What are you reading ?

Still Tolkien's Beowulf translation, after a long pause. Now I've reached the last part.
For going by train / tram I've bought myself Herodot's "Histories", book 4, because it was so cheap.

I'm reading the last book of the Passage trilogy right now. I loved the first book, still do, I've read that one three times since it was released. The second book was almost a total let down, this current book is ok but man, that first book still makes the whole series worth reading. I'd be interested in what others might think of this series.

Killing Floor - first Jack Reacher book.

Finished the final Passage book, much more like the second than the first novel. Rather disappointing I'll say. Now I'm back to rereading the Wild Card series for like the umpteenth time.

After the Matt Chat interview was posted here decided to read Empire of Imagination. I didn't care for it being written as a novel, but it was entertaining. I think it glossed over too many details as well. I understand the book is about Gary Gygax, but more content about some of the old-school TSR personnel would have been nice. I thought the author (Michael Witwer) did a nice job covering the origins of war gaming and how it gave rise to D&D.

I would like to read something that covers the backstories behind the TSR product line, especially those from the 80's. For example, the stories behind the D & D modules and the TSR board games like Divine Right. Is there such a book?

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I'm reading the last book of the Passage trilogy right now. I loved the first book, still do, I've read that one three times since it was released. The second book was almost a total let down, this current book is ok but man, that first book still makes the whole series worth reading. I'd be interested in what others might think of this series.

I have only read The Passage and thought it was an interesting take on the vampire as well as post-apoc genres. B & N has been putting the trilogy on display lately and maybe I'll go ahead with the second novel after I finish my current read.

Based on a blurb at RampantCoyote's blog I bought "Death By Cliche" a few weeks back and have finally settled into reading it these last few days … And it was a bit slow and heavy-handed at first, but by the time I was ~5% into it (ugh, Kindle metrics - I no longer think in 'pages') I was hooked. I like the overall flow and narrative and am finding it a fun read. In a way it reminds of of the remake of 'Bard's Tale' … But it does a better job of keeping its head above water.

Let's see..

- a couple Star Trek novels, after Enterprise era, the last one of which was sort of a drag.

- Shadows of Self (Brandon Sanderson), lots of fun as usual, though it didn't feel that big.

- Perdido Street Station (China Mieville), weird stuff. Liked it!

Currently reading First King of Shannara (Terry Brooks), prequel to the original Shannara trilogy.

Finished reading the Wild Card series, about two weeks ago I started rereading the Fire and Ice books, up to book three now. Once again I'm reminded just how much better the novels are versus the tv series.

Just reading Iain Pears "Acardia" Great foray into fantasy and Scifi! I had read his "An instance at the fingerpost" previously. If you enjoy English historical stories and enjoy a cracking murder mystery, give it a go! Read them both. So good.

I'm re-reading the original Mistborn book trilogy from Sanderson. The last book in the Wax & Wayne Mostborn books ended with a really unexpected twist that made me go back and try to figure out what I might not be remembering right. I'm on the second book and it's actually better now that we're post Arab Spring.

Put the Shannara novel on hold and started reading The Witcher books, since I also started playing The Witcher 2 recently and learned that the books happen before the games. I never completed part 1 (got maybe halfway through?), but didn't feel like replaying it at all., so I also watched a movie version on Youtube.


A note on translations.

Since I don't speak Polish I needed translations. My research in that area in regard to Classics in general caused me to evaluate or read about opinions of different translations first in order to find the best one for me. The official Witcher translations seem to be good, but were sometimes not well received, and they were done by different translators. There are also fan translations, which are supposed to be better but weren't translated directly from Polish and lack a bit of quality control (?). In the end, I decided to go for the German translations, which also happen to have been published in their entirety by now. The translation is supposed to be very well done and indeed I'm having a lot of fun with it (busy with The Last Wish short stories). Even not knowing the original, I feel the different dialects and voices are nicely done.

Sadly, the Witcher games weren't translated by the guy who did the books, and they used the English translation as a base. So I'm playing the game in English.

To answer the original question….this thread

I've just started reading The Circle by Dave Eggers. It was recommended to me by a colleague and it's making my skin crawl because it's so easy to see it come true! The Circle is a fictitious Silicon Valley tech company that connects all data together so people have no privacy left anywhere. The protagonist works in customer support and it makes me feel like I'm playing "Papers, Please" when I read about it.

I finished The Goblin Emperor while on vacation. Very much recommended. Especially if you like court intrigue and underdog stories.

The novel, according to Dobbs, "mostly eschews plot-heavy histrionics in favor of warmth, psychological depth, and hope"

Originally Posted by Thrasher
I finished The Goblin Emperor while on vacation. Very much recommended. Especially if you like court intrigue and underdog stories.

I also very much enjoyed the book. Pity there isnt a sequel/continuation planned .

I've been reading my way through Uncanny Magazine. I support it on Kickstarter and I'm really enjoying most of the issues. It also did well in the latest popularity stakes (Hugo award).
Aside from that :
- Ninefox Gambit - Yoon Ha Lee, just amazing space opera with a major major new twist
- Luna: New Moon - Ian McDonald, excellent violent corporation war science fiction
- Breath of Earth - Beth Cato - very solid fantasy steampunk set in San Francisco
Behind the Throne - K. B. Wagers, empire space opera, good solid story and writing not brilliant but very enjoyable
- various light trash

Originally Posted by Hurls
I also very much enjoyed the book. Pity there isnt a sequel/continuation planned .

True. Would have been nice. It is quite a cool world and cast of characters she created.

I'm liking 'Magician' from Raymond E Feist.

Originally Posted by Ripping
I'm liking 'Magician' from Raymond E Feist.

Fantastic book. If you enjoy it, do follow up with the rest of the Midkemia Saga, The Empire Trilogy, Krondor's Sons, and maybe the Serpentwar Saga. Those were excellent.

Incidentally, that's where I stopped reading back in 1999 when I was done with school. Feist, however, continued writing (see Riftwar Cycle) which I didn't know about until much later. I did try to get back into the universe with some of the following books, but apparently after Shards of a Broken Crown his books were mostly mediocre… I guess it didn't help that there were computer game novelizations and random collaborations later. Anyway, I decided to stop in order to keep my loving memory of the first sagas.