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[DarkChronic]

I'm about halfway through City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I am really, really enjoying it. Love when they get into the lore of the gods.

Without spoiling, is this supposed to be a series? I would totally read more set in this universe.

 

[aidan]

Finished this last night:

After the disappointment I'd heard about it I was pleasantly surprised. I enjoyed it much more than I did the previous one. I laughed a bunch of times during certain parts and it felt like a much more light hearted adventure aside from some aspects near the end. I'm going to have to read up on why most people didn't care for it.

I also love it! A big step up from the second book in the series.

 

[sparky2112]

I'm about halfway through City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I am really, really enjoying it. Love when they get into the lore of the gods.

Without spoiling, is this supposed to be a series? I would totally read more set in this universe.

Yes. Next installment still this year, I believe.

 

[aidan]

I'm about halfway through City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett. I am really, really enjoying it. Love when they get into the lore of the gods.

Without spoiling, is this supposed to be a series? I would totally read more set in this universe.

Yes. Next installment still this year, I believe.

Bennett didn't initially conceptualize it as a series, but it went in that direction after some feedback during the editing process. (Plus, I'm sure his publisher/editor had some sway in this decision. City of Stairs has been well received critically and, I believe, commercially.) City of Blades is due out on Jan. 26, 2016.

 

[Narag]

Alloy of Law is short at least. But it amplifies all of Brandon's flaws as a writer: boring, two dimensional characters with dumb quirks to try to make them interesting, an uninteresting plot, humor that consistently falls flat. And it doesn't really have much else to make up for it, even with the Mistborn magic system which was a lot of fun in the trilogy.

While I'm sure you heard the Writing Excuses episode it's from already, I still think it's funny it had to be pointed out to him just how boring Wax was initially.

 

[Mumei]

While I'm sure you heard the Writing Excuses episode it's from already, I still think it's funny it had to be pointed out to him just how boring Wax was initially.

But he was still boring....

 

[Akahige]

I thought I was depressed or something because it took me 2 and half weeks to get through this:
Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

But I actually don't think most of the stories are any good, there was a good story once in awhile but then it goes right back to 3 bad ones in a row. Disappointing because Smoke and Mirrors was fantastic.

October in the Chair was really great, I'll have to read The Graveyard Book soon. The Monarch of the Glen lived up to exceptions of another American Gods story.

I started this yesterday:
Area X by Jeff VanderMeer

Really enjoying it, I finished Annihilation and am a few chapters into Authority.

 

[Piecake]

But he was still boring....

He should have been named Wayne instead

Spoiler

kills self

 

[VoidVR]

Currently reading The Name of the Wind. I like it for the most part, but it is not quite the kind of Fantasy I like. After that I will be going for the fifth book in the Malazan series, Midnight Tides. I love the Malazan setting, but it can be quite difficult to keep track of things sometimes, maybe more so since english is not my first language and Erikson's use of language is quite advanced for someone like me.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished A Slant of Light. Jeffrey Lent nails it again. I really love everything he writes. All his books feel like home to me. I hope there's a sequel because this book kinda stops before a major event is wrapped up.

Anywho, now on to the vaunted Vorkosigan Saga!


Shards of Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold

 

[Rapscallion]

Been reading Mr. Penumbra's 24 Hour Book Store

Seems interesting enough. Only about 50 pages in.

 

[Mumei]

Anywho, now on to the vaunted Vorkosigan Saga!

Enjoy Cordelia and Aral. <3

Edit:

It took a month, but I finished it. God. One of my favorite books ever.

 

[Necrovex]

Anywho, now on to the vaunted Vorkosigan Saga!

So what's up with this love for this series? Been interested in it since I saw Pau gave it a constant five stars rating.

Enjoy Cordelia and Aral. <3

Edit:

It took a month, but I finished it. God. One of my favorite books ever.

I just started and I am loving the book already. It's such a beautifully written (accessable) piece of work. Plus the diversity of the cast is amazing.

 

[Mumei]

So what's up with this love for this series? Been interested in it since I saw Pau gave it a constant five stars rating.

Read my last post about it!

I just started and I am loving the book already. It's such a beautifully written (accessible) piece of work. Plus the diversity of the cast is amazing.

Good! Glad you're enjoying it.

 

[Necrovex]

Cyan and Mumei have sold me on Vorkosigan Saga. It's now on my never-ending backlog. I'll prioritize it over Wheel of Times though!

 

[brianmcdoogle]

I re-read DisneyWar and I just started Becoming Steve Jobs, which is written in a style I'm not that fond of reading. I need to read more fiction. I thinking of picking up the latest Toni Morrison book and maybe something from last year that I never got around to, but I don't know what.

 

[whatevermort]

Enjoy Cordelia and Aral. <3

Edit:

It took a month, but I finished it. God. One of my favorite books ever.

See, I felt that way until pretty much exactly halfway through the book, and then there was a thing in it that totally changed it. (There's some chat about this a couple of pages back.) And I still respect the writing an enormous amount, because it's extraordinary, but the story? I haven't thought about it since I finished it. Haven't wanted to, really.

 

[DesertEater]

I'm reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami. It's been a long while since I've read a Murakami book. It was really either rereading one of his novels or this, and since I was in the mood for a non-fiction book, it was an obvious choice.

I'm about %10 in it according to my Kindle. I'm enjoying the book far more than I expected. The book feels fresh when compared with reading his other works which at times feel recycled. I was put off by the title as I thought it would be solely about running, but it's more like a memoire really. I think any Murakami fan would enjoy this book as it already has some interesting insights into the author's life.

Any interesting biographical/autobiographical works about authors/artists you guys have been reading? I'm considering reading something about Bach afterwards. Not sure which book though <_<

 

[Necrovex]

I'm reading What I Talk About When I Talk About Running by Murakami. It's been a long while since I've read a Murakami book. It was really either rereading one of his novels or this, and since I was in the mood for a non-fiction book, it was an obvious choice.

I'm about %10 in it according to my Kindle. I'm enjoying the book far more than I expected. The book feels fresh when compared with reading his other works which at times feel recycled. I was put off by the title as I thought it would be solely about running, but it's more like a memoire really. I think any Murakami fan would enjoy this book as it already has some interesting insights into the author's life.

Any interesting biographical/autobiographical works about authors/artists you guys have been reading? I'm considering reading something about Bach afterwards. Not sure which book though <_<

Murakami memoir is something on my to-read list. He certainly is an interesting enough man to read about. I'd think one would have to be to write like him (even if he refuses to acknowledge it). I picked up a Walt Disney biography that I plan to read in the near future. Critics seem to rave about it so I am excited to read it soon.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

I think the Wheel of Time - like lots of other fantasy novels/series - is best appreciated in your teens. I read a lot of Tolkien and Jordan back in the late nineties, and loved it. I tried reading one of the latest entries to the WoT a couple of years ago and couldn't make it past the introduction. Horrible.

Have any of you guys read Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle by the way? I have had them shelved for years.

 

[BronzeWolf]

The Wheel of Time is OK for me so far. I do have to wait a long time in between books though, I always finish being really fed up with the characters, but I do want to know where the whole thing is going.

 

[Woorloog]

I think the Wheel of Time - like lots of other fantasy novels/series - is best appreciated in your teens. I read a lot of Tolkien and Jordan back in the late nineties, and loved it. I tried reading one of the latest entries to the WoT a couple of years ago and couldn't make it past the introduction. Horrible.

Maybe...

I know i am way more careful about what i like now than i was ten years ago (when i was 15). Back then, i'd read just about anything remotely interesting. (I have a vague memory of reading that Animorphs series. I thought it terrible, but read it anyway as i had no options right then. Nowadays i would rather be without a book than read a terrible one.)
Now, i am really picky, and i small things can really ruin everything. There was this one book, Chronicles of Necromancer or some such... It was OK/, perhaps even good, other than the fact the author insisted on overusing said-bookisms, there are place for such, yes, but this author just used just a bit too much of them. And that essentially ruined the book for me. 10 years ago, i would not have cared.
Or this one scifi, that had massive amounts of pointless exposition about the world's history, etc. Completely pointless exposition. Oh, and the setting was such a cliche. Avoiding cliches is difficult, but at very least one could do cliches well. This author didn't even try. Had i read that book 10 years ago, i would have loved it, i think.
Kevin J. Anderson's Saga of the Seven Suns is a good example as well, i loved it as a teen, but afterwards i haven't been able to re-read it.

Not sure about Tolkien's works. I've always thought he was a... rambling author. Slow reading. Nowadays i mostly appreciate Tolkien as a world-builder, he got so many small details right that are usually ignored (like the fact the south-eastern Mordor has very fertile soil, so it is essentially bread-basked for Sauron's armies. Most works/world-building ignore such logistical detail). And of course, his massive focus on languages, and building the world around them. Brilliant really, gives the Middle-earth a touch of realism that is absent from so many fantasy (and scifi) works.

The Wheel of Time is OK for me so far. I do have to wait a long time in between books though, I always finish being really fed up with the characters, but I do want to know where the whole thing is going.

I've been considering about re-reading WoT but not sure if i'll manage. I might be able to do that by focusing on the good points of the series, good writing (i always liked Jordan's style), good worldbuilding (excessive use of hats aside), and whatever else i like in it but can't recall outright.
And that is my recommendation about the series, try to focus on the good stuff, that way you'll like it more. Maybe. If you can kind of ignore the bad points.

 

[Mumei]

See, I felt that way until pretty much exactly halfway through the book, and then there was a thing in it that totally changed it. (There's some chat about this a couple of pages back.) And I still respect the writing an enormous amount, because it's extraordinary, but the story? I haven't thought about it since I finished it. Haven't wanted to, really.

Yeah, I read your posts about the book, too. You seemed quite enamored with it when you started it! I couldn't really think how to respond to your later posts, though: I disagree, but so what? My disagreement is personal and experiential; you aren't making incorrect claims but just expressing how you reacted to it, and it's different than my reaction. I suppose it's what makes the book difficult to talk about. I know that there are aspects of it that I can't talk about how I relate without talking about my own issues with depression, self-loathing, or whatever else I don't feel comfortable talking about.

But I found an article on Slate where Yanagihara talks with her editor about the book, and it's interesting because it does seem to be how I took the book:

Everything in this book is a little exaggerated: the horror, of course, but also the love. I wanted it to reach a level of truth by playing with the conventions of a fairy tale, and then veering those conventions off path. I wanted the experience of reading it to feel immersive by being slightly otherworldly, to not give the reader many contextual tethers to steady them.

Jared once called it an &#8220;emotional thriller,&#8221; and I think that&#8217;s right: the reader should, in part, experience the same terrifying unpredictability and uncontrollability of life, the helplessness of life, as Jude does.

I wouldn't recommend that anyone who has not read the book read it, but you might find it interesting, too.

 

[Mœbius]

Not reading since it's an audiobook, but am forced to listen as it is the only good English translation that exists (the translation in print is not translated from the original language but rather from a second language so it's notoriously poor).

My first audiobook too and quite enjoying it; though I would otherwise stick to listening to dramatisations; still prefer reading myself.

 

[fredrancour]

Currently reading The Name of the Wind. I like it for the most part, but it is not quite the kind of Fantasy I like. After that I will be going for the fifth book in the Malazan series, Midnight Tides. I love the Malazan setting, but it can be quite difficult to keep track of things sometimes, maybe more so since english is not my first language and Erikson's use of language is quite advanced for someone like me.

You may be better at English than you are giving yourself credit for. Erikson's Malazan books have a terrifying amount of crap to keep track of in them even for native speakers. If I had read these at the pace of the original releases, I'd probably have had to take notes to remember what had happened in the early books by the time I reached the end.

 

[sparky2112]

Currently reading The Name of the Wind. I like it for the most part, but it is not quite the kind of Fantasy I like. After that I will be going for the fifth book in the Malazan series, Midnight Tides. I love the Malazan setting, but it can be quite difficult to keep track of things sometimes, maybe more so since english is not my first language and Erikson's use of language is quite advanced for someone like me.

And yet, you type in perfect English.

 

[sparky2112]

The Wheel of Time is OK for me so far. I do have to wait a long time in between books though, I always finish being really fed up with the characters, but I do want to know where the whole thing is going.

Not to be a bitch, but I don't see why an adult would read WoT when there is soooo much other stuff out there of unquestionable quality. Shrug.

Have any of you guys read Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle by the way? I have had them shelved for years.

Yes. It's not easy in spots, but it's a stunning achievement, really. And Half-cocked Jack Shaftoe is the greatest.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Not to be a bitch, but I don't see why an adult would read WoT when there is soooo much other stuff out there of unquestionable quality. Shrug.

Which is why I only read it when I am feeling like not investing too much into a series. I am only in book 4 in 2 years I think

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

I wouldn't recommend that anyone who has not read the book read it, but you might find it interesting, too.

An emotional thriller is the perfect descriptor for the book. The occurances did seem to happen in a state of heightened reality almost, where bad things happen at bad times specifically to rile up the reader. To make them feel something.
It worked on me. I was a mess by the end.

 

[VoidVR]

You may be better at English than you are giving yourself credit for. Erikson's Malazan books have a terrifying amount of crap to keep track of in them even for native speakers. If I had read these at the pace of the original releases, I'd probably have had to take notes to remember what had happened in the early books by the time I reached the end.

And yet, you type in perfect English.

Heh thanks. I have a decent command of the English language, but man, sometimes when Erikson goes pseudo-philosphical I have to reread sentences like 3 times before I get what he's trying to say.

And yeah, Malazan is really "weird" in some ways, I remember when I first started reading Gardens of the Moon and you are thrust straight into the thick of things from page one, with the big war going on and various factions and the warren magic system with no explanation, I was just going "wut" for the first half of the book. Once you get what's going on it really opens up and I think all in all it's a wonderful series so far. Deadhouse Gates is one of my favourite novels in general.

Not to be a bitch, but I don't see why an adult would read WoT when there is soooo much other stuff out there of unquestionable quality. Shrug.

I would say WoT is my favourite series, but perhaps not for literary reasons.

I've always loved fantasy when I was a kid, heroes with big swords, magic, strange and mysterious worlds, etc. In my country it was basically impossible to get this kind of stuff, be it books, games, comics, whatever.

Sometime in 1998 if I remember correctly a local gaming magazine did a short review of the Eye of the World. I was 14 years old and after reading the review I really wanted to get the book. Ended up importing it from US with my father's credit card and it was expensive as hell and took a while to get here. I remember being ecstatic when it finally arrived and I devoured it in a few days, even though my English at the time was not that great. It had everything, a big world with a fantastic and mysterious past, the One Power, man I loved that shit.

After that I started saving money to get the rest of the series and it was pretty expensive to get. I remember when ordering off of US Amazon, I picked around $50 worth of books and then postage was around $70-80 and after that the customs screwed me over for another $50 when the package arrived in my country.

Because of that I really treasured those books. It was my first fantasy series. I still reread it from time to time and get some of that feeling from when I was reading it for the first time back. Yeah, now that I'm older and more versed in the fantasy genre I notice the sometimes glaring flaws, the dreadful pace of some of the later books, but eh... I still love it. Tia mi aven Moridin isainde vadin!

 

[Stasis]

Stormlight Archive presently. About to finish "The Way of Kings" and I loved it.

I decided to give Sanderson another chance and I'm glad I did. Mistborn didn't work out for me. Loved book one, struggled through the second half of book two and just abandoned the third. The only series I never finished. Still irks me but I have no desire to go back. Hopefully this series doesnt follow the same path for me because I feel it has so much potential...

 

[Darkangel]

Just started The Forever War and it's pretty good so far. The orgies are a little weird though...

 

[fredrancour]

Heh thanks. I have a decent command of the English language, but man, sometimes when Erikson goes pseudo-philosphical I have to reread sentences like 3 times before I get what he's trying to say.

And yeah, Malazan is really "weird" in some ways, I remember when I first started reading Gardens of the Moon and you are thrust straight into the thick of things from page one, with the big war going on and various factions and the warren magic system with no explanation, I was just going "wut" for the first half of the book. Once you get what's going on it really opens up and I think all in all it's a wonderful series so far. Deadhouse Gates is one of my favourite novels in general.

Deadhouse Gates is one of my favorite novels now as well. Even though I loved the whole series it remained one of my favorites out of them.

And truthfully I'm not sure I ever entirely stopped going "Wut" because he almost never stops adding new things. I just learned how to roll with it after Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. "Here, have some shapeshifters, some undead velociraptors bred as bio-weapons with swords for hands, pocket dimensions for magic and fast-travel, a heap of nonhuman races- most of which are actually novel and all of which are well-done- and a couple wildly diverse continents where the most diverse thing of all is the list of ways for shit to go horribly wrong for at least five of our protagonists. Oh, and by the way, most of it matters eventually, so nothing can be written off as fluff." After riding that onslaught out, Midnight Tides suddenly shifting almost everything and nearly starting from scratch was more amusing than bewildering.

 

[Beaulieu]

I started this yesterday:
Area X by Jeff VanderMeer

Really enjoying it, I finished Annihilation and am a few chapters into Authority.

You finished annihilation and a few chapters of authority in less than a day ?
Man some of you guys are fast fucking readers. My first language isnt english but even in french I can't read that fast.

 

[VoidVR]

Deadhouse Gates is one of my favorite novels now as well. Even though I loved the whole series it remained one of my favorites out of them.

And truthfully I'm not sure I ever entirely stopped going "Wut" because he almost never stops adding new things. I just learned how to roll with it after Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice. "Here, have some shapeshifters, some undead velociraptors bred as bio-weapons with swords for hands, pocket dimensions for magic and fast-travel, a heap of nonhuman races- most of which are actually novel and all of which are well-done- and a couple wildly diverse continents where the most diverse thing of all is the list of ways for shit to go horribly wrong for at least five of our protagonists. Oh, and by the way, most of it matters eventually, so nothing can be written off as fluff." After riding that onslaught out, Midnight Tides suddenly shifting almost everything and nearly starting from scratch was more amusing than bewildering.

Man, isn't that the truth haha. I'm only halfway into the series and it already feels like that in order to truly "get it", it would require at least 2 or 3 rereads with copious amounts of note-taking. How that man keeps all of that in his head I will never know.

Have you read the Malazan novels from Ian Cameron Esslemont perhaps? I've been thinking of tackling those after I'm done with the main series and was wondering if they're good.

 

[fredrancour]

Man, isn't that the truth haha. I'm only halfway into the series and it already feels like that in order to truly "get it", it would require at least 2 or 3 rereads with copious amounts of note-taking. How that man keeps all of that in his head I will never know.

Have you read the Malazan novels from Ian Cameron Esslemont perhaps? I've been thinking of tackling those after I'm done with the main series and was wondering if they're good.

I haven't got around to them yet. I only finished the Book of the Fallen for the first time a few months ago, at which point I realized I didn't remember much of DG or MoI, so I re-listened to the audiobook versions of them. Then I went and read quite a bit of Tor.com's blog Re-read series on the books for a few different reasons: I was going through withdrawals, Erikson's guest commentary was interesting, and I was curious about other peoples' reactions. By the time I made it to the beginning of the posts on Dust of Dreams, the Malazan Withdrawals had worn out.

I really do intend to read the Esslemont ones eventually. The promise of seeing more stuff in the world is too good to pass up even if the writing quality turns out to be ten times worse or something. Especially Orb, Sceptre, Throne- after Toll the Hounds I neeeeeeeed another Darujhistan book injected into my veins sooner or later. Still gonna read them in order, though. I think the Crimson Guard characters show up in them to give some sense of continuity while touring the world wildly. I'll grab Night of Knives from the library sometime soon and post impressions in these threads.

 

[sparky2112]

Then I went and read quite a bit of Tor.com's blog Re-read series on the books

Thanks for posting this. I knew of it, but had no idea it was as detailed as it is. I read Gardens and Deadhouse Gates years ago and don't really want to re-read them before moving onto Memories. This resource seems essential to sort through the confusion that is easy to fall into. Much appreciated.

 

[fredrancour]

Thanks for posting this. I knew of it, but had no idea it was as detailed as it is. I read Gardens and Deadhouse Gates years ago and don't really want to re-read them before moving onto Memories. This resource seems essential to sort through the confusion that is easy to fall into. Much appreciated.

You're welcome. Yeah, the detail is kind of terrifying, and the reactions were more entertaining to read than I initially imagined they would be.

 

[Necrovex]

You finished annihilation and a few chapters of authority in less than a day ?
Man some of you guys are fast fucking readers. My first language isnt english but even in french I can't read that fast.

I know how you feel. Even as a native English speaker, I can only read through a book in a day if it's a young adult novel, such as The Giver or the Harry Potter novels.

 

[Cade]

I know how you feel. Even as a native English speaker, I can only read through a book in a day if it's a young adult novel, such as The Giver or the Harry Potter novels.

To be fair, the HP novels are fucking long either way.


I read pretty fast and if I get into it I can read a lot, but my attention span is so divided anymore between my hobbies I never really do that much.

 

[An-Det]

I finally finished Midnight Tides by Steven Erikson today, a few minutes ago, after having been initially sidetracked after I was about 1/3 through. I was at about 90% when my kindle died yesterday (right at a good part, too), so today I sat down and blasted through the last chunk of the book.

This was a damn good book. Despite being the 5th book in the series, it is set before the first four and explains where a character from book 4 came from and how he ended up where we started with him (which I really want to go back and read now before staring book 6). Aside from that, there is almost no crossover or returning characters since it's set on a previously unseen continent. Having done this to lesser extremes in books 2 (with the introduction of Seven Cities but lots of familiar faces and culture things) and 4 (the first 200-ish pages focus solely on Karsa before expanding the breadth of it all), Erikson did this really well. I got some characters mixed up since the titles can be a bit confusing at times, but it's pretty easy to follow (at least as much as Erikson's books are). Easily my favorite sections are those with Tehol and Bugg's back-and-forth banter, as well as some of the absurdity with Harlest (

Spoiler

an undead corpse who wants nothing more than claws and sharp teeth so that he can scare people because he thinks undead should be scary

, leading to some really funny moments)

I'm super looking forward to starting book 6, The Bonehunters and seeing some old friends and how things start to converge.

 

[Piecake]

I am currently reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, and good god, it is fucking awesome. I love Harry Potter and find cognitive psychology fascinating, so this is pretty much right up my alley.

What is even better though is how he reorders and slightly alters the events in the main series to fit a story about a Harry Potter who is a rational, logical, critical thinker, instead of a, well, unthinking, brave, goody moron and still have it all make sense. It is really quite brilliant. I can't imagine the planning and outlining it took to pull that off.

I have about 10% left to go and shit just got real. Hoping the ending pays off

 

[Gordon0Freeman]

Just started the Detainee by Peter Liney. Debating if I should buy it or just finish it at Barnes And Noble since I come here often and it's less than 300 pgs. Seems pretty fucked up so far which I do like

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Read my last post about it!



Good! Glad you're enjoying it.

Plus

Spoiler

bug butter

. I woke my wife up laughing.

 

[Mumei]

Plus

Spoiler

bug butter

. I woke my wife up laughing.

That book is hysterical.

Spoiler

Regency romance!

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

Wool was solid sci-fi. Nothing mindblowing, but a good antidote for the usual post-apoc stuff these days.

Moved on to an Anthony Bourdain book and Casino Royale. So much masculine ego between the two.

 

[princemarth23]

Reading Ready Player One at the moment because I got it as a gift a few years ago and wasn't really interested at the time, but recently decided I might as well check it out. I'm actually sort of liking it so far.

 

[bengraven]

Library sale book haul! Sorry for crappy quality. That's Neuromancer next to Lonesome Dove. Fantasy, western, sci-fi. Basically the definition of a good Ben Graven book haul.

 

[Maklershed]

Library sale book haul! Sorry for crappy quality. That's Neuromancer next to Lonesome Dove. Fantasy, western, sci-fi. Basically the definition of a good Ben Graven book haul.

Ohh do I see The Black Company in there?

 

[bengraven]

Ohh do I see The Black Company in there?

Oh yeah. First three books! Saw it out of the corner of my eye as I was waiting in line to check out and was like zoink...