I am currently reading Bradbury Stories, which is a collection of short stories by Ray Bradbury, naturally.

Very interesting to see the birth of some of his more famous ideas, and what was important to him (such as a love of Laurel and Hardy).

Rereading LotR once again as part of my high fantasy binge - will probably go onto cyberpunk/dystopic stuff after this.

The Radicalism of the American Revolution - Gordon S. Wood.

Dresden: Tuesday, February 13, 1945 - Frederick Taylor

The Hand of Oberon, the 4th book in Roger Zelazny's Chronicles of Amber

"Revenge of the Sith". This is going to make a great movie, a lot darker and far more interesting than the first two. Apparently, there are a lot more individual light saber battles between Anakin and Obi Wan and Sith lords. So no more swing and clatter of falling robots. There is also going to be a great starfighter battle at the start. Anakin 's gradual slip into evil by the manipulation of Sith Lords is clever. It got me salivating. I must read on.

The Harlequin's Dance (first book of the Orokon) by Tom Arden. It was the only 'first book in a series' that I could find in the library on the weekend. Has anyone else read this?

Wow, some books in the chronicles of Amber are MUCH shorter than the others. Started reading "The Hand of Oberon" and ended up finishing both that AND "The Courts of Chaos" last night. Going to start with "Trumps of Doom" later.

Michael Crichton - State of Fear
I am tempted to write a review so I can thrash the damn book. The guy should stick to dinosaurs and wraiths. :bang:

wraiths? where did he write about them? in Sphere?

i finished Enchanter over the week-end - I was stunned when I found that there was actually an unexpected plot twist at the end of the book. Given that everything in the series up to that point had been so predictably cliche, not to mention telegraphed well in advance, I was actually quite amused by the twist. However, I certainly wouldn't say that it was worth slogging through two books for.

I read Bloodlist by P.N. Elrod today. It was o.k. so I guess that breaks my string of bad books. It is light reading and it is short enough that it is debatable as to whether it ought to be considered a short story instead of a novel. It is a vampire-detective type story. The vampire elements were actually surprisingly enjoyable although the detective elements were pretty weak.

The Machine Crusade (Legends of Dune 2)

just finished Trumps of Doom and I gotta say, it's one of the better books in the Amber saga. Am now about to start Blood of Amber, hope it's going to be as good.

Today I read Lifeblood and I started on Bloodcircle - books two and three in the vampire Files series by Elrod. The quality and tone are pretty consistent with book one. While they are certainly not great books, I have found them to be quick and fun light reading.

Just finished Wizard's Eleven by Sheri S. Tepper, the third book in The True Game series, it's some kind of fantasy/sci-fi thing. In the first book the magic system and everything seemed very different from anything I'd read before, but then it kinda mellowed out when you got to know more. The beasts and monsters were very weak, but the story was ok, I'll have to see if I can find the six remaining books. ;)

Trojan Odyssey by Clive Cussler, second time ive read through this book, Cussler does actually create a convincing story about what really happened during The Odyssey, but i did find the story a little bit predictable at parts, and the Dirk Pitt Jnr and Summer Pitt parts of the story were not as exciting as the Dirk and Al Giordino parts.

Reading the first of the Erevis Cale books "Twilight Falling". Hey, that's not bad for a WOtC book.

Da Vinci Code... I've just begin it tough... I hope it'll be as good as everybody seems to say

Bulfinches Mythology and The Lord of the Rings. I think I'm going to switch to the Lord of the Rings until I'm done and then read Bulfinches. It's too distracting to read two books at once.

*blinkblink* Okay, there is a Dirk Pitt junior? I need to find that book, baaaad...

*is re-reading The ermaids Singing by ValMcDermid*

Read the third, second, and fourth books in Laurell Hamilton's Anita Blake series. Fun stuff, though the romantic entaglements in book four are a tad whack--she has to date more than one person at once, or else violence ensues? Heh.

I'm reading Master of the Cauldron by David Drake.

I admit I like the series, even though almost every book follows the same formula (All the characters get seperated and go through their own ordeals, get reunited for the big finale, celebrate).

@AMAster - yeah those early books were pretty good - unfortunately the series is pretty much all down hill from there.

I am currently reading Seventh Son by Orson Scott Card. It has been o.k. so far but I am still waiting for the story to get beyond the introducing the characters phase.

Just finished re-reading "The Stars My Destination" by Alfred Bester. This tale of the revenge-driven Everyman, Gully Foyle, is still one of the great ones.

"Lawns and Groundcover" by Eion Scarrow. Got to renovate my lawn before winter hits. Time to get rid of the paspallum and resow the bare patches.

JSBB...when does the series start going down hill? I want a specific title to avoid :)

@AMaster - I would say that book two is by far the best in the series and it starts slowly but gradually going down from there. I would say that they are still worth reading up to Obsidian Butterfly (book 9) but after that there is a pretty big fall in quality.

I just finished Seventh Son - it was o.k. but it really seemed to be more of a very extended introduction instead of a complete novel.

Just finished King of Foxes by Raymond E. Feist, it's the second book of his latest series. I really liked it at first, finally a book were Pug doesn't save the world from imminent destruction. Well... Pug was instrumental in saving the world of Midkemia again and will probably do some more worldsaving in the next volume. :p

"Dawn of Night" the second in the Erevis Cale series by Paul S. Kemp. Another thumbs up so far.

Hitchhiker's Trilogy I - Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

Just finished it. What a way to start a five part trilogy :p Starting on II - Restaurant at the End of the Universe.

@newfie

would you recommend that i pick up dawn of night without first reading twilight falling? Dawn of Night is the only one they sell here, whatta hassle :mad:

You might be left in the dark some. I wouldn't really recommend Dawn of Night yet; I am only about halfway through and it seems to be getting worse. The first one was good though, if you can order it in from a bookstore. Revolves around three thieves' adventures with shapeshifting villains, first in a city, then in ancient Netherese temple in the jungle. Original and refreshing for a WotC book, best since City of Ravens. Also not bad are Venom's Taste and the Rage.

I finished Red Prophet and Prentice Alvin. Both were decent enough and while they most certainly were part of the larger series they felt much more like they were complete stories than Seventh Son did.

I am not sure what I am going to start next - maybe book four or I might take a break from it and read Rhapsody. I picked it up yesterday, someone gave me books two and three of that series and they have been sitting gathering dust for quite some time now.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm reading it to my daughter at bedtime. She wants me to get through the book before we see the movie.

How old is your daughter, that she is interested in Hitchhiker but not reading it herself?

She's nine. This way I can "edit" stuff if I deem it necessary.

She likes when I read aloud to her because I will give each character a different "voice."

Sometimes I even manage to make them sound different. :D

Quality. I've also become much better at doing funny voices since I've had to read "Bad Jelly the Witch" to HB jr.

:lol: Found out we decended not from apes but from hairdressers :bang: And boy is misery contagious, even amongst robots. So the actual trilogy is over. Wonder what books IV and V have in store.

It's a actually a five part trilogy so IV&V are part of the 'trilogy' ;) . I think I'll have to reread it once again before I see the movie, getting a bit bored with Steinbeck's King Arthur although I just started reading it, Merlin is such a drag. :o Does it get any better?

I decided to go for something completely different so I started reading Hawk and Fisher by Simon Green. So far the writing style is quite good but I had to groan a few minutes ago. The story just turned into an Agatha Christie locked room murder mystery and those almost never turn out to be half as good as Christie's ones.

Started Laurell Hamilton's first Meredith Gentry book, "A Kiss of Shadows", and, erm...

I dunno. I like the characters, and the plot's nice, and there's decent tension and all, but she's reaaaalllly overdoing the sex thing. It feels either forced or gratuitious. I'm still liking the book, but, meh. Ain't what I was expecting, I suppose.

Jacqueline Carey's handling of sex/eroticism in her Kushiel trilogy was far, far, far better--it never seemed gratuitous, actually added to the plot, and helped flesh out the characters. This stuff, on the other hand...a bit of it is well done, but it's too much. It feels as though every interlude between action scenes is an "action" scene *wink wink*.

Passionate Sage: The Character and Legacy of John Adams - Joseph Ellis

@AMaster - the Meredith Gentry books are trash - and they just keep getting worse the further along you get. I would strongly recommend tossing Kiss of Shadows and reading something else. Whatever you do, DO NOT read book two or worse yet book three. The early Anita Blake books were good but Hamilton has completely lost it since then.

I finished Hawk and Fisher - it was a real shame, the characters and Green's writing style showed the potential for it to be a good book but the locked room mystery plot totally ruined it. The mechanism for the murder was decent but the explanations for the red herrings were absolutely terrible.

I've just finshed reading one of Matthew Reilly's books, Scarecrow. I've read the prequels to Scarecrow, i'm now on to his second newest book, Hover Car Racers. So far(i'm about halfway) I don't don't like it as much as the rest of his books. His newest book, Hell Island, looks good though.

I finally gave in and bought "The thousand orcs" and hte "Lone Drow" as I was all out of ideas. It has not started very good. Salvatore is good at managing to wear out cliches he started himself and turned into cliches.

Just finished Steel and Snow quite unexpectedly, I thought I had about 100 pages to go when I suddenly stumbled upon the (by now outdated) Appendix :(

On to Blood and Gold

JSBB, sheesh, you weren't kidding. I thought the plot had promise when I was 100 pages in or so, but it turned out to be a lot like a porn movie; the plot exists for the sole purpose of providing lots of opportunity for lots of sex. Hell, Hamilton even tossed in an anime-esque tentacle sex scene. Christ.

...are the later Anita Blake books similar to the Meredith Gentry books? *shudder*

The Anita Blake books have not yet sunk to the level of the Meredith Gentry series but there is a definite progression towards it as the series goes on and they are getting close. :nolike:

As it is, Hamlton is a hack. Am reading the first Anita Blake now...

*sigh*

I have started on Winner Takes All (Hawk and Fisher #2). So far it has been o.k. but nothing special.

Instead of your typical locked room murder it looks like your standard election in a completely corrupt city story.

It is kind of a shame, Green has a nice writing style and I rather like the main characters but Green doesn't seem to be able to come up with a good story to tell with them.

Just finished the Halo books and the Hobbit. I think I'll start on a Robin Hobb book next.

and those almost never turn out to be half as good as Christie's ones. amen to this.

Deathworld 4 "Return to Deathworld" by H.Harrison. I'm suprised I survived that far...first book is pretty good, but then...sigh...it seems that help of Ant Skalandis was not best choice...now I'm really struggling to finish this book...with number 5 threatening me .... ;) ...

"Gardens of the Moon" - Steven Erikson for the second time. So far, none of it seems the lest bit familiar.

Jefferson's Secrets: Death and Desire at Monticello - Andrew Burstein. A new book on Jefferson's private life during his last years at Monticello. I'm not very far into it yet, but thus far it's been disappointing - really dry stuff. zzzzzzzZZZZZZ.

If Chandos finds it dry, I shudder to think what my reaction to it would be.

:p

I finshed Winner Takes All and I have moved on to The God Killer (Hawk & Fisher book 3).

Winner Takes All actually turned out to be fairly entertaining and The God Killer seems to be starting off on the right track.

Edit: Sigh, you got to hate it in a murder mystery when by pretty much the start of the book you think you know who the murderer is, your opinion never changes,and sure enough you turn out to be correct. The God Killer has got to be as bloody obvious about this as it could possibly be. Oh well, apart from that it was decent.

[ May 04, 2005, 02:05: Message edited by: JSBB ]

Taken a break from the Chronicles of Amber to read Lord Chesterfield's letters. He's been described to "have the morals of a whore and the manners of a dancing master". I'm sure I'm going to find it very instructive :evil:

I just started Rhapsody by Elizabeth Haydon. The intro was o.k. but now that I am into the beginning of the actual story I kind of feel like the characters are just being thrown at me without really establishing what is going on. I am pretty early into it though so I will reserve judgement for a while.

Started to re-read Goodkind, currently onto Blood of the Fold.

Deathworld 5...sigh...I'm going to finish this...

'The Golden Fool', Robin Hobb.

I love the story about Fitzchivalry Farseer, can't help it.

Jovah's Angel - Sharon Shinn

What a pleasant change of pace from that Merry Gentry book.

I took a trip to the library to look for some Robin Hobb books, but they didn't have anything that started at No. 1 in a series, so I'm gonna have another crack at reading Anne Rice' Vampire Chronicles.

Finished Books IV and V of the Hitchhiker's Trilogy.
Damn the Vogans :flaming:

@Shrikant
(Choosing words carefully to avoid spoilers)

Didn't you think that the end of the series was at once infinitely disappointing and also exactly right?

Yeah, I would have to agree with you on that Rhetorical Question?.

Rhapsody is coming along pretty slowly. The plot will be running along just fine and then it seems to just slam to a halt and drag on about things that so far show no sign of paying off.

Next, the plot alternates between being reasonable and plausible given the fantasy world that it takes place in and then being just plain silly in how implausible it becomes.

Maybe everything will pay off in the end but somehow I seriously doubt it.

Rhapsody...first book is good, with something quite unusual in the middle...in fact, in my opinion characters are more interesting than plot...

I would definitely have to agree that the characters are better than the plot. I was about 80% done when I have put it away for the week-end after hitting yet another "Yeah right, it is about as likely that this could happen as it would be for me to grow a second head" moment.

The fact that I like the characters is probably the only thing that is keeping me reading - I guess it will probably just end up as yet another example of the "Nice characters, pity the author couldn't think of anything good for them to do" phenomena.

Rhapsody was decent, but there're quite a few much better fantasy books out there. The next two books in the series simply became worse, as far as plot goes.

Currently reading "The Morgaine Saga" omnibus by C.J. Cherryh. The first few chapters weren't all that great, but it picks up a whole lot in the middle chapters--at least in the first book contained in the omnibus.

C.S. Lewis - Out of the Silent Planet.

I just finished Kurt Vonneguts "Cat's Cradle" which was fantastic. Hilarious and bleak!

I guess I'm in the minority here. I've read the first four books of Rhapsody and enjoyed them. They aren't my all time favorites, but I thought they were a good read. I plan on buying book five when I'm done with my current inventory.

Terry Pratchett - Lords and Ladies

This is the fourth book of Pratchett that I've read, and all I can say about his books is that they're bloody brilliant!! :D

@RQ?
Agree with you. What I dont get is how such a species , the Vogons, was able to see the potential for the 'bird' to do what it did.

I finished Rhapsody, the last couple pages actually stirred my interest enough that I may actually read the second book sometime soon.

I have started Hex in the City - the latest Nightside book by Simon Green. So far it is pretty much a continuation of the previous books - which is a very good thing as far as I am concerned.

I've finally managed to continue on Anne Rice' Vampire Chronicles. I'm on the Vampire Lestat just now, and it's proving to be a great read.

I borrowed and finished reading The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain yesterday. I'm an impulsive reader; it's all or nothing. :)

@KC

I read The Vampire Lestat before picking up Interview with the Vampire and found it the much better read of the two.

I finished Hex in the City, the ending was a little rushed but all in all it was quite enjoyable.

I have just started on Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb. Given how so many people here seem to like her books I figured I would give it a try. Nothing special so far but I have barely started.

I just finished The Da Vinci Code, now I'm half through Andels and Demons.

Getting into The Children of Men by PD James --- dystopia rocks :D

I was on a Terry Brooks kick for the last few months. Read the Shannara series. Great books. His website turned me onto another great author, Eldon Thompson. I just finished "The Crimson Sword" by Eldon Thompson last night. Read it in a week. It's an epic fantasy with a lot of really good battle scenes. It would make a great movie someday.

Just started reading The game of Throne by George R. R. Martin.

Just finished "The Killing Dance" by Laurell Hamilton. It contained the first sex scene in the Anita series, so I guess it marks the beginning of Hamilton's metamorphosis into a writer of porn. Or is that erotica? Whatever.

I finished Assassin's Apprentice - I rather enjoyed it. There was nothing particularly special about the characters or plot but it was told well.

Reading the Sigma Protocol (or is it Directive?). I dunno, Sigma something by Robert Ludlum. Pretty good so far, about halfway through.

"The King and Queen of Swords" - by Tom Arden. Book 2 of the Orokon. Ok so far.

I just got Terry Goodkinds 'Debt of Bones' from the library, hope it's better than 'Naked Empire'. ;)

"Ignorance" by Milan Kundera.

I have started on Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb. So far it has been pretty good but I think that if the main character goes on feeling sorry for himself for too much longer it will probably start wearing on my nerves.

C'mon JSBB, he's having a pretty bad time. Cut him some slack!

J.P. Jacobsen - "Niels Lyhne".

Fortunately the main character pulled out of his funk shortly after the point at which I wrote my last message. All in all I would say that it has been quite good so far.

There is one thing that is bothering me. I am not too impressed at the somewhat cliche direction that it appears is being taken with regards to King Shrewd.

Fools Fate by Robin Hobb. Can't wait to finish this trilogy, love the story.

Just finished reading City of Towers by Keith Baker, the first of the Eberron setting novels, it had me so hooked that I bought another one, Marked for Death. This whole Eberron setting has me enthralled, and the novels have been well written so far.

My brand new 1300 pages english dictionary.

I read Terry Goodkinds "Debt of Bones", a prequel to the "Sword of Truth" series, yesterday. It wasn't horrible, the fact that it's so short probably saved it. I just read a review of the new book "Chainfire", surprise, surprise, Kahlan goes missing AGAIN. :eek: I relly liked the first books in the series, but this ridiculous, can't TG come up with any other plot twist?

TG is a despicable writer, kinda liked his first books but his last 3-4 have been bad books and more of political pamphlets than fiction. Go read on his homepage, the man is a lunatic.

Lunacy doesn't necessarily make for bad writing. See: Orson Scott Card.

Finished Laurell Hamilton's Obsidian Butterfly, liked it a lot, but I'm done with the series and author now; I have no desire to read any more of her, eh...erotica, I suppose, which is what every books she's written after OB has been, or near enough.

Last And First Men
and
Star Maker

by Olaf Stapledon

At first I was struggling a bit with this man's way of writing. Then, when I got used to his extravagant style I really, truly wanted to throw it out of the window in a fit of frustration... the U.S. callously murdered the whole of Europe no sooner than on page 35 (I think)! =/ Of course, by then, Europe had already annihilated Russia...

Got over it eventually and continue reading ever since. Excellent stuff.

Wait, those things frustrated you? Would've made me cackle maniacally...

Ah well, different strokes and all that.

A friend of mine handed me Captain Corelli's Mandolin saying that I had to read it, and that he thought I'd really enjoy it.

I'm halfway through it now, and loving it.

Naw, the image of a Europe populated by the dead only did nothing for me. Particularly not when put into scene by a skilled author. Dunno why. But I remember you stating your having a sense of humour of your own, AMaster.

I got my chance for a hearty chuckle though... a few pages later. ;) Different stroke, eh? :D

As off as some of Stapeldons forecasts may be - the assessment of his future - our presence? - is highly astute and accurate in some parts. Frighteningly so.

Just Finished "Hidden Prey" by John Sandford. Not bad, but his Prey novels are on the decline. Read the Big Bad Wolf by James Patterson lately and found it fantastic. I am currently into Greenwood's Band of Four novels and found them pretty good so far (on No. 3). Hey, Irreligious Paladin, can't agree with you on the thumbs up for Marked for Death.

Ooooww, just finished Blood and Gold, now I'll have to wait till the Feast of Crows is released :(

Oh well, onto Death Trilogy, by Pratchett

Narnia Chronicles - It seems that reading that one hundred times is not enough... :lol: ...

Rereading Intervention/The Galactic Milieu Trilogy by Julian May - these books are amazing...

Herman Melville - "Bartleby, the Scrivener"

I finished Royal Assassin - overall I found it good but not great.


I read Wolf in the Fold by Simon Green today - it was o.k. but not as good as the first three books in the Hawk & Fisher series.

First, Hawk and Fisher have to go undercover and must not act like themselves which is a problem when the characters and the manner in which they usually act is the main attraction of the series. Also, a big chunk of the plot pretty well just resolves itself without Hawk and Fisher having to do much about it.

Jim Hougan's 'Last Merovingio (not too sure is called like that, I have a spanish version)

I read Guard Against Dishonour by Simon Green today - overall it was decent - it was a step up from Wolf in the Fold but it was not as good as the earlier books in the series.

I have started on The Bones of Haven - again by Simon Green. So far it looks like more of the same.

i just finished salvatores newest series....decent, but more of the same **** with the same vocab.

I finished The Bones of Haven - I was pleasantly surprised, it was probably the second best book in the Hawk and Fisher series.

The ending wasn't really as good as it should have been though - Green had a perfectly suitable ending, I was nodding approvingly at it, but then he decided to keep the story going by going all grand on us. To make matters worse, the grand finale was resolved too quickly and easily.

I have started on Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb. It is off to a very slow start so far. Overall I would have to say that while I have enjoyed the Farseer trilogy, I am not anywhere near as fond of it as many of the other people here seem to be.

The Crook Factory - Dan Simmons

I love Dan Simmons, yes I do. Probably my favorite contemporary author.

Sharpes Tiger - Bernard Cornwell.

finished hobb´s farseer trilogy. the end damn depressed me, poor fitz :cry:

im around done with Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa now :)

I just finished Assassin's quest too. I actually loved the ending - the Farseer trilogy was only ranking as good until the ending really pulled it up a notch in my mind. I find it quite common for a series to start well and then collapse at the ending but it is very rare when the ending elevates the whole series into something better. :thumb:

By the way, does it matter whether I read the Live Ship books or the Tawny Man series next?

Spooky, JSBB - I've just started reading "Ship of Magic" by Robbin Hobb (Book 1 of the Liveship Traders) and I haven't read the Tawny Man series yet. I think this is the order in which they were written / published so it must be OK to read in that order.

Read the Live Ship Traders first. Tawny Man follows it chronologically, and builds off a few things that happen in the Ship trilogy. Your understanding of certain "global" events will be much greater if you read the Ship trilogy first.

hmm. JSBB's reaction to Assassin's Quest's ending has me wanting to go back and re-read it. For the life of me, I can't remember just how it ended. Except that it was something of a...downer.

I will have to try to find book 3 of the Live Ship trilogy - I only have the first two right now and I want to have them all before I start.

In the mean time, I have started on Deathstalker by Simon Green. So far it is light, fluffy and pulpy goodness which is nice after the rather more serious Farseer trilogy.

Edit: I managed to pick up the missing Live Ship novel so I guess I will start on the series after I finish Deathstalker.

[ June 02, 2005, 18:23: Message edited by: JSBB ]

Starting on Jack the Bodiless as part of my Galactic Milieu reread. Also kinda reading To Kill a Mockingbird for school - which is so far one of the most boring books I've ever read...

@Amaster

I´m kinda with you on that one. I just read Assassin´s Quest a couple of weeks ago but I don´t really see ow the ending was so great :\ I was actually feeling bad for a few days at how Fitz got screwed over :( Then again JSBB likes those bittersweet kinds of endings, like the one in Fevre Dream :p

James Clavell: Shogun.

I'm also reading (with my daughter) an anthology called "The Swan Sister and Other Tales"--various fantasy and SF authors writing their own takes on familiar fairy tales (Sleeping Beauty, et al).

I just started reading The Black Raven by Katharine Kerr, it's from the Deverry series.

@el Timor

that's an EXCELLENT book. Reading that was the reason that I picked up Taiko to explain all the allusions to the past within Shogun.

The poetry collection by William Butler Yeates

Well, I've been struggling through the first 2 books of War of the Spider Queen. It took me 2 tries to get through Insurrection and I've finally put aside Dissolution -- just couldn't get through it for some reason. I've loved all the Drizzt books and basic books about the Drow, but this set of tales is just leaving me cold. :nolike:

I'm reading G.R.R. Martin's Game of Throne. Great book I say. I dare to say this is the best book I've ever read in my 17 year life (turned to 17 a week ago).

@Spelly

seriously?? :eek: imho the WotSC series is WAY better than the Drizzt books. Barring of course Homeland and The Lone Drow :/ (and Crystal SHard but that wasn't really about him anyway :D )

I'm now reading Spartan by Valerio Massimo Manfredi

WotSC didn't do much for me, either. Then again, I haven't read a FR novel in upwards of a year now, so I might not be the best judge.

Just finished The Alleluia Files, by Sharon Shinn. Was a nice ending to a satisfying trilogy.

I'm 1/4 of the way through 'Ship of Mgic' by Robin Hobb and I'm really enjoying it. Hobb has a great way with dialogue. I'm reading abaout a simple family argument at the moment, and it's riveting.

A good week for books for me: Re-read "H.P. & the Goblet of Fire". Still great, but just warming up for the new one.
"The Final Country" by James Crumley, a detective thriller set in Texas. Not up to Crumley's best, but he's so skilled he could probably re-write the telephone directory and make it sound good. The "final country" is the country of lies, where love and hope die; not much fun, to be sure, but Crumley makes it compelling. And he does manage to find glimmers of hope amidst the wreckage.
"Three Doors to Death" by Rex Stout. Three Nero Wolfe novellas, written with Stout's usual intelligence and dry wit.
I'm halfway through "The New Pearl Harbor" by David Ray Griffin, a calm, lucid book that raises some disturbing questions about the administration's handling of 9/11, quite different in tone from most writing on this volatile subject, and relentlessly logical.

I finished Deathstalker. It had its good moments but the plot really got out of hand at times - particularily towards the end.

Everytime you turn around there seems to be another even more powerful uber character introduced who can single handedly cut down small armies of fully trained and outfitted marines. Even the characters who appear normal at first seem to inexplicably turn into uber-warriors at the drop of a hat.

You really have to wonder why they even bother investing in the military given that they always seem to end up as nothing more than cannon fodder.

Just finished "Riverwind The Plainsman" by Paul Thompson and Tonya Cook...and what a great read! It had a fast moving plot, interesting characters and races, gods and goddesses, lots of history, twists and turns out of the blue -- all packed into a mere 313 pages. Could hardly put it down -- one of the best, imo.

Fevre dream by GRR Martin. It's a nice read so far.

I was wondering though how you pronounce Fevre. Same as Fever and/or what does it mean.

AFAIK it's pronounced same as fever and i think (taken with dream in context) fevre dream means nightmare?

I just finished up 'A Storm of Swords' by GRR Marting, and a very much looking forward to the next in the series. I the meantime, I am finishing up the 'War of the Spider Queen' series with 'Resurrection'. It seems pretty good so far.

Now onto Diamond Mask ... pondering whether I'll complete the whole series by rereading The Saga of the Exiles...

Stephen Donaldson's "The One Tree"

Very, very good.

I'm currently reading 'The French Executioner,' by C.C. Humphreys. It's a good read so far, and worth the money, but it's nothing spectacular yet. I'd reccomend it to anyone who has an interest in Anne Boleyn or medieval France.

Talisman by Graham Hancock

I am finishing up the 'War of the Spider Queen' series with 'Resurrection' lucky! :eek: We've only got until "Extinction" available over here :mad:

just finished Spartan, I'm definitely going to pick up more of VMM's work :)

Going to start Dark Moon by David Gemmel

Raymond E. Feist "Magician"

Going to start Dark Moon by David Gemmel That book had the single worst ending I've ever had the displeasure of reading :p

'Chosen Prey' seemingly from the 'prey' novels by Jhon Sandford. Nice little thriller so far, quite a psycho killer so far but we'll have to see what comes out of his freak mind at the end.

really??? :eek: I'm nearly done, they've just reacquired the Eldarin Pearl but its still pretty good..

Dark Moon has a fine ending (First David Gemmel book I read), and a good book throughout. I'm reading through Drenai tales Vol. 2, and thoroughly enjoying it :)

er, actually i just finished the book and i tend to agree with Amaster's point of view about the ending :/ It is not the worst ending I've ever read but it is pretty bad. Well, the part about Karis anyways. yeesh. :/

John Ferling - Adams vs. Jefferson: The Tumultuous Election of 1800.

echoes of the great song by david gemmel. main character isnt as interesting as Tarantio but the other characters are a bit better than the ones of dark moon

Dracula. Believe it or not.

Invader - C.J. Cherryh

Every bit as good as I remember Foreigner being. Probably the best depiction of a truly alien society I've encountered.

I have started on Robin Hobb's Mad Ship. With all of my business travel I am not having anywhere near as much reading time as usual.

So far I would have to say that I like the series about the same as the Farseer trilogy at the same point - i.e. it is good but not great.

Almost finished 'Ship of Magic' by Robin Hobb. Even though not much happens in the book, I am finding it to be compelling reading. Hobb has an amazing way of getting inside the heads of her characters so that you really know what's driving them. Even a spoilt brat like Malta has some understandable reasons for her behaviour.

The Fire Dragon by Katharine Kerr, no dragons yet. :p I'm looking forward to the release of The Gold Falcon, the final book of the entire Deverry series.

It was actually a "graphic novel" (aka comic :D ) but since it was by Neil Gaiman I consider it a book :p I just finished "Marvel 1602", it was Gaiman's take on what the marvel universe wouldve been like in the 1600s. Awesome stuff, I recommend it.

Have just started Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka. It's the sequel to Cloud of Sparrows and it's quickly shaping up to be even better.

Garden of the Moon, the much beloved book here on SP. It's actually a re-read, which is a good thing since I'm enjoying it way more than before.

Working on FR's Avatar trilogy as research for a story. Finished 'Shadowdale' and am waiting for Chapters to get resupplied with Tantras. In between, Amanda Quick novels.

"Marvel 1602", it was Gaiman's take on what the marvel universe wouldve been like in the 1600s. I just finished 1602 myself. Much sweetness. I also finished the "Revenge of the Sith" novelization.

Currently reading "Idoru" by William Gibson.

Delicate Creatures - J. Michael Straczynski

Take a typical fairy-tale. Now set it in a non-specific totalitarian nation strongly reminiscent of the Third Reich or USSR. Sit back and enjoy the resulting fireworks.

Finished The First Chronicles of Druss The Legend and moved onto a reread of Waylander II

Just read Quest For Lost Heroes by David Gemmel going onto finishing Game of Thrones by G.R.R Martin. :)

A Game of Thrones is one of the best books you'll ever read Lawless and the same goes for the sequels, so look out for them!

Yeah its great so far. You keep telling me how good it is. Do you know what the sequels are?

http://www.sorcerers.net/Books/index_martin.php

I started "Siege of Darkness" by Salvatore, but since I bought my PC, I have not been reading much.

Contemporary Management
Principles of Finance
Suena

Damn examinations

stormrider-david gemmel

Primary Inversion - Catherine Asaro

Pretty good hard scifi. Unlike most hard SF, it actually has minor details such as decent character development.

1776 - David McCulough

Taliesen by Stephen R. Lawhead, based on recommendation from Falstaff many months ago.

I just started reading - The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown.
So far, it's very good and exceedingly well written.

Shame it's all a load of toss though.

Say you whaaat?

You mean the book is toss? Or the story is a fiction?
The books doesn't seem toss to me Gazza!

The book is well written. The stuff he claims is true is a bit shonky. Refer to my review in the Booktalk forum.

The Many Coloured Land by Julian May. Rereading the Saga of the Exiles now.

The first Wheel of Time book.
Don't hit me guys!

Don't worry Daie, I'm just about to continue the WoT series. Besides, that's one of the good ones ;)

Over the week-end I put aside Mad Ship and I read Blue Moon Rising and I have started on Beyond the Blue Moon by Simon Green. Like the rest of the Hawk and Fisher series they are not great but they are good, quick and fun to read.

read a lot while i was on my internet withdrawal :D

Autumn Bridge by Takashi Matsuoka. Great book about Samurai.

Rhum Punch by Elmore Leonard. Wasn't too bad, pretty funny, but it was no "Get Shorty".

By the Rivers of Babylon by Nelson Demille. Much better than the General's Daughter imo.

a couple more books but I forget them at the moment :D

Also, I may have a chance to meet Neil Gaiman next week, woohoo! He's in town for a book signing and since He's a brit he's got a lunch with the local British society and my mom may be able to get me an invite.

If Chins Could Kill: Confessions of a B Movie Actor by Bruce Campbell. I'm thankful the publishing company and his editor(s) allowed him to write like he talks. Lots of insider pictures as well. :nuts:

Although I meant to continue WoT, I found myself reading a book Shura sent me to proof read called Son of Strife. It's actually really good and have liked to have found how he did with it.

I think I heard sometime ago that Shura was supposed to write an FR novel called "Maiden of Pain". Is that true? If so, whatever happened to it?

Maiden of Pain is out here in Canada and it is not a bad novel for a FR book. That whole priest series is pretty good but the thief series is a lot better. But I digress, I have just finished reading Meg: Primal Waters about a giant killer shark and I must say, I enjoyed it immensely.

@Newfie

I read Meg years ago and I thought it was pretty cool to, excpet for the ending which was just plain ridiculous.

Reading Deadhouse Gates now, second in the a Tale of the Malazan book of the Fallen

Hey Apeman, I think the story is filled with ludicrous situations, but hell, it's a lot of fun.

@ kuemper - Yeah, that was really a very interesting and entertaining autobiography - but then again I am one of the Boards' leading B movie nuts so I am probably not the most impartial person to comment about it. ;)

I just finished Beyond the Blue Moon - what can I say except that the plot's resolution was horrible. You really have to hate it when after the big build up the ending just works too neatly and much much too easily. Still, the book has its good moments - one does not read Simon Green's novels for the plot, one reads them for the interesting characters and quirky dialogue, or at least that's what I read them for.

I guess I should finish Mad Ship but I find that I lack the motivation to finish it. So far I have found the characters to be somewhat dull and the plot hasn't been all that interesting either.

Reading Nigh Watch by Pratchett. 1st book of his I've read excluding his collaboration with Neil Gaiman (Good Omens). It's actually pretty good.

Good Omens. No kidding. I just finished that. Awsome book...or rather funny.

Yeah, I found it pretty funny. I actually saw more of Pratchett than Gaiman there come to think of it. Just finished Night Watch. It turned out to be a very moving book imo. This one line nearly made tears well up in my eyes: "You had to be there. I was honored to have been there twice." :cry:

Now about to start on The Assassini by Thomas Gifford.

On the flight over to Ireland I finished Mad Ship and I have made a good start on Ship of Destiny. The series seems to be getting better as it goes along.

Hour of the Clown by Amos Aricha

The Clan of the Cave Bear, by Jean M. Auel

Been reading Dragonlance - Autumn Twilight, which is just plain bad if you just finished Storm of Swords - Blood and Gold.

Now I am reading Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time Book 1, Eye of the World.

[ July 14, 2005, 23:12: Message edited by: Morgoth ]

I just finished Coraline by Neil Gaiman--I picked it up to read to my daughter and ended up finishing it on my own...

@ Morgoth

The first 3 WoT books are the best, IMO. It kinda goes downhill from there...

I just finished HP6 in 2 hours. Don't flame me.

I finished HP6 in 6 hours...hehe
I'm a bit slow.
Can't say I'm surprised by the ending, though...

ah, you're not slow... I'm just special.

@el timor

coraline was awesome. children's book my arse, parts of it scared the crap outta me! :o if you liked it (or your kid did) pick up The Thief of Always by Clive Barker, similar and also very good.

Am unable to get "into" Hour of the Clown so I'm going to read The comical tragedy or tragical comedy of Mr. Punch by Neil Gaiman

"The Mad Ship" by Robin Hobb.

Onto Sword In The Storm by Gemmell. It's not as good as the second in the series - Midnight Falcon - but it's one of Gemmell's better books.

I put in an order for six WoT books (through SP ;) ) so I should be ok for reading for a while :D

Finished Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince today. Fantastic stuff.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I love these books!

I finally got Steven Erikson's Midnight Tides and I have Fool's Fate by Hobb waiting on the shelf. :)

The comical tragedy or tragical comedy of Mr. Punch was... weird. Didn't really like it to tell the truth :/

Goinf back to classics and re-reading There is a Tide by Agatha Christie

Harry Potter of course. I am only at Chapter 18 so I have a wee bit to go. I am surprised that everyone has finished it so quickly!

Another vote for Harry. I had to take a summer break from the deeper stuff.

Dubliners, by James Joyce. It's a collection of short stories about, well, Dublin.

Dude, who stole my country? by Michael Moore.

2 hours? 6 Hours? I take this one is not nearly as lenghty as the 5th?

Dubliners, by James Joyce. It's a collection of short stories about, well, Dublin. Dubliners is a good book, but its not a good representation of modern day Dublin. If you have not read Ulysses don't bother, the following sums up his (and probably the worlds) worst book:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3810193.stm

Dubliners is a good book, but its not a good representation of modern day Dublin That may be but "The Dead" may still be the best short story ever written, at least in IMHO.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, taking a break from A Swiftly Tilting Planet by Madeline l'Engle.

Almost finished The Adversary by Julian May (last book of The Saga of the Exiles). Still one of the best series EVAR!
'At least my flaw is grand while yours is merely pathetic' :)

Weaveworld by Clive Barker

And am now reading One Hundred Years of Solitude. I understand how some people could call it incredibly boring - but I love it :D

It is, however, rather annoying trying to keep track of who the characters are...

Magical realism for my NaNo 2005 :grin:

I'm currently reading a book series called: The first man in Rome I'm on the first book called 'the road of honor'...

@ Cúchulainn: How could you be suprised? When I first got the book, I sat down, began reading and didn't stop until it was finished (It took me about 20 hours to read it :p )

For the flight back to Canada I am going to put aside the Live Ship trilogy and read Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

I have a pre-mail ordered copy waiting at home but I bought another one here for only 12 Euro as I decided that I wanted to read it during the flight.

Oh well, at least my two copies have different covers.

Re-reading Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I bought my copy in the Athens airport, then finished it on my flight back home.

Catherine Cookson - Blue Baccy

Just finished One Hundred Years of Solitude - it rocks (in a very slow way).

Will start Nineteen Eighty-Four tomorrow. Hoorah for great works of literature and stuff :)

Found out that I should read The Da Vinci-code, since I've heard so much about it. So, now I'm reading it...

American Gods by Neil Gaiman.

I should read more for matriculation exam. Chemistry, maths and stuff like that.

Will start Nineteen Eighty-Four tomorrow. hope you've got some happy juice hidden somewhere because that's going to be extremely depressing.

I picked up The Sword of Shannara on a whim, and have been devouring the Shannara books for about a month straight. I've read all up to the Talismans of Shannara, which I began this morning. After that, I'm hoping to get the First King of Shannara read (perhaps by the end of the week? Who knows!)

I really don't know why I hadn't picked up these books earlier! Stupid, stupid man!

Come on, Falstaff! Those Shannara books are AWFUL. A dark lord threatens to cover the lands with a second darkness unless some small meek hero can go on a hopeless mission to stop him, with help from an old mysterious wizardy guy and a rangery fighter guy. Sounds like a cheap Lord of the Rings to me. Those books are so formulaic and so unoriginal. :geezer:

The Haunter of the Dark, Omnibus 3 by H.P. Lovecraft. How's that for a slice of fried gold?

H.P Lovecraft is great. I have read almost all his stuff.
Not only his books capture a great grimness, but I find his racial slurs and sterotypes to be pretty funny.

I think it's called "The Damage Done" by Warren Fellows, about an Aussie who spent something like 11 and a half years in a Thai prison for transporting drugs.

A dark lord threatens to cover the lands with a second darkness unless some small meek hero can go on a hopeless mission to stop him, with help from an old mysterious wizardy guy and a rangery fighter guy. ... Are you serious ...?

I currently finished the newest and last Shannara book. Very good, I feel weird now that I have no great fantasy series to read. *waits for rude remarks of scepticism*

@Shannara Haters:
The Shannara series was started in the 70's. Back then they weren't exactly considered "formulaic" or "unoriginal" seeing as they came before most other fantasy books. All the fantsy books since then have copied from Shannara. (or tolkiens books) So the idea of a "meek hero" saving the world on a hopeless journey against the "dark lord" was considered very creative. :)

The problem isn't that they're too formulaic, it's that they just aren't that good :p

Stephen R. Donaldson, Steven Erikson, George R.R. Martin, Anne Bishop, Jacqueline Carey, and Robin Hobb all do far superior work. And that's just to name a few ;)

Shannara are mostly crap but it still has its place as beginners fantasy. I also found those books about the knight of the word or something strangely appealing, which shows that Brooks can do something cool when he wants to.

I am myself reading Luke Rhinehart's "The Dice Man" and this is very intruiging reading.

... Are you serious ...? Aik, are you asking if I'm serious that that is the plot (meaning you haven't read it) or are you asking if I seriously think the plot is that simple?

Anyway, still reading Robin Hobb's The Mad Ship which is great.

Are you serious that that's the plot (I having not read it)? I mean - I know this guy gets bagged out as a shoddy Tolkien clone ... but that's really low :p

@Svyatoslav: I didn't care for Lovecraft, I thought all his stories were basically the same. For me, he went so far overboard in decribing the grimness or horror he was trying to create that he killed the experience for me. I prefer the more psychological approach of letting the reader determine for him/herself just what constitutes the perfect horror.

@Atari Man: Shanarra was formulaic even back in the 70's. The "meek hero saves the world in the face of hopeless evil" theme is an ancient one. At least Tolkien paid proper homage to his folkloric roots. Brooks isn't bad if you take his stuff as a light, fluffy read rather than a strong example of epic fiction.

Svyatoslav: I didn't care for Lovecraft, I thought all his stories were basically the same. For me, he went so far overboard in decribing the grimness or horror he was trying to create that he killed the experience for me. I prefer the more psychological approach of letting the reader determine for him/herself just what constitutes the perfect horror.You have a point. I read almost all his work, so I got tired after a while: The stories/tales are too alike.

Wow. Didn't know that I'd be starting a fight here... At any rate, I'm enjoying the Shanarra books - they're fun at the very least, if not what some of us may look for in "true, overwhelming, epic, hardcore" fantasy fiction. (Although I don't know that I'd necessarily call it "fluffy" ;) ).

Whatever. Anyways. Finished Talismans, moving on to First King. Then I think it's time for a break from Brooks. No idea where I'll go next...

I am back home and finally I am starting on getting some serious reading done. I started and finished Harry Potter 6 on the trip home and I finished the Live Ship Trilogy today.

Harry Potter 6 was o.k. but it seemed like the plot was really not going anywhere until the very end.

The Live Ship Trilogy was decent but no where near as good as the Farseer Trilogy. I was hoping for a good ending to pull everything up a notch like the Farseer Trilogy had but instead we had a fairly conventional and tame happy ending.

Carrie. If you need to ask who by then shame, shame, shame on you.

Carrie - It was his first novel.

I'm also doing a retread: The Diamond Throne by David Eddings. It's hard to believe that it's been 15 years since I first read it.

BTW, there has been all kinds of quote games on SP; everything from TV to music. Has there ever been a book quote game?

Oooh. Sparhawk and company. You gotta love those knights that just casually kick the crap out of everything they run across.

Yeah, it's a bit much. It's like those old Westerns - the good guys never seem to run out of bullets.

But it sure is fun to watch! :)

Very funny Chandos, but I just finished re-reading those books as well. The first three held up as a sort of campy amalgamation of his main characters from the Belgariad, but I had forgotten how really terrible the second three were. Ugh.

I'm re-reading Sweet Silver Blues, by Glen Cook and will also read HP#6 this weekend.

Am chugging through Harry Potter - a nice break from great depressing works of literature. Nothing special - but pleasant and familiar.

Noam Chomsky, "Democracy & Education"

Lots of liguistics in that book. Interesting read.

yeesh, I already have ship of magic but not the other 2 in the series so i couldn't start reading it. then yesterday i was miraculously able to pick up fool's errand and fool's fate but no golden fool... will I NEVER be able to read these trilogies :mad:

anyway, if i can't find the missing 3 books in 2 weeks (they're "Supposedly" arriving soon) I'll try and start with something else.

Also, although I've heard great things about it, do you guys really think that Erikson's Malazan series is worth getting? They've finally brought it here and it costs a ****load of money and I just wanted to know if it's worth saving for.

Yes, yes it is.

They are right up there with Martin and Hobb and unless they cost more than you are willnig to pay for any book you should get them.

joac, I knew it'd be either you or HB that reinforced the thought in my head :p :D Thanks, I'll start saving now.