February's Fortuitous Following Of Fabulous Fiction

[Vertigo]

Finished Richard Morgan's Woken Furies; the third of his Takeshi Kovacs novels. Had mixed feelings about this one. I thought the central story and action were excellent and as good or better than the previous two. However he does like to throw in his explicit sex scenes which I found didn't really contribute to the story and there were more of them in this one. I don't really need that and would rather not have it; ok so I can and do just skip them but even so.... Also he does quite a lot of political preaching in this one which I normally quite enjoy but I felt there was a bit too much. Overall I still enjoyed the book but didn't end up rating it as highly as I might have done.

Now moved on to Mieville's The Scar and enjoying it so far but not really very far in yet.

 

[Overread]

Currently got my reading habit back )) and started reading more than just the odd discworld book on the train. Currently got my teeth into:

Thief of Time - by Sir Terry
Daughter of Dragons by Kathleen H. Nelson
Daggerspell by Katharin Kerr

Only got into the very start of the last two (one of the downsides of starting reading really late at night) and (to shock all) note one of them is currently written on paper!

 

[Diggler]

Finished "A Maze of Death" by PKD. I really enjoyed this, which seems to be abnormal on my part...

I'm currently reading "Vulcans Hammer" by PKD and "Darkly Dreaming Dexter" by Jeff Lindsay.

 

[nomadman]

Small update for February.

Finished Blish's A Case of Conscience at the beginning of the month. Decent first half, but lost its way after that. Not surprising since it was a fix up of a earlier novella. Blish's customary erudition and eminently readable writing style remained consistent throughout, however, making this a not unpleassant experience. Preferred some of his other books though.

Just finished Delany's Babel 17. Fascinating ideas written in wildfire prose, ideas hurtling at a mile-a-minute. Disappointing ending, or so I thought, but a book which I'd be happy to reread at a later date.

Have started reading Zelazny's Lord of Light. Fascinating book thus far. Love the punctuation of the rather formal high epic style with the odd 20th century references or turns of phrase. Can already see why this won the Hugo.

Been dipping into some more Cordwainer Smith lately. The Dead Lady of Clown Town was an especial highlight, a moving, at times surreal, but entirely human drama of dog people, dead people, robots and telepathic overmen written in Smith's inimitably lyrical and passionate style. Another great piece was Alpha Ralpha Boulevard, which was the first Smith story I read and, in hindsight, probably one of the best places to start.

Have recently received The Other Nineteenth Century, a collection of short tales by that master of the form, Avram Davidson. Will probably be perusing that at some later date this month.

 

[Hilarious Joke]

I'm reading:

- Parky by Michael Parkinson. This book is a delight so far.
- Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion, lent to me by digs. Sort of a bit depressing for my tastes
- Standing My Ground by Matthew Hayden. Because I love cricket.
- The Art of the Album Cover by Richard Evans. Christmas present from my brother.
- The Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant by Stephen Donaldson. I was advising in the fantasy recommendations thread about unique and different fantasy - I should have recommended this series - different to anything else I've read and imho tremendously well-written.
- Machine of Death edited by Ryan North, Matthew Bennardo & David Malki !. That '!' is an honorific. This is a book full of short stories about a machine that predicts the way you will die.
- Hidden Empire by Kevin J Anderson. Disappointing so far, but I'll finish it.

 

[Ursa major]

Just been reading The Drowned World by J G Ballard.

First paragraph:

Soon it would be too hot. Looking out from the hotel balcony shortly after eight o'clock, Kerans watched the sun rise behind the dense groves of giant gymnosperms crowding over the roofs of the abandoned department stores four hundred yards away on the east side of the lagoon. Even through the massive olive-green fronds the relentless power of the sun was plainly tangible. The blunt refracted rays drummed against his bare chest and shoulders, drawing out the first sweat, and he put on a pair of heavy sunglasses to protect his eyes. The solar disc was no longer a well-defined sphere, but a wide expanding ellipse that fanned out across the eastern horizon like a colossal fire-ball, its reflection turning the dead leaden surface of the lagoon into a brilliant copper shield. By noon, less than four hours away, the water would seem to burn.

I have to say that I didn't entirely enjoy this book. However, I can't blame the writing. In fact, this must have been quite good**, because I kept reading even though I disliked most of the characters and some the the basic premise***. As I've posted elsewhere, there is a limit to which I want to humour the foibles of a story's characters, particularly where their behaviour is driving the plot. I never quite got to the point of shouting "Pull yourself together!" but because, in this case, they bring at least some of their misfortunes on themselves, I find sympathising with them difficult.


I can't personally recommend this book, but others more forgiving might enjoy it.




** - Okay, the constant substituting of said with other words did begin to grate.

*** - I don't want to include spoilers, but I'm not referring to the overall situation, the raising of sea level and temperature, or even its ultimate cause. The aspect where my suspension of disbelief failed was in the "scientific" explanation of some of the characters' psychology. Best I don't say more.

 

[jojajihisc]

Finished "A Maze of Death" by PKD. I really enjoyed this, which seems to be abnormal on my part...

Heck no. A fine book.

I've been reading nothing but short fiction this month to get a feel for some authors I'm unfamiliar with. Some recent ones include:

The Lunatics - Kim Stanley Robinson
The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas - Ursula K. Le Guin
Buffalo - John Kessel
Muse of Fire - Dan Simmons

 

[Talysia]

Next up in my Discworld reread is Feet of Clay.

 

[woodsman]

Finished "A Maze of Death" by PKD. I really enjoyed this, which seems to be abnormal on my part...

I'll second Jojajihisc on this. Although not one of PKD's best, I don't feel Maze of Death deserves all the criticism it gets.

Just finished Empire of Ivory - Naomi Novik and the three books preceding it. Whilst I'm still enjoying the series it does appear that the Author isn't quite as invested in the plot or is running a little low on ideas. Still books I would recommend, not least for an original look at Dragons and society.

Also finished Starship Troopers - R.A.Heinlein. Will probably re-read this in the near future. He manages to pack a lot of socio-political commentary into a fairly small book. Enjoyed; although not as much as The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress.

Next up: possibly The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan as part of a slightly random (read disordered) re-read.

 

[Pyan]

Shhh....rereading Battlefield Earth, by L. Ron Hubbard...

 

[murphy]

Now reading Midnight Riot/Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch and enjoying it. Somewhat like the British Harry Dresden.

 

[gully_foyle]

Whoops, posted this in the wrong spot earlier...

I tried to read Lev Grossman's The Magicians because a friend gave it to me, feeling sorry for the plight of my book collection, but it's just not me. It's a bit too YA for me, and a bit too fantasy, and just a bit too boring. So I am reading Dr Bloodmoney by PKD, which was a library book that I consciously saved from the flood.

 

[Fried Egg]

So I am reading Dr Bloodmoney by PKD, which was a library book that I consciously saved from the flood.

That's what I've got lined up next...

 

[Sargeant_Fox]

I'm reading Foucault's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco. I'm loving it. It's nowhere near as dull as I feared. The story sucks you in really fast and you get anxious to reach the end and find out what it's all about. Masterful storytelling by Eco.

 

[Hypnos164]

I'm reading Peter F Hamilton's Void trilogy .. finished the Dreaming Void and now about a third of the way through The Temporal Void.

Glad I didn't start till I had all three books - its really one massive book chopped into three rather than three books.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Nothing by Eco is ever dull, including his more academic nonfiction.

Speaking of nonfiction, I'm currently still reading Athene: Image and Energy by Ann Shearer and am finding it quite fascinating.

 

[ravenus]

Finished Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out, and while it was entertaining in its best parts I rather prefer the Hammer film which was crisper, with less cringing melodrama.

 

[Fried Egg]

Finished Dennis Wheatley's The Devil Rides Out, and while it was entertaining in its best parts I rather prefer the Hammer film which was crisper, with less cringing melodrama.

I preferred the book but then I read it before I watched the film.

 

[Perpetual Man]

Just finished The Nano Flower by Peter F Hamilton. This was his third novel, and he is really beginning to grow into the writer he is today, you can see the roots of his current massive novels here.

Now am going to start certain Terry Pratchett's Making Money.

 

[biodroid]

Rothfuss - The Name of the Wind. Liking it so far and like some chrons mentioned it continuously picks up pace.