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[lastflowers]

I started reading The Book of the New Sun, still on the first part, and enjoying it quite a bit:

I know we have a lot of avid readers of fantasy here, so I'm interested in your take on how this series fits in. Right off the bat it's exploring some serious(complex? those which require critical thinking from the reader?) themes unlike other books I've read in this genre. Then again, it hasn't been as entertaining as A Song of Ice and Fire or The Kingkiller series either, although it's just now starting to pick up pace. Is it held in the same high esteem as the critics' quotes on amazon suggest? If so, it's strange that I haven't seen it mentioned here much at all.

it's actually mentioned a fair amount (for a not immensely popular book). And yeah, it's that good. It only gets better as you come to grips with the protagonist and how he 'bends' the narrative. It's quite a treat, because the more you reread the more insight you get into the characters and the world.

 

[Zona]

Anyone have any really good book recommendations for an eleven year old? I buy her books for christmas/birthdays and she tells me they sound so bad she can't even read them. She likes animal stories, pirates, and "people who have sad lives".

A Series of Unfortunate Events?

 

[Maklershed]

If you haven't read it, Isaac's Storm is by the same guy, and it's amazing. Not only does it discuss the countey's worst natural disaster -- that we've largely forgotten -- but it's incredibly sad on a personal level. I think it's better than Thunderstruck and In the Garden of Beasts.

You've sold me good sir/madam. Love Larson - read Devil, Thunderstruck, and Garden already. Not sure why I never thought to give this one a try. Maybe I saw the topic being a weather event and immediately dismissed it? Regardless, I just gave it a purchase.

 

[ShaneB]

Rocket Boys is great so far!

 

[Mumei]

Anyone have any really good book recommendations for an eleven year old? I buy her books for christmas/birthdays and she tells me they sound so bad she can't even read them. She likes animal stories, pirates, and "people who have sad lives".

The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship Of Her Own Making is great.

Or maybe you could take her to a bookstore and have her pick something out.

I started reading The Book of the New Sun, still on the first part, and enjoying it quite a bit:

I know we have a lot of avid readers of fantasy here, so I'm interested in your take on how this series fits in. Right off the bat it's exploring some serious(complex? those which require critical thinking from the reader?) themes unlike other books I've read in this genre. Then again, it hasn't been as entertaining as A Song of Ice and Fire or The Kingkiller series either, although it's just now starting to pick up pace. Is it held in the same high esteem as the critics' quotes on amazon suggest? If so, it's strange that I haven't seen it mentioned here much at all.

You just haven't been paying enough attention! Wolfe is definitely held in high esteem among the regulars here, and quite a few of us have read him. And yes, it deserves all those quotes.

 

[iiicon]

I've always found that girls between the ages of 10 and 15 like Scott Pilgrim. as they should, because it's mostly awesome.

 

[Haly]

Makes sense, deep down I feel like a girl between the ages of 10 and 15.

 

[survivor]

Finished reading The Emperor's Soul. It was pretty fun, I was mostly surprised by its setup, not a lot action or adventure or anything like that. The magic system as usual is pretty detailed, reminds me of that one villain dude from Bleach that had a similar ability to rewrite history Not sure what to think about the Imperial Fool especially his identity after doing a quick search. I'd imagine Sanderson has a reason for that but it didn't seem to affect this story.

I also read Goblin Market as I wanted to check out some poetry for the first time. It was really good and was surprised by some of its imagery given the time period it was originally published. Gonna have to check out some other poems collections now.

 

[iiicon]

Makes sense, deep down I feel like a girl between the ages of 10 and 15.

ha, yeah, I phrased that kinda funny but the point still stands.

 

[Mumei]

ha, yeah, I phrased that kinda funny but the point still stands.

Does the point lead you to eventually reading Fairyland?

 

[iiicon]

Does the point lead you to eventually reading Fairyland?

Yes, but after I read this.

 

[Mumei]

Yes, but after I read this.

She really is quite prolific.

 

[crimsonheadGCN]

I am reading:

I read the first 230 pages in like 6 hours and I am really enjoying it.

Spoiler

Nick is turning out to be an asshole

and I love Amy's diary entries of the past events. I have a feeling that I know what the twist is going to be though.

 

[ymmv]

Finished reading The Emperor's Soul. It was pretty fun, I was mostly surprised by its setup, not a lot action or adventure or anything like that. The magic system as usual is pretty detailed, reminds me of that one villain dude from Bleach that had a similar ability to rewrite history Not sure what to think about the Imperial Fool especially his identity after doing a quick search. I'd imagine Sanderson has a reason for that but it didn't seem to affect this story.

I also read Goblin Market as I wanted to check out some poetry for the first time. It was really good and was surprised by some of its imagery given the time period it was originally published. Gonna have to check out some other poems collections now.

Weird. Very weird. The last two titles I read were The Emperor's Soul followed by Goblin Market with the Arthur Rackham illustrations. (Not the collection, just the famous poem). I became interested in Christina Rossetti after reading Tim Power's Hide Me Behind the Graves in which she's one of the protagonists. I'd read a few of her other poems before, they're rather bleak and focused on death. Quite different from Goblin Market.

Don't tell me you're now reading The Golem and the Jinni?

 

[SquiddyCracker]

Finished The Iron Council by China.
Yep, he went all baroque with his writing there.

Looking forward to the City & the City.

 

[Chibits12]

I'm about half-way through with this book:

I randomly went around Barnes and Noble for a book and found this one. It's not bad.

 

[michaeltraps]

As someone who loves fantasy and long book series, would I like the Wheel of Time books? I'm hesitant to start something that might not resonate well with me, and I know it's a huge time investment. I also heard some iffy things about the conclusion and don't want to commit to something that will ultimately let me down.

 

[Krowley]

As someone who loves fantasy and long book series, would I like the Wheel of Time books? I'm hesitant to start something that might not resonate well with me, and I know it's a huge time investment. I also heard some iffy things about the conclusion and don't want to commit to something that will ultimately let me down.

The conclusion is mostly excellent. The problems are in the middle (roughly books 7 through 10). The pace slows down during that stretch, and one book in particular (book 10) is actually pretty bad. It's not as big a problem when you don't have to wait years to read the next book.

If you like long fantasy series with big complex stories and a lot of world building, you'll probably enjoy the series quite a bit. I would suggest you at least give it a try.

 

[hythloday]

As someone who loves fantasy and long book series, would I like the Wheel of Time books? I'm hesitant to start something that might not resonate well with me, and I know it's a huge time investment. I also heard some iffy things about the conclusion and don't want to commit to something that will ultimately let me down.

I just finished The Eye of the World (Book 1) last night. It's good on its own, even if I didn't read another in the series I'd still feel like I read a good story. I'm continuing with the series, don't get me wrong. Just saying that what I've read so far is great, but it's just the first book.

I'm starting on The Great Hunt (Book 2) today thanks to a snow-related early office closure.

 

[Satanic Saint]

As someone who loves fantasy and long book series, would I like the Wheel of Time books? I'm hesitant to start something that might not resonate well with me, and I know it's a huge time investment. I also heard some iffy things about the conclusion and don't want to commit to something that will ultimately let me down.

I started reading the series 9 years back. Its great and I loved every part of it. I even liked the slow parts of the series and never understood why people found it bad. I have reread each book five times at least except for the final three books. When the series finally ended it was as if an era of my life ended.

 

[michaeltraps]

Thanks for the replies
I'll definitely give the series a shot now.

 

[Mumei]

I started reading The Eye of the World on Sunday. I only read the Prologue on Sunday, and yesterday I read through Chapter 14. It's quite enjoyable; it threads that needle of making heavy use of standard fantasy tropes while not feeling completely derivative of another work. The writing has some awkward moments, but I think it has its good points as well.

I'm not sure if I'll start the second book immediately after this or read something else. I'll have to see how I feel when I finish.

Edit: ... I actually didn't realize you guys were talking about Wheel of Time when I made this post.

 

[ShaneB]

I randomly went around Barnes and Noble for a book and found this one. It's not bad.

This is something I really admire doing to, just trying to find a gem of a book on my own and sharing what I've found.

I'm falling in love with Rocket Boys, what a great book so far, and it's bringing back a lot of lost memories of when I was young and was building rockets of my own for school and constantly looking up to the stars. I wonder if the rocket that was in my room for so long is still hidden away wherever it was.

 

[Narag]

Catch Me If You Can by Frank W. Abagnale

Fun read, really self-indulgent though.

===

Humble Bundle is audiobooks this time: https://www.humblebundle.com/
Figure some in here might like that.

 

[Lear]

Just finished Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Enjoyable but not as good as the first book. The pacing/structure was a little off and some of the twists were annoyingly obvious eg

Spoiler

I knew Delmastro was doomed from the second there was even a hint of her being a love interest for Jean

.

Will finish of Margaret Drabble's The Millstone next, i think, and read the last story of a Chekhov collection.

 

[fakefaker]

Couldn't get into The Black book by Pamuk, so gonna put it on the back burner and hit the void of outer space with Abaddon's Gate by James S.A. Corey.

 

[Pau]

On the last Mistborn book. I'm excited to finally find out all the ~secrets~ about the world, but man, I am a bit exhausted from the length. It feels a bit unnecessary.

 

[Nymerio]

I started the fourth book of the Wheel of Time series. I'm still enjoying it very much but holy shit are some of the characters in this series stupid. I've started to dislike Egwene during the third book but now I absolutely can't stand her anymore. She's like Murphy in the first couple Dresden Files books.

 

[Jintor]

So I'm going on a seven hour plane ride on Saturday and I need something to read on the plane. I just grabbed a bunch of $.99 collections of Poe, HG Wells and Doyle for my kindle, but I might not particularly feel like reading those comparatively older authors just then (since I'm also reading A Tree Grows in Brooklyn which was a 40s novel, I think, and still feels a bit too old for what I want right now).

I guess I just want a decent, cheap fantasy novel to just shove onto my kindle that I can read on the way over. Any recommendations? Was thinking of Sand, but have really been jonseing for something similar to the Feist/Wurtz collab Mistress of the Empire, i.e. asian-inspired fantasy. I kinda asked for that stuff before but I want to see what you guys think before actually plonking down cash money on anything.

Don't know if Mistborn is available on Australian amazon, sigh.

 

[Nezumi]

I guess I just want a decent, cheap fantasy novel to just shove onto my kindle that I can read on the way over. Any recommendations? Was thinking of Sand, but have really been jonseing for something similar to the Feist/Wurtz collab Mistress of the Empire, i.e. asian-inspired fantasy. I kinda asked for that stuff before but I want to see what you guys think before actually plonking down cash money on anything.

For asian-inspired I'd recommend either The Long Price Quartett by Abrahms or The Emperor's Soul by Sanderson, though the this one is rather short. For fantasy in general and a fast read at that I also really liked Theft of Swords by Sullivan as well as the rest of the series.

 

[Mumei]

I started the fourth book of the Wheel of Time series. I'm still enjoying it very much but holy shit are some of the characters in this series stupid. I've started to dislike Egwene during the third book but now I absolutely can't stand her anymore. She's like Murphy in the first couple Dresden Files books.

I've already been pained by how horrifically stupid Mat is, and I'm only halfway through The Eye of the World.

On the last Mistborn book. I'm excited to finally find out all the ~secrets~ about the world, but man, I am a bit exhausted from the length. It feels a bit unnecessary.

Mm. You see why people say he's really good at setting up dominoes and knocking them down, though.

Spoiler

Those dominoes never had a chance.

 

[aidan]

I've already been pained by how horrifically stupid Mat is, and I'm only halfway through The Eye of the World.

Mat improves tremendously after the first book.

 

[Mumei]

Mat improves tremendously after the first book.

He'd better! I've wanted to throttle him several times already.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Dropping everything for this. Really love these kinds of stories. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.


The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

 

[castaction]

I have just finished reading hunger games does anyone have a book to recommend me on the same genre or style? now i going to read to whom the bell tolls

 

[Nezumi]

Finished:

and

Really liked both books. Out of the three books from the series I have read so far I would say that Barrayar was probably the best when it comes to overall style and pacing and characters. I did however enjoy The Warior's Apprentice a lot mostly because of its almost hilarious pacing. I read most of it in one sitting because I just couldn't lay it down. Though I guess one shouldn't think to much about how fate appeared to always present Miles with exactly what he needed when he needed it.

Next up is:

I'm also still listening to:

About halfway through and this is probably the strangest Taltos book yet. I do think that the change of perspective is rather interesting but I'm also kind of missing the first person smartass and Vlad's conversations with Loiosh.

 

[aidan]

Dropping everything for this. Really love these kinds of stories. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.


The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

I just got a copy of this, too. I'm eager to hear your thoughts.

 

[suzu]

I have just finished reading hunger games does anyone have a book to recommend me on the same genre or style? now i going to read to whom the bell tolls

Try: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.

 

[castaction]

Try: Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson.

thanks suzu gonna check that

 

[Mannequin]

I finished Gone Girl yesterday. I really enjoyed it (despite it petering out a bit towards the end), a real page turner. Now I'm interested to see what Fincher does with it.

 

[ShaneB]

Dropping everything for this. Really love these kinds of stories. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.


The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Sounds like it could be pretty awesome.

 

[rudieboy77]

I just started "White Night" it is book 9 of the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. I have gone through the other eight fairly quickly. I also just finished "Life As We Knew It" by
Susan Beth Pfeffer.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Dropping everything for this. Really love these kinds of stories. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint.


The First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North

Sounds like Replay, which was epic.

 

[Trouble]

Just finished:

Had been putting this one off for a while, because I had some misconceptions about what it is about. Was expecting hunger games with virtual-reality video games.

Actually quite enjoyed it. Quick, fun read. Having grown up in the 80s it gave me all kinds of nostalgias.

 

[pa22word]

Been reading Dead Things by Stephen Blackmoore in order to prepare myself for what I'm getting with his Wasteland 2 novella.

Really enjoying it thus far. It's like American Constantine in LA (the real Constantine >.>), and a real page turner with something crazy happening pretty much every chapter. Like I just read a section where the MC aged a dude 80+ years with a magic watch relic he has then drag his ass into a ghost realm for his soul to be eaten as a distraction so he could sneak around the ghosts.

If you like pulpy supernatural stuff, then this is def for you. Can't wait for this dude's WL2 novella, which should be out anytime now

 

[Jintor]

Really enjoying it thus far. It's like American Constantine in LA (the real Constantine >.>),

o no u din't

 

[Ikuu]

Finished it last night, really enjoyed it but I'll probably read a few other books before checking out the second.

Started a little of this last night and looks like it could be pretty interesting.

 

[roosters93]

Finished it earlier today. I was quite moved by the end. 10/10 imaginary friends
Thanks to whoever happened to be talking it about in the last monthly thread (or maybe another one) otherwise I may not have gotten on to it.

I've also read A Tree Grows In Brooklyn and The Quiet American this month. It's been a very good run so far this year! I'm just starting Roger Ebert's memoirs Life Itself.

This may be the greatest book every written.

What is it?
Edit: nevermind

 

[phoenixyz]

Recently I read books with pictures:
Sandman Vol. 1 - 4
Man, this is so good. I am afraid of buying the next volumes in fear of "spending" the story too fast.

Saga Vol. 1 - 2
It still feels a little bit hipster, but the interesting world, story and characters have really grown on me.

Also all kinds of Batman stuff:
Year One
The Long Halloween
Dark Victory
The Killing Joke
The Man Who Laughs
The Dark Knight Returns

and currently:

Awesome so far.

 

[Jarlaxle]

I have about 100 pages left of this and will probably finish either tonight or tomorrow. It was really nice coming back to this world after so long. I waited for the paperback version since I have all the others in paperback. Some plotlines are more interesting than others as always and I don't feel the book reaches the highs of A Storm of Swords but it's still very good. Characterization is still top notch although I feel the plot is moving a little slowly which may be a result of having so many plotlines spread out. I can see where things are converging though and am excited to finish it off.

I will probably go back to Amber after finishing this for a book or two before Words of Radiance is released. I took a break from that series after book 5 which was a good stopping point. 5 more to go.