Kevin's Watch

Omg, THE SPARROW was my Best Read of 2001. One of the most challenging novels I ever read. Any reader who has the courage for it, should not miss THE SPARROW.

Wow, you make it sound as if you get a quarter ever time a copy of THE SPARROW is sold, like I do with DANDELION WINE.

Wyrd Sisters, Terry Pratchett. I think this is the last of my job lot of Discworld books.

Re-reading 'Memories of Ice', and remembering what an amazing book this is (and I'm not even up the the siege of Capustan yet!).

I've said it before and I'll say it again: Read the Malazan books!

Now onto Speaker for the Dead.

--Avatar

Okay ... it's been a horrible struggle trying to decide what to read next (since I am going to wait for the "Runes of the Earth" group read to begin), so I figured I would start "In The Forests of Serre" by Patricia A. McKillip.

Now reading...something I wrote today

Finished Riddle-Master of Hed (geniunely the shortest book I've read in years). A little 'light' for my tastes, but still good - the mystery of who is who and what the hell is really going on is enough to make it worthwile. Starting Heir of Sea and Fire today.

Metal-Demon wrote:Okay ... it's been a horrible struggle trying to decide what to read next (since I am going to wait for the "Runes of the Earth" group read to begin), so I figured I would start "In The Forests of Serre" by Patricia A. McKillip.

Oh, In the Forests of Serre is a really, really good read! And Riddlemaster gets more complex (and dark) as it goes, Murrin.

I'm on Dragonsdawn now. It's cool; it's about the initial colonization of Pern. I'm trying to get the rest of the Pern books before I delve into G. R. R. Martin (in hopes that his "Feast for Crows" comes out before I finish the first three books).

Aah, my favourite of the Pern books. After I read it, I sort of lost interest in the later ones. (Enjoyed the Dolphin-Riders though.)

Just started Xenocide

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Finished Heir of Sea and Fire last night (or possibly early this morning). Same sorta stuff as the first book, except in this one the main characters get a lot of power, very quickly. I couldn't help thinking "it's not that easy" - apparently, however, in these books it is.

At least now you'll be ready for the TV production of Heir that starts soon. When is that, anybody know? My TV Guide didn't reach me this week.

Finished the Riddle-Master trilogy. A good ending, I must say. Very good work, and I can see now something of the influence on SRDs writing also. I can't help feeling that these aren't the type of books I would read over and over, though - once is enough.

Lets see. I worked my way through 'The One Tree' (the second time I've read it) on my honeymoon. (My wife finds SRD pretentious ... but thats another story!) It was a difficult read this time around - my earlier memories of it were so vivid. I love the way SRD wrote the Elohim and Findail, and the romance between Covenant and Linden was uplifting in an otherwise anguishing book.

I also read 'Clean Straw for Nothing', by George Johnston, some great Aussie lit. Now I'm reading both 'White Gold Wielder' and 'Grand Days' by Frank Moorhouse.

I have to mix my doses of Fantasy/Sci-fi with Lit, otherwise I risk going a little crazy.

I've recently finished Sterling's Zenith Angle and McKillip's Ombria in Shadow. Both very respectable, but quite different reads.

Zenith Angle reminded me a lot of Gibson's Pattern Recognition. Both take place soon after 9/11, and, of course, deal with security issues and intrigue and such. Personally, I found Zenith Angle to be more fulfilling. For one, there's a lot more sci-fi, though, like Pattern Recognition, it's almost indetectable, it so closely mirrors our current technology. Also, there's a lot of military intelligence info that's pretty dead on. Romeo, if you're reading, I think you'd get a kick out of this book.

Ombria is typically McKillip, which is to say, typically good. The conclusion is a little different than the other stuff I've read, though. I don't know why the publishers insist on girly-ish cover art and dustjacket blurbs, though. It makes a guy feel a little sissy-like reading it in public, when the books have atypically strong and sensible male and female characters alike. Because of this, McKillip is by far my favorite female author.

About to start RARA IBIS by Terry Sheils. It appears to be a mystery with psychics as detectives, mixing contemporary thriller with elements of archaeology. Of course, that's just from the blurb, since I haven't gotten past the cover page. Couldn't resist the title.

AMERICAN GODS by NEIL GAIMAN. It's my second time round, just love the way he writes. (Got a somewhat satifying collection of Sandman as well).

Finished 'The Dragon Waiting' and am now two stories into 'Reave the Just and Other Tales'.

Earthsea again, so I can purge my mind of that awful TV fiasco...