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

[MickeyC]

Originally Posted by Stitchawl

I have the Hornblower novels in my TBR list, and the Flashman novels in my to-be-gotten list! So many books... so little time

You won't be disappointed in the Flashman series. I've read every one of those and thoroughly enjoyed them. Ditto the Sharp series.

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Yep, it's vast. Too much down time in the book for me. Also, I couldn't figure out how they can hit anything with their weapons when your radar data is outdated. One small directional change of 0.01 degree 30 light-seconds ago changes your trajectory. How do you know 1 light-minute earlier where your target will be?

Like with skeet shooting, you constantly calculate (guess) the path????

[Lucid_Dreamer]

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Halfway through book 4 in Song Of Ice And Fire and I must say I enjoyed book 3 better. Some of the characters that played a key role in book 3 are hardly mentioned, and instead even more new characters are introduced . This storytelling of constantly bringing in new characters is something I feel happens throughout the whole series and it gets quite uninteresting. I feel that there's no red line bringing it all together.

I heard that was a problem with the series, and that he had a bad habit of killing off people off camera. I wasn't overly interested in it; maybe I'll just watch the series when it goes to netflix haha

[Lucid_Dreamer]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Finished Dauntless by Jack Campbell. The first in The Lost Fleet series. The book frustrated me as it went along. I realize I don't care for the realistic time-lag process. Everyone has to wait minutes, hours or days for light to reach them to see what had happened or was said. And, of course, all information received is immediately outdated. A casual conversation takes hours between responses. Other than that the novel was OK. Grade it a C- [2 stars]. I won't read the others in the series.

Next, by way of a GR friend recommendation, Instruments of Darkness by Imogen Robertson. Her debut novel a historical mystery taking place in 1780 Sussex.

Dauntless sounds painfully boring, haha. I read This Alien Shore by C.S. Friedman most of the way through. It was interesting, but at the same time it kind of felt like nothing happened. I think it was a set up book for the rest of the series, but it's one I'm not going to read.

[benham]

Finished Carte Blanche. I hadn't read any other James Bond novels so can't compare it to them but have read most of what Jeffery Deaver has published.

Spoiler:

***SPOILER*** for Carte Blanche

It was an interesting read throughout but didn't rise to the level of, say, a Gabriel Allon thriller. It picked up considerably when Bond got to Dubai and got very interesting for a short while when Gregory Lamb was introduced. I had envisioned an entirely different role for him. His character was a major disappointment. Felicity was also a disappointment.

That being said, it is probably worth the read. Overall I would give it a ***+ rating. Above average but probably will not make my top 10 or 2011

[Fbone]

Originally Posted by Crusader

You need to shoot where you think your opponents will be and the computers basically handles the actual firing solutions. That's why they actually do extremely close passes during battle, and where tactics/formations come into play.

Before Jack they just faced each other head-on and hoped for the best. He reintroduces tactics and formations.

Thanks, it was all just too much waiting for me. I did like how the author introduces a third party into the plot towards the end of the book. I assume this is revealed in his next books.

[Stitchawl]

Originally Posted by cassidym

You won't be disappointed in the Flashman series. I've read every one of those and thoroughly enjoyed them. Ditto the Sharp series.

OK... I'll pick them up and add to the TBR list.. I won't get the whole series to begin, though. Just the first 2-3 to be sure it's my kind or reading. Thanks for the recommendation!

Stitchawl

[Ditchleyportrait]

////./

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

I don't like it when GRRM used 'Ser' instead of 'Sir', by the way.

Couldn't agree more

Originally Posted by maianhvk

And I don't like reading the Daenerys (is that her name, the Dany girl?) parts, not at all. The Dothraki (again, correct me if I get the name wrong) is an upgraded version of Mongolia army, with stupid language and too barbarian action to my taste. 'The stallion that mount the world'? Yeah, I did read about a 87 times before, can you please just say 'the child' or 'the kid' or 'the future khal'?

New families are introduced in the latter books that are even more tedious to read about.

Sometimes the author goes on a name-ranting rampage and you get to know the names of every ship and half the crew. Most horses get names (even if they're marginally important), none of these things brings the story forward but adds to the complexity.

[Ea]

Just finished "Kraken" by China Mieville. Wasn't bad, the world-building was very interesting, but the plot itself was rather conventional.

I picked it up because I wanted something with good quality prose and a fantastical type story, and I wasn't disapponted. But the storyline is meandering (the last third of the book was a bit tedious to get through), and the basic plot a quite conventional thriller.

The writing is good and solid, but one thing that was a bit annoying was his (over)use of - what shall I call them - rarely used words most often only found in dictionaries It felt like an affectation.

Spoiler:

SPOILER

I was quite disappointed with the revelation of the real villain at the end (the professor) - that was too much like pullng a white rabbit out of a hat.

The style of this book was great, the world-building fascinating, but I'm missing an interesting plot, and a solid, well-constructed storyline. It's a "light" book all in all. Good writing - but I was also looking for a book with a point and some food for thought - this wasn't it.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

OK, another random pick from my TBR list next:
Silverlock by John Myers Myers. I bought this one in May 2009.

The screen on a iPod is quite small. I hit the wrong book, so I'm currently reading Sisters of Glass by D. W. St. John, which is a freebie from the Baen Free Library.

Near-future science fiction. Quite fun so far.

[Crusader]

Originally Posted by Fbone

Thanks, it was all just too much waiting for me. I did like how the author introduces a third party into the plot towards the end of the book. I assume this is revealed in his next books.

Yes, the third party plays a very important role later on and I think the second series will focus exclusive on them. I essentially view the whole Lost Fleet series as one long book separated into smaller installments. It could very easily have been just a 1800+ page novel, but I guess a series makes more money.

[thinkpad]

Finished the 4th book in the Song Of Ice And Fire saga. I know the 5th book is scheduled to be released on July 12th but I'm not sure if I will get it or not. Book 4 was a disappointment.

[kennyc]

What was disappointing about it?

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by kennyc

What was disappointing about it?

Mostly because he introduced a lot of new families and characters that was less interesting to read about, and not writing anything about the characters that was taking a more active part in book 3.

It was first when I got to the end of the book that the author informs the reader that some of the main characters of book 3 had been in book 4 but that the book had gotten too big and the story too complex so it was split into two books. Book 5 is supposed to be about the characters that we didn't get to follow in book 4.

The funny thing is the author note says:

and all the rest of the characters you love or love to hate will be along next year...

and further down it's signed George R.R Martin, June 2005. I would say it has taken a little bit longer than a year to come out with the sequel, more like 6 years.

If I would have started on book 4, 6 years ago I would be even more reluctant to pick up book 5. I normally don't like reading a series that isn't finished and I seldom read a series consisting of more than 3 books.

The fact that he plans to release two more books (information from Wikipedia) after the 5th doesn't speak in favour of picking up book 5. For all I know it may take another six years before we get to see book 6 and I don't consider them to stand well on there own.