July 2017: What are you reading?

[Danny McG]

Updating as well. Still plodding my way through ebook Revenger by Alastair Reynolds, now I've got into his world building etc it's getting a bit meh. A major plot revelation that is being an elephant in the room was obvious about 15% into the book, am at 82% now and it still hasn't made it's "surprise" appearance.
As a contrast I'm also reading Bomber by Len Deighton, WW2 air raid fiction - allegedly the first ever novel to be written on a word processor!

 

[Vertigo]

Updating as well. Still plodding my way through ebook Revenger by Alastair Reynolds, now I've got into his world building etc it's getting a bit meh. A major plot revelation that is being an elephant in the room was obvious about 15% into the book, am at 82% now and it still hasn't made it's "surprise" appearance.
As a contrast I'm also reading Bomber by Len Deighton, WW2 air raid fiction - allegedly the first ever novel to be written on a word processor!

Ah that's a bit of a worry I will be getting around to that one eventually. The problem with Reynolds is that when he's good he's really good and I don't want the book to end but when he's not so good I really start noticing just how long his books are....

 

[williamjm]

I've started Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead, a fantasy novel in which a novice necromancer is called in to assist with the investigation into a god's sudden death. It's been entertaining so far, the story moves at a good pace despite having to introduce a lot of world-building concepts.

 

[Lucien21]

Have you ever read a book or series of books where the main character says the same phrase that often it starts to annoy?

"Bugger Me" I read the first two books of the Indrannan War trilogy by K B Wagers. I enjoyed the two books "Behind the Throne" and "After the Crown" for what they were, a Star Wars style Space Opera. Former Gunnrunner turn Princess and Heir to an empire on the brink of war.

So lots of politics, betrayal and assassination attempts. However I could help but grind my teeth that in an effort to keep highlighting the fact that she was a gunrunner she repeated "Bugger Me!" phrase over and over. Arrrrrggghhh!!

 

[Paul_C]

Have you ever read a book or series of books where the main character says the same phrase that often it starts to annoy?

"Bugger Me" I read the first two books of the Indrannan War trilogy by K B Wagers. I enjoyed the two books "Behind the Throne" and "After the Crown" for what they were, a Star Wars style Space Opera. Former Gunnrunner turn Princess and Heir to an empire on the brink of war.

So lots of politics, betrayal and assassination attempts. However I could help but grind my teeth that in an effort to keep highlighting the fact that she was a gunrunner she repeated "Bugger Me!" phrase over and over. Arrrrrggghhh!!

Whilst I adore most of Terry Pratchett's writing, Millennium Hand and Shrimp started to annoy me quite early on . . .

 

[Paul_C]

I've started Max Gladstone's Three Parts Dead, a fantasy novel in which a novice necromancer is called in to assist with the investigation into a god's sudden death. It's been entertaining so far, the story moves at a good pace despite having to introduce a lot of world-building concepts.

Cheap on Amazon at the moment, it's been added to my Kindle now too.

 

[Brian G Turner]

Finally started reading Kingdom Asunder by our own Thaddeus White, and so far I'm very much enjoying it and there are lots of really nice turns of phrase. It seems very Shakespearean in scope, which is both a positive and negative - I do like the epic scale, but there are a lot of characters and places to keep in mind, which is maybe not ideal when read across work breaks. This may be a story to read more than once to get the most out of the connections and nuances.

 

[Parson]

I've finished Rachel Caine's Stillhouse Lake. It is considerably different then her alt-history The Great Library series. It is a thriller and it succeeds on that level. I'm not a great fan of first person writing, but I listened to this book on audio and it works well in that kind of format. It leans heavily on hackers and the dark web in the plot which I thought was just possible, but the book took serial killer groupies to an all new level, which I had some trouble believing. On the whole an entertainingly read, which you will find difficult to put down. I did.

 

[soulsinging]

'Easy way to stop smoking,' by Allan Carr.

Hang in there! It's very worth it. Smoking is the one thing I wish I'd listened to my parents about... it's so hard to quit, but once you get a bit of time under your belt and you cough up some of that nasty stuff, it's amazing how quickly you start to feel better!

I read Count of Montecristo when I was 8. The book weighed almost as much as I did . I loved it, even though I suspect there are several things that went over my head.

At that age, one doesn't focus on the technical prowess of a writer, on the subtleties of plot management and vocabulary, red herrings, foreshadowing, or any of those things. Without being aware of the literary quality of the book, my young mind was overtaken simply by the bare story and the incredible character development. That is a testament to just how amazing that book is, that even a young child can appreciate it, even while being blind to all the finer details.

Finished off Count of Monte Cristo and it was definitely worth the effort. The characters, as you note, jump off the page (noticed that recently with Dickens as well) and the way the plot comes together is stunning. It takes some time to build steam, but once they hit Paris I was tearing through it (so much so my wife began to complain she was being widowed by the count)!

Now on to Caves of Steel to continue my exploration of the impressive mind and ideas of Asimov!

 

[soulsinging]

Snowball's Trotsky. Napoleon's Stalin. At least, that's the impression I had, back when I first read it.

My understanding as well, but here in the US it's used often used (particularly by Rand-inspired pseudo-intellectuals) as a blanket damnation of all things socialist. Too many of my fellow Americans seem to completely miss the fact that the first evil is capitalism/the farmer, and the real problem is that socialism for the people never had a fair chance with a bloodthirsty tyrant like Napoleon/Stalin around waiting to corrupt the ideas without fully understanding them. They also seem to miss the obvious idea that selfish tyrants have been misrepresenting and lying about Snowball/socialism to keep their elevated status.

 

[tobl]

read the first two books from shayne silvers. better than i thought. and there's a new demon accords out... and a new charles stross... and a new daniel silva. iupi

 

[Bugg]

Just started reading Herman Wouk's The Caine Mutiny and I'm really enjoying it so far.

 

[Randy M.]

Currently about a quarter into The Burning Court by John Dickson Carr, a "Golden Age" mystery (that is, roughly contemporaneous with the heyday of Agatha Christie and Dorothy L. Sayers) and often noted as one of the great horror stories of the time. It's been years since I last read one of Carr's mysteries, and I'd forgotten how engaging they can be.


Randy M.

 

[The Big Peat]

Being part-goldfish, I am reading the following books


The Name of the Wind - Would already be a DNF if not for its reputation. Its impressive, but I don't particularly enjoy the voice and the characters feel very meh after a good 70 or so pages.

Kushiel's Mercy - Doing a re-read to see if its as good as I vaguely recall it being. The answer after a hundred pages is no but its picking up.

Lyonesse - Sooooooo dated. Which I guess is what happens when someone in the 60s/70s writes to give the feeling of a chivalric romance. But I am mildly interested in Suldrun and what happens to her, plus, again, towering reputation so I want to know.

King in Yellow - Good! Really good! But dense heavy going and given its short story format, I've put it down at a natural break point and wouldn't be picking it up again if not for reputation.

Gods and Fighting Men - More mythical research (yeah, might as well stick all out there).

And Servant of the Underworld finally arrived, so I'm getting stuck into that.

 

[althea]

I am reading Brent Weeks "The Lightbringer" series. I have already read his "Night Angel" trilogy.I was put off reading this trilogy by the title,thinking it may have something to do with vampires(not my genre at all.)However, it is an enthralling story with many twists.
The Lightbringer series is a truly epic adventure.The first book is called The Black Prism and is set in a world where people can use light broken down into various colours to perform magical feats. You really care about what happens to the characters,both good and bad.
You want to see the good ones succeed and the baddies get their due.
I am halfway through the second book,The Blinding Knife. The plots are devious and complicated and the action is fast and furious.
This series will truly grip you from the start. Once you're hooked you can't let go. The writing is good and the creativity is staggering.
Move over Brandon Sanderson.

 

[The Big Peat]

Mini-rant ahead -

I picked up Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard because it has the coolest premise ever. Aztec Priest of the Dead murder mysteries? I'll take ten.

So I started reading and at page 46, I get idly curious about how many pages it is (not a good sign but whatever) and flick to the back to find a list of characters.

Who the hell puts a list of characters at the back?

Look, dramatis personae are useful. I'm not dissing them. Particularly in convoluted stories with a lot of foreign names. But they're only useful if you know they're there. And if its not at the front of the book, how am I going to know its there?

Its at the back. If I've made it all the way through the story then do you know what I don't need? The dramatis personae. I know who the characters are already. And if I don't, if I've somehow lasted 406 pages in confusion, its too late to tell me then.

The only way the character list is useful is if someone were to flick all the way to the back early in the story. And if you think everyone who reads this book is going to flick all the way to the back early on, why the hell do you think its good enough to publish?

This is the most baffling decision I've seen in a book in some time and its made me far angrier than it should. It's the book equivalent of spending forever looking for your keys only to find out a toddler dropped them down a drain.

 

[Vertigo]

Mini-rant ahead -

I picked up Servant of the Underworld by Aliette de Bodard because it has the coolest premise ever. Aztec Priest of the Dead murder mysteries? I'll take ten.

So I started reading and at page 46, I get idly curious about how many pages it is (not a good sign but whatever) and flick to the back to find a list of characters.

Who the hell puts a list of characters at the back?

Look, dramatis personae are useful. I'm not dissing them. Particularly in convoluted stories with a lot of foreign names. But they're only useful if you know they're there. And if its not at the front of the book, how am I going to know its there?

Its at the back. If I've made it all the way through the story then do you know what I don't need? The dramatis personae. I know who the characters are already. And if I don't, if I've somehow lasted 406 pages in confusion, its too late to tell me then.

The only way the character list is useful is if someone were to flick all the way to the back early in the story. And if you think everyone who reads this book is going to flick all the way to the back early on, why the hell do you think its good enough to publish?

This is the most baffling decision I've seen in a book in some time and its made me far angrier than it should. It's the book equivalent of spending forever looking for your keys only to find out a toddler dropped them down a drain.

Your first one of these? You're lucky, I've had
character lists - at the back
faction descriptions - at the back
glossary - at the back
timeline - at the back
background science explanation - at the back
even, bizarrely, contents - at the back
Used to be easy enough to spot these with paper books but they're so easy to overlook with eBooks. I make a point of checking the contents nowadays!

 

[night_wrtr]

I think the only time I used a glossary was while reading the Wheel of Time. Any other books, especially a stand alone, I skip over them, even if they were at the front.

Curios though that it is usually at the back. Didn't early plays have at least a character list up front?

 

[HareBrain]

ASOIF has its character lists at the back, IIRC. But yeah, now you mention it, it doesn't make a lot of sense.

 

[Vertigo]

Well I've not read ASOIF but I'd guess it's probably a similar reason to why Weber puts his at the back; they're about twenty pages long. So you'd have a hard time finding the beginning of the book!