steven Donaldson (I've been reading this for ages, but I have been enjoying it)
- Captain's Diary 2008 by Ricky Ponting

 

[elvet]

I'm rereading Robin Hobb's Farseer/Liveships/Tawny Man books.This time I'm going in chronological order, whereas with the first read I did Liveships first, then Farseer/Tawny Man. I'm enjoying them even more than the first time.

 

[Spade]

Finished God Emperor of Dune, reading And All the Stars a Stage by James Blish... not enjoying it too much so far. I'll give it another twenty pages or so and then toss it in the trade in pile and go on to the next one. I've got a bunch of alternatives.

 

[ratsy]

Finished Lies of Locke Lamora by Lynchand have moved on to Mad Ship by Robin Hobb.

I sure feel like the quality of books I have been reading have been fantastic!

 

[D_Davis]

William Hope Hosgson's House on the Borderland is tremendous, and I cannot recommend it enough. For fans of Lovecraft, Blackwood, Smith, et al., this book will be welcomed with open arms. It was one of Lovecraft's favorite books, and his praise for it is not unwarranted.

It creates a very real, tangible, and immediate sense of terror, a terror that is also unrelenting.

It reminds me, a lot, of the Evil Dead films, only without the humor. I would be shocked if this book was not a part of Raimi's inspiration.

The typical purple prose style is sometimes awkward, and the over use of the word 'presently,' along with too many other adverbs, can be problematic at times, but for the most part it is a very good read.

I'm about 1/2 through it now, and I wish I could just stay at home this morning to finish it. It's a cold, rainy day here in Seattle, and the natural atmosphere could only help to make this narrative all the more unsettling.

 

[Fried Egg]

"House on the Borderland" sounds right up my street...Another title for the wish list...

 

[j d worthington]

FE: I don't think you'll be disappointed. The House on the Borderland has touches of cosmicism which are as breathtaking, in their way, as Olaf Stapledon, though with a much darker tone....

And, for those interested, Hodgson himself apparently felt that it formed the middle book of a trilogy, the others being The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and The Ghost Pirates, respectively....

By the way, Grimward: What did you think of The Shrinking Man?

 

[D_Davis]

And, for those interested, Hodgson himself apparently felt that it formed the middle book of a trilogy, the others being The Boats of the "Glen Carrig" and The Ghost Pirates, respectively....

Nice. I just got an old edition of The Boats of the "Glen Carrig," and I will try to track down the Ghost Pirates.

 

[Lobolover]

J.D.-Well, yes, definitely, even if......do you think that my perception of the style of the cosmic scenes in the end parts of the novel (after the house disintegrates) was kind of amateurish were caused by it being a translation?

 

[Hilarious Joke]

Holy smokes somehow I never realised that The House on the Borderland was a translation!