November's adventures in Reading needed...

[Connavar]

Connavar-Have you read any Karin Slaughter? A very good crime novelist with interesting characters and exciting plots.
Blindsighted is the first in a series involving Sara Linton and Jeffrey Tolliver. Well worth a distraction from sf and fantasy territory.

No i havent read her but i have been thinking about it. In the jungle of crime authors her name pops up at times among fans that like similar crime books.

What does she do well ? Police procedural ? CSI type ? PI ? A good first book ?

I have read few female crime writers and thought about trying even more so im not discriminating against them.

 

[J-Sun]

I've finally finished Dozois' annual bug crusher of his take on what constitutes the year's best SF stories (25th Annual). (I'd read a few from it, read something else, return to it, etc.) This volume only had half a dozen stories I really liked and called SF, with another eight or so that I thought were okay, out of the 32. One of the half-dozen or so I don't call SF was also excellent, though (Chiang's "The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate").

Now starting Hartwell/Cramer's take on the same thing. I fell asleep a few pages from finishing the lead story (a heavy-handed and obvious polemic translated from the Finnish) which isn't a good sign. Unable to finish the Finnish, I guess. But I will complete it later.

 

[Orion]

Just finished Fool's Errand by Robin Hobb and started Golden Fool.

I did enjoy the first book, but so far I think I like the Farseer Trilogy better.

 

[citri]

I'm currently reading Bloodheir, the sequel of Winterbirth. It's kinda ruined for me though since I read Dune right before it and was dying to read the next one and then when I couldn't find the next one after it at the library and I found this one, I picked it up since I'd read Winterbirth a year ago (I think). I forgot half the characters in the book and now that I got the next books in the dune series, the book seems a little dead to me. I just want to get it done with so I can read Dune: Messiah which makes me feel a little guilty because I feel like I'm not giving the book a proper chance. You know when you are too interested in books when you start caring about their feelings . I just feel like I'm cheating it and it's author here since I look at Dune: Messiah sitting off to the side looking enticing and everything and I feel like I'm not giving Bloodheir the credit it deserves as a book.

That was way too long winded.

 

[annabelle]

citri : I know this feeling so well...
But why don't you put it down ? You can come back to it after reading Messiah. Your heart will be at peace and you'll be able to enjoy bloodheir (which is very good IMHO) as it deserve.

Back on topic... I'm in the middle of The Warrior-Prophet by Scott Bakker and love it !! The first book was good and very impressive for a début but this one is even better, more epic, darker etc...

 

[sassy1]

I was under the impression that although this is set in the same world as Assassin's Apprentice, its a different series and this is the first one in that series. I'm assuming that I can read it without reading the first, although someone please inform me if this is not the case

it is a stand alone series but there will be a few spoilers for the first trilogy if you're going to read that later. not the end of the world though

 

[kale]

No i havent read her but i have been thinking about it. In the jungle of crime authors her name pops up at times among fans that like similar crime books.

What does she do well ? Police procedural ? CSI type ? PI ? A good first book ?

I have read few female crime writers and thought about trying even more so im not discriminating against them.

Her writing thematics are quite varied. The main character is a paediatrician/medical examiner for the small town she lives in. She has an off/on relationship with the town sheriff, Jeffrey Tolliver. Begin with the start of the series, Blindsighted.

 

[citri]

citri : I know this feeling so well...
But why don't you put it down ? You can come back to it after reading Messiah. Your heart will be at peace and you'll be able to enjoy bloodheir (which is very good IMHO) as it deserve.

Back on topic... I'm in the middle of The Warrior-Prophet by Scott Bakker and love it !! The first book was good and very impressive for a début but this one is even better, more epic, darker etc...

I generally don't like reading multiple books at once or stopping in the middle of books or putting books on hold. It gets confusing and I never get into the individual books to read with dedication when I do that.

I just finished The Prince of Nothing trilogy right before I read dune and then got to the book I'm on right now. That's a little funny considering it's not that widely read. I personally didn't like the books that much. They weren't believable and they had some really bizarre parts that were never properly explained very well. The first book was pretty good and the start of the book was pretty well written. After that, it fell apart some. It opened a lot of plot points that were never closed very well. The last book was a huge disappointment since it tied off the ending horribly. Tell me what you think of it when you're done with the series if you feel like it.

 

[murphy]

I generally don't like reading multiple books at once or stopping in the middle of books or putting books on hold. It gets confusing and I never get into the individual books to read with dedication when I do that.

I just finished The Prince of Nothing trilogy right before I read dune and then got to the book I'm on right now. That's a little funny considering it's not that widely read. I personally didn't like the books that much. They weren't believable and they had some really bizarre parts that were never properly explained very well. The first book was pretty good and the start of the book was pretty well written. After that, it fell apart some. It opened a lot of plot points that were never closed very well. The last book was a huge disappointment since it tied off the ending horribly. Tell me what you think of it when you're done with the series if you feel like it.

The series isn't over yet. There's another book out next year which will start 20 years later.

I finished a reread of A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie Czerneda. It's been over 10 years since I read it, but I still like her writing. Just started the sequel, Ties of Power.

 

[Fried Egg]

Just finished "Madouc" by Jack Vance and about to embark on my first Heinlein novel: "Stranger in a strange land".

 

[dask]

Just finished "Madouc" by Jack Vance and about to embark on my first Heinlein novel: "Stranger in a strange land".

Hope you enjoy the Heinlein. I didn't. The first half started off great, like it could have been the best sf story ever, then suddenly out of nowhere it degenerated into a mass of goop I had to slog through to finish. Most do seem to enjoy it though.

 

[Razorback]

Just finished "Madouc" by Jack Vance and about to embark on my first Heinlein novel: "Stranger in a strange land".

This book is not without merit, but I wouldn't recommend it for a first Heinlein read. I preferred Time Enough for Love and I Will Fear No Evil. There is a bit of variety and range in his works. You may want to check out the Heinlein author section to help select what appeals to you most.

If you go ahead and start with Stranger, try something else if you don't like it.

 

[j d worthington]

Along with the various bits of verse, essays, and the like, a recent reread of Merritt's original short tale, "The Moon Pool" (which really does build the atmosphere of eeriness and antiquity very well), and Rousseau's The Sea Demons... an enjoyable little adventure tale, but not a high point as weird work. However, aside from the frequently noted points which may have influenced HPL's development of the Deep Ones, I did come across a passage in the chapter "The Cave of the Idol" which really pulled me up short, as it could very well be thought to serve as the germ or spark for his tale "Dagon"... though handled in a quite different fashion....

 

[citri]

The series isn't over yet. There's another book out next year which will start 20 years later.

I finished a reread of A Thousand Words for Stranger by Julie Czerneda. It's been over 10 years since I read it, but I still like her writing. Just started the sequel, Ties of Power.

Oh. Well that explains a lot. I still thought the third book was a disappointment, I suppose the ending of the book wasn't as bad now that I know there's a continuation, but the plot threads that were tied off were tied off badly. Really, the final battle with Anasurimbor's dad was so anticlimactic. The whole thing only lasted about a half of a page. It spent longer describing him walking there through the ruins than it spent actually detailing the fight. Considering the whole thing was based off of him going to kill his dad, it was a bit of a let down.

 

[Michael01]

Almost finished This Rough Magic by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and David Freer, the sequel to The Shadow of the Lion. Both are quite enjoyable, and fairly well done - especially for a collaboration.

 

[Ursa major]

I've just read - it didn't take long - The Cosmic Puppets by Philip K. Dick. It's quite short - more a novella than a novel - and put me in mind of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode, wherein (very) strange things on a vast scale are played out on a small stage, a little town at the back of beyond. A light read (especially for Dick) but enjoyable none the less, even though it wasn't what I was expecting when I picked up the book.

 

[HoopyFrood]

The White Devil -- John Webster

Annnd...

Birds of America -- Lorrie Moore

 

[Kettricken]

Finished 'Acacia' by David Anthony Durham. Although it started off a bit slow, once I really got into the story, it was very good. Towards the ending there were a few plot twists that wouldn't look bad in ASOIAF. In general, I enjoyed myself quite a bit with this book!

Yesterday I've started in 'Gardens of the Moon' by Steven Erikson. Not everything is clear yet (which I like in a way), it's entertaining so far. Took me a bit of figuring out (and thanks to the internet!) Malaz and Unta were not on Genebackis; could have missed it during reading. The map of Genebackis is now printed in my mind, however!

 

[murphy]

Almost finished This Rough Magic by Mercedes Lackey, Eric Flint, and David Freer, the sequel to The Shadow of the Lion. Both are quite enjoyable, and fairly well done - especially for a collaboration.

I really liked these books too. The only thing that bothered me was that Mercedes Lackey lifted her part of the story line (about the young boy and the swamp) right out of the story she did for the C.J. Cherryh shared world, Merovingen Nights series. And by the way, Dave Freer did a third book in this series called Man Witch.

 

[Lobolover]

J.D.-I may try to lend the Rosseau book some day.