October Reading Thread

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Twice Cursed: An Anthology of Horror Short Stories edited by Marie O'Regan & Paul Kane

A mixed bag of interesting and entertaining collection of stories involving curses.
 
Elentarri said:
Tchaikovsky seems to have problems writing people... or that's what it looks like after reading his spider trilogy and a novella.
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I find it a bit mixed, in some of his stories I really like the characterisation, such as the Tyrant Philosophers series or Guns of the Dawn or the Final Architecture trilogy. I also liked a lot of his character in his Apt series, even if it was sometimes a bit mixed over the course of ten books. It does maybe seem that when he is trying to do something more like hard SF then the characterisation can struggle a bit.
 
A Place for Vanishing by Ann Fraistat [YA horror novel]

Interesting characters and an even more interesting haunted house with insect themed stained glass windows and masks.
 
What's Next?
A bit of a gamble, as it is Fantasy. The First Binding by R.R. Virdi. Book One of the Tales of Tremaine. 800+ pages.
I'll be back.
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I abandoned it. It looked interesting, but the author forgot or was never told to kill their darlings. The prose was too dense with carefully crafted sentences that mostly managed to turn the whole into a dragging tale. I had not the patience for it. I am done with Fantasy for the time being.

And now for something completely different:
Learning Python. It is only 1500+ pages and the prose is direct and to-the-point.
 
Graveyard Shift by M. L. Rio [Gothic, "Horror", Mystery]

This novella takes place over approximately ten hours, from midnight to mid-morning. Five insomniacs (including the editor-in-chief of the college paper) tend to hang out at the college's ancient defunct churchyard for a smoke-break. This particular night there is a fresh grave-like hole in the ground, where none should be. After some speculation, the group splits up, only for the stragglers to witness the return of the gravedigger and his disposal of the corpses. This is a mystery that needs to be solved and hopefully provide the college newspaper with interesting content since the odd occurrences of the "Hostile Incidents" has lead nowhere. The idea isn't particularly original, but Rio has atmospheric prose down pat - creepy, ancient graveyards; mold-infested, dilapidated church ruins; and some-sort impending disaster. I loved the cast of characters, but felt the plot could have used fleshing out - more substance, more tension and higher stakes perhaps. I nice little gothic diversion for those who like their horror lite and tame. A bit bland.​
 
Elentarri said:
Graveyard Shift by M. L. Rio [Gothic, "Horror", Mystery]

This novella takes place over approximately ten hours, from midnight to mid-morning. Five insomniacs (including the editor-in-chief of the college paper) tend to hang out at the college's ancient defunct churchyard for a smoke-break. This particular night there is a fresh grave-like hole in the ground, where none should be. After some speculation, the group splits up, only for the stragglers to witness the return of the gravedigger and his disposal of the corpses. This is a mystery that needs to be solved and hopefully provide the college newspaper with interesting content since the odd occurrences of the "Hostile Incidents" has lead nowhere. The idea isn't particularly original, but Rio has atmospheric prose down pat - creepy, ancient graveyards; mold-infested, dilapidated church ruins; and some-sort impending disaster. I loved the cast of characters, but felt the plot could have used fleshing out - more substance, more tension and higher stakes perhaps. I nice little gothic diversion for those who like their horror lite and tame. A bit bland.​
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I almost bought this last week, but the price put me off. Now I'm more pleased that I didn't. (I did, however, pick up The Wishing Pool and Other Stories by Tananarive Due and I'm looking forward to that in the new year.)

Meantime, making headway in A Maze for the Minotaur by Reggie Oliver. Five stories in, and I'm enjoying it quite a bit.
 
Chris von shannow said:
Conquistadors by Chris Nuttall is very good
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I've, not five minutes ago, gave up on it (about halfway through).
I did the DNF because the characters weren't engaging with me and it was turning into a chore reading it.
The story itself was ripping along nicely but it felt flat because of the protagonists.

It's now in my "unfinished reading" file so maybe some day I'll revisit.
 
Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny

This historical fiction novel involves a bland and tedious journey of a Venetian woman doctor, through half of Western Europe to Morocco, in search of her missing father (also a doctor), using his erratically written and delivered letters as a guide. Even the vague hints that something was wrong with her father did not perk up the uninspired writing or plot. The only thing redeeming this novel are the interactions between the two servant characters - Lorenzo and Olmina. The excerpts from the medicinal book the father-daughter doctor team were writing didn't really add anything to the story. Unmemorable.​
 
Elentarri said:
Book of Madness and Cures by Regina O'Melveny

This historical fiction novel involves a bland and tedious journey of a Venetian woman doctor, through half of Western Europe to Morocco, in search of her missing father (also a doctor), using his erratically written and delivered letters as a guide. Even the vague hints that something was wrong with her father did not perk up the uninspired writing or plot. The only thing redeeming this novel are the interactions between the two servant characters - Lorenzo and Olmina. The excerpts from the medicinal book the father-daughter doctor team were writing didn't really add anything to the story. Unmemorable.​
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Precursor to Lara Croft ?
 
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