I want a sense of community!!! (Yes, I'm very needy!)

I'm currently reading my first Hobb book, "Assasin's Apprentice," and I'm loving it.

I just bought the newest bundle of her books, and plan to buy the earlier bundle, and also the other 2 in the immediate series that I'm reading.

Her work is very engaging and thoughtful. The pace is leisurely and thought-provoking, and her characters seem real: they reflect and think.

I highly recommend the book I'm reading. From what I've read about the other 8 titles in the overall series, she is not to be missed!

So let's talk about BOOKS!!!!!


Don

I'm reading Weber's Hell Hath No Fury at the moment, and I plan to read his In Fury Born next (I've read the 'original' version, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he did with it). I always recommend anything by Weber. :nice:

Luckily the HHNF CD contains all Honor Harrington books :-)
I currently read books from the Project Gutenberg Science Fiction CD (see http://www.gutenberg.org). No wonder because i built that CD myself.
I already contemplate an update for the CD. The SF book classics are coming in from Distributed Proofreaders like crazy.

I have read the first 2 trilogies by Hobb. One of the best fantasy I have read.

I am reading Hearts in Atlantis by Stepehn King at the moment.
I thought it might be interesting to read Salem's Lot (I finished it a few days ago) and Hearts in Atlantis before I read the last book in The Dark Tower series.

Robin Hob work is great, I love it too. I'm currently reading Lies of Locke Lamora, but I find it hard to get into.

I'm reading Failure Is Not an Option

The thrilling story of NASA's Mission Control teams that guided the "Apollo" spacecraft through successful lunar landings is recounted by "Apollo 13" flight director Gene Kranz. Published on the 30th anniversary of the "Apollo 13" mission.

Also the the first Honor Harrington book, and Pilgrims Progress.

My progress on all three is very slow as I haven't actually spent much time reading recently. I really look forward to getting back to reading more.

Well... actually I'm reading in paper at the moment. I'm reading Issola by Steven Brust. I highly recommend his Vlad Taltos series (Jhereg, Yendi, Teckla, etc.) They are fantasy, the characters are nicely convoluted, they are funny (except Teckla, which was gloomier in tone than the others), and I've really been enjoying them. But, sadly, they are not available in "official" ebook format (or even unofficial, except for the first few). All of which underscores what I still think is the main limitation of ebooks: variety. :(

Now that I have my iLiad, I'm setting up my eBookwise 1150 to loan to a friend who's about to go on a week of vacation, so she won't have to carry so many books. I'm loading it up with books we've been talking about during our morning and evening commutes together. I think she's becoming a convert to the digital way. :D

I've looked at Brust's books in the store a few times, but I haven't quite made the plunge on them -- not had long enough without publications with my "approved" authors (the ones I know I like), I s'pose. Your recommendation makes it a bit more likely that I'll give him a shot, neko.

I'm reading an advance reading copy of J. C. Hall's Lady of the Lakes (Fantasy). And if I can make a shameless plug, my new alternate reality novel, Synergy, was put up today at fictionwise (yay!). The ebook is out before the paper book. I like it.

Still in Asimov's 'Foundation' 15book series. Looking forward to CJ Cherryh's 'Company Wars'.

Say! There are many threads popping up that cater to the same, exact subject. We should have a permanent book forum in the Frontpage dedicated to that.
Alex?

Like this one (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=24)? Or do you have something else in mind? :nice:

e-books: Russian-Amerika by S. Compton, Melusine by S. Monette
p-books: Before They Are Hanged by J. Abercrombie, Bone Song by J. Meaney

Yvan, are the rest of those Asimov books available for download somewhere? I bought the first three in a bundle from the Sony Connect store, but haven't seen the rest of them anywhere.

Jim

Like this one (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=24)? Or do you have something else in mind? :nice:
That's good but it does not prevent repetition. Our presence here is case in point. I'd like to see it in the blue menu bar, between Forums and Control Panel.
But that's only my two bits.

I'm currently reading Lies of Locke Lamora, but I find it hard to get into.

Give it a chance, it definitely speeds up about 1/4 to 1/3rd of the way through.

I'm currently on book 5 of the Honor Harrington series from David Weber, so far so good, I'm interested to see where it goes in the next five books.

If you're wondering (like I was) when it's better to read Honor anthologies and side stories, check the suggested reading order (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honorverse#Honor_Harrington_Suggested_Reading_Orde r).

@NatCh - Just doing my bit to reduce the opacity of the market. ;)

@yvan - I'm a big C.J. Cherryh fan, though I like her "Compact" books (e.g. The Pride of Chanur) better than her "Company Wars" books. The Company Wars books would probably be more like Asimov's Foundation books, though. Books in the Company Wars set that I did particularly like include Finity's End, Cyteen, Rimrunners, and Cuckoo's Egg. I guess I usually prefer a strong focus on a few characters, rather than a story told from many points of view where you don't get to know any of the characters as well, though I should say that I do find her other books interesting as well. You might also try her fantasy, e.g. The Dreaming Tree. Or, for something really different (if you can find a copy), Wave Without a Shore.

My current read: Innocent in Death by JD Robb. Publishers' Weekly says:

Once again Lt. Eve Dallas shows why she's "New York City's top murder cop" in Roberts's 24th thriller under her Robb pseudonym set half a century into the future (after 2006's Born in Death). Dallas tries to close a case at the exclusive Sarah Child Academy, where two bright 10-year-old girls discover the body of Craig Foster, a popular history teacher who proves to have been poisoned by ricin-laced cocoa. Dallas wonders if another staff member or a parent might be involved, but after the prime suspect, a promiscuous teacher who's been harassing another employee, turns up dead, the investigation takes a shocking turn. Besides a provocative puzzler, Robb provides an intense relationship update on Dallas and Roarke, her Irish power broker hubby, whose dark past--in the form of a crooked ex-girlfriend--returns to cause trouble. This prolific author, a recent Quills romance winner, is still at the top of her game.

@ Nekokami

CJ's an extraordinary writer. Did you read the Foreigner series? I started with the second by ignorance that is was from a series. When I found out I read the rest. I loved the humanness of it. I now plan to read the rest of her work, that's why I'm going back to 'Company wars. I also read 'Cyteen' and the second 'Chanur'. I'm not a big fan of fantasy but since it's CJ, I will read it.

I'm in to scifi because of futurology. It is the biggest source of new ideas for designs, concepts and living experiences. Many of today's things we use, including the computer, the ebook and I pass, were born from fiction. As a conceptor of furniture, I tend to listen to every idea in setting up the brain storm necessary to my creation. I believe that todays designers don't do much of that anymore. The dreams we get from a good book are the basis of creation and solution. Is it why we read so much?

@yvanleterrible, oddly enough, I haven't read the Foreigner series yet. I'll try one, based on your recommendation. While some might characterize Cherryh's works as "military SF," I've usually thought of them as more "sociological SF" because even those with military action seem to be much more about the clash of multiple cultures, and how it affects individuals. (This is perhaps most clear in Wave Without a Shore, in which the entire conflict is psychological and sociological.)

You might also like the works of David Brin (particularly Earth, Orson Scott Card, James Schmitz, or Sherri Tepper. Not because they "write like Cherryh" (nobody does), but because they also work with broad landscapes, alien cultures, and individuals.

And of course, for futurology, I'd be remiss not to recommend Heinlein. :)

I liked Brin's Kiln People, and Glory Season, but I found Earth too aggressively propa-green-dist for my tastes -- it's not that I mind a story that assumes Global Warming as a setting/plot point, but it seemed he had to keep telling me about it (in a somewhat preachy manner) every third page, I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Too bad, really, I found the story concept quite intriguing. :shrug:

One thing about Brin, that I like and dislike at the same time, is that he almost never explains anything, you have to figure out what's being discussed from context. That means you don't get the story line interrupted by a lengthy treatise on, say the political/culture structure of a colony world that's been cut off from the rest of the human diaspora, but you have to spend a lot of time/effort figuring out that structure from the contextual off-hand comments and interactions of the characters. It makes the story flow nicely, and it's a good intellectual exercise, but it can be confusing in the early part of a story.

Is this an ebook directed question? Because currently I am reading DarkAngel by Meredith Ann Pierce. The last ebook I read was Margaret and Lizz Weiss' Warrior Angel that was so horrible it made me want to poke my eyes out.

I liked Brin's Kiln People, and Glory Season, but I found Earth too aggressively propa-green-dist for my tastes -- it's not that I mind a story that assumes Global Warming as a setting/plot point, but it seemed he had to keep telling me about it (in a somewhat preachy manner) every third page, I gave up about 1/3 of the way through. Too bad, really, I found the story concept quite intriguing. :shrug:

One thing about Brin, that I like and dislike at the same time, is that he almost never explains anything, you have to figure out what's being discussed from context. That means you don't get the story line interrupted by a lengthy treatise on, say the political/culture structure of a colony world that's been cut off from the rest of the human diaspora, but you have to spend a lot of time/effort figuring out that structure from the contextual off-hand comments and interactions of the characters. It makes the story flow nicely, and it's a good intellectual exercise, but it can be confusing in the early part of a story.

NatCH --

Run out and acquire Brin's Uplift books (Sundiver, Startide Rising, The Uplift War, Brightness Reef, Infinity's Shore, and Heaven's Reach). Anyone who can have a character (paraphrasing here) experience 'a strong sense of deja-vu caused by a near-miss by a probability weapon' (he worded it better) is just not to be missed. That series is my favorite of his books, btw.

Xenophon

P.S. Sundiver is the weakest entry in the series, although still quite good. You can read the others without having read Sundiver, and not miss too much.

Thanks for the recommedation, Xenophon. :nice:

I've had the uplift books recommended to me before, so they're on my second string list, i.e. stuff to look at when I'm out of books by my 'favorite' authors. :wink:

Is this an ebook directed question?Whether it was intended to be or not, it seems to have firmly branched out to 'whatever' format. :beam:

Darkangel is quite good. The sequels are good, too. :)

Funny, I liked Sundiver a lot, but it stands a bit apart from the other "Uplift" books. It's really a mystery in an SF setting. The others are more space-opera, I think. (I liked them, too.)

I know what you mean about Earth, I guess I just liked the exploration of online communities a lot (and the black hole stuff, too). And the idea of teens as "tribes."

I suppose I should also recommend The Diamond Age in this context, though we've discussed it in this forum before.

@yvan, I should also recommend Iain Banks, particularly The Player of Games.

Whether it was intended to be or not, it seems to have firmly branched out to 'whatever' format. :beam:
I know I did mention one book in paper because I wanted to make the point that I can't find it in ebook format. Some of the other books I've mentioned are available in ebook format, but not "officially." ;)

I don't see a problem with discussing non-e-books as well -- we are Readers as well as Mobile. Besides, last I checked, paper books were still fairly mobile. :grin:

Say! There are many threads popping up that cater to the same, exact subject. We should have a permanent book forum in the Frontpage dedicated to that.
Alex?

Has anyone ever moseyed over to LibraryThing (http://librarything.com)? You can even start your own group. We're all committed readers out there. It's fun.

@yvan, I've been meaning to say, since you're such a Cherryh fan, check out http://www.solstation.com/. There are some extremely cool 3-D star maps there (not suitable for e ink, though!)

@yvan, I've been meaning to say, since you're such a Cherryh fan, check out http://www.solstation.com/. There are some extremely cool 3-D star maps there (not suitable for e ink, though!)
I'm afraid not to a phoneline surfer either! :uhoh2:

Oops. But you can also download the files and run it locally. And it really does help to see where the stars are. :)

That would be nice, especially while reading Asimov's Foundation. He uses many common star systems. But I wonder where Trantor is? :smiley2:

It's just there, a bit to the right of the core. :laugh4:

:D

The thing about Cherry's works is that she did mostly use real stars (even if she was a bit off on where they were sometimes). I had an interesting conversation with her brother, David Cherry, about the time they put together a map of Union/Alliance space that ended up getting used in a boardgame by Mayfair Games (I have that game, too!)

I have a copy of that map on my personal laptop, but it's in the shop with a busted power switch at the moment. (Good thing I have my iLiad to play with!) I think it appears in several of the books, anyway.

Currently reading:
Winning by Jack & Suzy Welch (yep, the free excerpt that came with the reader hooked me!)
Foundation by Asimov <- Oddly enough, never had read it... :o
The Gripping Hand by Pournelle/Niven/Barnes <- Read many times. Enjoying again.
The Three Musketeers
In Fisherman April Issue in p.

Currently reading (on the reader):
Lies of locke lamora (LG was right, it does improve towards the middle)
a Study in Scarlet (compliment of sir arthur and harryT)
Walt Disney - Biography (compliment of Sony Connect Store 50$ credit)

I just downloaded Cory Doctorow's "Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town" (http://craphound.com/?p=150), which is available as a free download in multiple formats (eReader, iSilo, MobiPocket, plain text, printable PDF, HTML, Plucker, iPod, etc.).

I'm also reading "Geek Mafia" (http://manybooks.net/titles/dakanrother07Geek_Mafia.html) by Rick Dakan (http://rickdakan.com/) and Hamish MacDonald's (http://www.hamishmacdonald.com/) novel "doubleZero." (http://manybooks.net/titles/macdonaldhother06doubleZero.html)

:cool: --ryan

I just read "In Cold Blood" on the Sony Reader, downloaded from CONNECT. Needless to say, it was very good. I did find one typo; the word, "blamed" appeared like this "bLarned" in two different chapters, but compared to the probably 60 typos in "1984," it was excellent copy.

For some reason I am sensitive to those misspellings.

Regards,

Matt

For some reason I am sensitive to those misspellings.



Me too...

:cool: --ryan

I'm reading "Failure is Not an Option" from Sony Connect. It's written by Gene Kranz, one of the early members of the space program who wrote the procedures for the early Mercury missions, the became the assistant flight director and so forth. He's probably most famous for being the Apollo 13 flight director.

So far, this is one of the best books I've ever read. Maybe that's hyperbole because it's fresh in my mind and I'm enjoying it so much now, but really it is that good.

He's writing from a position of authority and first hand experience in one of the most exciting projects/programs you can imagine. There's a lot of detail, so you need to really want to know about the space program, but if you are interested, this is a must read. (With the caveat that I'm only about 15% into the book, so it is possible it becomes a dud later, but I really doubt it will!)

Connect says it's "The thrilling story of NASA's Mission Control teams that guided the 'Apollo' spacecraft through successful lunar landings is recounted by 'Apollo 13' flight director Gene Kranz." But it starts out with the first manned Mercury flights, and the whole description is fascinating and mind blowing. It's almost surreal, it's so out of the ordinary. It makes you want to be a part of something that will change the world.

There's not a lot of discussion about the Russian space program, which was way ahead of NASA, but it was referred to by him in the beginning because apprently it was pretty intimidating to be racing such an advanced team with proven successes already, especially when they had been having a lot of problems getting rockets to fly right and had never put a man into space. He probably didn't know too much about what they were doing, though, because he says that the defense dept didn't really want to share with civilians on the space program how much they knew from their intelligence sources. I wish there was an equivalent book about the Russian space program also. It would be fascinating to see the same thing done by a whole other group of people independently.

Just finished Hearts in Atlantis and started The Dark Tower VII by S. King .
The former is not typical S. King though. It is more like a real life novel than any fantasy/mystery/horror stuff. I was a bit surprised. Still liked it though...

Currently reading "The Courtship of Princess Leia" in paperback whilst I await the arrival of my sony reader.

I've only read one C J Cherryh, something about a female warrior tracking back through some stargate type things (it's been a while), I enjoyed it though.

recommendations :-
"Gates of Fire" - Steven Pressfield, story of the 300 Spartans at Thermoplyae, much better than the recent '300' film.

Currently reading Black Order (http://ebooks.connect.com/product/400/000/000/000/000/035/230/400000000000000035230.html) (Sigma Force novel). Pure action and lots of fun if you want to read something without using your brain too much. According to HarperCollins: Combining the historic scope of The Da Vinci Code with the relentless thrills of today's best action novels, James Rollins's Black Order is a classic adventure -- an ingenious and breathtaking tour de force that explodes with revelations . . . while offering a startling new view of our place in the grand scheme of existence.

Finished the 'Foundation' 15 series by Asimov.

Now in the 'Rama' trilogy by A. C. Clarke

Reading the Templar Legacy atm. Seems pretty good so far, decent/realistic action and interesting plot line. At least this one hasn't bored me to tears like the last book I tried to read (title/author withheld).

So many books I want to jump into, why can't there be more me's sharing a single, shared memory??? Can we say "hive-mind?" :gossip:

Reading the Templar Legacy atm. Seems pretty good so far, decent/realistic action and interesting plot line. At least this one hasn't bored me to tears like the last book I tried to read (title/author withheld).

So many books I want to jump into, why can't there be more me's sharing a single, shared memory??? Can we say "hive-mind?" :gossip:
Precisely the reason you should say about what you found boring. There's so much to read that we need other's input. Isn't it one of the main points of this thread?

Having said that, I'd have to be honest or cruel and say that the Foundation series suffers some dragging in almost every tome of the fifteen. It might seem irreverent talking in such a way of one of scifi pillar's work, but it's honest. The whole series could have shrunk to a maximum of eight books instead of the fifteen. The style is beautiful, but the over writing gives the punch away far in advance. Meaning that while the eyes are locked in the flourish of the words, the brain has had ample time to figure the plot. I found out all 15 plots before the end, leaving the eyes to work for themselves. But I did learn more English!

As for Rama, the first one is pretty good but the second, which I'm halfway in, suffers from "enflure verbale"(as we'd say in French) verbal swelling if that conveys an adequate image. I don't know why authors do that in sequels. Do we really need more words to describe things? Or side stories to furnish a thin plot? It changes the rythm that we liked in the first tome; thus the enjoyment.
At least it shoud be consistent in style.

These works are 'must read' to any scifi enthusiasts for they are classics. All that my ramblings point to is that these stories themselves are very good and quite imaginative. But so are stories by more recent authors more akin to today's bustling rythms.

"Verbal swelling." I like that. And yes, it conveys the image nicely. :smiley2:

Currently almost finished Lady of the Lakes, by JC Hall. If you like fantasy but are tired of the same old David Eddings type, this one is very different. First of all, one of the main protagonists is female, which is very rare in fantasy. Second, part of it is about parallel worlds and traveling between them, but in a fantasy context. Really good. I recommend it.

It was fast-paced and enjoyable, but not really funny (as I thought it would be).

Other books I'm reading:

I'm also re-reading The Night Land by William Hope Hodgson, and The Thirty-Nine Steps, recently posted in the download section for the Sony Reader.

And last, I'm reading Om: The Secret of Ahbor Valley, by Talbot Mundy, that I recently posted.

Don

When I was much younger I read the Rama trilogy by A.C. Clarke and I hated it. I felt it could have been combined into one volume. I kept buying the next book hoping the author would provide the answers. Alas I never found the answers I was looking for.

Since then I have been very sceptical of any Sci-fi or Fantasy series when there is always another book to purchase and I dislike these stretched out stories. (Does anyone remember the TV series "The Fugitive" - every episode was the same - just with different characters in it.)

And why oh why do some authors give their characters such unpronouncable names? As soon as I flip through a book and notice these the book gets put back on the shelf.

I mostly avoid sci-fi and fantasy these days unless It is related to life on earth as I know it. It has to be believable (to me) not necessarily realistic.

My favourites tend to be old pulp sci-fi such as, John Wyndham's - The Day of the Triffids, Fredric Brown - The Mind Thing, and any Robot story by Isaac Asimov.

How do I choose my favourite books when I have so many? The list would be very long. However, some of them are:

Pearl S. Buck - The Good Earth
Alexandre Dumas - The Count of Monte Cristo
Kenn Follett - The Pillars of the Earth
Bryce Courtenay - The Potato Factory
Larry McMurtry - Lonesome dove
Michael Crichton - Next
Stephen King - Cell
Stephen King - The Stand
Tim Green - Exact Revenge
Simon Clark - The Night of the Triffids

When I was much younger I read the Rama trilogy by A.C. Clarke and I hated it. I felt it could have been combined into one volume. I kept buying the next book hoping the author would provide the answers. Alas I never found the answers I was looking for.

Agreed, I'm still suffering through it. But I want to know how it ends, I'm 3/4 in the last one! :vulcan:

I have to say the Rama series didn't do anything for me, either, but I've liked some of his other works. The Deep Range and Dolphin Island come to mind as very readable and enjoyable. But of that era of SF, I prefer Heinlein.

I have some Heinlein, I'll get to it soon. Thanks Neko.

There is so much to read and the house needs fixing and the days are longer and... pfeww! One day I'll get some vacation...

Finished the The Templar Legacy the other night and picked up a guilty pleasure I had been wanting to check out for a long time by one of my favorite authors Piers Anthony.


The Templar Legacy (Steve Berry) - A really enjoyable read that moved along quite nicely, without any noticeable "verbal swelling,;)" it was easy to consume 100+ pages in a quick wind down session before dozing off to sleep for the night. The story follows Cotton Malone as he seeks to aid a friend/ex-boss resolve family issues and the mysteries surrounding her husband's untimely demise and his legacy, uncovering the mysterious secret society, the Templars, along the way.


The action wasn't over-the-top, the facts were quite well corroborated (and detailed in the appendix to separate fact from fiction), and the characters weren't over-developed. I have the next volume in the series, The Alexandria Link, but I'm waiting to pick it up until I've finished a few others. So many books, so little time, plus I like to switch genres between reads. I would defintely read this author again without a hitch, though I'd say my all-time favorite in this theme, secret society, etc., is Foucalt's Pendulum, by Umberto Eco (actually tops my list of favorite books of all time).


Pornucopia (Piers Anthony) - Let me start by saying this book is definitely not for everyone, especially youngsters (if you can't buy Playboy, don't even think about it), so read a review before you pick up the book and if you're easily offended steer clear. Now that's out of the way... I've been reading Piers Anthony since I was originally turned on to his Xanth fantasy novels (25+ in the series) 20+ years ago and really enjoyed his Incarnations of Immortality series as well, he has others too. He is a great author that enjoys his work and does an incredible job at it too! I had heard rumors of his "other" work, but it is nigh impossible to find this book in print, needless to say, I found a copy. The story is actually quite funny, but downright obscene, yet it's moving along quite rapidly (started the other day and I'm almost half-way through it already!). Let's just say, it doesn't leave much to the imagination.


The story is about a man that has a run-in with a succubus (a female demon skilled in seduction) and the story procedes from there. Check out the reviews on Amazon if you want more details, but I don't want to give anything away and want this to remain PG-13. Suffice it to say, it's not for everyone but if you want a funny, yet dirty/raunchy, read and you've read Piers Anthony before and are curious about his lesser-known work, give it a try. You've been warned! :devil:


Be advised, if you've never read Piers Anthony's before, don't judge his other titles by the subject matter of this book, they are nothing alike and he's very careful to keep his other novels teen-friendly. He has sold millions of books and they are a blast to read (his Xanth novels are full of silly, and many times dumb, puns, to you always get a good chuckle).

If you've never read any Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse is possibly his best. I think the earlier books in any of his series tend to be the best written. But then, I'm indifferent to puns and prefer drier humor most of the time.

On the other hand, if you like puns and somewhat slapstick humor at times, Spider Robinson is worth a try, particularly the Callahan's Bar stories. Somehow I find them more likable (possibly a bit more mature) than the Piers Anthony style of humor.

Or, going in the other direction, you could check out Robert Asprin's Mythadventures series....

If you've never read any Piers Anthony, On a Pale Horse is possibly his best. I think the earlier books in any of his series tend to be the best written. But then, I'm indifferent to puns and prefer drier humor most of the time.

On the other hand, if you like puns and somewhat slapstick humor at times, Spider Robinson is worth a try, particularly the Callahan's Bar stories. Somehow I find them more likable (possibly a bit more mature) than the Piers Anthony style of humor.

Or, going in the other direction, you could check out Robert Asprin's Mythadventures series....

Thanks for the recommendations Nekokami, I've actually read most of Spider & Asprin's works - it's tough to pick a favorite, but I kind of lean toward the goofy/over-the-top stuff like Asprin & Anthony's works, though I like them all.

My favorite Anthony's work is the Incarnations series, Bearing an Hourglass being my favorite in that one, with For the Love of Evil a close second. I don't know, I guess I just like the idea of the personification of all that power and how they cope with it; i.e., they don't have it forever and what they do with it effects more than just them. My preference could be that Hourglass was the first one I read, even before the Xanth novels, but it opened the doors to a new author for me, one that ended up being one of my favorites.

I liked the Xanth 'trilogy' up through Golem in the Gears, then they started seeming increasingly rushed, like he got to be in such a hurry to tell the story (and cram in as many puns as possible, so there's good there too), that he lost sight of telling the story of the characters. I stopped buying/reading the new ones entirely some years ago. :shrug:

Azayzel, you might like Christopher Stasheff's Warlock In Spite of Himself and sequels. Also, try C. Dale Brittain's A Bad Spell in Yurt etc., and possibly Patricia Wrede's "... with Dragons" books, T.H. White's Mistress Masham's Repose and (for a switch to SF) James White's "Sector General" books (medical mystery humor SF -- that enough combinations for you?) I think you also might like City of Baraboo, Elaphant Song, and Circus World by Barry B. Longyear, which are just recently back in print. I'm sure you've already read Douglas Adams.

And obviously, if you haven't yet read Good Omens by Neil Gaiman & Terry Prachett, run, do not walk, to your nearest bookstore (or internet connection) and get yourself a copy. Possibly more than one. ;)

... you might like Christopher Stasheff's Warlock In Spite of Himself and sequels.I found I preferred Her Majesty's Wizard and the first several sequels (Wizard In Rhyme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Stasheff#Wizard_in_Rhyme) series). After the first few, they seemed to lose something, though. But the (current) last one The Feline Wizard (if I remember rightly), was quite good. :shrug:

I really wish that Stasheff would go back to his Starship Troupers series (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christopher_Stasheff#Starship_Troupers) -- a repertory theater company on space-ships is actually quite amusing, and the last published book clearly anticipated another installment, but it's been 13 years, so I suppose I hope in vain. :sigh:

Reading Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe...Holy cow...

...soon I will start the Mass Effect novel Revleation (in anticipation for the 360 game).

Long time I didn't post here.

I have finished The Dark Tower series a few weeks ago. Fantastic saga. Don't care that there are so many people moans about the last 3 books and about the ending of the story. I believe the books are brilliant and the ending could not be different as King said.

Just finished The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay. A real page turner. However, I believe it is not as good as Tigana or The Last Light of the Sun. Too many time gaps in the story that I wish were filled in and I am not happy with the ending but nonetheless the book is very enjoyable.

Now I am supposed to be ashamed because I started to read for the first time in my life Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. So far, I am not impressed...

Now I am supposed to be ashamed because I started to read for the first time in my life Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin. So far, I am not impressed...
If you don't like one of the Earthsea books, skip ahead to the next one. I myself think the first one was a bit slow. But I really liked Tehanu and The Other Wind, her recent additions to this set of books, and Tehanu wouldn't make nearly as much sense without having first read The Tombs of Atuan, while similarly, The Other Wind is really best read after The Farthest Shore. There is also a set of short stories that could be read at any time, and you might find that you enjoy the other books better if you read the short stories first.

A Wizard of Earthsea was probably considered such a great book partly because of the time in which it was published-- up to that point, most fantasy was still imitating Tolkein, and additionally, the year after A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin published The Left Hand of Darkness, which won both a Hugo and a Nebula.

Just finished "L'Homme qui devint Dieu" from Gérald Messadié in paper. It's a novel I'd read in 87 when in came out about the life of Jesus. It was very controversial at that time. At this reread it seems dated in the theological discoveries. Unfortunately I found no trace of a translation to English. It should be.

Just started the whole of Steve Jordan's self published ebooks! Enjoying it so far, he's got a good 'esthetist' feel to it!

If you don't like one of the Earthsea books, skip ahead to the next one. I myself think the first one was a bit slow. But I really liked Tehanu and The Other Wind, her recent additions to this set of books, and Tehanu wouldn't make nearly as much sense without having first read The Tombs of Atuan, while similarly, The Other Wind is really best read after The Farthest Shore. There is also a set of short stories that could be read at any time, and you might find that you enjoy the other books better if you read the short stories first.

A Wizard of Earthsea was probably considered such a great book partly because of the time in which it was published-- up to that point, most fantasy was still imitating Tolkein, and additionally, the year after A Wizard of Earthsea, Le Guin published The Left Hand of Darkness, which won both a Hugo and a Nebula.

Thanks for a tip.
I think I will go through book 1 and book 2. If I don't like them I stop.
I have not read any HP books yet but I have seen movies and reading A Wizard of Earthsea feels like a the first HP movie was based on this book :) Small buy, no parents, natural talents, goes to far away school to learn magic, rivals in school...I think Rowling is a big fan of Earthsea :)

Still in Asimov's 'Foundation' 15book series.

Where did you get all 15 e-books , I've only found 3 :(

Started to read The Road (http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=284838) by McCarthy. A very gloomy and depressing story about a father and a son who try to survive in an Utopian America.

Started to read The Road (http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=284838) by McCarthy. A very gloomy and depressing story about a father and a son who try to survive in an Utopian America.

I just finished it! What a great novel! It really touched me. I can understand all the fuss about it.

By the way, it reminded me of Parable of the Sower, a science fiction novel by Octavia Butler where the characters had to travel through a California devastated by the global warming. And I thought that Octavia Butler was being pessimistic! :D

Started to read The Road (http://www.ebooks.com/ebooks/book_display.asp?IID=284838) by McCarthy. A very gloomy and depressing story about a father and a son who try to survive in an Utopian America.

Have heard a lot about it and decided to postpone reading the book for a while. Don't want to read grim books after The Dark Tower series and The Lions of Al-Rassan. Need something lighter :)

In newly published books I just finished I'll Sleep When I'm Dead by Crystal Zevon. It is described as "The dirty life and times of Warren Zevon."

For those of you who may not know, the late Warren Zevon was a musician. His most famous songs were "Werewolves of London", "Lawyers, Guns and Money", "Hasten Down the Wind", and "Poor, Poor Pitiful Me." Crystal Zevon was his ex-wife. He approved the project before his death under the provision that she tell the truth, "warts and all."

As a long time Zevon fan I was interested in the material and found it to be a fascinating read -- warts and all.

Still in Asimov's 'Foundation' 15book series. Looking forward to CJ Cherryh's 'Company Wars'.

Where did you get all 15 e-books , I've only found 3 :(I think he's referring to the other books in that universe. They could be considered part of the Foundation series or not, depending on how you want to look at it. If you interpret it really strictly, then they're not, but it's not really that much of a stretch to pull them in, as there is, indeed a common over-plot in the lot.

Here's a list of them (http://www.amazon.com/Asimovs-Foundation-Chronology/lm/R3PD6CVJ5LEB2/ref=cm_lmt_srch_f_2_rsrsrs0/105-5793919-8282800), and a slightly different list here (http://www.amazon.com/Asimovs-Foundation-Books-HIS-Order/lm/1MD60QA4ZF9JH/ref=cm_lmt_fvlm_f_1_rlrsrs0/105-5793919-8282800) that includes some 'Foundation' books not written by Asimov.

Nah there are 7 books in the Foundation series From Prelude to forward the foundation. Then there are the robot (Earth) books. Asimov did try to combine the two series later in his life, but to me those efforts (Foundation and earth and robots and empire) have always seemed artificial.

Which illustrates my point that it's a matter of how you interpret what makes up the series very nicely. :nice:

I'm currently reading in no particular order...

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince by J.K. Rowling
On the reader and yes I own the hardcover
Read the Whirlwind by David Mack
Paperback
Obsidian Alliances (Star Trek Mirror Universe, Bk. II) by Peter David, Keith R. A. DeCandido, and Sarah Shaw
Paperback
The Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket
On the reader
Mere Anarchy 1: Things Fall Apart by Dayton Ward and Kevin Dilmore
On the reader

Been away for a few days.

Kovidgoyal is right about the foundation series. When I looked the series up in the wiki I clicked on this link (http://www3.sympatico.ca/n.rieck/links/cool_sci_fi.html#asimov-suggested-reading-order) where Isaak describes the order the books should be read in. He slipped in a measly other 8 books to accompany the saga.

Most of what I read from that series comes from paper. NatCh gave a good source to find them. Unfortunately paper is still the major source for older titles not yet on Public Domain.

Travis McGee was a "salvage consultant" who would recover anything for you at a fee of half the value. You accepted this because you could not recover your property by any other means.

McGee lived on his barge-type houseboat in a marina in Fort Lauderdale Florida. He took his retirement in installments whenever he had cash in his hidey-hole. His successes resulted from his wits and speed. He was a large rough-hewn man deeply browned by the sun.

The character McGee developed over time to a more introspective one with self-doubt. The stories span almost twenty years and in that time we see McGee age and become more vulnerable.

The stories were always full of action, romance, and the wisdom MacDonald injected into them. MacDonald was one of our most prized authors.

It was with considerable sadness that I closed the 21st McGee novel, "The Lonely Silver Rain". McGee was clearly retiring permanently. I had read the series for the first time more than 10 years ago. This time, I read them during April and May. John D MacDonald died in 1986. There will be no more Travis McGee stories.

Thanks for a tip.
I think I will go through book 1 and book 2. If I don't like them I stop.
I have not read any HP books yet but I have seen movies and reading A Wizard of Earthsea feels like a the first HP movie was based on this book :) Small buy, no parents, natural talents, goes to far away school to learn magic, rivals in school...I think Rowling is a big fan of Earthsea :)
It's a pretty common theme, really. Even more common if you're willing to include books about talented orphans going away to school that don't involve magic. For what it's worth, the Harry Potter books don't read like Le Guin (I think they read more smoothly, actually).

The plot of A Wizard of Earthsea takes a sharp turn from any of the HP books about halfway through. Again, I think the first one may be the weakest. The plot and characterization of The Tombs of Atuan are much stronger, and the idea behind The Farthest Shore is... deep, for lack of a better word.

Yet, the books she wrote twenty years later in the same world are much more interesting, to my mind. At the time that Le Guin was writing the first Earthsea books, there were a lot of unconscious assumptions in fantasy (e.g. all wizards are male, but that's the simplest one). Its odd, because Le Guin was writing science fiction during the same period that challenged many assumptions and stereotypes. When Le Guin returned to Earthsea, two decades later, these assumptions apparently jumped out at her, and she found a way to write sequels without the same assumptions that somehow still worked -- they explained how things had gotten to be the way they were in the first books, and caused the reader (or me, at least) to go back and re-interpret what I thought I understood about the first books. I always like it when a writer can bring the reader to that kind of reinterpretation.

le Guin describes stuff too much and the way she does it just gets in the way of the story.

Well I am 3/4 through the first book. Going to read the second one as well. Then who knows? :) Though I might be interrupted at some point. I managed to lay my hands on a copy of The Terror by Dan Simmons. Some people say it is a very good book ;)

Well I am 3/4 through the first book. Going to read the second one as well. Then who knows? :) Though I might be interrupted at some point. I managed to lay my hands on a copy of The Terror by Dan Simmons. Some people say it is a very good book ;)
I've read the Hyperion and Endymion sagas. This guy knows how to move stories, rarely a dead moment. Of course you can't say as much for the characters! :grin:

I've read the Hyperion and Endymion sagas. This guy knows how to move stories, rarely a dead moment. Of course you can't say as much for the characters! :grin:

Ditto.
Read them same books. I was not very impressed by Hyperion (poet's life was way too borring to me) but I really liked Endymion. I guess it is because they are written in different styles. Hyperion was Sci-fi and Endymion Sci-fi too but I was reading like an adventure so I liked it much more. Female terminator, oops robot reminded me female terminator from T3 :)

I liked the Xanth 'trilogy' up through Golem in the Gears, then they started seeming increasingly rushed, like he got to be in such a hurry to tell the story (and cram in as many puns as possible, so there's good there too), that he lost sight of telling the story of the characters. I stopped buying/reading the new ones entirely some years ago. :shrug:
If you like punny fantasy, you might try Steven Brust. He creates some interesting characters, like Vlad Taltos, the assassin-hero of Jhereg and some if his other novels (http://dreamcafe.com/books.html), and interesting plots. Brust is Hungarian-American. His stories often contain Gypsy elements. Brust is a talented musician and a generally colorful character. You can read about Brust and his books here (http://dreamcafe.com/main.cgi).

http://dreamcafe.com/graphics/piratepoker.jpg

I've been intrigued by the looks of The Phoenix Guard for years, but I've always had something else I wanted to read when I ran across it. :shrug:

Your recommendation increases the odds of my actually picking up a copy, though. :cheesy:

I second the recommendation of Brust. Phoenix Guards and the books that go with it are different from his Vlad Taltos books, though-- they are a deliberate attempt to simulate the style (and to some extent, the content) of the works of Alexandre Dumas. The Taltos books are written in a more contemporary style, a bit like Zelazny on his good days, I'd say. I liked both. Lots. (I'm currently re-reading my Brust collection.) I have not been able to find any of them in "legal" ebook format, however (and I have not been able to find Phoenix Guards and its sequels in ebook form at all, so if anyone else has, please let me know).

Brust is on LiveJournal here: http://skzbrust.livejournal.com/ and his comments about writing are almost as much fun as the books themselves. :D

I have a few books going...
Allen Steele' "Coyote Frontier", Eric Flint "1924", "The Monk and the Cypher", about Roger Bacon. To cap it off, Ian Fleming's "Thunderball". All are on my Reader, so it is easy to switch as my mood changes.

le Guin describes stuff too much and the way she does it just gets in the way of the story.

I read The Wizard of Earthsea a couple of months ago and boy was I surprised. Such a tiny book took me sooooo long to read! I'll try her other books since the consensus seems to be that they're better.

Right now I'm reading The Fall of Reach (Halo novel). Next up for me is either Cryptonomicon (Stephenson) or Red Mars (Robinson). Any advice?

I read The Wizard of Earthsea a couple of months ago and boy was I surprised. Such a tiny book took me sooooo long to read! I'll try her other books since the consensus seems to be that they're better.

Right now I'm reading The Fall of Reach (Halo novel). Next up for me is either Cryptonomicon (Stephenson) or Red Mars (Robinson). Any advice?
Don't bother. They aren't much better. That is my opinion. I never really cared for her work. It's not the stories, but the way she writes. Just don't work for me.

Almost finished The Tombs of Atuan.

An improvement on A Wizard of Earthsea but .....something in the way she writes doesn't suit me well. I will continue nonetheless.

just started the high school boys omnibus from harry. good quick breezy read

for kids of all ages

Almost finished The Tombs of Atuan.

An improvement on A Wizard of Earthsea but .....something in the way she writes doesn't suit me well. I will continue nonetheless.
I suggest you try Tales from Earthsea next. That has short stories written more recently, and her style has changed over time. Reading those short stories will work fine after Tombs. If you don't care for Tales, you might want to try a different author. Maybe Diana Wynne Jones, if you do like fantasy. If I knew what else you do like, I might be able to make a better recommendation.

Le Guin is not an "action" author in any case, and won't appeal to everyone. I happen to like her quite a bit, but I'm not always in the mood for her stuff either.

I'm going to be taking Niven's Building Harlequin's Moon and Allen Steele's Coyote with me on vacation... both paper. I have a few Dr. Who books on my PDA that I haven't read yet. Unfortunately, I know I won't finish them all in a week! (Besides, I'll be spending some of that time writing my next book!)

I suggest you try Tales from Earthsea next. That has short stories written more recently, and her style has changed over time. Reading those short stories will work fine after Tombs. If you don't care for Tales, you might want to try a different author. Maybe Diana Wynne Jones, if you do like fantasy. If I knew what else you do like, I might be able to make a better recommendation.

Le Guin is not an "action" author in any case, and won't appeal to everyone. I happen to like her quite a bit, but I'm not always in the mood for her stuff either.

Thanks :)

Mostly I read only fantasy. I have a long list of what I would like to read. Earthsea was the next on the list after The Lions of Al-Rassan :) I just thought that Earthsea belongs to fantasy classics so I have to read it at some point. A friend of mine who liked The Black Company series by Glen Cook (which I really enjoyed), also liked Earthsea and I wanted to give it a try. Unfortunatelly it is not my type. I will finish it anyway. At least the four major books and maybe the fifth as well. They are pretty short. Then I will read The Terror by Dan Simmons, then....maybe I will start reading HP or Perdido Street Station by China Mieville or Anansi Boys/American Gods/Stardust by Neil Gaiman. Then...Robin Hobb, her third and fourth trilogies.

The list is very long for a slow reader like me :) Probably will take me 2 years to finish everything I said.

P.S. Then there will be Black Man and Ysabel in a new future to read as soon as I can :)

Sounds like you would probably like Steven Brust's Vlad Taltos series, and I highly recommend Garth Nix's Abhorsen trilogy. If you like contemporary fantasy, I'd recommend Patricia Briggs and maybe Charles de Lint (though he may be a bit slow for you). If you are considering Harry Potter, I would recommend Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaeus trilogy, Diana Wynne Jones, particularly the Chrestomanci books, Garth Nix's Keys to the Kingdom series, and possibly Diane Duane's Young Wizards. You might also like Tamora Pierce's Tortall books.

Since you're not really enjoying Le Guin, I would suggest that you steer away from C.J. Cherryh's fantasy, as well as Patricia McKillip, and Robin McKinley is likely to be chancy for you as well, though you might like The Blue Sword. (These are all authors/books I really liked, but their pace and style more resembles Le Guin than the others I mentioned.)

Happy reading! :)

I'm now reading The Road (mobipocket) by Cormac McCarthy. WOW :2thumbsup

I just started "Heart-Shaped Box" by Joe Hill. So far, it's exquisitely creepy, just like his dad's stuff...

:cool: --ryan

I'm now reading Century Rain by Alastair Reynolds. This is my first Reynolds book and I'll probably be reading Chasm City next. Really good book so far (about 1/3 complete). It's a shame that his other works (Revelation Space) are not available in an Ebook format.

I'm reading Woken Furies, the last book in Richard Morgans's Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. A bit of cyberpunk, a bit of the Singularity, a lot of action. Each book feels a little bit different, but all have been excellent so far.

I have started reading some serious sci-fi classics from Brian Aldiss "Saliva Tree" and than going for Philip K. Dick's books. And just yesterday finished listening to Stephen King's Salem's Lot. First time ever done it and it was very impressive. Have to admit, unabridged audio books are great :).

I'm reading Woken Furies, the last book in Richard Morgans's Takeshi Kovacs trilogy. A bit of cyberpunk, a bit of the Singularity, a lot of action. Each book feels a little bit different, but all have been excellent so far.

I just read the first two of the series within the last month, the first was better than the second but both were pretty good, looking forward to the third. Then I read Blind Shrike by Richard Kadrey and it was a decent quick read, especially for a free book (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9460). Last night I just finished the second book in HarryT's Haggard Anthology (http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=10333).

I just finished Pratchett's Wee Free Men and A Hatful of Sky. I haven't read any other Discworld novels, but I really liked Good Omens. I highly recommend these two books. I'm going to read Wintersmith next.

And, for the record, it was the online ads for Wintersmith at ebook stores that got me thinking about reading these books!

Currently, I'm reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Currently, I'm reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Same here. I'm half-way done. I'm liking it.

A couple of days ago I finally finished 5 books Earthsea. Definitely it is not my cup of tea. Let alone Tihanu was a bit too feministic for my liking...

Started The Terror by Dan Simmons.

Now that HP's done I'm back to Cherryh's 'Company Wars' and then back to Steve Jordan.

I recently read a short story by Stephen King in Esquire magazine, then was driven to read the first of the Dark Tower series (the Gunslinger), which I've been meaning to do for a long time. I immediately read the second after that (the Drawing of the Three), then had to break for HP, now I'm reading the third Dark Tower (the Wastelands). I can't believe I waited so long for the Dark Tower series

Once I finish HP7, I have a couple Star Trek books to read and then I plan on reading a Steve Jordan book.

I'm currently reading Pratchett's first Discworld book, The Colors of Magic. So far I don't like it nearly as well as I liked the "young adult" Discworld books, Wee Free Men and A Hatful of Sky. But I'll stay with it for now.

I'm currently finishing up Grotesque, by Natsuo Kirino. It's a kind of murder mystery, but it's also about an egocentric and perhaps unreliable narrator.

It's an unusual book, constructed with different narratives, what literary critic Bakhtin calls heteroglossia -- many voices telling a story.

Kirino is a young Japanese writer, and this is her second book to be translated into English. I haven't yet read her first translated title.

Interestingly, I saw this at Borders over a period of about one month and I decided I wanted to buy it and read it. The real tug-of-war was whether to buy it as a hardback First Edition (for my collection), or buy it as an ebook. The ebook won out for two reasons:

1) the ebook was about $12.00 cheaper than the hardback. (It's not available yet as a trade paper.)

2) I desperately need to downsize my book collection.

Has anyone else here read any of her work?

Don

I'm currently reading Pratchett's first Discworld book, The Colors of Magic. So far I don't like it nearly as well as I liked the "young adult" Discworld books, Wee Free Men and A Hatful of Sky. But I'll stay with it for now.
I've left off on book 6. The next book to read in the Discword series is Pyramids.

Neko, it gets better :) Gets better as you go further into the book as I remember. The first 5 or 6 of his books seems like he was sort of feeling his way around "this new place". I don't think I read them until I'd read about half a dozen others. My favs begin with Wyrd Sisters, the 6th book I think. After that, everything is pretty much on my favorites list.

In Ebook, reading Bruce Alexander's Rules of Engagement and John Scalzi's Old Man's War right now.

In paper, I'm rereading my way through Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series for the 4th time. So my 4th time on Post Captain at the moment. Obviously one of my favorite authors.

and edging toward starting to reread after a long time, Stephen R. Donaldson's Gap sci/fi series prob in ebook. Have to be in a certain frame of mind to do that. :P One of the greatest sci/fi series I have ever read but dern hard to get through that first book before you know enough about the story to enjoy it. You eventually get a hint. I know when I first bought it, I picked it up and started it 3 or 4 times. Some tough stuff in there you have to assume you don't understand the whole story of and get past. hehe..

wayspooled, thanks for the suggestion about Pratchett. I tried The Colour of Magic again and I don't know, it just doesn't grab me. But I think I might skip ahead to Equal Rites, which looks more interesting to me. That should set me up well for Wyrd Sisters.

Wikipedia has quite an interesting article on Discworld, with a thematic reference to each book. I can see that there's plenty there to interest me. That first book just isn't doing it.

Edit: Right now I'm re-reading Barbara Hambly's "Benjamin January" books. I'm on the 4th, Sold Down the River. Highly recommended for those who like historical fiction, New Orleans, and/or mysteries.

Edit: Right now I'm re-reading Barbara Hambly's "Benjamin January" books. I'm on the 4th, Sold Down the River. Highly recommended for those who like historical fiction, New Orleans, and/or mysteries.

Those sound interesting. I may have to take a look. I like mysteries. I like some of most everything I guess, sort of goes in cycles. In the mood for mysteries sometimes, then I go a couple months reading fantasy, then historical fiction like O'Brian and Mallinson, then Sci/Fi for a bit, then a few contemporary things or whatever - then rinse and repeat. :) We need some favorite author/genre threads!

I haven't read anything of hers in a long time. I remember loving the first 3 books of the Darwath series, they were kind of a trilogy. Didn't like the 4th or 5th as much. Then I read the Windrose trilogy and a couple of her standalone novels, then several more Darwath books came out that I didn't like as much. And I never read anything else by her. This was looong ago.

has anyone got a copy of vintage season by cl moore?
one of the books i really want
and has anyone read the 2 john twelve hawks books yet? traveller or dark river

i have just finished i am legend (richard matherson)& ajustment team(phillip k dick) reading scanner darkly & a book called alpha and omega at mo about the history of science & its 3 revolutions its really good
i read the universe next door by marcus chown last week excellent book

wayspooled, I liked the Windrose books a lot, but not the Darwath books so much. The Benjamin January books might be better than either, even if I do generally prefer sf/fantasy (though I read a fair amount of historical fiction as well). One thing that is nice is that I think the later books are as good as the earlier ones, particularly the last one (Dead Water).

If you liked the Windrose books, you'd probably like Stranger At The Wedding, which is set in the same universe, though none of the characters overlap. It's a standalone, with more of a mystery feel, and quite funny in many places, though the overall story is serious.

Unfortunately I can't recommend Sisters of the Raven or Circle of the Moon. They were ok, and I'm not sorry I read them, but they kind of dragged along in places. They just weren't as tightly plotted as the Windrose books or the Benjamin January books.

I've just begun reading The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God). I've heard that they're the George R.R. Martin books of science fiction. I hope that's true because this is A LOT of reading...

I can highly recommend the Discword Series by Terry Pratchat. I'm currently reading Pyramids. Just started. The series is very funny. It's a mix of Sci-fi, fantasy (mostly) and humor. These are the only books I've ever read that do not have chapter breaks.

wayspooled, thanks for the suggestion about Pratchett. I tried The Colour of Magic again and I don't know, it just doesn't grab me. But I think I might skip ahead to Equal Rites, which looks more interesting to me. That should set me up well for Wyrd Sisters.

Wikipedia has quite an interesting article on Discworld, with a thematic reference to each book. I can see that there's plenty there to interest me. That first book just isn't doing it.

Edit: Right now I'm re-reading Barbara Hambly's "Benjamin January" books. I'm on the 4th, Sold Down the River. Highly recommended for those who like historical fiction, New Orleans, and/or mysteries.
The Colour of Magic does give you all kinds of info on one of Discworld's recurring characters. It is worth it to get through it just for that Because the books are different enough from each other, there are ones you may end up liking better then others. But I plan on reading them all no matter.

The Colour of Magic does give you all kinds of info on one of Discworld's recurring characters. It is worth it to get through it just for that Because the books are different enough from each other, there are ones you may end up liking better then others. But I plan on reading them all no matter.

Aye, it does. After I was hooked I went back and read everything I could find that he wrote. I've read all the young adult books, the cookbook, the Science of Discworld books and heh, anything I could find.

The regular Discworld series of books - I'd say they have a higher ratio of coffee spitting per word than anything else I've read. Of course, "Projectile Drink Spitting" is only one of the three ways I rate books. There is also the "Stop and Look Away from the Book with Mouth Slightly Ajar" (several authors paint pictures with words so well) scale as well as the "Involuntary Verbal Utterance" ie: "Holy .......!" subsequently followed by the realization I've gotten so excited about something going on that I've been skimming and have to go back and reread.

There's even a Discworld Society page I've seen somewhere with a vault of Pratchett one-liners.

What I find is I go back and reread the footnotes as the footnotes can be just so silly. But they are a fun read.

Has anyone purchased any Discworld novels from Connect Store? How are they handled?

Has anyone read (or bought from the Connect Store) Vikram Chandra's novel, Sacred Games: A Novel?

I'm very curious about this, as it seems to bridge the literary novel with genre fiction.

Thanks,
Don

I just finished Peter Watts Blindsight. Wonderful read and quite thought provoking. It plays with the idea of intelligence without sentience. Interesting. All of Watts' books are available for free at www.rifters.com

I consider his other books, Starfish, Maelstrom and Behemoth, to be must-reads, also. I've read all his stuff as ebooks, but am going to buy them all in hard copy to add to my permanent library.

Just downloaded (from the ConnStore) The New World, by Michael Stackpole, it's the third in his Age of Discover series (started with Cartomancy). I liked the first 2 and I've been looking forward to the third.

I do wish someone would release an e-version of his Talion: Revenant, that's a seriously good book.

You know, not wanting to cause any trouble or anything, but -
purely in terms of language - not even talking about plot or characters - but purely in terms of using the English language in an enjoyable, inspired and fresh way - is not anything by Pratchett automatically better than anything by Rowling?



(ducks & covers)

You know, not wanting to cause any trouble or anything, but -
purely in terms of language - not even talking about plot or characters - but purely in terms of using the English language in an enjoyable, inspired and fresh way - is not anything by Pratchett automatically better than anything by Rowling?


(ducks & covers)

I would not say automatically, but in general, yes.

I'd probably agree with that too, generally speaking. :shrug:

I'm not sure it's a fair comparison. Rowling has only published 7 books (even if they are longer than any of Pratchett's) and has had less experience with editors. Pratchett has 30+ Discworld books alone. I wouldn't say all of Pratchett's stuff is better than all of Rowling's, even in terms of language use, but proportionally his work might still be better. Still, after 30 books (not all written for kids) we'll have to see where she's gone.

has anyone got a copy of vintage season by cl moore?
one of the books i really wantI don't believe any of Moore's work is available in electronic editions. The last paper version of "Vintage Season" I recall was a Tor "double novel" release in 1990, paired with Robert Silverberg's "In Another Country". There's an eBay listing for it, and it may be up as a used book on Amazon as well.

Some of her husband Henry Kuttner's work is now in the PD and available in electronic format, but I haven't seen Moore yet.
______
Dennis

I've just begun reading The Night's Dawn trilogy by Peter F. Hamilton (The Reality Dysfunction, The Neutronium Alchemist, The Naked God). I've heard that they're the George R.R. Martin books of science fiction. I hope that's true because this is A LOT of reading...They are splendid, chock full of casually tossed off ideas other writers would make whole books of. There is also a short story volume set in that universe.

The series even ends with a Deus Ex Machina, but Hamilton makes it work. The volumes were big enough that they were published as two mass market paperbacks a piece. A friend started "The Reality Dysfunction" on my recommendation. Unfortunately, the publisher made no indication of the first PB that it was part one of a two book series. My friend was so upset at running into the metaphorical wall at the end of the first half that he refused to read anything else by Hamilton. That was a publisher's stupidity that Peter had no control over, but my friend was unmoved. Pity, as he's missing good stuff.

I've met Hamilton, and he's a neat guy. He estimated he'd made perhaps a couple of hundred dollars on royalties for ebook editions, and didn't see it as a significant force in publishing. Well, no surprise, as his publisher didn't make it obvious back then that there were electronic editions, or make it easy to find and buy them. That was a few years back. I wonder if he's seen more electronic sales since?
______
Dennis

I've been intrigued by the looks of The Phoenix Guard for years, but I've always had something else I wanted to read when I ran across it. :shrug:

Your recommendation increases the odds of my actually picking up a copy, though. :cheesy:Note that _The Phoenix Guard_ and its sequel _500 Years After_ are set in the Drageara universe, but are unlike the other novels Brust has written in that setting. They are pastiches of Alexander Dumas and "The Three Musketeers", and written in that style.

I read it, and complained to a fellow Brust fan "His characters are idiots!" "Of course they're idiots!", my friend replied. "Dumas' characters were idiots, too!". I thought about it, and realized he was right. They were young, with fine tailoring, exquisite manners, and sharp swords. Why did they need brains?

Fun, but as mentioned, unlike the other books in the setting.
______
Dennis

[/indent]Be advised, if you've never read Piers Anthony's before, don't judge his other titles by the subject matter of this book, they are nothing alike and he's very careful to keep his other novels teen-friendly. He has sold millions of books and they are a blast to read (his Xanth novels are full of silly, and many times dumb, puns, to you always get a good chuckle).<sigh>

Piers Anthony is one of the best in the genre at taking an idea and running with it. Unfortunately, he's one of the worst at knowing when to stop, and tends to run things right into the ground, with Xanth a prime example.

I'll recommend the first one or two of the Xanth books, but not beyond. I do highly recommend early books like _Macroscope_ and the "Orn, Omnivore, 0X" trilogy.

Anthony uses the profits from his writing to buy undeveloped land near him in Florida and keep it undeveloped. Xanth books sell, so he writes Xanth books. I admire the motive, but can't read the work.
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Dennis

I liked Xanth up through Golem in the Gears (~13 I think), after that he gets too interested in telling the stories (and doling out the puns) and forgets to tell the stories of the characters, at which point, he loses me. :sad:

I want a sense of community!!! (Yes, I'm very needy!)

I'm currently reading my first Hobb book, "Assasin's Apprentice," and I'm loving it.

I just bought the newest bundle of her books, and plan to buy the earlier bundle, and also the other 2 in the immediate series that I'm reading.

Her work is very engaging and thoughtful. The pace is leisurely and thought-provoking, and her characters seem real: they reflect and think.

I highly recommend the book I'm reading. From what I've read about the other 8 titles in the overall series, she is not to be missed!

So let's talk about BOOKS!!!!!


Don

The first Assassin Trilogy is amazing.
I've heard that the second trilogy (with the ships) is boring , and the 3rd one (Tawny man...) is the best.

The first Assassin Trilogy is amazing.
I've heard that the second trilogy (with the ships) is boring , and the 3rd one (Tawny man...) is the best.

I'm now reading the first book of the Second Series (about the Live Ships). I'm about 1/3 through it and thorougly enjoying it. I find it fully engrossing.

Don

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?

I just got my Sony Reader, so I decided to initiate it with Spook Country by William Gibson. It seemed like a natural choice for this medium. :)

<sigh>

Piers Anthony is one of the best in the genre at taking an idea and running with it. Unfortunately, he's one of the worst at knowing when to stop, and tends to run things right into the ground, with Xanth a prime example.

I'll recommend the first one or two of the Xanth books, but not beyond. I do highly recommend early books like _Macroscope_ and the "Orn, Omnivore, 0X" trilogy.

Anthony uses the profits from his writing to buy undeveloped land near him in Florida and keep it undeveloped. Xanth books sell, so he writes Xanth books. I admire the motive, but can't read the work.
______
Dennis

You have that right, about running a genre into the ground. He definitely did this with the Xanth series, I think they're up to 24 or 25 by now. I read one of the more recent ones a few months back and was slightly disappointed that, as NatCh put it, he forgot to develop the characters very well. My all time favorite series by him has to be the Incarnations of Immortality.

On to what I've been reading lately... I just finished a Star Wars novel called Darth Bane: The Path of Destruction. This was a pretty good read and moved along quite quickly. If you're a Star Wars fan, like I am, this helps shell out the Sith philosophy quite a bit and what drives those characters. It's dated well prior to the movies, around the Sith War time-frame. I enjoyed it quite a bit! :2thumbsup

I've read a few other books since posting here last, quick summary...
Nephilim: The Fallen Ones by Walter Keith York - Started out nice, then got way out of whack. This book could have been so much more fun, but essentially devolved into interpretive bible codes propaganda. :tired:

I, Lucifer: Finally, the Other Side of the Story by Glen Duncan - Again, so much promise here; I mean, how can you go wrong with a title writing an autobiography of the devil from his perspective. I was hoping for a good romp and ended up with a boring, stale narative that kept puting me to sleep. I tried to read it, I really did, but only made it about 1/2 through... sigh... :disappoin

Next by Michael Crichton - I enjoyed this book as it moved along at a nice pace. It revolves around bioengineering and such, I won't go into too many details. One thing that threw me off was it started with a whole slew of disconnected stories that didn't pull together until the last 1/4 of the book and ended wrapping up way too quickly; kinda leaves you hanging, if you ask me. I'm more of a hard-core far future SciFi nut, so I ended up liking his Prey book much better (can't go wrong with nanos!). :)

Blind Shrike by Richard Kadrey - Sweet! I really enjoyed this book, what a wild ride! This had pretty much non-stop action and was just plain fun. I'll have to keep an eye out for more books by this author, if this book is any indication. I think it only took a few days to finish, as I couldn't put it down. :2thumbsup:

I started to read a few others, but they were just too painful to make it past the first few chapters. grrr... good thing there are so many other choices to go with!

I am currently reading AEthereal by Christopher Wilcox Sr., it's off to a good start. We'll go from there! :thumbsup:

I'm now reading the first book of the Second Series (about the Live Ships). I'm about 1/3 through it and thorougly enjoying it. I find it fully engrossing.

Don

reading it as eBook or real book ? :-D

Just finished The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde. I regret waiting so long to read this, but the plot descriptions I read didn't interest me. It takes place in 1985 in an alternate England where the Crimean War is still going on, and Wales is a socialist republic. Part fantasy, part suspense, and part absurdity is the best description. Highly recommended.
I loved the Rocky Horror style audience participation at a performance of Richard III and the Baconians who go door to door like Jehovah's Witnesses trying to convince people that Francis Bacon wrote Shakespeare's plays. :)

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?

Hm...well, you might be able to download a demo of the Mobipocket version to see. I've had little luck retaining table of contents and footnotes when converting LIT files...sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't...

I'm now reading the first book of the Second Series (about the Live Ships). I'm about 1/3 through it and thorougly enjoying it. I find it fully engrossing.

Don

I have read only the first 2 trilogies and found them to be amongst the best fantasy I have read. Maybe I will read third and fourth trilogies after HP series (in 1 year time?).

Reading Pattern Recognition by William Gibson right now, as a warm up for his new novel Spook Country.

I just finished Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I liked it quite a bit more than The Color of Magic (which I still haven't finished). Looking forward to the next one. :)

reading it as eBook or real book ? :-D

Do we know you? :disappoin

I'm trying to decide whether to buy my next Pratchett book in Mobipocket or LIT format. I tend toward the latter, so I can be sure of being able to access the content wherever I want, but footnotes are a major feature of Pratchett's work, so I want a format that handles them well. My iLiad, naturally, will only read Mobipocket (of the available DRM nonsense formats). I can convert a LIT book, but I've heard the footnotes lose something in the translation. Can anyone comment on this?
The best solution is to try it. I don't see why the footnotes would get lost. But then, I've never converted LIT with footnotes. But if it does lose them, Want some help putting them back in?

I am currently reading the Star Trek book I posted here Music of the Spheres. I'm reading the Sony LRF version of course. It's a direct sequel to Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home. And so far I am enjoying it. And it is NOT fan-fictio. It's written by a true professional author who has written some other quite good Star Trek novels.

Sony LRF: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11822

MobiPocket PRC: http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=12979

I read Pratchett's Mort last night. I liked it, about as much as I liked Equal Rites, I guess, but not nearly as much as I liked A Hatful of Sky.

In my copy, all the footnotes were at the end, for some reason. Inconvenient, that.

I read Pratchett's Mort last night. I liked it, about as much as I liked Equal Rites, I guess, but not nearly as much as I liked A Hatful of Sky.

In my copy, all the footnotes were at the end, for some reason. Inconvenient, that.

Yeah, A Hat Full of Sky is one of my favs :) Wasn't that great? hehehe. Makes me laugh to think of it. It's the 2nd of a group that starts with The Wee Free Men I think and the one after it is Wintersmith.

Let me save you some money, Eric is not one of the best ones either.

Best ones out on ebook (at fictionwise anyway) not in order..
Guards Guards
Reaper Man
Moving Pictures
Witches Abroad
Wee Free Men
A Hat Full of Sky
Maskerade
Men At Arms
Small Gods
Lords and Ladies
Feet of Clay
Thud
Wintersmith
Interesting Times

Best ones I don't see available yet
Wyrd Sisters
Pyramids
The Fifth Elephant
Carpe Jugulum
Last Continent
Jingo
The Truth
Hogfather
Good Omens (cowritten with Neil Gaiman)
Going Postal

ehhhh ones (which doesn't mean there aren't hilarious parts)
Sourcery
Equal Rites
Color of Magic
Light Fantastic
Eric
Mort
Soul Music

Just opinion of course :) but you seem to be blase abou the same ones I am

"They can tak' oour lives but they cannae tak' oour troousers!" -Nac Mac Feegle

Yeah, I'm reading Sourcery now and wondering when it's going to get to the good part. Maybe I'll just skip ahead to the next one.

The Discworld novels that are available on Sony's Connect store are...

Eric
Thud
The Amazing Maurice and His Educated Rodents
The Wee Free Men
Small Gods
Witches Abroad
Lords and Ladies
Soul Music
Feet of Clay
Interesting Times
Men at Arms
Maskerade

Nice to know, but since I don't have a Reader, not much help to me personally.

The lack of "official" eBook formats isn't bothering me any. I make sure to buy a licensed form of what I read, and that's all I'm saying.

Nice to know, but since I don't have a Reader, not much help to me personally.

The lack of "official" eBook formats isn't bothering me any. I make sure to buy a licensed form of what I read, and that's all I'm saying.
Do you have either the ebooks or the paperbacks?

Do you have either the ebooks or the paperbacks?
It varies depending on the title. I'm a frequent customer of used book stores.

In one case, my obligation to own a legal copy of a work was satisfied by the author (not Pratchett, a different author) as a gift in return for a tshirt. :D

Just finished Jumper 2 - Reflex, by Steven J. Gould. Highly recommended, a surprisingly strong sequel to the first book. If you like spy books you'll probably like this one, even though technically the main characters are not in espionage... exactly. Good characterizations. Very good "classic science fiction" in the sense that the plot revolves around a scientific principle that is a reasonable extrapolation from known science, but with a lot of nice understanding of human nature, as well, and plenty of what Heinlein used to call "cops and robbers" to keep it interesting (and some "boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl" as well, but with some nice original twists).

I'm halfway through re-reading The Player of Games by Iain Banks. This is one of my favorite books, for a variety of reasons. I particularly like the way Banks explores the cultural (pun unavoidable) entanglements of games. There is also some clever psychology to the story. If you've never tried Banks, but are a fan of Orson Scott Card, I highly recommend this book. Unfortunately, I can't finish it at the moment because FBReader has mysteriously stopped working on my iLiad and I hate the default HTML reader the iLiad ships with. And my paper copy (my second purchased copy, after I loaned the first out and didn't get it back) is packed in one of the 12+ boxes of books in the basement. :(

(Ok, I suppose I could finish reading it on my Mac, but the whole point of having the iLiad is that it's a much nicer reading experience than the laptop -- quieter, doesn't cook my legs, no glare, etc.)

Finished HP1 in a record timer, 6 days!
Started HP2 :)

Once I got my CF card problem resolved, I finished The Player of Games. Then I read Pratchett's Witches Abroad and tonight I finished Lords and Ladies. Good stuff. I liked both of these nearly as much as A Hatful of Sky, so I think I'll read Maskerade next. Though I might step back to Small Gods, as the description on Wikipedia looks interesting.

I seem to like the stories with the witches a lot more than the others, though. My apologies to those who are huge Pratchett fans and love everything he writes, but the wizards are just too buffoonish for me (except for the Librarian, perhaps). :shrug:

Just finished Maskerade-- I'm going to buy a copy of this for my mother for Christmas, as she's a huge opera and musical theatre fan. :D I think I'll also give her Wyrd Sisters and Lords and Ladies. (I haven't decided yet if I should also give her Witches Abroad, which I really liked.)

I finished Diary of a U-boat Commander last night in a few hours. Its a fast paced story with all that elements that would make it a great film - romantic angle included.

This is the first eBook that I've read with that cascading arrangement. I have to say there is something to it. It did seem to keep me focused and help with maintaining my reading speed and enjoyment.

I got it at XX eBooks - it is NON-DRM!

That site is allowing illegal ebooks to be sold. I cannot say all of them are illegal, but I know some sure are and it's obvious. I know this for a fact. And because of that, I have removed the URL for the site. Sorry.

Wolf wrote "That site is allowing illegal ebooks to be sold. I cannot say all of them are illegal..."

So its guilt by association?
That particular host does have a policy of honoring copyright law.
Why not bring the particular violations that you know of to the hosts attention?
Wouldn't that be a more constructive line of action instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water as you have done by your attempt at censorship?

Wolf wrote "That site is allowing illegal ebooks to be sold. I cannot say all of them are illegal..."

So its guilt by association?
That particular host does have a policy of honoring copyright law.
Why not bring the particular violations that you know of to the hosts attention?
Wouldn't that be a more constructive line of action instead of throwing the baby out with the bath water as you have done by your attempt at censorship?
Will they have someone monitoring the ebooks for sale?

I was looking at the Star Trek ebooks and I know some of the listings are bogus. And has the law allowed for ebooks to be sold? And according to the DMCA, it may only be legal to break the DRM on MS Reader format ebooks. This site just lets people put up whatever they want without checking. Is there someplace on their sites that cites that it's legal to resell ebooks?

Each person registering with the hosting service agrees to the host's Terms of Service to NOT
"publish, post, distribute, disseminate, advertise or link to any: (i) content, site, topic, name, material or information which is defamatory, libelous, slanderous, or infringing; (ii) software, content or other material protected by intellectual property laws, copyright licenses, rights of privacy or publicity, or other proprietary rights, unless You own, or control such rights or have received all necessary consents for Your publication, distribution, or linking of such software and other materials;"

They must have hundreds of submissions daily. What program can check the legalities?
If you can write one, my bet is there are a lot of venture capitalists that would like to talk to you.

Like eBay and others they may deny service regarding offenders when notified.

Looks like you are doing a good job of monitoring - why not let them know of the culprits. You can give particulars at https://www.payloadz.com/contact.asp

Just picked up The Age of Turbulence: Adventures in a New World by Alan Greenspan. :)

Mmm.... Federal Reserve action.... :drool:

Mmm. What have I read?
Past two weeks, The Helmsman series from book 1 to 5, Betrayal, The Eneuch heir, The Crimson Sword and book one of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker.

Mmm. What have I read?
Past two weeks, The Helmsman series from book 1 to 5, Betrayal, The Eneuch heir, The Crimson Sword and book one of Kingmaker, Kingbreaker.

Could you write the author names please? We're curious. And if you could add little comments on your appreciation it would also be helpful. Thanks.

Oh, by the way I am 1/4 into Harry Potter and prisonner of Azkaban :)

Finished Wintersmith (liked it a lot, though perhaps not quite as much as A Hatful of Sky, re-read Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsong and Dragonsinger, read a short piece by James Blish titled "Beep" which was pretty good, read Suzette Haden Elgin's The Language Imperative (non-fiction, highly recommended), and now I've started re-reading Garth Nix's Mister Monday. I was going to re-read Katherine Kurtz' original Deryni series, but apparently I don't have ebooks of them (yet).

Oh, and I also read a bunch of journal articles about education research for my grad class. Love my iLiad! :D

Amazing neko! I'd have to read all day long to read as much.

Since my last post on this thread, I've read 'Robin' by Steve Jordan, 'Merchanter's Luck', 'Rim Runners', 'Finity's End' and now'Tripoint' on paper from C J Cherryh.
Next, more from Steve Jordan and the Heinlein you suggested.

Almost finished Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix.

Currently reading Elizabeth Moon's Serrano Legacy series. Right now I'm on book 4, 'Once a Hero'. It's also the first book I'm reading on my PRS-505.

'Merchanter's Luck', 'Rim Runners', 'Finity's End' and now'Tripoint' on paper from C J Cherryh.
It helps that I don't watch any tv. ;)

What do you think of those Cherryh books?

I'm reading Failure Is Not an Option

Then you should add Barbree's memoir to your list - Live from Cape Canaveral. I'm over 120 books this year and this will make it to the top 10 even at this late stage.

Almost finished Harry Potter and the Order of Phoenix.

Just started this one - #5 in the October Potter-thon. What better time for Wizards & Witches.

What I am reading now is Star Trek Worlds of Deep Space Nine Volume 3

It helps that I don't watch any tv. ;)

What do you think of those Cherryh books?
Hmmm! Not as much as the Foreigner series. I liked them for different reasons. As usual Crerryh's writing is appealing. 'Finity's End' is the best story. 'Rim Runners' is built up on "fringe characters"/ sickos, not at all appealing and the story takes too long to develop. 'Merchanter's Luck' is good, it has some positivity that is unusual for Crerryh she always has her stories come out of dramatic near catastrophe experiences where the protagonists are in danger of somewhat easyly solvable problems.
Some little things always bother me in all her futurology.
Coffee is important in 300 years, in deep space?
No one ever has communication technology at their disposal and are always at the mercy of something that has to do with not being able to communicate. This point is relative to most science fiction BTW. In my view, if we extrapolate from 40 years ago through today's communication tecnology to a point in 300 years, everybody will be connected instantly to one another. Now this would be a writing challenge. Just try to imagine the influence of that on the psyche of a growing youg soul and the life of anyone for that matter.

Orson Scott Card looked at the impact of instantaneous communication a little bit, but I agree, I don't know as anyone has really explored this. Partly because we can barely understand what's already happening with the internet, I suppose.

I liked Rimrunners, but I agree that Finity's End is much better. One of the things I really like about FE is the growth of the main character over time. And maybe I particularly relate to the protagonist because my kids are adopted and my older daughter was shuffled around a bit before she came to us. I recognize some of the behaviors Cherryh is writing about, and I think she does a pretty good job portraying them-- and showing how someone could find their way past them.

She's very good with the portrayal of characters, then again hers are transpositions of actual characters formed with today's ways of growing. Are those really lasting human traits brought over from eons of existence or will mankind change as evolution bumps up QI and limits nature's influence on man. That's a whole sphere of psychology that would be worth exploring. There are signs of change with city dwellers that have never been out of their ecology. Man in space will have to reinvent himself.

I think you're right, but it's tough work to extrapolate this. Some authors have tried, though. John Barnes' Orbital Resonance does some of this, as does Ian M. Banks. I think Cherryh chooses to have characters that we can recognize in new situations, rather than trying to explore how people would change in the new situations. Even in her hani novels, the hani have rather humanish personalities, though her other aliens are more believably non-human.

Heh, been a while since I posted in this thread...

I've finished Altered Carbon (good, fast read with fun action), AD&D Forgotten Realms: Avatar 01 - Shadowdale (also a super-fast read, magic/fighting/chaos. Fun!), and now I'm into the old Shadowrun series again, starting at #1 Never Deal with a Dragon. I read it a while back, but thought I'd jump back in again. So far an interesting and fun read, though character dev is taking a bit 'o time.

I think you're right, but it's tough work to extrapolate this. Some authors have tried, though. John Barnes' Orbital Resonance does some of this, as does Ian M. Banks. I think Cherryh chooses to have characters that we can recognize in new situations, rather than trying to explore how people would change in the new situations. Even in her hani novels, the hani have rather humanish personalities, though her other aliens are more believably non-human.

I've read one Chanur in French, the first. I did like it. It's exactly as you say, I remember her telling in subtle ways throughout that book, that she was transposing characters to an understandable format for humans. I'm looking forward to read the others.
Do you get the feeling sometimes that Cherryh is trying to write for a sci-fi TV show? Her books wouldn't require a lot of special effects. Although sometimes the narrative is too involved for a visual representation...

Still reading The Night's Dawn Trilogy (Peter F. Hamilton)...man this is a looong trilogy...good, but looong...

(and Halo 3 hasn't helped with my reading time much...)

Do you get the feeling sometimes that Cherryh is trying to write for a sci-fi TV show? Her books wouldn't require a lot of special effects. Although sometimes the narrative is too involved for a visual representation...
No, I've never really had that feeling, but as I don't watch TV really, I don't normally think of how something would be transposed to TV.

I thought she got better at presenting the alien perspective as time went by. Chanur's Legacy, I thought, handled this better than her earlier books. But even Chanur's Homecoming, when the hani ship inadvertently acquires a kif crewmember, had some good points about the utter lack of comprehension between species.

My favorite book of hers about alien perspective is actuallyWave Without a Shore-- even though some of the characters who can't understand each other are actually human, and some of the humans seem to get along better with the aliens than with the other humans. (Now that I think of it, that's a common theme with her.)

I'm reading Pyramids by Terry Pratchett. I'm going to have it finished sometime this week. It's quite good so far. Frustrating at times too as you just want to slap the main character at times. Now I need to figure out what the next book in the Discword series is.

Wikipedia has a very helpful chronological and thematical list. Enter "discworld" as the keyword.

I just finished re-reading Mister Monday by Garth Nix. It was even better than I remembered -- I noticed a bunch of things I'd missed on the first read, especially in light of having read up to Lady Friday since then. Now I'm about halfway through Grim Tuesday. Maybe I'll take a break from Nix and re-read some Katherine Kurtz after this. I haven't read anything by her in a long time. The Kite Runner and Three Cups of Tea are also on my to-read list, but I have them in paper, not as ebooks. I have some Neil Gaiman and Cornelia Funke stacked up waiting for attention, too-- but when I'm as tired as I've been lately, I tend to want to just re-read something familiar.

I've been finding myself having a hard time recently reading something that is not light or not action packed. But Pyramids is doing quite well for me at the moment.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince...

I'm reading Pyramids by Terry Pratchett. I'm going to have it finished sometime this week. It's quite good so far. Frustrating at times too as you just want to slap the main character at times. Now I need to figure out what the next book in the Discword series is. :laugh4:I feel that a lot too. I can't believe why authors do that sometimes. Heroes can't all be perfect!

That book's on my list, I'll add a tickmark to it now. Say Jon, do you read the Discworld series in order?

:laugh4:I feel that a lot too. I can't believe why authors do that sometimes. Heroes can't all be perfect!

That book's on my list, I'll add a tickmark to it now. Say Jon, do you read the Discworld series in order?
I am reading the series in order. The next book to read is Guards! Guards!. I'm finding it works better in order as you get bits of info in some books that could be a spoiler for out of order.

I finished Moby Dick. It was enjoyable and not at all daunting as it was when I was 22. Does anyone know if the aubrey/maturin novels by Patrick O'Brien are available in for the sony ebook?

I finally bought 'Deliverer', the latest in Cherryh's nine book 'Foreigner' series. I'm almost at the end now and totally baffled. How, in the name of space, did I like the first eight that much to find this one so stale!!!

Still she writes nicely, composes beautiful worlds and scenes, but the story! Where's her famed jaw gaping story?

Resume so far: "King's kid is stubborn, king's kid gets kidnapped by king's ennemies, king's kid gets rescued..." That's it?

Okay I'll finish reading it, then I might figure out where I got lost, but it sure isn't promising. Then I'll move to Chanur.

"The Wishsong of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. This is one of my p-books, which I got somewhere as a html-file; it took me an hour or two to make a nice looking Mobipocket-book, including cover image, toc, etc...

It's a good read and it gives me the opportunity to compare dead tree paper with e-paper. E-paper is not bad at all :)

I'm currently reading '50 Essays' by George Orwell, downloaded directly from this very forum:

http://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11625

I'm thoroughly enjoying it. The essay on Dickens has thus far been my favourite.

Cheers,
Marc

I am currently reading the third book in the Night's Dawn Trilogy--The Naked God. I was at B&N last night and was looking at the pbooks of the Night's Dawn Trilogy and there are actually six books as they have split each "book" in half (part 1 and part 2). So you are paying more than twice as much for the pbooks as the ebooks (of which there are three instead of six) and if you buy the ebook bundle you come out way ahead.

I am also reading the Robin Hobb's Farseer series. I have read Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin. Now time for Assassin's Quest! The main character can be a little frustating at times but overall a good series. I have Fool's Errand in my inventory.

I am also reading the Belgariad Series by David Eddings and I am on the last book (Enchanter's Endgame) and looking forward to the Mallorean series.

So Many Books, So Little Time!

I just hate it when my job interferes with my reading time! :D

:book2:

Past week:

Harry Dresden, the Dresden Files books one through eight, Blasphemy, Mercedes werewolf books and some misc I already forgot. I read too much.

jaapjan... Its impossible to read too much.

I'm reading Stephen King's Duma Key right now. It's excellent. His recent near Death accident has taught him much. It seems to be in a Genre all its own. A Horror novel writtten by Fitzgerald, or Pat Conroy might be close. Anyhow I'm REALLY enjoying it.

I finally bought 'Deliverer', the latest in Cherryh's nine book 'Foreigner' series. I'm almost at the end now and totally baffled. How, in the name of space, did I like the first eight that much to find this one so stale!!!

Still she writes nicely, composes beautiful worlds and scenes, but the story! Where's her famed jaw gaping story?

Resume so far: "King's kid is stubborn, king's kid gets kidnapped by king's ennemies, king's kid gets rescued..." That's it?

Okay I'll finish reading it, then I might figure out where I got lost, but it sure isn't promising. Then I'll move to Chanur.I have now finished the book and have to add:
"King's kid escaped by himself to be rescued afterwards." And that was it...

I think she'll have lost a lot of fans on this sequel. When she writes the tenth of the series, I will not be in line waiting for it the way I have waited for this one.

Ann Rule The Stranger Beside Me. Scary stuff

I just finished Dark Rivers of the Heart by Dean Koontz. Next I'll probably read either Freefall by Joann Ross or The Chase by Clive Cussler.

Currently reading Dickens' "Nicolas Nickleby" (to proof read my eBook version of it) and Timothy Zahn's "Blackcollar" series from Baen for fun :).

Currently reading Dickens' "Nicolas Nickleby" (to proof read my eBook version of it) and Timothy Zahn's "Blackcollar" series from Baen for fun :).I'll be interested in hearing your views on the last of the BC books, _The Judas Mission_. The first two BC books were splendid. The third lacked depth, and seemed a bit hurried, as though Zahn wanted to get a contractual commitment out of the way and get on to other projects.

You can also make interesting comparisons between the Blackcollar books and Zahn's Cobra series.
______
Dennis

Current paper books in progress:
Karl Schroeder -- Ventus
Liz Williams -- Precious Dragon

Current ebooks in progress:
Plato's Complete Works
John Buchan -- Richard Hannay Ominbus
(Thanks, HarryT!)

Current paper books just finished:
John Scalzi -- The Lost Colony
Edward T. Hall -- The Silent Language
______
Dennis

Two books i have read recently and really liked are Charles Stross' Halting State and Richard Morgan's Black Man. I also recently read Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and though it was good. That is part of a project reading everything by Cory Doctorow and Adam Robers (I recommend Gradisil) since they are guest of honours at the yearly national science fiction convention in Sweden (Swecon 2008) and I am part of the commitee that arranges it this year.

The next book I am going to read will be Ian McDonalse Brasyl.

DMcCunney:
I've finish the first two books of John Scalzi - old's man war series (in pback). Really enjoyed them. But I'm hesitant about the last. I understand it's more politics than action? That was the impression I got from reading a few Amazon reviews.
Do you mind telling me how did you find "The Lost Colony"? did you like it? is it anything like the first two?

Edit: Myself I just finished Treason by orson scott card (pback) and feeling meh. Expected something different.

Am not reading any ebooks right now because I don't have an eabook reader currently. Sold mine, and now can't decide which to get.

The current e-books I'm working on are The Lovely Bones (about 1/2 way through) and Adam and Eve and Pinch me (started yesterday, a bit over 10% done).

DMcCunney:
I've finish the first two books of John Scalzi - old's man war series (in pback). Really enjoyed them. But I'm hesitant about the last. I understand it's more politics than action? That was the impression I got from reading a few Amazon reviews.
Do you mind telling me how did you find "The Lost Colony"? did you like it? is it anything like the first two?_The Lost Colony_ has a fair bit of action. I quite enjoyed it.

The protagonist of _Old Man's War_ and his wife are happily settled on a colony world serving as administrators when he gets an offer to lead a brand new colony. It's a nice offer, but with a kicker: they will be on their own and no one will know where they are or admit to their existence. Earth is afraid a coalition of alien races may try to destroy humanity, and wants humans tucked away in a safe remote location. As things progress, it appears that the situation is more complex than was explained, and that our heroes hadn't been told everything by their superiors. It's a nice wrap up for the series, though Scalzi could set more stories in that setting.
______
Dennis

Mistborn and I'm really enjoying the book.

Currently reading: The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein and Civilization and its Discontent by Sigmund Freud, both for a graduate class, both on paper. (Shock Doctrine is hideously overpriced as an ebook. Couldn't find the Freud book at all.) Last book "for fun": Steel Kissed by Patricia Briggs. A bit further in the "romance" direction than I usually go, but a good read.

I've been spending an inordinate amount of time learning 3D modeling over the past month, though, so most of what I've been reading are model descriptions, tutorials, forum posts, etc.

"The Wishsong of Shannara" by Terry Brooks. This is one of my p-books, which I got somewhere as a html-file; it took me an hour or two to make a nice looking Mobipocket-book, including cover image, toc, etc...

It's a good read and it gives me the opportunity to compare dead tree paper with e-paper. E-paper is not bad at all :)
I recently finished The Scions of Snannara. I have a few other books to read first before I move on to the next one.

I'm reading "Dragonblood", a PERN novel by Todd McCaffrey.

I got it cheap as pbook (my Iliad is away for the battery replacement), and at the moment I'm glad I did not pay full price for it...I'm not too far into the story yet, but at the moment it does not exactly feel like a good story...

"The Wishsong of Shannara" by Terry Brooks.

finished "The Wishsong of Shannara". I read this book some 10, 15 years ago for the first time and this was the first re-read. I'm not entirely certain if I'm a fan of Terry Brooks; there's nothing wrong with his stories, but, I don't know... are they a bit on the bland side?

However, time for something completely different: The Belisarius Saga, by David Drake and Eric Flint. As it turns out, I already had the first five books (thanks to Baen's Free Library and a Webscription month, which had the fifth book in it). So I'm now half way through "An Oblique Approach". I had to use the dictionary (Webster 1913) to look up "Oblique" :)

This is a totally enjoyable book: well written, a bit of excitement, a bit of humor... nice :thumbsup:

I've been mixing eBook & pBook, but going through my recent/preferred F&SF books as follows...

Anything by Simon R. Green, i.e. The DeathStalker, Forest Kingdom & Nightside series.
Lois McMaster Bujold - Vorkosigan Series
Terry Pratchett - particulalry the Ankh-Morpork-based ones
L E Modisett - Recluse series (First 7 or so - must take another look at the others)
Mistborn - (Will have to keep an eye out for the later ones.)
Michael Gear(?) - Forbidden Borders series
Debra Doyle & ? - Mageworlds series (first 3, anyway)
Some of David Drake & David Weber's output!
Some of Iain Banks's Culture
Joe Haldeman's Forever War series
Earlier Heinlein
Laumer's Retief!
Anne McCaffrey's earlier Pern stories - not sure about the latter ones & Crystal Singer
J K Rowling - Currently re-reading The Goblet of Fire as daughter's bed time story!
Ben Bova - Moonbase 'series'
Elizabeth Moon - the first few Serrano books (There's a theme here...)

Just started re-reading The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson. One of my favorites. :)

Just finished The Watchman by Robert Crais. Good read

Just started Monday Night Jihad

Fairly new e-book reader here.

Currently reading "The Subtle Knife", from the Dark Materials series.

I've only read a few books on my new device, but really enjoy it a lot so far.

I'll be interested in hearing your views on the last of the BC books, _The Judas Mission_. The first two BC books were splendid. The third lacked depth, and seemed a bit hurried, as though Zahn wanted to get a contractual commitment out of the way and get on to other projects.

Dennis

Just finished "The Judas Mission". I really enjoyed it. A very satisfying end to the trilogy, IMHO. Good plot, and well-written. Thoroughly recommended. Guess it just goes to show that we all have differing tastes!

Now started re-reading Martin Scott's excellent "Thraxas" fantasy series.

The jungle books -- Rudyard Kipling

I normally dislike short stories, but I must admit that these are pretty good.

Currently Reading:

Working my way through O'Brian's Master and Command series, again.
The Cogwheel Brain by Doron Swade, non-fiction
Thunderstruck, Erik Larson, non-fiction (and excellent).

My current reading list. I tend to read non-science fiction. I work in Aerospace and get enough of that at work.

The Argonautica Apollonius Rhodius
Day of Reckoning Pat Buchanan
A Journal of the Plague Years Daniel Defoe

Currently reading my way through the Leigh Brackett/Edmond Hamilton "Eric John Stark superbundle" recently released at WebScriptions. Tasty old "Science-Fantasy" adventures that read like a cross between Edgar Rice Burroughs and Dashiell Hammett.

Next up will be the various free ebooks from Tor, then probably next month's Baen releases.

Xenophon

I'm currently reading Mistborn: The Final Empire by Brandon Sanderson. It was the first free eBook from Tor. It's very good so far.. up to 114 of 909 on my 505. Not too many errors to have to correct due to the PDF conversion so far.

Now started re-reading Martin Scott's excellent "Thraxas" fantasy series.

Thraxas! Excellent indeed!

It seems that there will be no more new Thraxas books, because of some pitiful business conflict :smack:

It's a shame, really...

Thraxas! Excellent indeed!

It seems that there will be no more new Thraxas books, because of some pitiful business conflict :smack:

It's a shame, really...

Indeed - a contractual dispute with Baen, apparently. It's a pity that the series has been left "hanging" in mid-plot, so to speak. Still, what we have is excellent.

Thraxas definitely deserves a re-read; I read most of the series on a Palm Tungsten T (first model), reading them on my shiny new Cybook will be like reading a new book :)

But first I have to finish "Old mans war", also an excellent story. And I've just finished "An Oblique approach", which was also really nice... Life is good!

I'm also on to a new adventure, but I will mention that in another thread: I've been on the search for books by Philip G. Williamson; I have the first three p-books of the "Firstworld chronicles" and I ordered the last three p-books via Amazon-second-handed... I'm planning to scan/ocr them (sweat starts to break out, even by thinking about it)... In the meanwhile I'll try to contact the author, maybe these books can be released as e-books...

I'm currently reading the Pern books by Anne (& now Todd) McCaffrey, then I'm going to read the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, then I'm gonna read my Robin Hobb books, then my Stephen King books, then my Terry Pratchett books...

:book2: SHHHHHHHHHH, GO AWAY, I'M BUSY! :bookworm:

:sweethear I only got my cybook last week :smitten:

I'm currently reading the Pern books by Anne (& now Todd) McCaffrey, then I'm going to read the Valdemar books by Mercedes Lackey, then I'm gonna read my Robin Hobb books, then my Stephen King books, then my Terry Pratchett books...

:book2: SHHHHHHHHHH, GO AWAY, I'M BUSY! :bookworm:

:sweethear I only got my cybook last week :smitten:
I've read most of the Valdemar books. I recently finished Exile's Honor and will soon read Exile's Valor and that will be it except for the short stories.

I'm slowly working on the Dragonrider books in timeline order. Next one I start will be Dragonseye.

I'm like in the middle someplace of The Stand. This will take me a while to finish.

I'm next to start on Discworld #8 Guards Guards.

I have started a project re-reading all Pratchett books and i just finished Eric wich is an OK book. Before that I read Guards! Guards! and it was even better than I remembered. And I now noticed a lot of word plays that I probably missed when I read it 17 years ago. Definitely a Pratchett worth re-reading.

Ive read a truck load of short stories recently.Now im reading "A Psychical Invasion" by Algernon Blackwood.

Indeed - a contractual dispute with Baen, apparently. It's a pity that the series has been left "hanging" in mid-plot, so to speak. Still, what we have is excellent.
I have no direct knowledge of the details of this dispute, but a little bird who may or may not know whereof he/she/it speaks recently claimed that there was no issue on royalties, but rather was brought on by changing exchange rates. Seems that Baen wanted to boost the advance a bit (in USD) due to decent sales. But after applying exchange rates, the advance would be smaller in GBP than for previous books.

If true, this leaves both parties between a rock and a hard place. Most of Baen's sales are in $$, so that's what they compute payment in. Most of the author's expenses are in GBP, so that's what he considers when judging value of payment. As long as the USD is way way down, there's really not any way out.

Alternatively, that little bird could have been smoking crack -- in which case your guess is probably better than mine.

Xenophon

For my first read on the Kindle, I bought David Baldacci's Stone Cold which I had been eager to read, having just finished reading The Collectors in paper. I then read Sheepfarmer's Daughter by Elizabeth Moon which I had downloaded for free from the Baen site. (I'm going to buy the rest of her Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy, for sure.) I'm now reading Snow Ball by April Hamilton, which I bought from Amazon after seeing her post here on MobileRead. It's a fair read. I have a long list of "wish list" books, from my favorite mainstream authors that I plan to buy over time. With the number of free books available, I can't see loading up the reader with too many books at a time -- it just makes it hard to decide what to read next.

I've read most of the Valdemar books. I recently finished Exile's Honor and will soon read Exile's Valor and that will be it except for the short stories.


I like a lot of Lackey's stuff, but I must admit that I find the constant pushing of the "gay agenda" in some of the Valdemar books to be a little "over the top". I don't have the slightest issue with characters in a book being gay (that is, after all, simply a reflection of the real world), but I find that in some of the Valdemar books it's "pushed forward" to such an extent that it gets in the way of the plot-line.

She doesn't do this in any of her other books; I'm not sure why the Valdemar books have it as such a prominent feature of them. Presumably it was deliberate, but I can't imagine why. Did she deliberately write them for the gay fiction market, I wonder?

I have no direct knowledge of the details of this dispute, but a little bird who may or may not know whereof he/she/it speaks recently claimed that there was no issue on royalties, but rather was brought on by changing exchange rates. Seems that Baen wanted to boost the advance a bit (in USD) due to decent sales. But after applying exchange rates, the advance would be smaller in GBP than for previous books.

If true, this leaves both parties between a rock and a hard place. Most of Baen's sales are in $$, so that's what they compute payment in. Most of the author's expenses are in GBP, so that's what he considers when judging value of payment. As long as the USD is way way down, there's really not any way out.

Alternatively, that little bird could have been smoking crack -- in which case your guess is probably better than mine.

Xenophon

All I know about it is what the author has written in his blog, here (http://martin-millar.blogspot.com/2007/12/thraxas.html).

I'm going to buy the rest of her Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy, for sure

Do get it. It's one of my all-time-favourite fantasy novels. A superb book.

I just started Sara Douglass' 1st book in the Troy Game series; Hades' Daughter.
I am only a third of the way through it and it is excellent so far, although a lot of characters to keep up with.:bookworm:

Johnny

I am reading Duma Key by Stephen King. Love his books. Mellina

I'm re-reading the Uplift series by David Brin at the moment
Just started Brightness Reef,I find it hard sometimes to keep
up with the different races in it
The first three books were a lot easier
All in all they are interesting enough to keep going

:bookworm::bookworm::bookworm:

mazzeltjes

Isn't it funny that there's so many
Sci-Fi and Fantasy readers here :D

All I know about it is what the author has written in his blog, here (http://martin-millar.blogspot.com/2007/12/thraxas.html).
And the author's blog makes it sound like that little bird was smoking crack. :eek: Ah well, that's what disclaimers are for. Sigh.

Xenophon

Working my way through www.baen.com and www.fictionwise.com - mostly Baen.

John Ringo's Looking Glass Series
Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan Series
Eric Flint's Time Spike (ARC)
Alan Dean Foster, Flinx and Pip Series

I've been reading on a Macbook Pro laptop and just got an Iliad to carry around.

Finished re-reading The Diamond Age on the iLiad, then had to read Freud's Civilization and its Discontents and Said's Freud and the Non-European in paper, as no ebooks were available. Then read Patricia Briggs Dragon Bones, again in paper, because the friend who loaned it to me doesn't have ebooks. It was ok, but not good enough to get me to buy the rest as ebooks, so I'll probably borrow the next in paper. (I liked her Mercy Thompson books better, and I have bought some as ebooks.)

Not as much time for "fun" reading these days, as I've been spending far too much time learning about 3D modeling. :shrug:

I spent much of last week visiting my brother, in what I came to call The Land of Slow Internet. I finished The Diamond Age while there and was very glad to have my iLiad so I could pick something else to read in the evenings. (I almost ended up loaning my iLiad to my mother, who was visiting at the same time, because it looked as though she was going to finish the only book she'd brought.) I wanted to re-read H. Beam Piper's Fuzzy Sapiens the other evening, but couldn't find my copy on the iLiad. Must have gotten lost in one of my file reorganizations. I have it somewhere, so I'll need to reload it. I'm also sort of in the middle of re-reading Stroud's The Golem's Eye.

Finished Monday Night Jihad which was pretty good and a very fast read and am now about half way through Broken Preyby John Sandford. So far it is one of his better Prey novels.

Just finished Antony and Cleopatra by Colleen McCullough thanks to members of this forum pointing out it was a continuation of the series. Starts off seeming not as good as the rest of the series but gets moving when Antony tries to invade the Parthians.

I have been on and off with reading the Random house version of The history of the decline and fall of the roman empire. Interesting stuff eg describes how many of each type of weapon eg bolt throwing scorpion of a certain size was in each legion from old days of the republic to the end of the empire (numbers change).

On the weekend I visited my brother and got to visit an actual bookstore (Borders), and one bigger than my loungeroom (it's one thing I miss about living in Sydney). I have to say that, while I've always been somewhat bemused by people saying that ebooks will never replace pbooks (just thinking your normal fiction here), I found that again browsing a large brick-and-mortar bookstore is worlds above browsing a mobipocket or an Amazon or a Project Gutenberg. [sigh] It was wonderful.

Anyway, to get to the point, I bought there The Philosopher's Dog (Raimond Gaita), Perdido Street Station (China Miéville), The Sparrow and Children of God (Mary Doria Russell).

I just last night started The Sparrow and, while I'm only a few tens of pages in, I'm already quite stunned by it. I hope it keeps up this way, though the essential suspense of wondering what happened is already infuriating (but it's that most pleasant of rages :) ).

Cheers,
Marc

She doesn't do this in any of her other books; I'm not sure why the Valdemar books have it as such a prominent feature of them. Presumably it was deliberate, but I can't imagine why. Did she deliberately write them for the gay fiction market, I wonder?No, I think she just got taken with the idea and reveled in the fact that she could write about a gay protagonist.
______
Dennis

I didn't find the gay aspect to be off putting at all.

I just last night started The Sparrow and, while I'm only a few tens of pages in, I'm already quite stunned by it. I hope it keeps up this way, though the essential suspense of wondering what happened is already infuriating (but it's that most pleasant of rages :) ).
Although Russell published these as two books, I can only think of them as a single story. If I had been forced to stop reading at the end of The Sparrow, I would have been extremely distressed. Children of God is essential and I strongly recommend that one not start reading The Sparrow unless you know for sure that you can put your hands on its sequel as soon as possible.

I'm going to buy the rest of her Deeds of Paksenarrion trilogy, for sureDo get it. It's one of my all-time-favourite fantasy novels. A superb book.
Did. Ordered immediately after posting. Discovered that PayPal used "eCheck" instead of "Instant Funds Transfer", so I only received the download link today. I now have to finish reading a paper book that I've offered as a swap and then I can read on in the Paksenarrion series.

Did. Ordered immediately after posting. Discovered that PayPal used "eCheck" instead of "Instant Funds Transfer", so I only received the download link today.

Yes, it's a real nuisance when that happens, isn't it? Happened to me inadvertantly a few weeks ago when I let my PayPal balance get too low, and it took a week and a half to clear, which I think is somewhat excessive. PayPal seem to have changed the way they do bank transfers - here in the UK it used to take 3-4 working days; now it takes 7 working days.

I like a lot of Lackey's stuff, but I must admit that I find the constant pushing of the "gay agenda" in some of the Valdemar books to be a little "over the top". I don't have the slightest issue with characters in a book being gay (that is, after all, simply a reflection of the real world), but I find that in some of the Valdemar books it's "pushed forward" to such an extent that it gets in the way of the plot-line.
For me, it's not that the characters are gay, but that they're... well... whiny. Not that this is restricted to the gay characters, but they seem to get a double-dose. I like a bit of introspection, but Lackey takes it to a new level. There wasn't so much of it in Arrows of the Queen and its two sequels, but it really interfered with my enjoyment of pretty much all her books since the Last Herald Mage series. I found myself skimming through the bits with the really moody characters.

But perhaps that's just me. :shrug:

I'm reading Old Man's War through the Tor download. This may be my first war SF, and although I don't know that I'll make it a habit, I'm enjoying Scalzi's work, and obviously there's more than just the war story going on there. Wonderfully crafted and thought-out!

started "Auriol; or, The Elixir of Life" by William Harrison Ainsworth