Kevin's Watch

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 8:55 am**

A Canticle for Leibowitz.

Posted: **Wed Nov 28, 2007 9:03 am**

Patricia McKillip: Ombria in Shadow

Posted: **Tue Dec 25, 2007 8:46 pm**

This year's haul:

Brasyl - Ian McDonald
The Somnambulist - Jonathan Barnes
Splinter - Adam Roberts
The Long Price (Volume 1: Shadow & Betrayal) - Daniel Abraham
Count Zero - William Gibson
Accelerando - Charles Stross

To be added to the pile on top of last year's christmas books, which I haven't quite gotten round to reading yet.

Posted: **Wed Dec 26, 2007 2:38 am**

Christmas gifties included:

Anansi Boys--Neil Gaiman
The Sandman Book of Dreams--ed. by Neil Gaiman
Stardust (hardcover illustrated book) by Neil Gaiman and Charles Vess

It was a Neil Gaiman Christmas, it seems! And strangely, I got the first two books from a friend, and the last one from my brother.

Oh, I also picked up The Tolkien Fan's Medieval Reader by Turgon. Just a bit of light reading. . .

Posted: **Wed Dec 26, 2007 3:05 am**

My Christmas selection this year included, as requested, a collection of H.P. Lovecraft short stories. Loremaster has been recommending Lovecraft to me for some time, and I'm looking forward to getting started.

Incidentally, Loremaster, did you totally abandon The Samsarin? I was thinking about it the other day.

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2007 3:51 pm**

I began my second read of The Lord of the Rings a couple days ago and Cameraman Jenn bought me for my birthday:
The Hobbit
The Tolkien Reader
The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth
The Book of Lost Tales 1
The Lays of Beleriand
The Lost Road and Other Writings
Roverandom

Also, I ordered Fonstad's The Atlas of Middle-Earth and The Atlas of the Land.

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2007 7:41 pm**

A friend of mine purchased George R. R. Martin's first book in A Song of Ice and Fire. Read it on Christmas and wasn't very impressed at all. Probably the first year that I have received a first book of a series and not wanted to read the rest of the books.

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:11 pm**

How can you not be impressed by A Game of Thrones?

Posted: **Sun Dec 30, 2007 8:36 pm**

Lord Mhoram wrote:How can you not be impressed by A Game of Thrones?

Honestly, the characters weren't interesting for me. Well, not all of them - but most just didn't have the substance that I was hoping for. The general storyline just didn't hold my interest...this was the first book in a long time that I actually put down about half way through and debated whether or not I should finish it.

After deciding that I am not going to read any of the others, I did read the backs to the remaining books to get a general idea of where the story was going, and I will be honest - I didn't see the worth it spending $15 a pop to keep going. The time investment just wasn't there.

I don't know if it was the 5+ POV method used, the characters themselves, or just the plot itself. Or, perhaps all of the super-positive reviews the book received tainted my impression of it...perhaps I expected more than was reasonable.

Posted: **Thu Jan 17, 2008 6:23 pm**

Count Zero rocked Murrin.

I've just FINALLY picked up a book I've been looking for for 10 years...Citadel of the Autarch by Gene Wolfe.

At last completing my Book of the New Sun collection.

(I think its BotNS anyway...never can remember.)

Thrilled...walked into a 2nd hand shop and there it was.

Also got Glory Road by Heinlein.

--A

Posted: **Tue Jan 29, 2008 3:54 pm**

Picked up a copy of Pirate Freedom by Gene Wolfe.

Posted: **Sun Feb 10, 2008 3:24 pm**

Alice in Sunderland by Brian Talbot (graphic novel). When I first saw this in stores I'd written it off as "Local Interest"--that was before I found out that not only had a lot of people heard of it and praised it, but Jeff VanderMeer picked it as his number one graphic novel of 2007 (tied with Shaun Tan's The Arrival).

Posted: **Sat Feb 16, 2008 2:56 pm**

Black Sheep by Ben Peek

The New Weird ed. by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer

Back cover copy:

Visions of Madness

Descend into shadowy cities, grotesque rituals, chaotic festivals, and deadly cults. Plunge into terrifying domains, where bodies are remade into surreal monstrosities, where the desperate rage against the monolithic powers-that-be. Where everything is lethal and no one is innocent, where Peake began and Lovecraft left off--this is where you will find the New Weird.

Come A Little Closer

Edgy, urban fiction with a visceral immediacy, the New Weird has descended from classic fantasy and dime-store pulp novels, from horror and detective comics, from thrillers and noir. All grown-up, it emerges from the chrysalis of nostalgia as newly literate, shocking, and utterly innovative.

Here is the very best of the New Weird from some of its greatest practitioners. This canonic anthology collects the original online debates first defining the New Weird and critical writings from international editors, culminating in a groundbreaking round-robin piece, "Festival Lives," which features some of the hottest new names in New Weird fiction.

Posted: **Sun Feb 17, 2008 1:17 am**

dukehenry wrote:
Lord Mhoram wrote:How can you not be impressed by A Game of Thrones?
Honestly, the characters weren't interesting for me. Well, not all of them - but most just didn't have the substance that I was hoping for. The general storyline just didn't hold my interest...this was the first book in a long time that I actually put down about half way through and debated whether or not I should finish it.

After deciding that I am not going to read any of the others, I did read the backs to the remaining books to get a general idea of where the story was going, and I will be honest - I didn't see the worth it spending $15 a pop to keep going. The time investment just wasn't there.

I don't know if it was the 5+ POV method used, the characters themselves, or just the plot itself. Or, perhaps all of the super-positive reviews the book received tainted my impression of it...perhaps I expected more than was reasonable.

The first read of A Game of Thrones was slow for me. There's a lot that George R.R. Martin puts out there that just doesn't make sense until you read the other books. I would suggest reading at least the second book; that's when everything really picks up momentum.

Also, were you expecting fantasy along the lines of Tolkien? I know they categorize it as High Fantasy, but I disagree. It's more fantasy along the lines of Conan, IMHO. I know some people are turned off by that and want elves and orcs and other things.

Posted: **Sat Feb 23, 2008 3:24 pm**

A Cruel Wind: A Chronicle of the Dread Empire, by Glen Cook.
Great omnibus edition of the classic Dread Empire Trilogy from Night Shade Books, one of the best mid-size genre publishers around; includes an introduction by Jeff VanderMeer.

Posted: **Tue Feb 26, 2008 2:24 am**

A cheap used copy of Hearts in Atlantis by Stephen King. I'll be reading it soon in preparation for Dark Tower 6.

Posted: **Wed Feb 27, 2008 1:52 pm**

This years additions.

Perdido Street Station - China Mieville

The Warrior Prophet - R.Scott Bakker

Assassins Apprentice - Robin Hobb

GOTM,DG,MOI,MT,BH - Steven Erikson - All new MMP editions (UK), when i already have the old MMP'S - i am such a sap.

The Lost Road - JRR

Jonathon Strange and Mr Norrell - Susanna Clarke

Posted: **Wed Mar 05, 2008 7:35 pm**

I'm not even sure if this book fits in the genre, but it was shelved in SF, so I'm posting in this thread.

Bad Monkeys by Matt Ruff

Jane Charlotte: A woman with a serious attitude problem, a drug habit and a license to kill.

She has been arrested for murder, and during questioning tells police that she is a member of a secret organisation devoted to fighting evil. Her division, 'the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons' - or 'Bad Monkeys' for short - is an execution squad that rids the world of especially evil people. However, the man Jane has been arrested for killing was not on the official target list.

This strange confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor interviews her at length about her supposed career as an assassin. Her tale grows increasingly bizarre, with references to hidden messages in crosswords, dollar bills that can see and scary, axe-wielding clowns. The doctor does his best to sort truth from lies, but whenever it seems he's getting to the bottom of things, there's another twist to unravel.

Not until the full, extraordinary story is told will we learn whether Jane is lying, crazy... or playing a different game altogether.

Posted: **Sat Mar 15, 2008 3:07 am**

I've gone a bit stupid this year and spent a small fortune on stuff...

The first 6 novels in Steven Erikson's "Malazan" Series, also pre-ordered two other "Malazan" novels

The first 5 novels in George RR Martins "A Song of Ice and Fire" series

"The Sky People" by SM Stirling

And a few zombie novels (World War Z & Day By Day Armageddon")

Edit: Just waiting for FR to come out in paperback and I will be ordering it along with RotE

Posted: **Sat Mar 15, 2008 10:09 am**

dukehenry wrote:
Lord Mhoram wrote:How can you not be impressed by A Game of Thrones?
Honestly, the characters weren't interesting for me. Well, not all of them - but most just didn't have the substance that I was hoping for. The general storyline just didn't hold my interest...this was the first book in a long time that I actually put down about half way through and debated whether or not I should finish it.

After deciding that I am not going to read any of the others, I did read the backs to the remaining books to get a general idea of where the story was going, and I will be honest - I didn't see the worth it spending $15 a pop to keep going. The time investment just wasn't there.

I don't know if it was the 5+ POV method used, the characters themselves, or just the plot itself. Or, perhaps all of the super-positive reviews the book received tainted my impression of it...perhaps I expected more than was reasonable.

I wish I'd stuck with my gut feeling after the first book ...but I ended up wasting my money and time finishing the series. Yawn.

Stick to vampires, GRRM!

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