Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[HomeInMyShoes]

I've been waffling on Mieville for a while. Always in the background of my potential read list, just not quite making it over the hill. Maybe soon though. Only eight or nine more years left in my challenge now.

[Geralt]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

Ah, this is good to know! I had put it on my reading list at the start of the year but it didn't receive overwhelming praise in one of the threads discussing China Mieville so I was waffling about reading it.

Well the reason for that may be twofold at least.

The genre he's writing in is often labeled as New Weird, which he himself also likes to refer as such.
As for what new weird is about:

Spoiler:

What is New Weird Fantasy (aka Slipstream fantasy)?

This sub-genre, also known as “Slipstream”, once only popular with a limited audience is growing in mainstream appeal as more and more fantasy readers are looking for fantasy “that’s different.” And slipstream fantasy IS different.

It's a modern, non-linear, magical-realism type of almost experimental fiction, dancing between borders of science fiction, fantasy and mainstream literary fiction.

Cognitive dissonance seems to be almost a goal of this type, with its unresolved endings, chronological gaps or displacement, refusal to accurately or completely describe characters, and a staunch determination to fit no other category of fantasy.

In layman’s terms, New Weird combines elements of pulp fiction, horror, dark fantasy, surrealism (including magic realism), steampunk, and traditional fantasy into a tasty mix.

There are so many different types of books in this category that it's difficult to characterize them as a whole. A rule of thumb is that if it makes you feel weird, it's probably achieving its goal.

Ergo, it's not everybody's cup of tea.

Second reason, and more important one I think is his style. His prose, is like a feast. Literally some words leave you with a mouthful, but in other sense it's so rich and decadent, you got to have a taste developed enough for those things. Not to mention a dictionary. He's not a quick bite of fantasy

As far as the Perdido Street Station is concerned it is not a face paced, action book, although there is plenty of action. That might be a third turn off for an average fantasy reader. On the other hand, he created such a rich world and strange one at that, it is simply breathtaking.

Here's some artwork of New Crobuzon world, to get you hooked in.
http://www.justinoaksford.com/2011/1...t-station.html

Hope you end up liking it and reading it.
Oh and if you haven't read him so far, here's what wiki says about his literally influences:

Miéville has listed M. John Harrison, Michael de Larrabeiti, Michael Moorcock, Thomas M. Disch, Charles Williams, Tim Powers, and J. G. Ballard as literary "heroes"; he has also frequently discussed as influences H. P. Lovecraft, Mervyn Peake, Ursula K. Le Guin, and Gene Wolfe. He has said that he would like his novels "to be read for [his imagined city] New Crobuzon as Iain Sinclair does for London."

So if you have read at least some of these authors you at least can guess what kind of style he prefers.

[alansplace]

Originally Posted by alansplace

I loved reading The Clue in the Old Album, it was great!

Finishing up the Derrick Storm Trilogy of short stories/novellas by reading A Raging Storm (Derrick Storm Trilogy #2) and A Bloody Storm (Derrick Storm Trilogy #3) back to back was a good call. I recomend reading all three that way. Either way it was a fun read.

Next up will be The Ghost of Blackwood Hall (Nancy Drew #25) by Carolyn Keene (Mildred Wirt Benson) and Death on the Nile (Hercule Poirot, #17) (Colonel Race, #3) by Agatha Christie, which will be my first Hercule Poirot book (and my first Colonel Race book) and my second book by Agatha Christie. The first was And Then There Were None.

Originally Posted by alansplace

Thus far I'm 75% finished reading both The Ghost of Blackwood Hall and Death on the Nile and have been enjoying them both a lot.

I got an email today from a friend that I recommended that he read Wool Omnibus telling me this:

Then he went on to recommend that I read Damocles by S.G. Redling. I found it in the Amazon Prime Lending Library, got it for my PaperWhite and read the first chapter. It hooked me!

I just completed reading both The Ghost of Blackwood Hall and Death on the Nile and found them to be quite enjoyable reads.

So now I'll be reading both Damocles and The Clue of the Leaning Chimney (Nancy Drew #26) by Carolyn Keene (Mildred Wirt Benson).

When Earth is rocked by evidence that extraterrestrials may have seeded human DNA throughout the universe, a one-way expedition into deep space is mounted to uncover the truth. What linguist Meg Dupris and her crewmates aboard the Earth ship Damocles discover on Didet—a planet bathed in the near-eternal daylight of seven suns—is a humanoid race with a different language, a different look, and a surprisingly similar society.

But here, it’s the “Earthers” who are the extraterrestrial invaders, and it’s up to Meg—a woman haunted by tragedy and obsessed with the power of communication—to find the key to establishing trust between the natives and the newcomers. In Loul Pell, a young Dideto male thrust into the forefront of the historic event, Meg finds an unexpected kindred spirit, and undertakes an extraordinary journey of discovery, friendship, and life-altering knowledge.

Told from both sides of a monumental encounter, Damocles is a compelling novel about man’s first contact with an extraterrestrial race.

A rare Chinese vase is stolen from a pottery shop. Nancy and the owner of the shop feel that locating "the leaning chimney" will provide the clue to the vase and other stolen articles.

[treadlightly]

Originally Posted by Geralt

Well the reason for that may be twofold at least.

The genre he's writing in is often labeled as New Weird, which he himself also likes to refer as such.
As for what new weird is about:

I had never heard of that label, so thank you for the info! This year I am trying to sample the best of the different types of fantasy/speculative fiction, so it sounds like a good choice.

Originally Posted by Geralt

So if you have read at least some of these authors you at least can guess what kind of style he prefers.

Nope, none of the above But if world-building is a focus, I think I will enjoy it. I'm not much for horror though, if Lovecraft was a strong influence...

[Geralt]

There are definitely horror elements and Lovecraft senses are tingling in Perdido SS...

Hmm...it's up to you

[poohbear_nc]

I've just finished Submergence by J.M. Ledgard - which immediately made me think of Richard Powers' magnificent novel Plowing the Dark - both novels employ double stranded narratives, one strand of which is a man held hostage by terrorists, trying to remain sane through imagination & memories. The other strand features a female character drawn to an alternate reality (mathematics & abyssal ocean diving in Ledgard, virtual reality software in Powers book). Both books explore the power of imagination/memory, the effects of solitude (enforced or welcomed), the complex relationships of humans to their environment - both natural and artificial, and other themes.

The parallels are quite striking - if you've read both books, and make the Ledgard work seem highly derivative. I'm surprised that (AFAIK) no reviewer has caught this similarity.

Compared side by side, the Ledgard work is shallow - especially in the sections featuring the female character - and a pale shadow of Powers book.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by treadlightly

I had never heard of that label, so thank you for the info! This year I am trying to sample the best of the different types of fantasy/speculative fiction, so it sounds like a good choice.



Nope, none of the above But if world-building is a focus, I think I will enjoy it. I'm not much for horror though, if Lovecraft was a strong influence...

Mieville is indeed an acquired taste - folks either love or hate him. His New Crobuzon novels are lavish, discursive, and quite weird - in a Lovecraft sense of mixing high horror with everyday life. These are Victorian triple-decker novels of adventure, social criticism, and romance - set on frontiers. His lexicon will expand your vocabulary or exasperate you. His style is quite Victorian - it reminds me most of Jules Verne - very descriptive of scene & character, long introspective passages, and very odd characters.
Give them a try!

[DrNefario]

I think Mieville is a bit of a chameleon. I found Perdido Street Station a bit slow and over-ornamented, and it put me off reading more of his work for a while, but I've since read other works in other styles and really liked them.

[Dazrin]

Originally Posted by Dazrin

I think I will move onto Field of Dishonor, Honor Harrington #4 next. I will decide for sure in the morning though.

These keep getting better and better. I really liked that and can't stop reading these on that ending, so onto Flag in Exile, Honor Harrington 5.

[Crusader]

I'm busy reading the A Song of Ice and Fire series. I read the first book before the TV show started and have avoided watching the show since then. With the events of Series 3 I just had to catch up with my reading since the spoilers seemed to be everywhere. I'm about 65% into A Clash of Kings and I think I might have passed the point where series 3 ended, so I'm relatively safe now.

[HarryT]

"Eagle Among the Stars" by Steve White. From Jan 2000, this is a continuation of my ongoing effort to read all my Baen Webscription ebooks.

The US in the early 21st century has been taken over by the "Earth First" Party (EFP), an ultra-conservative party who are against any form of technological advancement. Only party members can hold public office, and the President is a party-appointed figurehead. Then the Lokoran appear in Earth's skies: an interstellar trading civilisation who see Earth as a potential market, and force trade agreements on the US government as the most powerful nation on Earth. The book tells the story of how the "Eaglemen" - an underground organisation - attempt to overthrow both the Lokoran and the EFP.

Very good military SF, although the ending is a little improbable. Recommended. There's a sequel, "Wolf Amongst the Stars" which I look forward to reading.

[CRussel]

Just finished reading Executive Lunch, the first of a series. I can't imagine I'll be reading any more of them. The plotting is OK, but the writing is pretty awful. Choppy, stilted and the dialog is artificial. The character would actually be interesting, so I'm rather disappointed that the writing is so bad.

Next up: Blood, Bones and Butter by Gabrielle Hamilton. Ms. Hamilton is the chef/owner of the NYC restaurant Prune.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Next: War Maid's Choice by David Weber. A recent purchase (February 2013).

That was a long book! But I did enjoy it. Some of the dialog and conference scenes were rather reminiscent of the later Honor Harrington books, which grated a little, but not enough to spoil the book for me.

Next: Sentry Peak by Harry Turtledove. My oldest unread purchase, from September 2002. The first in his "War between the Provinces" series. I have all three books, but I never got around to reading them (if they are a too obviously transposed US civil war story, I might skip them.)

[bfisher]

I just finished Blood and Daring: How Canada Fought the American Civil War and Forged a Nation by John Boyko.

The theme of the book is how the U.S. Civil War accelerated the political processes that led to Canadian Confederation in 1867.

The book discusses some interesting events and persons, including the attempt to extradite a runaway slave from Ontario to Missouri in 1860 (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_An...(escaped_slave)), and a woman who served in male disguise as a Union courier and spy (see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Emma_Edmonds).

Overall, an interesting read.

[PurpleStar]

I am reading A Brother's Honor by Brenda Jackson. New author for me but I had a feeling and bought it on a whim and I really like it so far. It is a straight up romance novel about 3 brothers who inherit their Grandfather's company and of course the one is falling for the girl he hires to help. Guess I was in the mood for a simple romance! Apparently it's a trilogy though and the next book doesn't come out until next year!