It's January. What are you reading?

[Connavar]

Kull: Exile of Atlantis by Howard

The last S&S hero by Howard to read. The thrill, the feeling in the stomache when you wonder if the character,the stories will live up my expections of the master of S&S.

 

[Toby Frost]

The Green Man by Kingsley Amis. It's about a lecherous pub-owner who discovers that his pub is haunted by an evil spirit. Quite good so far. He manages to make the rather seedy hero quite likeable.

 

[HareBrain]

I read The Green Man a while back (can't remember when, or if I posted about it here), and really liked it. Wish I could find similar books, with the same mix of genuine creepiness and all the qualities of wit and observation he brings to his characters.

 

[Toby Frost]

Yes, I know what you mean. Lucky Jim is one of my favourite books. While I doubt this will be as good, it’s pretty well observed and very entertaining so far. Out of interest, I once tried to read London Fields by Martin Amis and it was dire. It seemed to consist of very crude satire wrapped up in pretentious waffle. I’m not surprise Kingsley wasn’t taken with Martin’s work.

 

[HareBrain]

I enjoyed a couple of Martin Amis's books when I was young and still pleased with my own (perceived) intelligence, but I prefer Kingsley -- he does at least have some trace of human warmth.

 

[biodroid]

35% into To Ride Hell's Chasm. Slow burn but getting interesting now.

 

[Gnrevolution]

Finished Foxglove Summer, for all that I love the Peter Grant novels, they always seem to end a little too soon for my liking, and the endings always seem somewhat anticlimactic. Still onto something less funny and non-fictional with The Particle at the End of the Universe...

 

[Michael Colton]

Currently trying to read six things at once. Not working out so well.

 

[Juliana]

Just read Myke Cole's Gemini Cell, which came out this week. Cole writes military fantasy (think present-day military with magical powers, very fast-paced and action packed) and this book is a prequel to his trilogy. It's a sort of zombie-novel-with-a-twist, as in we're in the POV of the "zombie", which was pretty cool. Good thing is, as this is a prequel, you don't have to read the other three books to read this one, so a good starting point for anyone who wants to try his work.

 

[soulsinging]

Just finished The Iron Jackal by Chris Wooding. The Tales Of The Ketty Jay are first-class examples of what I consider a fun read. And they get better with each new installment.

Loved Iron Jackal too. Those books are always a blast to read, I'm amazed they're not more popular.

I've been doing a lot of re-reading lately. I finished another spin through the Dragonlance Chronicles, which was fun as always. After that I tackled Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, which is where that series really starts to take off. It was every bit as good the second time through.

Right now I'm about a quarter of the way into Game of Thrones. I'm enjoying it more than my first time through. I think knowing there's probably not going to be an ending and thus being able to read it at my own pace has let me appreciate the writing and intricate plotting a lot more.

 

[Victoria Silverwolf]

Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? by George Axelrod (1956), the original play from which the movie with the same title but a completely different plot was taken. This turned out to be a deal with the Devil yarn (in which the demonic character is a literary agent who takes ten percent of your soul for every wish granted.) Like the Studio One episode he wrote, "Confessions of a Nervous Man," the whole thing seems to be a meditation on George Axelrod's sudden success as a playwright with The Seven Year Itch.

Next up:

Chronocules by D. G. Compton (1970). I expect this to be science fiction of a high literary order, based on other works I have read by this author. I note in passing that this book was once published under the unlikely title Hot Wireless Sets, Aspirin Tablets, the Sandpaper Sides of Used Matchboxes, and Something that Might have been Castor Oil.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Almost finished Robert Fabbri's Rome's Fallen Eagle, book 4 in the Vespasian series. Am really enjoying this - not least because Vespasian, as a character, has had a ringside seat through major events of the early Roman Empire - Tiberius, Caligula, and now Cladius. Even better that the writing isn't as heavy as Colleen McCollough's grand Roman historical fiction, reminding me somewhat of David Gemmell, one of my favourite writers. Think I'll have to order the next two in this series after I finish this book.

 

[HareBrain]

Finished Legend by David Gemmell last night. Pretty decent, all in all, though sometimes the language in both narration and dialogue, e.g. psychological terms, was annoyingly modern for the setting.

Now embarking on a reread of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Already wishing for an abridged version, but I'll try to stick with it.

 

[Venusian Broon]

Now embarking on a reread of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Already wishing for an abridged version, but I'll try to stick with it.

I adore that book. A glorious piss-take of dodgy 'esoteric history' scholarship (Which I have to admit I quite enjoy as well as a genre. )

 

[Talysia]

I haven't had the chance to read much this month, but I've been really enjoying Fool's Assassin by Robin Hobb.

 

[The Judge]

I keep forgetting to come in here as I read things. Anyway, for the month I've read:

The Queen's Necklace by our own Teresa Edgerton -- a beautifully iced, lovingly detailed, luscious Christmas cake of a novel, full of delicious tidbits.
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco -- more stolid intellectually-demanding fare, but unfortunately apposite in view of events over the last month, as the voice of reason demands the right to laugh in the face of religious dogma and self-righteousness.
The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons -- a stunning book which had everything -- vivid description, imaginative worldbuilding, fierce action scenes, nuanced characters, genuine pathos, drama, political intrigue, thought-provoking themes and ideas, suspense, and poetry, even if it is by Keats -- but for me the promise of its greatness was failed by the last quarter and its ending.
The Magician's Guild by Trudi Canavan -- an easy read, but with little plot, poor dialogue, and facile characterisation.
One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde -- inventive, intelligent, and very funny.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell -- excellent writing with superb world-building and characters, but for me there was a lack of focus in places as his urge to create those characters produced a number of irrelevant and detailed back stories.
Split Images by Elmore Leonard -- a taut, edgy, writ-as-it's-spoke crime novel, understated and atmospheric.

And one book I couldn't finish, VALIS by Philip K Dick -- a drug-addled, schizophrenic, failed-suicide of a narrator details his breakdown in mental health and his obsession with theology. I had to dump it less than a third of the way through.

In addition, I've been dipping into a non-fiction book, Medieval Panorama edited by Robert Bartlett, which covers every aspect of medieval life but primarily is a visual feast, with a cornucopia of wonderful illustrations.

 

[HareBrain]

I adore that book. A glorious piss-take of dodgy 'esoteric history' scholarship (Which I have to admit I quite enjoy as well as a genre. )

Me too. Apart from its wordiness, Foucault's Pendulum is almost perfect, conjuring the excitement of that kind of esoterica (how you wish any of it were true!) and pointing out its flaws at the same time. I'm determined to finish it again (read it twice about twenty years ago, but didn't make it last time).

 

[Vertigo]

Now embarking on a reread of Foucault's Pendulum by Umberto Eco. Already wishing for an abridged version, but I'll try to stick with it.

Having read The Name of the Rose recently that's a sentiment I can well understand!

The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco -- more stolid intellectually-demanding fare, but unfortunately apposite in view of events over the last month, as the voice of reason demands the right to laugh in the face of religious dogma and self-righteousness.

"Stolid" I like that!!!

One of Our Thursdays is Missing by Jasper Fforde -- inventive, intelligent, and very funny.

I've only read the first in that series and thoroughly enjoyed it; must get around to picking up some more of them.

 

[Vertigo]

Right Ho, Jeeves by P G Wodehouse - unsurprisingly hilarious but a rather surprisingly poor ending. A little more here.
The Angel's GAme by Carlos Ruiz Zafon - the same setting and beautiful prose as The Shadow of the Wind, but it suffers a little from a lack of resolution at the end. More here.
A Civil Campaign by Lois McMaster Bujold - well Springs warned me! This is a Romance with a little Science Fiction rather than the reverse. A little too much for me. More here.

 

[The Judge]

I've read five of the Thursday Next series now, and they've all been entertaining. The only thing that annoys me is that he's better read than I am, and I know I'm missing a lot of the jokes. He had characters from Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment in OOOTIM and I was well lost!