April's Fools and what they're reading.

Finished the Neutronium Alchemist. I'm frankly happy not to pay my books or librairy fees to read this. If one Calvert wasn't a nuisance, we now have the long lost brother. Why most modern SFF writers multiply the characters so much ? They hope to do a version of "The Bold and the Beauty" in space or what ?
For leisure, I'm still through Dune re-run : "The heretics of Dune", with for work a French sci-fi novel about TV reality show.
 
knivesout said:
Happy, Jon?
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Much better;)


Still re-reading Asher's "The Skinner". Excelent book, well worth a read:)

Also looking speculatively at Haruki Murakami's "Hard-boiled wonderland and the end of the world", which has been recommended, and I had book tokens, so thought why not?;)
 
Just finished reading Fallen Dragon by Peter F Hamilton and now onto his most recent book Pandora's Star.

This guy is at the top of his game.
 
I love Heir Apparent! Wait, did I recommend that to you? I read Vivian Vande Velde's newest book, Now You See It-- it wasn't quite as good, although I always enjoy her snappy language and sarcasm.

Recently, I read a fantasy by John Dickinson called The Cup of the World, which was interesting although I'm not sure if I actually liked it yet, and have Sharon Shinn's Mystic and Rider and Wrede's The Grand Tour waiting for me. I'm also reading a few stories a night from Italo Calvino's collection of Italian folktales, which are quite cool.
 
Finally got around to reading Dan Brown's 'Da Vinci Code'. Am about half way through and pleasantly surprised. It's not what I was expecting. :) Next on my list is Aurelio's book, Eve.
 
Your expectations must have been very low then. ;)


Michael Chabon's Kavalier & Clay is shaping up very well. I'm not at all certain where it is going at this point, but the evocation of the 1940s superhero comic book scene, not to mention the inclusion of the Golem of Prague as accesory in a young man's escape from Nazi-dominated Prague have all been very cool.

The Jung book is so strange. Lots of interesting ideas, even if some of them feel a bit too leftfield. Jung was some sort of mystical guru sort, not at all a reductionist like his mentor.
 
knivesout said:
Your expectations must have been very low then. ;)
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LOL! :D Actually, I have managed to keep a fairly open mind. I tend to read and enjoy most things. Because I don't get to read anywhere near as much as I used to, it is a pleasure to find time to read at all. Da Vinci Code is not even in the same league as Shadow of the Wind, let alone the same division, but it's engaging enough to keep me amused. :)
 
The thing was, I read the precursor too, Angels & Demons. Same plot, different crank-concept. Oh well. I'm very judgemental.

Chabon's Kavalier and Clay is moving along splendidly. Great ideas, vivid characters, and lo! a cameo by Salvador Dali. Yay.
 
Currently slogging through Russell's The One Kingdom. It is moving slowly but is a good story. My biggest problem is that the 'image' the author has created doesn't show an entire world - just the river and the surrounding areas so I don't have a sense of the world of the story. Of course, some of my difficulty may be from moving back and forth from that book to others in between.
 
Took yesterday afternoon off from school reading and finished Sharon Shinn's latest, Mystic and Rider. I wasn't thrilled with it. It felt like an extended prelude to the rest of the series, with no real plot or conclusion to what there was. Readable, if one happens to be in the mood for somewhat generic fantasy fluff, but I won't be racing out to pick up the sequel.

Currently reading Aeschylus's Oresteia for class-- something I wish I'd done before reading Gaiman's Sandman series, and a non-fiction book by Gail Bell called Poison. I'm learning interesting things about cyanide, strychnine, hemlock, arsenic, digoxin, etc. which I expect to never put to practical application. And then, I'm continuing my survey of Calvino's folktales, of which I have finished about a fifth.
 
Now finished The Skinner, might write a short review for it if I find the time. Also read Neil Gaiman's Stardust, which was short and sweet, and while it had some good parts, was nowhere near the quality of his later stuff like American Gods or Good Omens...

Now reading Haruki Murakami's Hard-boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which is rather bizarre, as the title suggests;) The grammatical style is very odd, though nothing I can pin down, and I guess its possible that this is due to the translation from the Japanese. Makes it rather poetic though, and its a very good read so far:)
 
I've just returned from a very wet and cold caravan holiday - nope it wasnt a holiday it was an endurance.


But while i was away I read The Skein of Lament by Chris Wooding. I personally think this had too many storylines in it, and I found it difficult to get into.
 
I finished Chabon's Kavalier and Clay yesterday. Even though the ending was cautiously optimistic, there was so much that happened to the main protagonists that really tore me apart. It was a vast, vivid book that managed to combine pulpy strangeness, all sorts of pop culture references, an oddly scholarly/biographical tone and infuse the whole with a real sense of humanity and character. It felt overwrought to me at times - I'm partial to a more economical, streamlined way of writing, but it was a rather good book, all in all.

This morning I read The Portrait of Mr WH, a short tale by Oscar Wilde that purports to reveal the true identity of the man to whom Shakespeare's sonnets are dedicated. Very cool stuff, witty, wise and as paradoxical as a Borges tale.

I'm going to read The Manticore, the second book in Robertson Davies' Deptford Trilogy now.
 
Finally ended my Dune re-read and also read an action book mixing time travel and real-TV parody called La Brèche by Christophe Lambert (not the actor). The style is very popular but the idea is good and very well exploited, the rythme is fast without being blurry. A good solid novel.
I don't know yet where to start :
-either Probality Space by Nancy Kress who's first 2 books in this space opera trilogy favorably impressed me.
- or Le roi d'août (King of August) by Michel Pagel, a fantasy novel voted best french novel 2003 in SF&F
- or the Skinner by Neal Asher who's finally translated in French with a good cover.

Decisions, Decisions...
 
I finished Davies' The Manticore and am now reading World of wonders, the last book in The Deptford Trilogy. I now realise that I read this particular book years ago, when I was a member of the British Library. It certainly bears re-reading!
 
caladanbrood said:
Definately the Skinner, Leto:D
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Due to book size, it's the Skinner at home and the Nancy Kreiss one in the subway.
 
Recently finished reading The Singer of All Songs by Kate Constable, and Mortal Suns by Tanith Lee. Just received in the mail from AmazonUK Lee's Cast a Bright Shadow.
 
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