What are you reading ?

I seriously need to get back into the Malazan series, one book kind of left me shaking my head, yet it deserves another shot.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I seriously need to get back into the Malazan series, one book kind of left me shaking my head, yet it deserves another shot.

Most of the books have had me going "what!?who??" at some point, and had me whipping out my phone to Google a character or place. It's like, you really expect me to remember the background of a character last mentioned in the book literally 5000 pages ago, Mt Erikson?

I'm re-reading the first book of a series called Romanitas. The concept is the Roman Empire never fell and rules most of the world. A new emperor must maintain the peace.

After attending his parents' funeral, Marcus Novius Faustus Leo, the teenage nephew of the emperor (and heir apparent since the death of his father), is informed by his father's secretary Varius that his father Leo and his mother were murdered by a conspiracy concerned about Leo's ambition to abolish slavery.

I just finished the Fire and Blood book this afternoon, by George Martin. This is a different take from him, writing from a historical point of view, and I think it suits him pretty well. Some of this history has already been sussed out, yet there's much more detail here, honestly he could have done the entire series in this format and I think he'd not written himself into some insurmountable situations. I'd recommend this book to anyone that might have an interested in roughly two hundred years of recent Westeros history.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I just finished the Fire and Blood book this afternoon, by George Martin. This is a different take from him, writing from a historical point of view, and I think it suits him pretty well. Some of this history has already been sussed out, yet there's much more detail here, honestly he could have done the entire series in this format and I think he'd not written himself into some insurmountable situations. I'd recommend this book to anyone that might have an interested in roughly two hundred years of recent Westeros history.

This reminds me that I liked his science fiction stories in the seventies and eighties, for example "Sandkings" and reread several of them a few months ago, having fun.

While I am not interested in his fantasy stuff at all, I am happy about his success with it.

His sci fi fair, and to a greater extent the Wild Card series, are far better than the Ice and Fire saga. You aren't missing much at all there, you've likely read his better endeavors.

At the moment I am reading Mark Twain. I have relatively recently started writing for a newspaper myself. I can tell you with certainty that when I started writing on my own, reading literature opened up to me in a completely different way. It's, you know, like some other level to which I've moved.

I completed re-reading the Colour of Magic, the first entry in the Discworld series. I've not re-read this book in decades, I believe it was 1984 when I first read it, and I think I enjoyed it much more back then. Perhaps my interests changed, I did finish it though I didn't feel compelled to continue the series. Next up for me is Elevation, which appears to be a King tale in long story/novella form.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I completed re-reading the Colour of Magic, the first entry in the Discworld series. I've not re-read this book in decades, I believe it was 1984 when I first read it, and I think I enjoyed it much more back then. Perhaps my interests changed, I did finish it though I didn't feel compelled to continue the series. Next up for me is Elevation, which appears to be a King tale in long story/novella form.

I love this series, but apart from a couple of books, I haven't read any for a long time
either. The part of the series related to magic and the wizards is not my favourite part though, I find it a little bit too foolish. The books on the City Watch, von Lipwig and Mort are among my favourites.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
I completed re-reading the Colour of Magic, the first entry in the Discworld series. I've not re-read this book in decades, I believe it was 1984 when I first read it, and I think I enjoyed it much more back then. Perhaps my interests changed, I did finish it though I didn't feel compelled to continue the series. Next up for me is Elevation, which appears to be a King tale in long story/novella form.

You should've just gone straight onto The Light Fantastic. Not only do they flow directly form one to another, I remember TLF being way way better. (I just looked it up, and I'm surprised that there was three years between them. I read them in my mid-teens and could've sworn they were published close to each other)

Elevation is… okay? Pretty minor King. Enjoyed it, but didn't love it; seemed like an odd choice for a stand-alone hardback release.

I got through Elevation in what felt like record time, yet again it was only a long story or novella, so I didn't think it would take long. I thought it was a decent tale, a little light for King and more focused on insecurities and concerns that I believe most people simply make up in their own heads, yet it was entertaining. My local library offered a book for folks to read and discuss entitled Five Total Strangers, so I'm about halfway done that one right now. It's about five young people that get stranded at an airport together, deciding to brave the stormy weather and rent a vehicle, and make their ways to their respective destinations. So far it seems a tame, moody thriller.

Originally Posted by Shagnak
You should've just gone straight onto The Light Fantastic. Not only do they flow directly form one to another, I remember TLF being way way better. (I just looked it up, and I'm surprised that there was three years between them. I read them in my mid-teens and could've sworn they were published close to each other)

The Color of Magic (which I read 2 years ago) didn't do much for me. Too whimsical and silly, so I dropped the Discworld novels right there. Is The Light Fantastic that much better? I assume it's more of the same?

Five Total Strangers started off ok, then turned into some boring, constant whing-fest, with the protagonist having some inner monologue going on that just….well, while I did finish the book, it's not one I'll ever re-read nor recommend to anyone. Anyone that I like and has taste, that is.

This morning I quickly went through another novella, by King and one of his boys, In the Tall Grass. Personally I think they could have made a full book out of this one, yet I enjoyed it for what it was. It's refreshing to see the evil win out for once, it rarely seems to happen anymore, when you think about it.

Finished The Cuckoo's Egg. I really liked this book; it's a good story, and gives a good insight in how the network were like in the 80's. The author had to put up quite a fight to get the help of the authorities to solve the problem, because it was a new issue back then, and nobody was understanding the consequences of remote hackers trying to get classified information, or even of the negative effect it could have on networks.

Now I'm starting the John Shakespeare series by Rory Clements. Tudor / Henri VIII era, similar to Sansom's Shardlake or Meritt's Giodarno Bruno series.

Originally Posted by Carnifex
This morning I quickly went through another novella, by King and one of his boys, In the Tall Grass. Personally I think they could have made a full book out of this one, yet I enjoyed it for what it was. It's refreshing to see the evil win out for once, it rarely seems to happen anymore, when you think about it.

That's quite a mean novella, that one. Some seriously grim fates occur to some people.
Apparently there's a movie adaptation of it on Netflix (I've yet to see it).

Originally Posted by wiretripped
The Color of Magic (which I read 2 years ago) didn't do much for me. Too whimsical and silly, so I dropped the Discworld novels right there. Is The Light Fantastic that much better? I assume it's more of the same?

Yep, pretty much. There are later ones that are grimmer, less silly, but I have a feeling that this isn't your sort of thing.

Man, if there's a movie version of that novella, that's one I'll never have to watch. I have a pretty good idea of just how grim it must be.

Originally Posted by wiretripped
The Color of Magic (which I read 2 years ago) didn't do much for me. Too whimsical and silly, so I dropped the Discworld novels right there. Is The Light Fantastic that much better? I assume it's more of the same?

I've been told that the first couple of Discworld novels are early installment weirdness, so it might still be worth trying some of the later books.

Right now I'm alternating between a junk-food superhero novel called The Perfect Run and a web serial called The Practical Guide to Evil, which is similar to Discworld in that the world runs on the Theory of Narrative Causality, but it's definitely not a comedy.

After reading a blurp about the book, I picked up Kings of the Wyld yesterday, which is a tale about several former friends getting their group back together to rescue a wayward daughter of one of the members. I'm about a third of the way through, and so far it's been a fun, clever read. A dose of adventure, several dashes of great humour, and an trek across a dangerous world, what more could a bloke want in a tale?

Kings of the Wyld….ahh, what a breath of fresh air that novel was!! It was really good, I can admire an author that so vividly nails creatures from the Monster Manual, a book I've not perused in years, yet every description evoked old and dear memories. Eames doesn't waste prose on origins of these creatures, rather, he expects the reader to have some knowledge, and bless him for that!

High recommendations for this book, I'm not saying anything more as to not spoil things. Should you enjoy authors like Abercrombie, Greenwood, and many others, you'll find yourself right at home in these delightful pages.

And I felt sorry for the book that had to follow Kings of the Wyld, yet that was no issue at all, for the second book of the Gentlemen Bastards, Red Seas Under Red Skies, had no problem living up to expectations. For a second book in a series, I thought it quite excellent, perhaps even a bit better than the first in some ways, certainly at least equal to. I did miss some of the characters from the first book, yet I guess that's something you just have to deal with. High marks and I'll be getting the third book at some point, but for now 'salems Lot is due a re-read!