What fantasy/science fiction book are you reading RIGHT NOW?

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Feist's Shards of a Broken Crown

--A

[dANdeLION]

Pretty soon you'll join the frenzied ASOIAF addicts dying for A Feast For Crows--at least you won't have to wait as long as we have.

As long as I can get my hands on the ARC, this is true. But remember, I have been waiting for a long time to read the first 3 books; longer than you have, in fact.

[danlo]

Well duh --I can clearly remember 3 years ago hovering over the poor guy at bookstore as he opened the crate of ASOS paperbacks. I was so greedy for the book I'm lucky I didn't cut my hand on his box-ripper!

[Ainulindale]

Just wanted to add, that alogn with Orphans of Chaos by John C. Wright , I'm also making my way through Melusine by Sarah Monette

[I'm Murrin]

I finished the wonderful No Present Like Time, and have begun the Gormenghast trilogy.

[Encryptic]

In between library trips AND waiting for an order from Amazon at the moment, so I'm working on a re-read of the Coldfire trilogy by C.S. Friedman since I just bought the second and third books recently.

[Ainulindale]

I finished John C. Wrightt's Orphans of Chaos - can't wait for the sequel. Very good book, fans of Wright's SF of Fantasy shoudl jump on this in November.

Reading Sarah Monette's Melusine (maybe 200 pages in), and started Paul Park's Princess of Roumania yesterday.

[pat5150]

Hi guys!

Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy has been sitting on my shelves for many years now. Not totally forgotten, but not a priority for me to read, either. Indeed, I have way too many books that are patiently awaiting my attention. But as I wait for the arrival of Robin Hobb's Shaman's Crossing from HarperCollins, I wished to read something light. Hence, I finally decided to give this series a chance.

Pullman's series has garnered much acclaim, and deservedly so. But although quite entertaining, The Golden Compass remains a Young Adult novel. Which means that if you are not young at heart, you should perhaps consider skipping this book. Having said that, however, there are many hints pointing toward a moral complexity to this tale, which may or may not be explored in the two sequels. But the Church's involvement could give another dimension to this series. In any case, this novel's ending promises a lot of things to come.

The worldbuilding is all right, if a little juvenile. Yet, considering the book's intended readership, that was to be expected. The imagery is at times arresting, making The Golden Compass a visual and colorful story.

As was expected, the dialogues are rather juvenile as well. But the narrative, much to my surprise, is not. Pullman's prose is impeccable, and the narrative flows extremely well. The pace is crisp and quick.

The characterizations are better than I expected, although they are often too cute. But there is a lot more to the Mrs. Coulter and Lord Asriel characters, and hopefully the author will delve a little deeper into their lives in the subsequent volumes.

As I mentioned, concepts such as the Church, the Magisterium, the Oblation Board, the strong bond between children and their daemons, etc, could give a lot more depth to this series. I can only hope that we learn more about these things in The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

All in all, a good read for a younger audience. This could be the perfect series to introduce youngsters to the fantasy genre, although it is not as accessible as Harry Potter. And the fact that the heroine is a young girl makes The Golden Compass a book that can be enjoyed by both boys and girls of all ages.

This novel was as light as I expected. But it did offer a few unexpected surprise that will make me read the sequel.

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

[Cail]

Yet another PK Dick collection.

[Ainulindale]

I haven't read a SF since Olympos, so glad to see Ken Macleod's new and forthcoming Learning the World arrive in the mail yesterday!

Perfect reading for a boat trip to Worldcon!

[Warmark]

Just Finshed A Game of Thrones - incredibley brilliant - and i'm just starting A Clash of Kings.

[Dragonlily]

I liked A CLASH OF KINGS even better.

[Ainulindale]

liked A CLASH OF KINGS even better.

I think this series is a rarity in that it actually imrpoves as it goes along. The fact that A Game of Thrones is perhaps the greatest introduction into a epic fantasy series makes that claim even more grand.

[Encryptic]

Still re-reading the Coldfire trilogy, although I'm almost done with the final book. After that, I'm moving on to re-read Gates of Fire.

[Dragonlily]

I'm reading a youth fantasy, THE TEMPLES OF MALPLAQUET. T.H. White designed a marvelous setting and situation in MISTRESS MASHAM'S REPOSE, but there was still plenty more he could have done with it. Andrew Dalton, a teacher at Stowe in Buckinghamshire, has picked up the idea. TEMPLES is the first of a trilogy about Lilliputians living on a huge English estate modeled on Buckingham Palace (where Stowe School is now).

I am more than a third into it. Dalton has done an impressive job of looking at human situations from miniature viewpoints, and his droll satire makes it a book for adults, too.

(Plus, this is my first book sent by a British publisher -- a career advance. )

[Ainulindale]

Finishing up Paul Park's Princess of Roumania, and stillr eading Ken Macleod's Learning the World.

Recently finished Sarah Monette's Melusine, and Orson Scott Card's Shadow of the Giant.

[gyrehead]

Breezed through Fallon and Elliott and Marillier. Now working on Sahryar's Hyrcanian Kadine with the sequel Mygdonian Yanissary to follow.

[Encryptic]

Reading K.J. Bishop's "The Etched City".

[dANdeLION]

I'm doing the Gap series real quick while waiting for A Feast For Crows to come out

[danlo]

I'm 2/3rds of the way through Consider Phlebas and loving every minute of it. What I really love is finally having the time to actually sit down and read for extended periods for the first time this year!