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

[ReadingManiac]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've started two from my TBR:

Krondor: Tear of the Gods by Raymond E. Feist and The Spend Game by Jonathan Gash.

Very different. Both good.

I've read only one Feist, Faery Tale. Is Tear of the Gods as good?

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I've read only one Feist, Faery Tale. Is Tear of the Gods as good?

It’s not a book to read “standalone” - you need to have read at least the first few books of the Krondor series first.

Do try to read the first book, “Magician”. It’s a masterpiece and a classic of fantasy fiction.

[MickeyC]

Just finished the latest CJ Box Book, Wolf Pack and it was one of his best. And if you could figure out where this one was going, you’re better than me!

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by ReadingManiac

I've read only one Feist, Faery Tale. Is Tear of the Gods as good?

I haven't read Faery Tale. I wouldn't recommend starting this series with Krondor: Tear of the Gods.

Start with Magican.

[gmw]

I liked Faerie Tale the first time I read it, on a more recent re-read I was a bit disappointed by the ending - Raymond Feist has this tendency to bring in external forces to wrap up his stories. Still, the ride made the book a worthwhile read anyway. And I add my voice to the votes saying you should read Magician (etc.) before moving on to the Krondor tales. I gave up before I got to the Krondor books, but really enjoyed Magician and many of the books that came after that. (The Empire trilogy written with Janny Wurts, in particular.)

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

I've started two from my TBR:

Krondor: Tear of the Gods by Raymond E. Feist and The Spend Game by Jonathan Gash.

Very different. Both good.

And most enjoyable.

I'm astonished to find I bought Tear of the Gods back in 2008. I'm even more surprised at the cost (about £4). I almost never buy books for as much as that now!

Lovejoy seems to attract women without effort, despite his apparent indifference to anything except antiques.

Spoiler:

He gets away with killing only three people in this book. Granted, the three people were all trying to kill him at the time, but it does mean I treat this more as a fantasy than a crime series.

Next up: The Hunt for the Red Cardinal. Another in the Ring of Fire series, by a new author.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Lovejoy seems to attract women without effort, despite his apparent indifference to anything except antiques.

Spoiler:

He gets away with killing only three people in this book. Granted, the three people were all trying to kill him at the time, but it does mean I treat this more as a fantasy than a crime series.

Have you read "Finding Davey"? That's my favourite Jonathan Gash book by far. It's a standalone. I highly recommend it if not.

[pdurrant]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Have you read "Finding Davey"? That's my favourite Jonathan Gash book by far. It's a standalone. I highly recommend it if not.

No, I haven't read it, nor do I have it in my TBR. If I get my TBR below 500, I might add it.

[Dngrsone]

Finished reading Downbelow Station by C. J. Cherryh. for whatever reason, it was a most difficult read, and I am not in a mood to try anything new, it seems: I've picked up three or four different fantasies and put them back down within the first page.

I am rereading Crystal Singer to see if I can get over this funk.

[PurpleStar]

Finished reading The Crimson Campaign by Brian McClellan. Meh, it was okay, but I just don't enjoy fantasy books like I used to.

Now reading Stroke of Luck by B.J. Daniels. Yet another cowboy romance novel. LOL

[John F]

Reading A Shadow of Night by Deborah Harkness.

And a reminder, A Discovery of Witches, it is now on TV in the USA on AMC.

[HarryT]

I recently finished "The Wizard of Karres", by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and Dave Freer. This is a direct sequel to "The Witches of Karres" by James Schmidtz, and in fact follows immediately on from it, so definitely not a book to read unless you've read the earlier book first.

I was slightly dubious about the idea of a sequel written by other authors, but this was a pleasant surprise. I really enjoyed the Schmitz book and this one was, if anything, even better. Very, very highly recommended, but only if you've read Schmidtz's book first!

[Rev. Bob]

Originally Posted by Tarana

Just an FYI on the Honor Harrington book - there is a LOT of introductory stuff for the series in that first book. I nearly gave it up 1/2 through but the original recommender told me to just keep going - and there it was...Action!!

That’s pretty standard for the series, though. The first big chunk of the book assembles the machine, and then the last chunk turns it on in the form of a massive space battle or two. Not that I object, and it’s not a bad formula, just saying that the structure is not anomalous.

Speaking of the Honorverse, I recently finished the last two Honor-era books (Shadow of Victory and Uncompromising Honor), then moved on to the first two “Manticore Ascendant” 400-years-ago prequels (A Call to Duty and A Call to Arms). Those moved me to indulge in a rare full-price purchase, to pick up the third in that series: A Call to Vengeance.

I’ll most likely wait until next week to start that one, as I’m presently using Comcast’s Watchathon Week to indulge in some movies I don’t normally have access to.

[HarryT]

Finished "The Judas Pair", by Jonathan Gash, the first book in the "Lovejoy" series. I enjoyed this very much indeed, although Lovejoy is not a very nice man at all (eg in the first couple of pages of the book he punches his girlfriend to the ground because she interrupts him while he's on the 'phone). In this book, Lovejoy (an antiques dealer, in base anyone is unfamiliar with the series) is commissioned to try to locate a pair of flintlock duelling pistols whose previous owner has died in mysterious circumstances.

There was a very popular TV series based on these books made by the BBC which ran for 6 series between 1986 and 1994, which I have fond memories of. This book very much captured the same atmosphere.

I look forward very much to reading further books in the series.

[RobertLCollins]

Yesterday evening I finished How to Marry a Werewolf by Gail Carriger. It was a good little romance story with some interesting drama and quite a few of Gail's touches. I quite enjoyed it.