It can't be July, already? Can it? Oh well, let's hear what you're reading!

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GOLLUM said:
OOOH.....Very much looking forward to FE's comments on this one. For me it's one of the great story collections of the 20th Century by the acknowledged King of Latin American literature...:)
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I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that my first reading of Borges's Fictions was a mind altering event. It's as close to a perfect piece of work as I can possibly conceive.
 
Yeah Borges is phenomenal , even with things you wouldn't think he could possibly make interesting , like a story where he talks about a man writing Don Quixote again , but sort of without "knowing" the original , and ends up with the exact same thing .

Tried to simplify matters so anyone could get it , so don't torch me !
 
God Emperor of Dune - Frank Herbert
In fact, I'm going to go read it now. Bye.
 
Lobolover said:
Yeah Borges is phenomenal , even with things you wouldn't think he could possibly make interesting , like a story where he talks about a man writing Don Quixote again , but sort of without "knowing" the original , and ends up with the exact same thing .

Tried to simplify matters so anyone could get it , so don't torch me !
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Well actually, of the stories I have read so far, this did the least for me. I put it down to being completely unfamiliar with the original "Don Quixote", I coudln't even force myself to finish it.

However, that was the exception and not the rule. The others have been very interesting. "Garden of the Forking Paths" and "The Lottery of Babylon" were both quite fascinating, brilliant tales. "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "The Library of Babel" both explored interesting ideas but I couldn't help but feel they would have been better explored through a conventional plot narrative rather than through (albeit eloquant) exposition.

Anyway, on with the collection...
 
Just finished reading "The Other Side of the Dale" by Gervase Phinn. Was quite enjoyable :) Will certainly continue the series (there are 5 in the 'the dale' series)
 
Well I've forgotten how good Hothouse is! Its odd because it reads rather like fantasy but only because its so far in the future and its very pastoral, a la Simak. And I keep thinking of the movie Avatar, again an example that looks like fantasy but is also SF. Easily my favourite Aldiss novel so far!
 
Im reading Software by Rudy Rucker, one of those books i try without knowing one bit info about what it is,what its about. So when i read the first pages about Cobb,the freaky geezers i laughed at the idea :)
 
elvet said:
I'm reading Magic Burns, the second book in Ilona Andrew's Kate Daniels series.
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How do you like this series? I've been reading it and really enjoying the books.


Just finished Kitty Goes to War by Carrie Vaughn. The further adventures of Kitty Norville werewolf DJ. Very enjoyable fluff.

Now reading Paul Kearney's Riding the Unicorn.
 
I like this series better than the Karen Chance books. I think they are more 'balanced' (romance/action/characters), and they remind me of Michelle West's Cast in..... books which I really enjoy. I'm looking forward to Andrews' next Edge book - Bayou Moon. It was her On The Edge that got me started.
 
I keep dipping into The Junior Officers' Reading Club by Patrick Hennessey. It's not a light read but I picked it up more for research into men in a war environment, in which respect it is very helpful.

Just started The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, the first of hers I've ever read. Only a few pages in so no real thoughts as yet - except the opening paragraph had me yelling "Get a better editor".

Much more importantly I've got cakes and bakes from my mother's kitchen, contributing editor Linda Collister. Not much plot but who cares when there's a recipe for Mississippi Mud Pie!
 
The Judge said:
Much more importantly I've got cakes and bakes from my mother's kitchen, contributing editor Linda Collister. Not much plot but who cares when there's a recipe for Mississippi Mud Pie!
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That sounds like a book that could be a serious danger to your health :D.

I finished Gridlinked a while back which I thoroughly enjoyed now half way through first Riftwar book Magician. Whilst I am certainly enjoying it so far I have to say I think I expected more from the hype I have read. But then it is his first book and maybe it will get better.
 
Fried Egg said:
Well actually, of the stories I have read so far, this did the least for me. I put it down to being completely unfamiliar with the original "Don Quixote", I coudln't even force myself to finish it.

However, that was the exception and not the rule. The others have been very interesting. "Garden of the Forking Paths" and "The Lottery of Babylon" were both quite fascinating, brilliant tales. "Tlön, Uqbar, Orbis Tertius" and "The Library of Babel" both explored interesting ideas but I couldn't help but feel they would have been better explored through a conventional plot narrative rather than through (albeit eloquant) exposition.

Anyway, on with the collection...
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It's more an example of the topics he uses . He loves to talk about things that not alot of people can fully get . Like the language peculiarities mentioned in "Tlön" , I didn't get alot of it , but stil loved the story .

And if your colection has his south american "slice of life" tales , there was only one weird in there (involving crucifixtion , god If I only would remember what it was called) .
 
Just started The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, the first of hers I've ever read. Only a few pages in so no real thoughts as yet - except the opening paragraph had me yelling "Get a better editor".
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I hope you realise yonor that this book is actually set in a world where Hobb's written 9 books chronologically prior to this are set, starting with Assassin's Apprentice? I would highly recommend reading them first (I also think they are all better than The Dragon Keeper, though the book after that one is quite good).
 
Finished Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie a few days ago. I would certainly recommend it. For me, it wasn't *quite* up to the level of The First Law trilogy, but a good read nonetheless.

The main difference was that I didn't find myself quite so attached the main characters in BSC as I was in the trilogy. The characters in this are still interesting, don't get me wrong, but not quite on the level of Jezal and Logen, and definitely not as memorable as Glokta. But, as I said, it's still a very good book.

So now I'm reading the book I had intended to start with before getting sidetracked by the Epic Fantasy crack dealer that is Abercrombie - Brandon Sanderson's Mistborn: The Final Empire. So far so good.
 
Vertigo -- fortunately I read cook books more than I cook from them!

HJ -- thanks for that. Yes, I had cottoned on that it was part of a long series but I got it very cheap and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about before investing in the whole.
 
HJ -- thanks for that. Yes, I had cottoned on that it was part of a long series but I got it very cheap and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about before investing in the whole.
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Ack! And The Dragon Keeper would probably be the last Hobb first-in-trilogy book I would recommend! I can only hope you kind of like it, so that you're not turned off Hobb forever...ever...ever...

Is there an echo in here?!
 
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