Books Whats everyone reading atm?

[Chilly]

Pushing Ice by Alastair Reynolds. Good hard sci-fi so far.

I read some of his earlier work and wasnt impressed at all - I get the impression he wants to be Banks, but he isnt good enough. The story was alright I suppose but it just lacked the depth required of this genre these days, when so much of "classical" sci fi is actually common technology

 

[Fana]

I read the first 2 Wheel of Time novels but they haven't really gripped me. I can't believe there are 11! How does he keep it going? Book 2 was really pretty boring.

I followed the series to book 7 or 8 then i couldnt be arsed anymore! "How does he keep it going?" Answer is he doesnt, the story stops moving forward after book 5 or so and almost nothing happens that propels it forward to any significant degree - feels like he is just in it for the money now and is trying to drag out the series as much as possible.

After reading Jordan ive really learned to appreciate short series or stand alone novels - much more a show of storytelling skill to fit a compelling story into 600 pages or less than to go on and on over 10000 pages.

Reading Janny Wurts War of Light and Shadow series atm. Decent read, very good language command, good descriptions, good characters etc, although the storytelling and plot is less strong. Going to read Steven Eriksons next one after that.

 

[Mobius]

I followed the series to book 7 or 8 then i couldnt be arsed anymore! "How does he keep it going?" Answer is he doesnt, the story stops moving forward after book 5 or so and almost nothing happens that propels it forward to any significant degree - feels like he is just in it for the money now and is trying to drag out the series as much as possible.

Heh, I figured as much.

I've been on a reading bonanza lately, and have read all the Song of Ice and Fire novels. They are simply fantastic, I can't get enough. I'm eagerly waiting for the new one now. I was a bit disappointed that... (Not a spoiler, but discusses plot that you wouldn't know if you haven't read Feast For Crows)

Spoiler

there were no Tyrion chapters, but the bit at the end explained that for me. The Jaime chapters were brilliant, especially when he was guarding his dads corpse

I'm not sure what book to buy now. I'm not going to bother with WoT, and I've got my books arriving on Wednesday. Should I read Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson? I bought it, but never got to reading it.

 

[Fana]

Should I read Gardens of the Moon, by Steven Erikson? I bought it, but never got to reading it.

Yes

 

[ECA]

I followed the series to book 7 or 8 then i couldnt be arsed anymore! "How does he keep it going?" Answer is he doesnt, the story stops moving forward after book 5 or so and almost nothing happens that propels it forward to any significant degree - feels like he is just in it for the money now and is trying to drag out the series as much as possible.

After reading Jordan ive really learned to appreciate short series or stand alone novels - much more a show of storytelling skill to fit a compelling story into 600 pages or less than to go on and on over 10000 pages.

I think you're doing a pretty big injustice there.
Firstly if you've read some interview with Jordan you'll know that he has a fixed ending in mind and initially thought it might take five or six books, then he estimated around ten and now he doesn't fucking know

The main problem is the characters have split up and instead of having the books told at the pace of the first book they now have their own individual or group arcs, and with so many main characters it takes much much longer. If the story just focused on rand and ignored all the other characters threads it would be pretty crappy no?

Appreciate it for what it is, epic.

 

[djpringle]

Well, after finishing of all the Ian Rankin Rebus books and getting thoroughly sick of him in the process I've moved on to 'The Black Tower' by P D James.

Halfway through and it's so quaint and old fashioned

 

[ECA]

Just read the great gatsby. Its ok.

 

[Milkshake]

American Psycho.

Jesus christ, it's demented.

 

[leggy]

Lord of the flies - William Golding

I'm re-reading the books that teachers destroyed for me at school by forcing us all to over analyse them.

Also reading:

Kafka on the Shore - Haruki Murakami

 

[DaGaffer]

Just finished Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. Bit more lightweight than American Gods, but a good read and funny as well.

 

[leggy]

To save any of you losing a week of your valuable life; please don't read "Kafka on the Shore".

I appologise for mentioning it.

 

[Louster]

Dostoyevsky - The Idiot.

I'm slowly working my way through the classics (and classics authors) that I ought to have read already.

 

[Mobius]

The Nazis, a warning from history Its good. Lots of of interviews with ex nazis from ww2.

 

[DaGaffer]

The Fall of The Roman Empire - A New History, Peter Heather. Very good, I tried to read Gibbon years ago and found it tedious (and wrong), this isn't bad given its trying to cram over 100 years of history into 500-odd pages.

Spoiler

Things don't turn out well for the Romans

 

[Wij]

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick.

 

[DaGaffer]

The Man in the High Castle - Philip K Dick.

Always thought it was a bit overrated tbh.

Currently reading the new Christopher Brookmyre - A Tale Etched In Blood & Hard Black Pencil. Definite return to form; his last two have been a bit lightweight but this is excellent so far.

 

[Whipped]

D-Day by Stephen E. Ambrose (who I just discovered died in 2002 )
The Wolves of Calla by Stephen King (Book 5 in the Dark Tower series, just waiting for the last book to be released in the UK at the end of July and I'll start reading this one a bit quicker )

 

[Mey]

The Redemption of Althalus.

 

[Doh_boy]

http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/1841957518/qid=1149096309/sr=8-1/ref=pd_ka_1/203-0722374-7858309

Not as funny as I was expecting but interesting non-the-less.

 

[Wij]

Always thought it was a bit overrated tbh.

Dunno much about how it's rated but as a general SF-hater, it worked well for me.

 

[DaGaffer]

Dunno much about how it's rated but as a general SF-hater, it worked well for me.

Just think there are better alt-history books out there; TMITHC gets kudos mainly because Philip K. Dick is seen as the 'acceptable' face of SF (a perspective I'm sure he'd find amusing) amongst lit-snobs. Its also why people like Robert Harris, Len Deighton and even Stephen Fry can write average alternate history stories (Fatherland ain't all that) and people will read them and think they're good because they're "not Science Fiction". There are tons of really good alt-history stories out there, particularly short-stories, that are better than the 'famous' (e.g. mainstream) alt-history titles.

 

[Wij]

It's not really an alt-history though is it ? It's just a device to have a play about with reality. The whole grasshopper thing and Mr Tagomi's vision is just as important as the 'Axis won' main storyline.

 

[leggy]

I can't think of anything obscure that I've not actually read but will pretend to have...

So I'll say:

Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell

Second attempt at this.. I didn't enjoy the style of writing so I put it down. I have since had it recommended by someone else so I'm giving it another go.

 

[Lawnmower]

Reading Midnight Falcoln - David Gemmel atm, great book

 

[Ekadeath]

Found an old book I bought back in my Warhammer days.
Storm of Iron - Graham McNeill.

 

[DaGaffer]

It's not really an alt-history though is it ? It's just a device to have a play about with reality. The whole grasshopper thing and Mr Tagomi's vision is just as important as the 'Axis won' main storyline.

Most Alt-history is 'a device to play about with reality'. Even hard-core alt-history writers like Harry Turtledove don't just pick a timeline and say, "wouldn't it be cool to read about a world where the Nazis won?" (although I admit some writers do just that). For instance, Turteldove's American Empire series isn't just a story about a world where the south won the civil war, its pricking at the widely-held belief in America, that the terrible things Europeans did to each other in the last century couldn't ever have happened on American soil; he shows how easily they could (up to and including their own Holocaust). Ditto John Birmingham's Axis of Time; on the surface it looks like a retread of the movie The Final Countdown, but actually its a compare/contrast exercise in 1940s v. 'modern' morals. That's why alt-history can be so compelling, not the whizz-bang sci-fi stuff.

I don't think TMITHC is a bad book by any means, and like you said The Grasshopper Lies Heavy is a clever device and Tagomi/Childan relationship is very well written; I just don't buy the whole urbane 'civilised' Japanese thing; there's no evidence to show they'd have been like that, and a whole stack of evidence to show they'd have been as bad as the Nazis, albeit in a slightly different way.

 

[Ch3tan]

Okay, I have now read all the second Thomas Covenant trilogy and book 1 of the final trilogy - okay, but not as good as the first.

Stand on Zanzibar was an amazing book, and I recommend everyone to go read it.

Currently starting the Song of Ice and Fire series, nearly finished book 1, and books 2-4 are on the way from amazon (teh cu nts).

 

[Calaen]

Just finished the Farseer Trilogy by Robin Hobb I thought the first book was abit slow but by the end of it I was hooked 2nd and 3rd were excellent.

Reading Flight of the Nighthawks now by Mr Feist, I am waiting for the final book in Stan Nicholls Quicksilver trilogy the first two were very enjoyable. His Orcs trilogy rocks aswell btw

Last but not least I await Shiled of Thunder from Gemmell and finally The 3rd book which will be finished by his wife. Its gonna be a sad day reading the last pages of that book.

 

[cHodAX]

I recieved David Gemmell's last book a week ago, still haven't plucked up the guts to read it yet, I know I am going to be a bit upset when I reach the end.

 

[tris-]

the last book i finished was "the curious incident of the dog in the night-time". pure brilliance.

anyone know of similar books?