March's Marvellous Meanderings In Melodious Manuscripts.

[Hypnos164]

Finished The Restoration Game by Ken Macleod - enjoyable but not as "deep" and amazing as his best works.

Now starting The Heroes by Joe Abercrombe

 

[Vertigo]

On the Stieg Larsson books:

Kinda the reaction I had. They were relatively entertaining thrillers in a Wilkie Collins sort of way, but I do not understand how they've exploded like they have.

I suspect it is at least partly due to the likes of Amazon pushing them big time. Everytime I go to Amazon it presents them as something they "think I might like" and yet I have never bought anything remotely similar from them. I have only ever bought SFF or Techie books from Amazon. So I suspect that if you have ever bought books from Amazon they are trying to tell you to buy these.

That combined with the "romaticism" of the author dying young before they were published.

 

[Diggler]

Finished the Overman Culture by Edmund Cooper. A very fine effort from EC, I must say. Onto next? I really don't know? Maybe another Cooper novel or a PKD story... Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

 

[CyBeR]

The lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch and The world of Null-A by A.E. van Vogt.
The second one is the initiating novel for my new iRiver Story Ebook-Reader, plus that it's a group reading (of which I'm rather certain I'll be the only one reading the damn book).
The first is refreshing as a fantasy tale and I must say that, as far as I've gotten with it, I really appreciate the elegance of the plan presented there.
The second I've just started last night but was tired after a long day so couldn't get far enough to form an opinion on it.

 

[bluespider100]

Just finished reading Paul Anderson's STARFARER, the story was told quite believably, and I really enjoyed some of the concepts presented in it. The Ending was satisfactory, a closure to the Breathtaking adventure...

I'm still deciding whether to read Robert A. Heinlein's TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE or David Brin's Earth... any suggestions?

 

[Vertigo]

I can't make a driect comparison as I've not read any David Brin. However I personally liked Time Enough For Love though it was a long, long time ago that I read it. You would be best to read Methuselah's children first as that book introduces the main character of TEFL along with the origins and background to the whole thing.

 

[blacknorth]

Finished the Overman Culture by Edmund Cooper. A very fine effort from EC, I must say. Onto next? I really don't know? Maybe another Cooper novel or a PKD story... Hmmm. Decisions, decisions.

Another Edmund Cooper. Gwan. You know you want to.

I read Untied Kingdom by James Lovegrove, which was a severe disappointment, though it was engaging enough to keep me reading to the end.

Moved onto the same author's The Foreigners, which is a huge improvement, startlingly good.

 

[biodroid]

Just started The Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie.

 

[woodsman]

FinishedThe Conqueror's Shadow- Ari Marmell. Nice to read a fantasy that stands alone! Quite enjoyable with some nice dark humour and a couple of twists some of which are obvious a mile off. Nothing groundbreaking though.

Also read through Colours of Chaos - Modesitt Jr. I love his recluse books and this follow up to The White Order is no exception. Its interesting to see a novel from a chaos POV and Cerryl is a genuinely interesting character in my opinion.

Just about to start in on Cast a Bright Shadow - Tanith Lee.

 

[J-Sun]

Finished Podkayne of Mars... again. Turns out I had read it all and just forgot. I guess I repressed both endings - not out of sentimentality but just because I don't think his original ending is necessary or good and the originally published ending is bolted on and lame. It's mostly decent but, in the end, all that's really needed are the Scribners juveniles.

Now on Pohl and Kornbluth's Gladiator-at-Law.

Have read Starship Troopers, Stranger in a Strange Land, Revolt in 2100. I am interested in reading: Methuselah's Children, Time Enough for Love, Friday, Moon is a Harsh Mistress, and The Puppet Masters.

Okay - that's probably enough to read whatever you run into, but I'd recommend (just kind of semi-randomly saying what feels right) Methusaleh, Puppet, Moon, Friday and TEFL either last or after Methusaleh. Read more of his short fiction, though - especially the Future History stories. (Unless you didn't like Revolt, if that's possible.)

I finished reading Live and Let Die the second James Bond novel which i thought was strong character wise and fun story.

Bond is more down to earth and more hardcore than the movie versions. I liked how he thinks/talks about what he dislikes like american food,cars etc

Ian Fleming has a smoot,modern prose that is very good for his kind of story. It makes Bond look more smooth,cool with his language,prose style.

Hello fellow fan! I like the movies in the glitzy wish-fulfillment way they're intended but the Fleming books are almost nothing like the movies and I recall loving them - very gritty and tough. Casino Royale with its descriptions of after-hours sweat and fear and desire of strung-out gamblers (and spies) is fantastic. I need to read them again someday.

Just finished reading Paul Anderson's STARFARER, the story was told quite believably, and I really enjoyed some of the concepts presented in it. The Ending was satisfactory, a closure to the Breathtaking adventure...

I'm still deciding whether to read Robert A. Heinlein's TIME ENOUGH FOR LOVE or David Brin's Earth... any suggestions?

Been awhile since I read either and I didn't particularly care for either but if you're more in a "whee" mood you might want the Heinlein and, if you're more in a "hm" mood, then you might want the Brin. Heinlein definitely has some things to say, but Brin is even more earnest and didactic in that one, IIRC. It's Poul Anderson, btw. I've never read that one but, another way to go, is if you want to keep rolling, take the Heinlein - probably radically different but time-and-space spanning. If you want to tack against your last breeze, then the Brin.

 

[bluespider100]

I can't make a driect comparison as I've not read any David Brin. However I personally liked Time Enough For Love though it was a long, long time ago that I read it. You would be best to read Methuselah's children first as that book introduces the main character of TEFL along with the origins and background to the whole thing.

Ok, I had heeded your advice and will buy Methuselah's Children by the time I get back home from vacation. I'll start reading Earth now and hope that by the time I get past by two more books (not including Earth) Methuselah's Children have already arrived.

Been awhile since I read either and I didn't particularly care for either but if you're more in a "whee" mood you might want the Heinlein and, if you're more in a "hm" mood, then you might want the Brin. Heinlein definitely has some things to say, but Brin is even more earnest and didactic in that one, IIRC. It's Poul Anderson, btw. I've never read that one but, another way to go, is if you want to keep rolling, take the Heinlein - probably radically different but time-and-space spanning. If you want to tack against your last breeze, then the Brin.

Thanks for the correction, and I have heeded yours and Vertigo's advice, I'll read Earth first as it's a "hmm" type of book which I like right now. btw any suggestions to those particular authors? especially Poul Anderson.

 

[Lord Soth]

Have finished the Malazan series and am sad. No longer can I look forward to another tome landing on my doorstep courtesy of Amazon once a year

I'll not claim that I understand all the nuances or plots in the final book, but that reflects more on the reader than the author i'm afraid (its been 10 years with hundreds if books in between and I haven't re-read the series!)

I shall miss you Malazan book of the Fallen...

On to Wise Man's Fear by Rothfuss, another doorstep which I am eagerly looking forward to, then I'll dig up the more obscure standalone Erikson books for my short term fix before I reread the series in its entirety!

 

[J-Sun]

Ok, I had heeded your advice and will buy Methuselah's Children by the time I get back home from vacation. I'll start reading Earth now and hope that by the time I get past by two more books (not including Earth) Methuselah's Children have already arrived.

Yeah - I actually meant to reply to this thread earlier but didn't have time and, when I did, I'd forgotten that you hadn't read Methusaleh and to agree with Vertigo for that reason, too.

btw any suggestions to those particular authors? especially Poul Anderson.

Which ones? Anderson and Brin or Heinlein? I don't know very much Brin - I read a book or two of the Uplift series and Earth and a collection and didn't really care for any of it. Not to say he's bad or anything, but he just didn't click for me.

For Heinlein, The Past Through Tomorrow is probably #1, but also the rest of his stories. For novels, any and all of his Scribners juveniles are good to great. For non-juvenile novels, there's Double Star and The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress though, again, you can't go wrong with any of the 40s-50s stuff (though I wasn't overwhelmed by Beyond This Horizon).

For Poul Anderson, he also writes good short fiction though I don't know a definitive collection. His Polesotechnic League/Terran Empire series (which is a mixture of novels and shorter stories) is great. But I'd have to make a special pitch for Tau Zero - that's one of my favorites of any author. It's also a Breathtaking Adventure involving a runaway spaceship. And Brain Wave is an interesting novel about Earth being stuck in a stupid zone of the galaxy and what happens when we come out of it and everyone's IQ triples (or whatever factor it was). And, also again, I'd suspect it would be hard to go wrong with any of at least his 50s-60s stuff, though his output has been so prolific and varied that there's a lot of his stuff I haven't read.

 

[Ian Whates]

btw any suggestions to those particular authors? especially Poul Anderson.

Poul Anderson:

Tau Zero
Satan's World
Trader to the Stars
Knight of Ghost and Shadows
A Midsummer Tempest

are all fabulous.

The Makeshift Rocket (a spaceship powered by beer)
The High Crusade (armoured knights mistake an alien spaceship for a dragon, capture it and take to the stars) are great fun.

Brain Wave is a classic and well worth reading though a little dated now...

But you'd be hard-pressed to find an Anderson that isn't worth reading.

 

[blacknorth]

But you'd be hard-pressed to find an Anderson that isn't worth reading.

I agree, he's eminently readable and, even better, he's very good. My only quibble would be the Ensign Flandry novels, which I didn't care for at all.

The Avatar was one of my own favs, as well as Tau Zero and Brain Wave. Being Irish I found The Makeshift Rocket rather, er, fanciful. But I suppose that was the point of it.

 

[Talysia]

I'm finally able to read I Shall Wear Midnight by Terry Pratchett. Looking forward to this latest installment.

 

[Jayaprakash Satyamurthy]

Currently reading Red Harvest by Dashiell Hammett and Your Face Tomorrow 3: Poison, Shadow and Farewell by Javier Marias.

 

[rol7805]

Reading The Magicians by Lev Grossman. Sort of a more adult Harry Potter if you will. Quite enjoyable!

 

[Boneman]

The Wise Man's Fears - came out on 1st March, picked up on Ist
March, started reading on 1st March. On the second read-through now...

 

[Menion]

The Wise Man's Fears - came out on 1st March, picked up on Ist
March, started reading on 1st March. On the second read-through now...

I was going to order it, but I decided to leave till a later date and get something else. Is it that good? :O