Kevin's Watch

Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.

Just Begun The Power the Preserves.

taraswizard wrote:Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold.

I really like that one. Love the hero.

Curse of Chalion. So far in my reading the Castillar Lupe dy Cazaril and his two charges, Royesse Iselle and Lady Betriz, along with the Royesse's brother Royse Teidez have arrived at the Zangre, the castle of the Royesse's and the Royse's half brother the Roya Orico. It's not a very hard read and goes fast as such. But I really like it.

That is a wonderful novel! I read it about two years ago, and heartily recommend it! The sequel Paladin of Souls is not quite as good, imo, but still excellent. The third book, The Hallowed Hunt, bogs down a bit in describing what mechanically is going on. But all three are quite compelling.

Oh, and I'd never Bujold before.

I'm re-reading The Amber Spyglass.......It's a great sci-fi book. If you haven't read it I highly recommend it. (If you have any good sci-fi/fantasy recommendations pm them to me please)

Just read the 100-odd pages of this thread Drundaar.

--A

I am reading a preview of an upcoming urban fantasy by Alan Campbell called Scar Night, which is damn good stuff so far. This is due out in July and is volume one of the Deepgate Codex.

I also read a damn good Star Wars novel (coming out at the end of the month) called Star Wars: Legacy of the Force: Betrayal by Aaron Allston. You heard me right - really enjoyed it.

I'm also going to be doing some comic book reviews for a couple of sites in coming months (more comc book related sites), but I did my first one for FBS today, of Wolverine Origins#1

Since i posted the link in here last time, thought I'd do it again: My summary of the books I read in the second half of 2005.

Haven't gotten much reading done since finishing The Thousandfold Thought. I intend to get back to Paradise Lost soon.

I got bogged down for a long time in a history book about the first twelve Roman emporers. Every time one of them was said to do something particularly disturbing, I would have to put the book down for a couple of days.

So last night, after a day spent outside watching my son play soccer and working on my garden, I began a reading orgy.

Charlaine Harris's Definately Dead, one of her Southern Vampire Mysteries. A girl's cousin, a vampire, dies the final death. She has to figure out what the cousin has in her apartment that is attracting so much supernatural attention, attempted breakins, etc. Features a very sexy male weretiger.

Mary Janice Davidson's Dead and Loving It, super explicit novellas featuring werewolves and vampires finding their perfect mates.

Stephen Erikson's Blood Follows a novella telling a bit of the backstory of two necromancers we meet in his novel Memories of Ice and how they come to hire their long put-upon manservant.

Just finished reading Steven Erikson's Midnight Tides.

Well, what else can I say? Another Malazan epic, and another novel standing on a far higher plane than most "good" fantasy books/series out there.

I was a bit taken aback when I discovered that Midnight Tides was not part of the main sequence, at least not in terms of the series' timeline. Steven Erikson goes back a few years into the past -- exactly how many remains uncertain. This story arc recounts the tale of the rise of the Emperor of the Tise Edur, the Deliverer of Midnight Tides, which was alluded to in Memories of Ice. And it's kind of neat to witness how Trull Sengar ended up in dire straits at the beginning of House of Chains.

Unlike Terry Goodkind, who wrote novels that had very little to do with the main plotlines and were just milking his popularity, Steven Erikson stepped away from his principal story arcs to focus on a distant war whose events will have dramatic repercussions on the rest of the world and beyond. Baffling me, as always, is how easy Erikson somehow makes it all look.

Hard to put down. . . For the full book review, check out the blog!

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

Jusr starting the Finovar Tapestry trilogy.
Plus I'm Reading my eldest HP3

I have been reading Erikson's The Healthy Dead, the second of his novellas about those two evil necromancers we meet in Memories of Ice along with their long suffering man servant. This book reveals a very dark and very funny sense of humor. The king of a small and isolated city is a major league health nut. He passes all sorts of laws and provides enforcement for all of his citizens to also be health nuts. This makes most of the people very miserable. They hire the necromancers, evil dudes both, to take care of the problem of too much health.

Hi guys!

With Temeraire/His Majesty's Dragon, newcomer Naomi Novik came out of left field with what certainly appeared to be a winner. The quality of its sequel, Throne of Jade, demonstrated that the first volume was no fluke. Building on existing storylines, it showed that Novik's series possessed a lot more depth than its predecessor hinted at. And with Black Powder War, the author sets the bar even higher.

Some readers pointed out that this series didn't fill one with awe like works by authors such as George R. R. Martin, R. Scott Bakker and Steven Erikson. Be that as it may, in terms of entertainment this trilogy is definitely a breath of fresh air that enables it to stand out in the fantasy genre.

For the sole reason that it's a welcome change from the multitude of dark and gritty fantasy epics, I encourage everyone to give Naomi Novik a shot. You won't be disappointed. I haven't had this much fun reading fantasy books in quite some time!

For the full review, check out the blog. . .

Patrick
www.fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com

The Divine Invasion by Philip K. Dick.

I bought this years ago, started, and gave up. Finally re-started it yesterday... and it's kind of weird. I quite like it, because I really enjoy all that religious mythology stuff (even if I consider it to be just that; mythology), but it's definitely confusing at times.

I'm currently re-reading the Redwall series (anyone else like those books?).

I'm waiting for Play.com to deliver the sequel to Pandora's Star by Peter Hamilton: Judas Unchained. So maybe I'll reread some Erikson. I'm also planning to reread A Scanner Darkly in anticipation of the movie.

Woohoo! I found the last two Gap books for £1 each today. So I started reading Chaos and Order on the way home. Finally I'll be able to venture into the Gap forum without covering my eyes.

Yess... join us!

I'm reading House of Chains. It is starting to get good.