Books

[Shale]

I've been rereading the early Vlad Taltos books for my book club. Those things are a lot of fun. Not exactly deep, but Vlad is great.

[Luther Lansfeld]

A Memory of Light - About 2/3 finished. Holy shit Grendael, you magnificent bastard. I was definitely suspicious but that is a genuinely fantastic idea.

[Dark Holy Elf]

That kinda puts the exclamation point on Graendal as the best forsaken.

[Luther Lansfeld]

A Memory of Light - Finished! Overall, A bit less happened than I expected in terms of major character deaths. I was actually a bit disappointed; I feel like more of the 'main' characters dying would emphasize more how brutal the Last Battle was. As is, I feel like that impact was understated which I am uncomfortable with. I think the first half of the book is dreadfully slow aside from Pevara/Androl POVs, which seem to abruptly end about 3/8th? in. I do not like Rand's early chapters at all; suffers from Rand being a pretty boring character at this stage. Later stuff for him is pretty good; showdown with the Dark One!

I am amused by Demandred screaming for Lews Therin when he's not all that nearby.

Gawyn, you are a complete and utter moron. It ultimately turned out okay but holy shit what a fucking stupid thing to do.

Slayer vs. Perrin rivalry is irredeemably bad pretty much. Mercifully underrepresented in the last book.

Egwene is a badass motherfucker. As is Grendael.

Moiraine is comically pointless.

Favs are Egwene/Pevara/Androl/Elayne/Fortuona in this book.

[Clear Tranquil]

So apparently Hobb is working on new Fitz and Fool stuff.

Depending on how that works out it might stop my heart being ripped out every time I read certain spoilery stuff from before. On the other hand could be in for another emotional rollercoaster with salt poured on the wounds ... maybe expecting the worst might be best. Well best not to expect happy endings just for the sake of happy endings I guess, if there is a happy ending hopefully it will be done in a way that's well done, and not just a happy ending because that's what fans want, and it depends on what her muse (Fool) tells her. Ok well maybe there can be no happy ending for them but geez, hopefully they will get to spend good times together again for a while or something

Did anyone else know this (news)?~

[superaielman]

That kinda puts the exclamation point on Forsaken Seifer as the best forsaken.

*nodnod*

I've just about finished up the Magister series of books from CS Friedman.  She isn't the best fantasy author I've read, but she does some things very well. Her characters and magic system are very engrossing, adn she does a good job in making almost every character a shade of grey. It's a very good read, even if I find her prose to be a little stilted at points.

[Luther Lansfeld]

*beats Super with a shoe*

[Shale]

Up to Teckla (the third book) in the Taltos reread. Now that I'm reading these from the perspective of not being 14 years old, it's interesting to see how he develops Vlad and Cawti's marriage over this initial arc. There's quite a few hiccups in how their relationship is portrayed in the first two books that initially seem like sloppy writing, but either he turns them around adeptly or it was All Part Of The Plan to set up their breakup later on.

[Sierra]

I've just about finished up the Magister series of books from CS Friedman.  She isn't the best fantasy author I've read, but she does some things very well. Her characters and magic system are very engrossing, adn she does a good job in making almost every character a shade of grey. It's a very good read, even if I find her prose to be a little stilted at points.

This is a very good description of Friedman in general. She puts a great deal of thought into how her worlds work and it shows. Prose is usually a bit stiff but I like her a lot anyway because worldbuildan'. Coldfire trilogy definitely recommended if you liked this, I'm inclined to call it better but I read it back in college and am really due to take another look now that it's not 2002 and I am moderately less stupid. Most of her standalone books are good--In Conquest Born, The Madness Season (shapeshifter psychology!) I enjoyed a lot. This Alien Shore, well, take the qualified plaudits above and apply them to a story with a MPD protagonist. It's fun stuff. The Wilding is the only one that stands out to me as being pretty middling.

I wish the actual writing was more fluid, but she pretty much always has great ideas to work with at the least.

[Fenrir]

Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace was great. Whenever one of the essays started dragging on too much describing a situation, there was a very enlightening and brilliant footnote waiting.
I got Infinite Jest but don't feel ready to tackle that 1000 pages monster. Dunno if I ever will.

Machine of Death / This is how you die are also sometimes enlightening, which might be the best thing I can say about a book really. The second, more recent one is better. Machine of Death suffers from everybody explaining the situation over and over, plus a few weaker stories so far. Yahtzee's is one of the worst. I liked his adventure games, but litterature is obviously not his thing.

Kafka's Trial is not very kafkaesque. Well, it is kafkaesque, but the main protagonist is insufferable and doesn't seem to actually ever seriously try to get out of his bind.
After the first two chapters this feels more like a road movie, the main character going from one absurd situation to another and meeting new characters. It's not very interesting. I've tried to find meaning other than the "bureaucracy is complicated, guys" angle (that doesn't really work as I've said, if it was intended) but couldn't. Dropping the book halfway through.

I'm reading Dostoyevsky's "Notes from the Undergound" and liking it well enough. Hard to believe this is 150 years old.

[Lady Door]

I can never remember what books I've talked about here. Oh well.

-

Picked up The Long Earth, the collaborative novel from SF mastermind Stephen Baxter and everybody's favorite fantasy author, Terry Pratchett. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but in retrospect it's all there in the author pairing: it's a fantasy novel that weaves in the harder sci fi elements.

Unlike Good Omens, this collaboration is notable for the backseat Terry Pratchett takes in its construction. This is very much a Baxter world, and a Baxter story. One of the main 'characters' is decidedly Pratchett, don't get me wrong, but the overarching story -- of a sudden shift in technology which allows humans to 'step' into adjacent alternate versions of Earth, and the practical consequences thereof -- is definitely Baxter.

I enjoyed it. The quirks of British humor add some levity to a very critical exploration of humankind's reaction to sudden infinity. The main characters are primarily optimists, or realists who enjoy solitude, but the characters against which they have to act -- the human ones, anyway -- are undeniably flawed in the kind of way that we like to pretend doesn't really exist. Take, for example, the political movement that comes out of this to protect the people who innately cannot 'step'; I won't spoil their reaction, but I think you won't be surprised to find it's a very angry, very small-minded and very militant movement.

I liked it enough that I decided to pick up The Long War, its direct sequel, released earlier this year. A follow-up to the events from The Long Earth, but this time trying a little harder to keep the thread of 'Datum Earth' (which is what they call the Earth you and I live on, still the reference against which all other Earths are measured) the central point. I think you can guess from the title what its primary concern is.

If you like harder SF, but still enjoy reading things that don't need to be explained in equations, I think you'd enjoy this one. Just don't go into it expecting Discworld.

[Dhyerwolf]

I've just about finished up the Magister series of books from CS Friedman.  She isn't the best fantasy author I've read, but she does some things very well. Her characters and magic system are very engrossing, adn she does a good job in making almost every character a shade of grey. It's a very good read, even if I find her prose to be a little stilted at points.

This is a very good description of Friedman in general. She puts a great deal of thought into how her worlds work and it shows. Prose is usually a bit stiff but I like her a lot anyway because worldbuildan'. Coldfire trilogy definitely recommended if you liked this, I'm inclined to call it better but I read it back in college and am really due to take another look now that it's not 2002 and I am moderately less stupid. Most of her standalone books are good--In Conquest Born, The Madness Season (shapeshifter psychology!) I enjoyed a lot. This Alien Shore, well, take the qualified plaudits above and apply them to a story with a MPD protagonist. It's fun stuff. The Wilding is the only one that stands out to me as being pretty middling.

I wish the actual writing was more fluid, but she pretty much always has great ideas to work with at the least.

Coldfire Trilogy is a notably slower/more laborious read than the Magister Trilogy. The polish on the Magister Trilogy is just so much higher overall (Coldfire is also weird in how books 1 and 2 have such similar basic construction- The two main characters  travel across mysterious lands with a child and a somewhat maternal 4th figure while mentally sparring over similar items). Both are good though, but Magister is the one I'd recommend first!

[Captain K.]

The Mortal Instruments:  Been reading these before I see the movie.  Finished the first three books.  The writing is good overall, a little trope-y, but not offensively so.  My only real complaint is the forced pop culture references.  I cringed when Clary was describing what "chibi" meant.

Also, Magnus Bane is FABULOUS.

[Shale]

Neuromancer: After trying to get through this a few times over the last decade, I finally buckled down and just blew through it in a morning. You can definitely tell that it was written in a hurry (I believe the phrase Gibson used was "blind panic"), and there are a few scenes that are almost certainly there to paper over plot holes, but at the same time the setting is so hugely influential that it's worth reading just to see where everything else cyberpunk came from. And elements of the ending show up in a surprising number of places too (Inception, for instance).  Worth the time.

[NotMiki]

Fire & Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones

Good book, a fantasy mystery (mystery in the sense that the main character is engaged in trying to figure out what is going on and why) that carefully unfolds in surprising directions, suffering from a confusing ending.  Which is to say it fits squarely in the Wynne Jones oeuvre.

I adore her writing, but this is not one of her stronger books.  I recommend Archer's Goon, and Dark Lord of Derkholm.  The former is about a mild-mannered kid in his quest to rid his living room of a brick wall of a thug who is extorting his dad.  The latter is about a wizard's attempts to free his world from the yoke of the inter-dimensional tourism industry.

[Fenrir]

Infinite Jest is almost impossible to read if english isn't your mother tongue. Worth it though. Reading something enormous you only half understand is a weirdly exhilarating experience, understanding what the fuck is going on being its own reward. Action/Dialogue = Easy (Mostly). Descriptions = Hard. Continuity = I'm expecting no one get this at first anyway.
I'm one fourth (not including footnotes) through the book and that's like 3 whole books already.

[Lady Door]

Fire & Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones

Good book, a fantasy mystery (mystery in the sense that the main character is engaged in trying to figure out what is going on and why) that carefully unfolds in surprising directions, suffering from a confusing ending.  Which is to say it fits squarely in the Wynne Jones oeuvre.

I adore her writing, but this is not one of her stronger books.  I recommend Archer's Goon, and Dark Lord of Derkholm.  The former is about a mild-mannered kid in his quest to rid his living room of a brick wall of a thug who is extorting his dad.  The latter is about a wizard's attempts to free his world from the yoke of the inter-dimensional tourism industry.

I love that book. One of my first favorites.

[NotMiki]

[Luther Lansfeld]

Assassin's Quest - Weird ass book. Weaker than the other two by a lot, too much Fitz on his own being a dumbass and generally lower quality character work. A peculiar end to the series.

Starting Storm Front next, at the peer pressure of Excal.

[Sierra]

Fire & Hemlock, by Diana Wynne Jones

Good book, a fantasy mystery (mystery in the sense that the main character is engaged in trying to figure out what is going on and why) that carefully unfolds in surprising directions, suffering from a confusing ending.  Which is to say it fits squarely in the Wynne Jones oeuvre.

I adore her writing, but this is not one of her stronger books.  I recommend Archer's Goon, and Dark Lord of Derkholm.  The former is about a mild-mannered kid in his quest to rid his living room of a brick wall of a thug who is extorting his dad.  The latter is about a wizard's attempts to free his world from the yoke of the inter-dimensional tourism industry.

I love that book. One of my first favorites.

Haven't read that, but I've been sneaking chapters of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland in between history books and it is heartily recommended for people who have read too much epic fantasy (which is to say the DL). It is basically the Grand List of Console Roleplaying Game Cliches except, you know, for books.

[NotMiki]

Haven't read that, but I've been sneaking chapters of The Tough Guide to Fantasyland in between history books and it is heartily recommended for people who have read too much epic fantasy (which is to say the DL). It is basically the Grand List of Console Roleplaying Game Cliches except, you know, for books.

And Dark Lord of Derkholm is, I believe, explicitly set in it (or if not, a world heavily cribbed from it).  So yeah.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I've read the first three chapters of Storm Front. Ugh... not sure if I can continue.

[Lady Door]

Read A Handmaid's Tale because it is a 'classic' and I am reviewing those things so I can do well on the Lit GRE.

I remember wanting to read this book ages ago, but never getting around to it. See, I was always into medieval/renaissance stuff. And this was called Handmaid's Tale! Obviously I should read it.

In retrospect, I am soooo glad I got distracted. While it was a great book, I would have been traumatized to read it in 7th grade. 7th grade is when I started reading Pern. Not sure I could've handled post-apocalyptic rape scenarios.

[NotMiki]

I've read the first three chapters of Storm Front. Ugh... not sure if I can continue.

...white supremacist lit?

[Sierra]

I thought that was a Billy Joel album. Guys what are we talking about.