It's February and we're still reading

ladyflorange said:
Just finished swords and devlitry by Fritz Leiber. Really good! I didn't think I would like it, but it was really different from other things I've read :)
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Well that's the first voulme in the first book of Lankhmar. If you're able to get the Fantasy MasterWork series 2 books that feature all of Fahrd and the Grey Mouser's adventures then please do so, you won't be dissapointed! Victor Gollancz is the publisher and the 2 books are:

The First Book Of Lankmahr - Swords and Devlitry, Swords Against Death, Swords In The Mist & Swords Against Wizardry.

The Second Book of Lankmahr - The Swords Of Lankmahr, Swords and Ice Magic & The Knight and Knave Of Swords.

If you like Swords and Sorcery style novels there's plenty more including my fav and the orginator of S&S Robert E. Howard. His Conan chronicles are also available via Masterworks.
 
dwndrgn said:
I'm finally reading The Prince of Nothing. I'm only a few pages in and it isn't grabbing me. Is there going to be a story? Should I plow on?
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Yes I recommend perservering, the second book in the series is easier to follow than the first and it's a great read IMO.

I'm sure others will also comment more fully on these books in due course.......:)
 
I'll put it this way - The Prince of Nothing series is epic fantasy. And it's decent epic fantasy series. That means that you cannot possibly hope to have any idea of what the series will be like until you're about 100 pages in. There's a very clear plotline in The Darkness that Comes Before, much more so than in Erikson, but it isn't a spoonfeeding, very fast paced novel that you see with some epic fantasy series. My advice is to persevere unless you absolutely hate it - try to get to the end. By then you'll have a good idea of whether or not to continue. As for not "grabbing you" - there are few epic fantasy series that can do this in just a few pages, and given that the first couple of chapters in tDtCB are introductory, giving you an idea of the characters and the world, it's definitely worth continuing for a bit. As Gollum says, the next book is easier to follow and is IMO slightly better. Add to that, it's probably (I haven't yet read the Thousandfold Thought, but those who have suggest this) the best completed epic fantasy series, ever. At the start it may seem that there isn't much action, but there is quite a bit in the book as a whole.
 
Brys said:
I'll put it this way - The Prince of Nothing series is epic fantasy. And it's decent epic fantasy series. That means that you cannot possibly hope to have any idea of what the series will be like until you're about 100 pages in. There's a very clear plotline in The Darkness that Comes Before, much more so than in Erikson, but it isn't a spoonfeeding, very fast paced novel that you see with some epic fantasy series. My advice is to persevere unless you absolutely hate it - try to get to the end. By then you'll have a good idea of whether or not to continue. As for not "grabbing you" - there are few epic fantasy series that can do this in just a few pages, and given that the first couple of chapters in tDtCB are introductory, giving you an idea of the characters and the world, it's definitely worth continuing for a bit. As Gollum says, the next book is easier to follow and is IMO slightly better. Add to that, it's probably (I haven't yet read the Thousandfold Thought, but those who have suggest this) the best completed epic fantasy series, ever. At the start it may seem that there isn't much action, but there is quite a bit in the book as a whole.
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Ok, I've read on a bit and now at least we have more than what seemed to be mental wanderings with no frame of reference that were confusing. I am now a little more engaged in the story though to begin with I have a couple of major issues. Hopefully, the story will be good enough to override these issues. From all I've heard, it should. Thanks for the insight GOLLUM and Brys.
 
Am about a 150 pages into Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami and so far it's pretty pleasant with some intriguing parallel story threads running. A friend of mine however warns that this book isn't in the same league as the better Murakamis.

Am wondering if I shouldn't just finish up Stormbringer by Michael Moorcock. Maybe I should but Bane of the Black Sword put me off so much I'm apprehensive.
 
Stormbringer's definitely the best Elric story, so I'd suggest you read it.
I've just started Lud-in-the-Mist by Hope Mirlees.
 
dwndrgn said:
Ok, I've read on a bit and now at least we have more than what seemed to be mental wanderings with no frame of reference that were confusing. I am now a little more engaged in the story though to begin with I have a couple of major issues. Hopefully, the story will be good enough to override these issues. From all I've heard, it should. Thanks for the insight GOLLUM and Brys.
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Personally, I thought that the first was an excellent book, and the second not as good. A bit of a dissapointment, to be honest. Still worth the read though:)

Since getting to aus, I have read Light Fantastic, Equal Rites, Mort, and am half way through Sourcery. Terry Pratchett is good on the beach;)

Also just about to start "Woken Furies", by Richard Morgan.
 
Was at specialist SFF shop Minotaurs today and picked up 3 fantasy Masterwork series. This shop stocks just about every title in both the SF and Fantasy Masterwork series......:cool:

These two books I've heard quite a bit about on the forums and was pleased to see they were available in the Masterwork collection.

The Riddle-Master's Game (full trilogy in the one voulme) - Patricia McKillip.
The Iron Dragon's Daughter - Michael Swanwick.

Read some of the works by Clark Ashton Smith but not all. The following Masterwork is the full collected writings of Smith.

The Emperor Of Dreams - Clark Ashton Smith.

Happy reading ahead....:D
 
Sadly, neither have I. You're on my to read list, but that to read list is still over 100 books - and that's still pretty much excluding 2006 releases, of which it seems there are going to be many which I'll have to read.

Anyway, I'm reading Trudi Canavan's Magician's Guild at the moment - there's one thing good about it - it's giving me confidence that I might get published, if something this badly written can.
 
I don't know Brys, I'm really hurt after that comment. :( If you're reading something you hate now and you STILL don't have time to read me, then you can't have very high expectations. What can I do to change your mind? ;)
 
Sorry Garry, it's just that I've had this on my bookshelf for a while (before I knew about your books), and it was recommended by a close friend - it was duty. I don't read books in order of quality - sometimes I want to leave the better books until later, so that I don't get through them all at once.
 
Only kidding Brys. Really. I wouldn't pressure anyone, particularly someone I meet on a number of different forums pretty regularly. What I really want is for you to enjoy them if and when you finally do read them. Then we can talk. :)
 
Gary Wassner said:
It's February Gollum and you still haven't read me! (LOL) What am I to do?
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Mainly because your books don't seem readily available in bookshops down under, so I may have to give Amazon or the like a go. If they were I would've have already read them.
 
Brys said:
Anyway, I'm reading Trudi Canavan's Magician's Guild at the moment - there's one thing good about it - it's giving me confidence that I might get published, if something this badly written can.
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Whilst we may not fully see eye to eye with Irvine although he is defintely a "light" read, I couldn't agree with you more about Trudi. I only needed to read the first 100 odd pages to know this was not particularly well written or even interesting/engaging, at least for my tastes.
 
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