Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

Ah, Olga!! I need to get to that book--it sounds hysterical. Can't wait for your review. I'm also looking forward to the insight I'll get into Jones' writing.

Im currently reading

Carol wrote: "Ah, Olga!! I need to get to that book--it sounds hysterical. Can't wait for your review. I'm also looking forward to the insight I'll get into Jones' writing."

I already wrote short notes about this book. I don't think I'll write much more. Like any dictionary, it's not a book you read from cover to cover, just consult occasionally, in this case not for information but for a spot of laughter. It's just one big joke at the expense of all fantasy writers. If we can make fun of ourselves, we might not be doing too poorly.

I finished (Stray Souls) and loved it. It's very light and fun, with a protag who is very into the "self help" thing. When she is thrown into the magical world, she creates a facebook/twitter group that spawns Magicals Anonymous, where all of the magical misfits come and share their troubles. Now I now keep imagining all the protags from all the other series I read standing up and doing meeting introductions.
I'm currently reading (Already Dead), which was a bit shockingly different in tone and pace.
Up next is (Dragon Bones), which I'm hoping will be fun. I've read and enjoyed Brigg's Mercy Thompson series and am interested to see how she approaches high fantasy.

Hm, I haven't read any of Brigg's non-Mercy series (I think it's a series, right?). Look forward to your review, as usual.

There are currently two books, and since the last was 2002, I suspect that's it. Looks like everyone on my friend/follow list gave it 4-5 stars, so I'm quite hopeful...
Plus, I just love the cover...it's identical to my childhood cover of Dealing with Dragons but with a guy in the same pose instead of Cimorene. I can't find my old cover for comparison, though...
...oh. Found it:

I read all Briggs's stories and loved most of them. Her Mercy books are just her latest series. She started with traditional fantasy and did it well. My favorite among those is one of her earliest novels, When Demons Walk, although I haven't re-read it for a few years now. I might not be as impressed by it after my fantasy binge of the past couple of years.

Re-reading

I'm currently in a bit of a lull. I just finished Tongues of Serpents and I'm reasonably caught up on most of the well known fantasy series. I'd love a good fantasy recommendation if anyone has one or twelve to offer :) I'll be laid up this weekend so I could five or six books to keep me occupado

What's up? Recovering from being nearly dead?

I mean 'mostly.'

Mostly very nearly dead ;)

I had a pain block done today on my L5 and L6. Should hold me a month til my actual back surgery.

Oh my. Hope it helps.

Thank you :) Now recommend me a book, Carol ;) I have faith in your good taste

Wow, our tastes are similar. I see you have The Reapers Are the Angels. Read it. Faulkner meets zombies, only better. But it won't give many tips for surviving. If you want to continue zombie theme, try Rot and Ruin. Yeah, it's YA, but its an interesting world and nicely done characters.

You could follow Leviathan Wakes with Caliban's War (I just grabbed it, haven't started). And I liked Broken Homes a lot.

Caliban's War was good :) I'll get right on the other two. Thanks!

I've struck out on my last two books, The Thirteen Hallows on audio and Vampire Games for Kindle.

I really wanted to like The Thirteen Hallows, but between odd pacing, stiff characters and inconsistent mythology I had to admit that we were not compatible.

As for Vampire Games, I just may have to accept that this series has jumped the shark. Or was it ever good? Did I maybe just want to like it so much that I glossed over the early warning signs of fatal flaws.



Hopefully my next reads will be better. I just started Cinder on audio and I have Charming queued up on my Kindle ready to go.

Wow, just occurred to me that I am doing kind of a fairy tale title theme.

I finished Kicking and Dreaming: A Story of Heart, Soul, and Rock and Roll and The Devil's Bones. Now I'm reading Firestarter.

Just started Gardens of the Moon yesterday not very far in just sorting through the characters and history provided that led up the start of the story.

Haydensdad wrote: "Just started Gardens of the Moon yesterday not very far in just sorting through the characters and history provided that led up the start of the story."


Great book and series, you wont be disappointed.

I'm reading The Shadow Rising. I went to a book store and bought all but one of the books I was missing from Wheel of Time, so I get to read them all. :) Well, except for the last one. But it'll be a while before I need to get it, lol.

The Sandman series of graphic novels by Neil Gaiman.

I finished Dragon Bones. I thought it was a cute, lightweight fantasy with some interesting worldbuilding. Unlike a lot of the UF I tend to read, there were lots and lots of "good guys" balanced by a few uber-evil villains. I haven't read epic fantasy for a while, and I rather enjoyed the rather simplified morality of the story.

I then promptly succumbed to temptation and started The Neon Court.


--also: Valerie, what did you think of Charming?

Alex wrote: "The Sandman series of graphic novels by Neil Gaiman."

I was curious because this is the series that made Gaiman famous,but I could not even finish the first one! It is one of those series you feel like you "have to" read, but I just hated it. I don't even find the art work appealing. On the other hand, I just finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane and absolutely loved it! I actually felt like immediately re-reading after I finished.

I started listening to the audio version of Dragon Bones earlier this summer, but after I left it for a few days, I couldn't keep the characters names apart any longer. I'm not sure if I'll start the audio book from the beginning again some day, or try to read it instead.

I'm reading The Killing Moon. Such an amazing book.

I just finished , , , and .

Currently I'm reading and

I am not loving "Prince of Thorns"... :(. Maybe because "Blood Song" and "The Crown Tower" were both such good reads. I just find Jorg to be petulant sociopath instead of an interesting anti-hero.

Lucinda wrote: "I am not loving "Prince of Thorns"... :(. Maybe because "Blood Song" and "The Crown Tower" were both such good reads. I just find Jorg to be petulant sociopath instead of an interesting anti-hero. "

Ha!

@Aelliana I have The Killing Moon out from the library now but it's just not grabbing me. Not totally sure why. Maybe it just feels too ... foreign?

Lucinda wrote: I am not loving "Prince of Thorns"... :(. Maybe because "Blood Song" and "The Crown Tower" were both such good reads. I just find Jorg to be petulant sociopath instead of an interesting anti-hero.

I say stick with it. Heroes (main characters) have to change and Jorg has plenty of room for change. I thought it was great.

I am reading Among Thieves after a few aborted starts with other books.

Malrubius wrote: I say stick with it. Heroes (main characters) have to change and Jorg has plenty of room for change. I thought it was great.

Chapter 24. I finally started liking this book in chapter 24. Without people like you telling me to "wait for it" I would have put this one down. Now I am glad that I didn't...but this book should have started with Chapter 23, just sayin', lol.

I am reading Among Thieves after a few aborted starts with other books.

Among Thieves was one of my favorite books of 2011; I really enjoyed this world and I can't wait for the sequel. Drothe ranks right up there with Royce Melbourne, Vlad Taltos, and Lock Lamora on my short list of "thieves I want to be when I grow up"

Chapter 24. I finally started liking this book in cha..."

Glad you like it. I think I'll look for Jhereg next at my library. I like to borrow books first until I know I will finish them. I didn't make it through Lies of Locke Lamora. I only seem to be able to read first-person fantasy these days (and I am always open to recommendations).

Malrubius wrote: I only seem to be able to read first-person fantasy these days (and I am always open to recommendations).

I love the Vlad Taltos series. It has everything I desire in a good fantasy: Believable protagonist that I care about; Beautifully craft world that I can imagine exists; A plot worthy of Shakespeare; And, a fully fleshed out supporting cast(...and rapier-witted dialogue, yeah, smart dialogue is a must...). It is one of the few ongoing series that I still look forward to reading ( Vlad Taltos 13 books, Dresden Files 14 books, Vorkosigan Saga 15 books). My bookshelves are peppered with series that I've given up on...lol.

"The Lies of Lock Lamora" was one I started but stopped several times before I found myself with the dreaded "I have nothing new to read" dilemma and decided to pick it up anew. For whatever reason, I really enjoyed it on that read-through.

If you haven't read Anthony Ryan's Blood Song yet, I highly recommend it. For me it was an Ender's Game meets Gates of Fire.

I love Vlad too. Brust does some interesting things. His style of letting the world build without big info-dumps is very agreeable to me.

I keep meaning to read the Taltos books. They're not in my library so somehow I never get around to it.
I'm reading The Neon Court, which I'm having trouble with. It's incredibly addictive when I start reading, but I never feel like starting because Griffin keeps killing all of my favorite characters. (Other people, too, but I'm beginning to run out of favorite characters.)
So I'm reading Monstrous Regiment on the side, for the I-don't-know-how-many-eth time. It's one of my favorites--not only is it light and funny; it's also a really interesting exploration of feminism, jingoism, and identity.

Reuben wrote: "@Aelliana I have The Killing Moon out from the library now but it's just not grabbing me. Not totally sure why. Maybe it just feels too ... foreign?"

I liked that it was set in a very different world. But since there's very little explanations up front, the story required that I really paid attention in the beginning.

I'm didn't get around to reading when it was BOM, but I'm listening to it know.

I am reading Of Blood and Honey by Stina Leicht It takes place in Northern Ireland in 70s and combines the Catholic-Protestant conflict with a supernatural conflict with the Fae.

Lucinda wrote: "If you haven't read Anthony Ryan's Blood Song yet, I highly recommend it. For me it was an Ender's Game meets Gates of Fire. "

I just put down Blood Song after about 50 pages of a second attempt. Believe me, I am heartbroken. I know it must be a great story, based on the ratings, but the writing is sooooo dull. I am really a literature geek trapped in a fantasy-lover's brain. The writing just killed it for me. Nevertheless, I will probably try it again at least twice.

Jalilah wrote: "Alex wrote: "The Sandman series of graphic novels by Neil Gaiman."

I was curious because this is the series that made Gaiman famous,but I could not even finish the first one! It is one of those s..."

I didn't like the first one much either. But it gets better from midway the 2nd book onwards.

Malrubius wrote: " I am really a literature geek trapped in a fantasy-lover's brain. The writing just killed it for me"

Hmm, that's interesting. What do you mean by it?

Aelliana wrote: "I'm didn't get around to reading Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) when it was BOM, but I'm listening to it know. .."

Better late then never. :) Let us know what you think, or resurrect the old thread if you like.

Carol wrote: "Malrubius wrote: " I am really a literature geek trapped in a fantasy-lover's brain. The writing just killed it for me"

Hmm, that's interesting. What do you mean by it?"

Not counting the short italic part at the beginning, I thought it lacked unique voice (or any voice for that matter). It is completely without any figurative language or interesting use of language. I thought it was plotted in the most excruciatingly pedestrian way, despite what seemed to be the front end of a frame. It read like it was written by a kid for a YA mentality (as opposed to something like The Shadow of the Torturer, which relates the experiences of a kid with wisdom of hindsight). The characters seemed to be cardboard cutouts of the mean kid, the smart shy kid, the fat slow strong kid, etc. All of that, like I said before, is fine for some people, especially if it is a movie. But as a piece of literature, it was incredibly unstimulating, and it just didn't seem worth slogging through to find out what happens.

(No need to flame me or anything, people. It's just my opinion. I never claimed to be an expert on fantasy literature.)

Oh, no flaming. I was meaning the lit geek part, because I wanted to understand what you meant. I'm struggling with the 'lit' part at the moment, because I think it can be so boooooring and I feel like I'm eating a spinach salad without any dressing. But some fantasy can be full of delightful language. Sometimes. I don't know. Perhaps its one of those genre misconceptions.

Carol wrote: "But some fantasy can be full of delightful language ..."

Absolutely. And that's a big part of what I'm looking for. But I don't like it when it is very self-indulgent either. (And I'm always open to recommendations.)

I just finished The Golem and the Jinni
It was so amazing. I couldn't put it down. I'm used to reading fantasy books jam packed with action, so maybe this was a nice change. I found I really cared about the characters and wanted to find out what happened to them. Most books I've been reading lately feel like they have cookie-cutter characters that I don't care about. This is one of my favorite books I've read this year

Malrubius, if it's fantasy with great language you're looking for, I would suggest The Worm Ouroboros, Titus Groan, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Three completely different styles, but all of them excellent.

Patti wrote: "I just finished The Golem and the Jinni
It was so amazing. I couldn't put it down. I'm used to reading fantasy books jam packed with action, so maybe this was a nice change. I found I really cared ..."

That looks interesting. I added it. You should suggest it for a monthly read!

Bryan wrote: "Malrubius, if it's fantasy with great language you're looking for, I would suggest The Worm Ouroboros, Titus Groan, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. Three completely different styles, but all ..."

Thanks, Bryan. I have read The Worm Ouroboros. I like it a lot. I have tried to read Titus Groan but I am having a difficult time reading books that are not in the first-person. Not sure what's wrong with me. Same with Something Wicked. Nevertheless, I am determined to read them both. Thanks for the reminder.

Looking through your ratings, I think we have overlapping if not similar tastes. And I also enjoy Heavy Metal!

a game of thrones.

I think I will suggest it! Also I love heavy metal :D lol

I seem to be stuck in an Epic Military Fantasy phase.

I started reading last night and now I'm about 60% through it.

Wexler can really write battlefield prose. This book, paired with his short story prequel "The Penitent Damned", really set up a complex and interesting world filled with military heroes, secret police, religious zealots, and hidden mages...so far, so good.