Kevin's Watch

Avatar wrote:Every time I talk to you DragonLily, I come away with another book I have to find. Stop, I implore you!

Next time I'll read something you've already read.

I'm half way through 'Elven Star', book 2 (of 7) of the Death Gate Cycle by Weis and Hickman. (Why is seven the magical number of books in a series? HP, the Dark Tower, Death Gate ...?) It's an easy read and very entertaining, but not much more than that.

I'm reading The Rise of Endymion, by Dan Simmons.

I'm just about done with The Footsteps of God by Greg Ilse.

An awesome book with some really interesting stuff about the nature of God and man.

(It is fiction btw)

THE OATHBOUND by Mercedes Lackey. At about a third of the way into it, it seems to be a good handling of the hackneyed "quest" plot.

Darknesses, by L.E. Modessit Jr.

It's very good. Part of the Corean Chronicles.

Finally, DT 5 Wolves of the Calla.

Unfortunately, all my others, 1-4 are soft-cover, so, because I hate having a series with some hard-backs and some soft-covers, I've decided to wait for them each in paperback before buying. These books are awesome, Kings best ever IMO, and I can't wait to finish them so I can finally enter the SK forum in the library.

Oh yeah, I see the Runes is out here too. Guess what my birthday present is going to be?

--Avatar

Reading The Scar by China Mieville, completely absorbed in it. Going to pick up the paperback release of Scott Westerfeld's The Killing of World's today.

Along with Mieville, Alastair Reynolds and George Martin, Westerfeld is the most exciting author I've discovered in recent years. His work is fast paced, hyper-intelligent and mind warpingly creative.

SRD recommended Mieville when he was here. He also said Mieville was extremely dark. How dark do you think it is?

That's an intriguing description of Westerfeld. Do you have a particular title you would suggest to someone who has never read him before?

Mieville is most definately dark, wonderfully so. Not only in the plotlines but in the narrative, the way he describes his cities, so old and decaying and twisted, and the neverending assortment of strange beings that inhabit them. Creatures like The Weaver or the Slake Moths from Perdidio Street Station seem to come right out of nightmares you never knew you had. Fascinating, utterly original, impossible to forget. Can't recommend his stuff enough.

Start with The Risen Empire for Westerfeld. It will seem short (partly because you can't out it down) but it has more intelligent drama and razor sharp inventiveness than any 10 novels on the shelves these days. Brilliant stuff.

Enjoy.

Coming from a recommendation as well written as yours, I probably would. Need to call this to Khaliban's attention, too.

BTW, S Westerfeld is married to Justine Larbalebestier, the Australian/American SF critic. www.justinelarbalestier.com/ J Larbalestier's first book was the Hugo nominated Battle of the Sexes in Science Fiction (my copy autographed by author at 2004 Wiscon). Larbalestier's second book is a YA fantasy set in Australia, Magic or Madness. And in 2006 her edited anthology of 20th Century feminist SF, Daughters of earth, will be released.

I went crazy over the taste of freedom after finishing the very last book in my promised-to-review stack. THIS SCEPTER'D ISLE is a delight, yes, but it was also a promise. Last night I took my recommendations list and wandered around Powells until I was exhausted. Have acquired:

GARDENS OF THE MOON, Steve Erikson
A THREAD OF GRACE, Mary Doria Russell (an unexpected find)
PERDIDO STREET STATION, China Mieville
FOUCAULT'S PENDULUM, Umberto Eco
THE RISEN EMPIRE, Scott Westerfeld

If you find me wandering the threads with a dazed kind of smile and a battered brain, don't worry. It's all in a day's read.

Just finished A Dark And Hungry God Arises, just started Chaos And Order.

I've not been getting much reading done this week - I'm only two chapters into Sea of Silver Light, haven't read any more since monday or tuesday. I intend to get on with it soon, though, and follow it with a reread of House of Chains - I'm in a mood for some Karsa Orlong and Iskaral Pust.

Cail wrote:A Dark And Hungry God Arises, just started Chaos And Order.

Strap down! Here we go!

You got that right Danlo.....I suffered through The Real Story and about 200 pages of Forbidden Knowledge, but since then these books kick butt. The wife's at a party, the daughter's at a sleepover, Cail and the dog are reading all night.

Too cool! Enjoy!

Whoopee, Cail. Here goes the ride! IMO GAP is the best of the best.

Dragonlily wrote:I went crazy over the taste of freedom after finishing the very last book in my promised-to-review stack… <snip> If you find me wandering the threads with a dazed kind of smile and a battered brain, don't worry. It's all in a day's read.

But first … RUNES !!!

There is no stopping point in the first five chapters. I had to stop anyway, because of the exigencies of getting to and from work, but I am now headed back to it. May surface briefly in a few hours, if I don't collapse around 1 AM with my nose in the binding .

Finally got started reading Ship of Magic (first book in the Liveship Traders trilogy). Bought the books back around Christmas and never got to them until now. I read the first two books some time back before the trilogy was completed and they were both excellent, so I'm looking forward to reading the whole trilogy this time.

After that....next on my stack of "Books I've Bought But Haven't Read":

Red Branch by Morgan Llywellyn (Great retelling of the old Irish legend of the warrior Cuchulain)

Fiona Patton's Flame series (Picked these up on a whim from the second-hand bookstore as they sound pretty good, but we'll see. The buzz on Amazon is mostly positive, though.)

The Runelords by David Farland (Another second-hand acquisition. I read the book a while back and figured I'd give it one more go to see if it was any better on a second reading.)

The Waterborn by Gregory Keyes (Yup, another second-hand book.)