April's Aspiring Adventures Along Allegorical Avenues

[JunkMonkey]

River Sea is less fantastical and I would have thought for a slightly older age range.

 

[ratsy]

I finished Republic of Thieves and found the whole thing just kind of blah. I wasn't sure the ending even fit. I didn't get why and the voice of the end just changed so much from the rest of the books. Not a fan of where it went.

On the other hand I did enjoy the flashback story. I actually wish that it was just by itself and I hadn't read the current part.

Anyways, I will shake that one off and I've moved on to our very own Stephen Palmer's Hairy London. I've never read one of his books but this one really intrigued me. How could one write a book about this group looking for the meaning of love on a bet, in a London that becomes covered in hair...Well it's all just so preposterous!! I'm two chapters in and I'm hooked.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

I finished Republic of Thieves and found the whole thing just kind of blah. I wasn't sure the ending even fit. I didn't get why and the voice of the end just changed so much from the rest of the books. Not a fan of where it went.

On the other hand I did enjoy the flashback story. I actually wish that it was just by itself and I hadn't read the current part.

So, will you be continuing on when the next book is published? I felt this book was blah as well, but I'm still looking forward to the next one. As you did, I preferred the flashback story. What bothered me the most about the book was that the storyline with Sabetha was repeated in the present and the past. I felt like I kept reading the same thing over and over...Locke trying to win her over then and now.Hope you have better luck with your next book.

 

[ratsy]

Hey Lady, I think I will probably read the next one by Lynch. I totally agree with your "white" text too. Got old.

Yeah my next one is shaping up nicely.

 

[BigBadBob141]

Just finished "Journey To Fusang" by William Sanders, it's an alternative history novel.
The Mongols conquered Europe and held it for 100 years.
The Arabs & Chinese discovered and settled America.
So now in the 17th Century you have an Arabian city where New Oleans is and the city of Fusang where San Francisco is today.
This book follows an Irish con-man and his various misadventures trying to get there.
I am just about to start "Jack Cloudie" by Stephen Hunt, this is the fifth of his Steam Punk novels which start with "The Court Of The Air",.
I highly recommend them all.

 

[HareBrain]

Having finished and enjoyed King's Wizard and Glass, I started Wolves of the Calla, and after the prologue found myself instantly bored. Flicking to page 300 or so suggested that nothing was going to happen for some time, and reading a few Amazon reviews seemed to confirm this. So I guess I'm done with the series.

In between, I read Alan Garner's Boneland, which was brilliant, and Dan Simmons's Hyperion, which was brilliant in parts, though i started to lose interest in the pilgrims' stories and skimmed the final one. Good enough for me to try the sequel, though.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Dear Me by Peter Ustinov (1977) -- Autobiography of the actor/author. Quite witty and interesting.

 

[Bick]

Having finished and enjoyed King's Wizard and Glass, I started Wolves of the Calla, and after the prologue found myself instantly bored. Flicking to page 300 or so suggested that nothing was going to happen for some time, and reading a few Amazon reviews seemed to confirm this. So I guess I'm done with the series.

Interesting feedback HareBrain, given I'm at the same place in the series. I'd not started Wolves, given its size, and this is also a bit off-putting.

 

[Lord Soth]

Just finished Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice - really enjoyed it and as such am ploughing straight into the next in the series - Royal Assassin.

 

[Bick]

I just finished Robert Reed's Marrow. I was briefly diverted from reading some Cherryh when this caught my eye. It transpires this was a mistake, as I really didn't like Marrow. It is, I think, deeply flawed in various ways and I wouldn't recommend it:
(i) It is overly long - why do modern books have to be at least 500 pages? The story could have been told well (better) in a crisp 250 pages;
(ii) The humans in it are so advanced that they are basically immortal, which means there is actually no suspense at all in this 'suspense novel'. Moreover, by having the protagonists sit around for thousands of years removes any sense of urgent excitement for the reader;
(iii) The protagonists are pretty much all unappealing, so if they were to have all died I'd actually have cheered;
(iv) Tension is markedly diminished by the ship being so big - this removes all sense of claustrophobic tension and makes it impossible to clearly imagine the vessel;
(v) The resolution of the story after trudging through 500 pages is poor and unsatisfying - Spoiler: we are tantalised by the question of what is in the center of the great ship for hundred's of pages, and eventually we are told it is something called "the Bleak" and the ship is its prison, but this is 10 pages from the end and we never get to see this thing, or have any description given or understand its purpose.

All in all, rather disappointing. Now back to Cherryh, which I should not have been so silly to get distracted from in the first place.

 

[jastius]

got a pile of books for easter.. started tad hamilton's the dirty streets of heaven on friday evening. finished it this morning.. very nice little read. one of the fast reading books that are big, (like the j k rowling books, thick but easy to chew through). really captivating. it was a gamble on my part as i was going into the store to get charles de lint's latest, but it wasn't in.

nice story but an obvious trilogy set up... all the plot holes left open for the next book.

 

[ratsy]

Just finished Hobb's Assassin's Apprentice - really enjoyed it and as such am ploughing straight into the next in the series - Royal Assassin.

Glad you liked it Lord Soth. I really think I will do a re-read soon. I bought a special edition of it last year, its a cloth bound hardcover version. Would be tough for me to get through all 6 Fitz books before the new one comes out but I might try.

I'm currently around page 200 of Hairy London by Stephen Palmer and I'm really enjoying it.

 

[Lord Soth]

Glad you liked it Lord Soth. I really think I will do a re-read soon. I bought a special edition of it last year, its a cloth bound hardcover version. Would be tough for me to get through all 6 Fitz books before the new one comes out but I might try.

I'm currently around page 200 of Hairy London by Stephen Palmer and I'm really enjoying it.

I love I when I find a new (finished) series that I enjoy, no waiting for the next instalment just move straight into the next one. Which is the next Fitz series you are referring to (I have the first 3 already..)

 

[ratsy]

Well Hobb does the Farseer trilogy which you have, then moves on to the Liveship trilogy (which is the same world, different part and 3rd person with a few appearances of characters you will know) and then goes back to Fitz for 3 more in the Tawny Man trilogy. So you have a lot of great reading to go.

I read all 6 fitz books in a row before I went to the Liveship. It worked for me, even though some things would have made more sense had I read them in order of publication.

 

[Lord Soth]

Great thanks, I recall trying the Liveship trilogy some time back and not getting along with it. From memory, it was well written but not a lot seemed to be happening (at least in the first third / half I read) and so I put it down.

With that in mind I think I'll follow what you did and skip that trilogy, even if some points feel a little disjointed.

 

[ratsy]

The Liveship really are good books though, I would recommend reading them at some point. Once you know the world you will enjoy them more I bet.

 

[Ice fyre]

The Liveship really are good books though, I would recommend reading them at some point. Once you know the world you will enjoy them more I bet.

There are now four more in the Liveship story, which start a few months after the Liveship trilogy. I have just finished Jingo and the Truth by Terry Pratchett. Both quite good, funny while imparting quite serious points.

Am now reading Gwyneth Jones Spirit. Hmm, this one is quite heavy and the story seems to jump about a lot. I find the political terms a bit tough going but am persevering with it.

 

[ratsy]

Yeah I have read the Rainwilds books too. Not quite as good IMO, but still entertaining

 

[Grunkins]

Finished Vernor Vinge's Deepness in the Sky last night. Seemed like it took me a long time to read that book. I enjoyed it, though it was a bit of a slow burn. It took about half the book to really engage me. I know lots of people prefer it to A Fire Upon the Deep, but I think the latter had more vitality.

 

[TheShadowsandSilence]

Just starting 'The King in Yellow' by Robert W. Chambers.