April's Amazing Adventures in Fiction

[AE35Unit]

Am I ok to start this? If not please feel free to remove.
I'm about a third of the way thru Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks and am very much enjoying it so far,more so than I expected!

 

[nj1]

I'll back you up AE35Unit, first come first serve in my book

Toady I have been mostly reading...... The Ten Thousand by Paul Kearney.
Too early to give an account on the book yet, but have heard on these hallowed boards that its a good fantasy novel on the lines of David Gemmell.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Finished The Sky is not the Limit by Neil Degrasse Tyson, not quite as insightful as I had hoped, but still enjoyable.

Currently finishing up Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg. I believe I have just one story left.

 

[soulsinging]

I was on vacation the last 3 weeks, so there's a lot of catch up here:

Caught Stealing- Charlie Huston
Loved it. It was over the top and absurdly violent, but the most fun I've had with a noir novel in a long time.

Assassin's Apprentice- Robin Hobb
My first Hobb book and it was very good. I'd been feeling burned out on fantasy since Tad Williams wore me out, but this was a nice, simple story with engaging characters. I'm not in a huge rush to read on in the series, but I will continue eventually.

Elantris- Brandon Sanderson
Kind of disappointing. It was quite boring really. Lots of political maneuvering, which is ok in certain contexts, but not when all your characters are purely good and lack any shades of grey. Still, it was imaginative and the guy has talent. I hear Mistborn is a big step up, so I may give it a shot one day. Though the heavy handed religious messages were off-putting.

Legend- David Gemmell
This book was a blast. I'd read one Gemmell years ago and this reminds me a lot of that one, but they're just so fun. It's like the movie 300... tons of larger than life heroes pounding on hapless, faceless bad guys. Mindless good fun with tough guys that would do the noir genre proud.

Six Suspects- Vikas Swarup
This is the guy that wrote the story Slumdog Millionaire was based upon. This book was entertaining, though nothing special. The characters were somewhat archetypal, but it is such a vibrant and engaging portrait of different classes in India that I couldn't help loving their foibles. A good plane-ride home book.

Now I'm reading:

Six Bad Things- Charlie Huston. It's the 2nd book in the trilogy he started with Caught Stealing. I'm going to wrap that trilogy up and then see what I feel like next.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Well since last posting I have finished Majipoor Chronicles. Not as good as Lord Valentine's Castle, but definately entertaining. I think my favorite story was 'The Thief of Ni-Moya'. I look forward to the next book in this series when I get a chance to pick it up.

Now onto a new author for me, I am reading Conqueror's Moon by Julian May.

 

[the smiling weirwood]

This was actually young adult(I frequently raid those shelves for promising new authors and I'm young and slender enough to be mistaken for their demographic so I get away with it) but I recently finished the second volume of Kathleen Bryan's breakout work, The Golden Rose. The first book was The Serpent and the Rose, by the way.

I really enjoyed it for what it was. Her take on a medieval Western Europe kind of setting is really unique and I loved how she incorporated the religious mystique of light and stained glass (students of art history will know this was a very real facet of Gothic culture, and although not quite as formative or developed as the Cult of the Virgin, was the major pressure in the creation of the style we call Gothic and the invention of modern architectural systems).

The characterization is realistic and dynamic. I feel she's improved and deepened her style in her sophomore offering.

Anyway, highly recommended for those who want something light and airy and fun to read fairly quickly. It is somewhat short.

 

[Grimward]

Got Book I of The Collected Stories of Roger Zelazny yesterday, and Book II came today. Might be finished with them by June....

 

[gully_foyle]

Burning Chrome, a collection of short stories by William Gibson. Picked it up today for 50 cents at the op shop.

 

[BookStop]

A few days ago someone asked me what my favorite books was, and so then, even though I was in the middle of another book, I felt compelled to re-read my favorite, The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Now that I've finished it, I can sleep again - whew!

Oh, and the other book is the second in the Frankenstein series by Dean Koontz - it's alright, entertaining and easy to read.

 

[AE35Unit]

This was actually young adult(I frequently raid those shelves for promising new authors and I'm young and slender enough to be mistaken for their demographic so I get away with it) but I recently finished the second volume of Kathleen Bryan's breakout work, The Golden Rose. The first book was The Serpent and the Rose, by the way.

I really enjoyed it for what it was. Her take on a medieval.

Well I thought we had a new member there but I see you've been with us since 2006! Funny I've never come across your name before. Makes me wonder how many other 'hidden' members there.

 

[Althain's Warden]

Still on the Louise COoper Chaos gate trilogy that i posted on the March thread about two days ago, however based on recommendations from the good folks on here i went looking for David Gemmel books on ebay, found an auction going for 10 books of his mostly in order (i think there is 2 one book gaps) and won with a bid of 7.50 ! With £7.50 postage thats a mere 15 quid for 10 books that should be highley enjoyable ! Now everyone worship the power of ebay !
lol not sure if they count in here but here goes, i've also ordered off ............
the MIGHTY EBAY !!!!!!!!!! around 300 comics of batman, xmen, spider man and star wars for around £150 ! Oh yeah and 7 Stephen Donaldson books ! Quite a haul for me for April, don't think i've ever spent so much in one go on sating my fantasy whore status ! Gollum will probably beat it cos he just eats books like i eat meals

 

[SpaceShip]

Just finished The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell and am now just about to start the next one in his series but the book is in my suitcase as I'm away for a few days and I can't remember what it's called but it is a historical novel of King Alfred's time and has Saxons, Britons and Vikings in it - the first two in the series were brilliant so am looking forward to this one.

And you must have just crazily missed the smiling weirwood AE35 as I've bumped into him many a time.

 

[Hypnos164]

Still reading The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks - about 1/2-way through and my initial enthusiasm for it has cooled somewhat as I seem to be in a section of the book where every couple of chapters skips forward a year or two. Seems like a structural weakness to have to do that when the "formative events" could have been handled another way via flashback or whatever (or not included at all...)

 

[Perpetual Man]

Feel like kicking myself in the head, cause I'm still reading the same book I started back in December. Not even a single page in March, and I really was enjoying the book to boot. Not enough time, too much work and moving house do not a happy book reader make...

 

[the smiling weirwood]

Well I thought we had a new member there but I see you've been with us since 2006! Funny I've never come across your name before. Makes me wonder how many other 'hidden' members there.

You've never been over to the George R.R. Martin forum, have you? They've known me for years over there.

 

[AE35Unit]

You've never been over to the George R.R. Martin forum, have you? They've known me for years over there.

Ah I've never read any G R R Martin and don't really do fantasy so no,I haven't been in there.

 

[clovis-man]

Currently finishing up Majipoor Chronicles by Robert Silverberg. I believe I have just one story left.

I just finished reading Silverberg's The Longest Way Home. Haven't read any of his stuff in years. This one was surprisingly uncomplicated and compelling. A very good "journey"/"coming of age" tale.

 

[Allegra]

I'm about a third of the way thru Consider Phlebas by Iain M Banks and am very much enjoying it so far,more so than I expected!

I got this book and also The player of Games, will dig in The Culture as soon as I finish the historical novel I'm reading now: The Religion by Tim Willocks.

 

[nj1]

I got this book and also The player of Games, will dig in The Culture as soon as I finish the historical novel I'm reading now: The Religion by Tim Willocks.

Read that last month and really enjoyed it. you gotta love Tanhausser.
Hope you enjoy it.

 

[Allegra]

Thanks. I'm about in the middle and enjoying it. Compelling story and very informative too. Never read this author before, must check about his other books after this.