Support NeoGAF

[YesNOnoNOYes]

the wasteland (book #3 of the dark tower series) by stephen king

 

[kraspkibble]

nothing right now. just finished career of evil by robert galbraith/jk rowling though. honestly didn't quite enjoy it as much as the first two books.

Spoiler

i just found it odd that as soon as robin receives the leg that strike immediately suspects 3 people who we have never heard of before so i found hard to care if it was one or the other. throughout the book we do see some of them but didn't feel it was enough to really care still. near the end i still didn't know who it was and then suddenly we find out and no great explanation is really given. you just find out and it's like...OK cool...he did it then. just felt so underwhelming.

to be fair i am such a slow reader and it took me forever to get through it so maybe that ruined some of it for me. i still care about strike + robin though and can't wait to see where they go next in Lethal White.

my next book will be La Belle Sauvage by Philip Pullman which is connected to the His Dark Materials series. i have been waiting so long for it and i'm super excited for it. i have it pre ordered.

 

[Atraveller]

That's second book of five gods trilogy done. I like the series well enough, but I never felt the overwhelming praise it got. I suppose its biggest standout to me was no matter how dire the situations get, that characters still remained... good.

Started this book. A video essay youtube channel recommended this one, I hope I would gain more insight to creative process, and thus more appreciation to good stories.

 

[fakefaker]

I've never read Cuban sci-fi before, so A Planet for Rent by Yoss was a real treat for me. I would have enjoyed it more, but some of the stories were just ok and worse was how each story would drag on and on, in some ways beating you into submission. I gave it a 3/5.

Next up, Yukikaze by Chōhei Kambayashi.

 

[Killua]

I am currently going through

As well as

Both have been great so far.

 

[HamPster PamPster]

I finished Pegasus by Robin McKinley. I knew going in that it was the 1st in a trilogy of books where the 2nd and 3rd don't seem likely, but I still wasn't prepared for the end. Calling it a cliff hanger almost seems kind, the book really just... ends. Outside of that I enjoyed it. Not much happens (which makes the ending sting that much more) but its an enjoyable tale of the two groups coming together. The pegasi seem pretty alien which gives the book an almost sci-fi feel.

I also finished Goblin Slayer vol. 2 after reading the manga. It was entertaining and seemed to have a solid localization from yen press. I'd love to stick with the series but the description for vol. 3 is just depressing, going from goblin slaying to dating

Next up is Jason Schreier's book.

 

[Wafflecakes]

Anyone read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay? Is it worth my time?

I am generally pretty skeptical of single volume epic fantasy.

 

[crimilde]

I'm usually going through 3-4 books in parallel, and this month I'm reading and planning on finishing the following:

Ongoing, The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, I really wanna finish the standalone books this year so I can get ready for his new trilogy.

I'm loving it so far, must be up there with Best Served Cold as my favourite works of his. After this I only have Red Country left. (I already read Sharp Ends this year).

I've also started reading The Golden Fool by Robin Hobb. She has quickly become one of my favourite fantasy writers ever. I absolutely adore her books and own/plan to read all the Realm of the Elderlings books in chronological order.

Other books I plan on finishing this month:

Godblind by Anna Stephens
Inversions by Iain M. Banks (Culture series)
Worlds of Exile and Illusion: Rocannon's World / Planet of Exile / City of Illusions (Hainish Cycle #1-3) by Ursula K Le Guin
Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (this one I started already and I'm about 100 pages in but it hasn't clicked with me yet, I found it kinda boring so I've set it aside for now. Maybe it's just my current mood).

On another note, has anyone read Anna Smith Spark yet? The Court of Broken Knives? She was hailed as the Queen of Grimdark and I was pretty hyped about it but ended up hating the book and almost DNF'ed it twice. Such a disappointment especially since I went into it really hoping I would love it.

Spoiler

Orhan and Darath were the only passable characters and the only ones I actually enjoyed reading about. They were why I *kept* reading at all.

 

[DirtRiver]

Anyone read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay? Is it worth my time?

I am generally pretty skeptical of single volume epic fantasy.

The answer to that question is: [FUCK] YES

 

[Maklershed]

For history fans - I believe for the first time ever American Lion is on sale on Amazon ($2.99):


American Lion: Andrew Jackson in the White House by Jon Meacham

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Anyone read Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay? Is it worth my time?

I am generally pretty skeptical of single volume epic fantasy.

The answer to that question is: [FUCK] YES

Seconded. Kay is amazing. A Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan and his recent Children of Earth and Sky are also single volumes that are incredible. In general he has impressive high quality works. I think Ysabel is the only book of his I felt meh about.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Has anyone read Peter Straub's Ghost Story? It's on sale for $1.99 on Kindle. Wondering if it's worth a read.

 

[DemWalls]

Ongoing, The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie, I really wanna finish the standalone books this year so I can get ready for his new trilogy.

Well, no need to hurry, then. The new trilogy will hardly come out before 2019.

 

[crimilde]

Well, no need to hurry, then. The new trilogy will hardly come out before 2019.

Oh that's true. For some reason I thought it was 2018, but you're right. Last I read about it he was still editing the new trilogy so this might take a bit longer.

 

[DemWalls]

Oh that's true. For some reason I thought it was 2018, but you're right. Last I read about it he was still editing the new trilogy so this might take a bit longer.

At the end of July he had finished a very rough draft of the second part (of three) of the second book, so yeah, it'll take a while.

 

[Wafflecakes]

The answer to that question is: [FUCK] YES

Seconded. Kay is amazing. A Song for Arbonne and The Lions of Al-Rassan and his recent Children of Earth and Sky are also single volumes that are incredible. In general he has impressive high quality works. I think Ysabel is the only book of his I felt meh about.

Thanks! I will give it a shot.

How much magic are in these books? I read a few synopses of his books on Amazon and they don't really touch on magic much.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Thanks! I will give it a shot.

How much magic are in these books? I read a few synopses of his books on Amazon and they don't really touch on magic much.

Not a lot. Tigana likely has more than the others. Kay's works are often referred to as "history with a quarter turn to the fantastic." There is usually something of the supernatural involved, but it is not going to beat you over the head with magic systems or rules or what have you. It's likely one of the reasons these stories are told so well within a single volume.

 

[Funyarinpa]

I got How To Think Like Einstein by Scott Thorpe as a gift. I'm trying to like it (mostly because of the friend), but it seems that self-help books simply aren't for me. Turkish translation seems pretty bad too.

Also got The Death Of Ivan Ilyich (Tolstoy, the Penguin Little Black Classics version) and The Sirens of Titan (Vonnegut).

Still contending with The Feynman Lectures On Physics and "S." as well.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

I absolutely devoured Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files.

Why is there so much contempt for this book? I loved it: the atmosphere, the characters, the writing, the magic system. It's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. As a big fan of games like Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Deus Ex, this book and its atmosphere were right up my alley. Very excited to read the rest of the series.

 

[Necrovex]

I absolutely devoured Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files.

Why is there so much contempt for this book? I loved it: the atmosphere, the characters, the writing, the magic system. It's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. As a big fan of games like Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Deus Ex, this book and its atmosphere were right up my alley. Very excited to read the rest of the series.

Damn, I really need to begin this series. I somewhat am surprise a graphic audio isn't out for it (to my knowledge).

 

[Fou-Lu]

I just read An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. I liked the first book (The Shadow of What Was Lost), but this one was absolutely insane. So many things happened and Islington is trying to give Robin Hobb a run for her money when it comes to making his character's lives hell. One of my favourite books of the year and the wait for the final book is going to be brutal.

 

[Alcotholic]

I absolutely devoured Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files.

Why is there so much contempt for this book? I loved it: the atmosphere, the characters, the writing, the magic system. It's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. As a big fan of games like Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Deus Ex, this book and its atmosphere were right up my alley. Very excited to read the rest of the series.

My GF loves the Dresden Files. She has all the books in the franchise and is dying for the next one.
Some people here can be book snobs. Its cool you enjoy it. I'll dive in myself eventually.

 

[Veelk]

I absolutely devoured Storm Front, the first book of the Dresden Files.

Why is there so much contempt for this book? I loved it: the atmosphere, the characters, the writing, the magic system. It's one of the most entertaining books I've ever read. As a big fan of games like Vampire: The Masquerade -- Bloodlines and Deus Ex, this book and its atmosphere were right up my alley. Very excited to read the rest of the series.

It's not so much that there is hate, but I haven't encountered anyone who wouldn't say it's the worst of the series main entries.

You have a great book series ahead of you if you like SF that much.

 

[norm9]

Spent my day procrastinating at work by reading Eat That Frog! by Brian Tracy. It's about stopping your procrastination.

 

[Dec]

It's not so much that there is hate, but I haven't encountered anyone who wouldn't say it's the worst of the series main entries.

You have a great book series ahead of you if you like SF that much.

I always thought the second book was the one people didn't like in Dresden. I thought 1 and 2 were pretty alright personally, though.

 

[Veelk]

I always thought the second book was the one people didn't like in Dresden. I thought 1 and 2 were pretty alright personally, though.

Both 1 and 2 are singled out as the least like ones collectively, and the third one is where it supposedly gets good (mostly because it's the one that introduces the larger scope cast with Michael, Thomas, and other stuff)

I personally think 2 is where Dresden Files starts shining myself. But then, I really like werewolves.

 

[Velcro Fly]

I'm three books in to Harry Potter and that is only the last few weeks.

On book #7 of Chronicles of Narnia. Second full read for me. I hate the last book.

 

[mjc]

Age of Myth is $1.99 on Amazon today

Ordered it up, heard some good things.

 

[Ravensmash]

Ooo I'm really enjoying Underground Airlines.

It's quite a pacy read and I'm genuinely not sure what's going to happen next. Around 3/4 of the way through.

What did GAF think of it?

 

[Wafflecakes]

I just read An Echo of Things to Come by James Islington. I liked the first book (The Shadow of What Was Lost), but this one was absolutely insane. So many things happened and Islington is trying to give Robin Hobb a run for her money when it comes to making his character's lives hell. One of my favourite books of the year and the wait for the final book is going to be brutal.

I read the first one back in late 2014.

Need to jump on the new one.

 

[Fou-Lu]

I read the first one back in late 2014.

Need to jump on the new one.

It gives a nice quick recap at the start too so you don't have that few chapters of confusion as you try to remember what is going on.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

I finished The Obelisk Gate a few days ago. I liked it more than The Fifth Season. Because TOG didn't have a fucking bullshit out-of-nowhere cliffhanger for an ending.

For real though, both books were awesome. I just started The Stone Sky and I'm so eager to see how this story ends.

 

[Glass Shark]

I just finished reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. First novel I've read in a long time, and I picked a doozy.

I was so torn on this book. The premise and much of the first two parts were fascinating and kept me turning pages relentlessly. But the third part felt packed with unnecessary stuff and VERY bad science, which is unusual because the first two parts seem fairly accurate.

I think there is a skeleton of a really good novel here, but it just gets bogged down at so many turns, and it just goes completely off the rails at some point.

Any other good sci-fi that's similar but a little tighter? I really loved the aspect of global disaster and problem-solving on a massive scale. It reminded me of The Martian with the stakes being WAY higher.

 

[aidan]

I just finished reading Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. First novel I've read in a long time, and I picked a doozy.

I was so torn on this book. The premise and much of the first two parts were fascinating and kept me turning pages relentlessly. But the third part felt packed with unnecessary stuff and VERY bad science, which is unusual because the first two parts seem fairly accurate.

I think there is a skeleton of a really good novel here, but it just gets bogged down at so many turns, and it just goes completely off the rails at some point.

Any other good sci-fi that's similar but a little tighter? I really loved the aspect of global disaster and problem-solving on a massive scale. It reminded me of The Martian with the stakes being WAY higher.

Try Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson.

 

[TTG]

The First Law by Abercrombie is quite good. It's written competently, the action is a highlight and so the dialogue is more than adequate. I would have had a problem with the pacing, but this being a completed trilogy(I think that's right), I don't mind. It's got that ASOIAF pov thing going, and more borrowed besides and I would readily recommend it to any fans of GRRM. But it does stay within its means, a lot less political intrigue and breadth and better action than those books. The characters seem flat and tropy for a while, but they do sneak up on you.

It was good, I'll keep reading. So a no to Sanderson, but a thumbs up for Abercrombie. I read one of his books before, The Heroes, and it wasn't nearly so much fun. I will say though, I could have done with a little more than boilerplate wizards and knights. Things get more fun the further we get away from the main city at least.

I'm still reading Alice Munro's short stories as well and they are lovely.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

This was really good. Best sci-fi I've read in years.


Children of Time by Adrian Tchaikovsky

 

[Sean C]

Boy, does the pace of these novels change over time. Three-Body Problem spent a whole novel covering a series of events that Death's End would probably have spent maybe fifty pages on, being generous. The conclusion to the trilogy is 600 pages long, and every 100 of those pages probably contains enough concepts to give rise to a novel on its own. Perhaps the continual acceleration is the author reflecting the pace of technological development, ever-increasing. Anyway, I very rarely say that any work of fiction I read truly changes my thinking, but Liu Cixin's trilogy belongs in that group; this is really visionary science-fiction (though by the end of Death's End

Spoiler

we're basically at the point where science becomes indistinguishable from magic

).

Early on, I thought that Liu's character writing wasn't nearly as interesting as all the concepts he was throwing around, but while it's probably still the case that one wouldn't really describe this as a character-driven story, main character Cheng Xin gets some of his most interesting character writing (and it's a pretty rare storyteller who

Spoiler

has his protagonist basically bring about the end of humanity by well-intentioned idealism, and then suggest at the end that perhaps she was mostly right anyway, since the sort of cutthroat survivalism she rejects is shown to bring about the eventual end of the universe

).

 

[Glass Shark]

I read The Fold by Peter Clines yesterday. Decent junk food sci-fi. Easy to digest, which was a nice change of pace. My biggest complaint was that the main character is supposed to be some kind of super genius and yet I figured everything out way before he did.

I gave some more thought to Seveneves since finishing it and I’m not sure I will remember it very fondly. SPOILERS for the whole thing in case you’re interested in my thought process:

Spoiler

People have talked about the book as being a very “optimistic” disaster story, but I feel like it actually paints a pretty bleak picture of humanity. Yes, we survived the literal destruction of the planet with little warning. But the steps taken to get there were vicious and brutal. What’s left of humanity drops from about 2,000 people to just 8 because of the schemes and machinations of a politician who wants power just for power’s sake.

And once we are finally down to the final 8, when things can settle down for a bit, the future of humanity must be decided in 10 minutes because the character who is meant to be the most “heroic” of the novel decides “fuck this, I’m gonna blow all of you up.” I think we are supposed to idolize this character and her progeny, but she might have been just as bad (or worse) than JBF in the end because she artificially forced an agreement on something that led to the most sinister part of the novel for me.

After the 5,000-year jump, literally everything in humanity is defined by race. Stephenson attempts to hand wave this away by talking about “old racism” as if it is somehow worse and more evil than the world he built. Every interaction between every human remaining, 3 billion people, has an undertone of racism, stereotyping, and bias in it. (You could argue that our world today is the same way, and I can see where you’re coming from there, but my point is that the new world didn’t have to be that way.) I don’t think a single page goes by in the third part of the novel without mentioning a character’s race. It just feels so mean, artificial, and unnecessary. In 5,000 years of humanity attempting to survive, a key part of which was established multiple times earlier in the novel as being genetic diversity, races have largely not interbred? It doesn’t make sense. I think “cross-breed” characters (gross) are mentioned only twice.

That’s without even getting into the insane “science” behind the Pingers. God, that was so fucking stupid.

All of this is a real shame because I thought the first part of the novel was incredible. The second part was good, but floundered a bit. I kept going because I wanted to see what was on the other side of the whole Ymir rescue. Then the third part was just a slog for me as I was ready to be done with it.

And fuck me, I never want to hear another word about the physics of bull whips and spinning loop chains. GOD.

I know this is very American of me, but I have wanted to read the Remembrance of Earth’s Past trilogy ever since I heard about it, but when I tried to pick up the first book I had a really hard time getting through all the Chinese names. I should probably go back to it and power through, I know it’s a hump I will get over eventually. But at the time I just wasn’t in the right head space for it.

 

[Maklershed]

I think I forgot to update after I finished my last set of books. I'm now 25% or so in to The Pillars of the Earth on Kindle and about 80 pages or so into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest hard copy.


The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett


The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest by Stieg Larsson

 

[nicoga3000]

I decided to finally give It a go:

 

[BorkBork]

The Castle by Franz Kafka

An exercise in frustration in every way. I loved it.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

Finished :

I really enjoyed it the whole way through...but the ending just felt unfinished. If he writes a follow-up to this, I think I will have fonder memories of it. Anyone else read this one? I loved The Kind Worth Killing but wasn't a fan of his follow-up Her Every Fear.

About to start:

Heard good things and appears to be a quick read.

Finally gave up on:

I really hated this one. I couldn't stand the format and how every character/interviewee sounded the same, no matter where they were from. I found it a pain to get through and finally gave up after being about 150 pages in. Meh!

 

[TTG]

Finished Runaway by Alice Munro. It's superlative writing. Working on an intimate scale and with short stories, what I'll mostly remember are character interactions and behavior and my gosh does she have an ability to just pierce your heart in a single sentence. GRRM could drop a nuke on Westeros tomorrow and I won't even blink, but here a character will do something seemingly innocuous and I'm audibly croaking and having to put the book down for a day. Her understanding of human nature, it's really really keen.

You should probably go out and read, if nothing else it's a brilliant female writer you could reference next time someone asks you for one. Pair it with something a lot more stupid to dilute it as well if possible.

 

[Alcotholic]

I just finished The Shining, which was great, but a little slow in some areas. I would love to see a movie adaptation that's a little closer to the source material. Kubrick's version is great, but there is so much good material in the book.

I bought The Disaster Artist a couple weeks ago and I'm super stoked to get through that. I'm 30 pages in so far.

The Room is an incredible film and seeing how well received the movie adaptation of this book is, I'm very excited for that.

I think I forgot to update after I finished my last set of books. I'm now 25% or so in to The Pillars of the Earth on Kindle and about 80 pages or so into The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest hard copy.


The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

I really enjoyed Pillars of the Earth. I finished it in about 2 weeks and was so engrossed in the political intrigue. The writing is great too.
After all the books I've finished this year, PotE still kinda resonates. I continue to reflect on it and it's characters. It really is an epic.

 

[Morat]

The Castle by Franz Kafka

An exercise in frustration in every way. I loved it.

Good description. Ever read The Trial?

 

[Funyarinpa]

I'm reading The Complete Persepolis for school. It's heavy stuff...

 

[brawly]

Halfway through Blood of Elves (The Witcher).

I'm glad I'm back to uni/work. Means daily commute and daily reading. Been slacking hard.

 

[Glass Shark]

Started up Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. Been meaning to read it for a while. Loving it so far.

 

[fakefaker]

I enjoyed Yukikaze by Chōhei Kambayashi so much I'm just going to jump into the sequel, Good Luck, Yukikaze.

 

[KonradLaw]

I've read:

Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan

Liked it quite a bit. Fast paced, very focused in it's plotline, while stiling having big things happen in the background and most of all two extremely likable leads.

Bluesteel Blasphemer: Volume 1 by Ichirou Sakaki

Very dissapoiting. I picked it up because I liked Chaika anime (which was based on the novel series by the same writer), but this was just dull, cliched and not-eventful. The only good thing about it was some of the world building. I might try second volumne if there's some promo to make it cheap, but otherwise I can't see myself continuing.

Listened through:

The Final Hour by Tom Wood

As always a very good thriller, but I'm still a bit dissapointed. Especially since it comes right after A Time To Die, which is one of two best in the series. Second protagonist hurt the novel, especially since she's nowhere near as interesting as Victor himself. It had the same problem previous book with her did, that each assassin had his own story, but because there were two of them neither got developed to full extrent. Still very fun read, just not among series' best