Books

[Lady Door]

Read Scott Pilgrim volumes 1-4 at DLC. Enjoyable! It helped me enjoy the movie, too, though I'm noticing a lot of artistic liberties that the film took. It was fine, really, because it actually acknowledges the difference in media. Go figure.

Am reading Ruled Britannica now, which super lent to me so I could see if I could handle Turtledove. Short answer: Turtledove overwrites in an attempt to show off how clever and timely he is being, which makes it difficult to read, but his premise and execution of said premise plot-wise are very intriguing. Only about 100 pages in, so we'll see how my opinion changes as I work toward the end.

[superaielman]

Fragile Things: Props to Gaiman for changing things up for his short story works. Surprisingly enough, the American Gods novella was about third on my list for stories in the book, behind a Study of Emerald and Pages from a Journal. Onto Smoke and Mirrors next!

Edit: http://www.neilgaiman.com/mediafiles/exclusive/shortstories/emerald.pdf Read a study of emerald!

[metroid composite]

Blood Bound (Patricia Briggs)

Wow.

So...this is the sequel to Moon Called.  The first 50 or so pages didn't impress me much (they suffered really badly from "Harry Potter recap syndrome").  I figured it had to get good eventually (modern hardboiled detective fiction is like the book equivalent to modern romantic comedy movies--consistently entertaining, if a little formulaic).  So...I figured I would end up enjoying it, but not as much as the first book.

I was wrong.  I enjoyed it more than the first book.  Sure, it was good at pulling my heartstrings, and the character relationships are getting more and more complex, which would be good reasons on their own.  Blood Bound, however, managed to do something that a book hasn't done to me since I was about 12: it made me scared (I actually woke up from a nightmare, and I almost never remember dreams).  I'm a little surprised, since I've been reading books in the "horror" genre regularly over the past few months, and haven't gotten afraid.  If anything, the books I'd been reading were about as frightening as an X-Men Comic.  Maybe the idea of a vampire used to be enough to frighten an audience, but I read something like Anne Rice and think "mystical beings with superpowers and their own culture.  Okay."

So...regardless, Blood Bound stands out to me.  I'm not entirely sure I can judge it objectively (maybe it just hit a lucky psychological note) but I'm impressed.

[Dark Holy Elf]

Warbreaker - Addicting little read, seeing as I finished it in under 48 hours. It doesn't have a patch on Mistborn, but it was fun enough.

The book has some fun with the themes it explores. I really liked the exploration of faith, religion, and tolerance, seen through Lightsong's attitudes and those of his priest, Vivenna and Siri's beliefs/prejudices, that one scene where Jewels actually talks, and various others.

The two princesses and their parallel stories were done quite well. Siri's was fairly stock, but still quite an enjoyable read, and the God King caught me off guard a bit because I was expecting something more like the Final Emperor. Whoops. Vivenna is probably the real show-stealer, though; she had a lot of character depth, and I really liked how the book explored her own strengths and weaknesses, and at times made you question which was which. Nobility vs. arrogance, idealism vs. pragmatism, her ability to judge characters and her being manipulated, etc.

I enjoyed reading Lightsong's chapters whenever they came about, and they were helpful for exploring the faith/gods theme, but their overall contribution to the story felt far less important. Lightsong himself at least is a sarcastic devil after my own heart.

Denth plot twist was terrific, totally caught me off guard. I called most of the other key plot twists (and a few which didn't happen). In hindsight I should have, but it was fairly masterfully done.

Didn't like Vasher at all. For a while he just feels like Kelsier mark 2 (pragmatic yet powerful magic user with a mysterious past), which isn't a good thing despite the fact that I like Kelsier. Late he gets quite insufferable as he just godmodes it up for the last arc of the book. Oh yeah he's also a genius scholar who already saved the world once and an amazing swordsman/awakener with a sword that kills anyone evil and oh yeah he has the perfect key to solving the Lifeless Army problem since he had a BETTER one all along! Whatthefuckever. (I'll grant that he did have a cool way to kill Denth, but still.) The whole scholars plot thread felt like a waste of space.

Pahn Kahl stuff in the ending really fell flat, too. I think for that to have worked, Sanderson needed to build up the Pahn Kahl/Bluefingers and their feelings towards Hallendren and Idris. As is it sort of felt like it came out of nowhere. Maybe a reread would help, there, but it's not a terribly convincing revenge plot regardless.

Book lacked a denouement almost entirely, which sucked. It's somewhat a product of the rushed ending - I felt a pang of worry when I was about 100 pages from the end and realised that this was a standalone novel, and this was pretty much borne out - but it's still frustrating. We literally never get to see King Dedelin again after the start of the book, which is a shame, and there was hardly any interaction between the two sisters after all that buildup. A bit of a waste.

Magic system was fairly uninteresting as far as actually using it for awakening went (and Sanderson seemed to realise this, he didn't use it much), although I liked its thelogical/sociological impact on the world and thought that was explored nicely.

I should probably track down Elantris at some point.

[superaielman]

*Smack* for comparing Vasher to Kelsier in any way.  Other than the very, very beginning, they have nothing really in common. Kelsier even had more interaction with people and the world in the prologue.

Other than that, hard to disagree with that writeup.

[Cmdr_King]

Anansi Boys- Reminds me of Pratchett.

[Lady Door]

So books are totally better when you go to a reading/signing.

Shades of Milk and Honey's author, Mary Robinette Kowal, was in SF tonight. I went and dragged Andrew along, and it was great. She's still relatively new -- short story author, and this is her novel debut -- so it was a fairly quiet and intimate affair. I got her to sign my copy of her new book, and Andrew bought me a numbered, signed edition of her short story collection, Scenting the Darkness and Other Stories (149 of 500), and then we sat down to watch her read.

She read in her British accent, because that's what she did when she recorded her own audio book. It was terrific. Then she did a shadow play that is performed in the book itself (she's also a puppeteer), and it was hilarious. And she was very fun, and gracious, and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

So yeah.

Woot.

I should also mention that they had a bar at the event, and the bartender crafted a drink especially for the book, called Shadw of Milk and Honey. It was Velvet Falernum filled with champagne and a splash of lime juice, topped by a cherry. Delicious.

[DjinnAndTonic]

So books are totally better when you go to a reading/signing.

Shades of Milk and Honey's author, Mary Robinette Kowal, was in SF tonight. I went and dragged Andrew along, and it was great. She's still relatively new -- short story author, and this is her novel debut -- so it was a fairly quiet and intimate affair. I got her to sign my copy of her new book, and Andrew bought me a numbered, signed edition of her short story collection, Scenting the Darkness and Other Stories (149 of 500), and then we sat down to watch her read.

She read in her British accent, because that's what she did when she recorded her own audio book. It was terrific. Then she did a shadow play that is performed in the book itself (she's also a puppeteer), and it was hilarious. And she was very fun, and gracious, and I really enjoyed the whole thing.

So yeah.

Woot.

I should also mention that they had a bar at the event, and the bartender crafted a drink especially for the book, called Shadw of Milk and Honey. It was Velvet Falernum filled with champagne and a splash of lime juice, topped by a cherry. Delicious.

Man, I'm so jealous I think I am literally turning green.

[Dhyerwolf]

*Smack* for comparing Vasher to Kelsier in any way.  Other than the very, very beginning, they have nothing really in common.

Definite seconding on this!

[Dhyerwolf]

Krondor the Betrayal- Lol. Just...no, just lol. Of all the authors to have write a game, go for the one who probably had his story unraveling so horribly in the end in such ridiculous fashion. Which...well, guess what the book does! First half is decent, albeit nothing overly special; last half...well, okay, it wasn't the spectular explosion that was present in the first series, but that whole mind-sharing plot thread that basically allowed the writer to super-power one character non-sensically was pretty bad.

[Luther Lansfeld]

I never read the second half! I kinda liked the first half.

[Dhyerwolf]

Didn't like the first half enough to read the second half though!

[Yoshiken]

I'll admit, I'm not much of a reader. I've read all of, like, 3 books in the last 7-8 years. That said, it's a damn awesome trilogy. >.>
Finished the last in The First Law trilogy last night, Last Argument of Kings. Disappointing ending, but I couldn't really see another way for it to feasibly end. Definitely room for more sequels, which'd be nice. The first two books are much, MUCH better, although some little surprises in the third kept it interesting.
In the first two, the focal character changes each chapter - Logen, Jezal, Glokta, West... By the third book, it's every fucking paragraph, and that can get annoying at times, but is generally done well. All of the scenarios are different, yet somehow manage to mostly stay interesting and it keeps a nice flow throughout, although one scenario just bored me completely. Probably the writing style, since each character had their own way of writing.
Definitely a dark trilogy, but a damn good read.

I'll probably try to get hold of Best Served Cold sometime soon. It's another book by Joe Abercrombie, set in a different world with different characters... although the preview at the end of Last Argument of Kings makes it look like pretty much the same thing again. Might be a while before I consider paying decent money for that. >.>

[Dark Holy Elf]

*Smack* for comparing Vasher to Kelsier in any way.  Other than the very, very beginning, they have nothing really in common.

Definite seconding on this!

(veiled spoilers for Sanderson novels)

Do you guys really not see it? I'm not saying this to insult or praise either character (I have vastly different opinions on them, after all!) but I thought the resemblence was quite striking. Both characters serve as our introduction to the magic system in practice, both later explain the system to the magic-learning female (co-)main, both have early scenes in which they are infiltrating strongholds of the establishment, both are initially shown to be rather morally ambiguous (somewhat hearltlessly killing some people who get in their way). I have no idea how you don't notice the resemblance if you've seen both.

Now, where the characters end up going from there is quite different of course, but that was never my point.

[Grefter]

Wait so let me get this right, you are saying that two characters that you are alleging are similar share similar plot functions and that a newish author may have used this in a previous book and later reused it in a slightly more refined manner?

You sir are a rakish cad and I will not stand for these kinds of accusations being made.

[Hunter Sopko]

Finished A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings this week. Didn't get but a few chapters into Game of Thrones until my trip home from DL-Con, but I ended up doing nearly nothing but reading it the entire time and marched right out to buy the sequel, which I've read over the last couple days. Great stuff, but a slog none-the-less. One or two of the plot threads at the end of CoK left me just sort of groaning (Theon). Hope we haven't seen the last of Davos though. Everyone loves Onion Knights! Danaerys seemed almost tacked on in CoK though. Hopefully it pays off in good time. Enjoying pretty much everything else though.

I'll probably get Storm of Swords tomorrow after class.

[Lady Door]

A little over halfway through Ruled Britannica. Then I've got the Mars trilogy to read so I can send it along to mc, then I've got Counting Up, Counting Down (Turtledove shorts). Then (whenever "then" is) I have Way of Kings, and the next WoT book.

At some point in there, when I'm in between books or feeling less inclined to fiction, I'm breaking away from fiction for a time and hunkering down to study for the GRE and the Literature GRE.

Argh, tests.

[Dhyerwolf]

I'll admit, I'm not much of a reader. I've read all of, like, 3 books in the last 7-8 years. That said, it's a damn awesome trilogy. >.>
Finished the last in The First Law trilogy last night, Last Argument of Kings. Disappointing ending, but I couldn't really see another way for it to feasibly end. Definitely room for more sequels, which'd be nice. The first two books are much, MUCH better, although some little surprises in the third kept it interesting.
In the first two, the focal character changes each chapter - Logen, Jezal, Glokta, West... By the third book, it's every fucking paragraph, and that can get annoying at times, but is generally done well. All of the scenarios are different, yet somehow manage to mostly stay interesting and it keeps a nice flow throughout, although one scenario just bored me completely. Probably the writing style, since each character had their own way of writing.
Definitely a dark trilogy, but a damn good read.

This was the only series you've read in the last 7-8 years? What specifically made you pick up this series? I read it...about 6 months ago. Interesting early foray (as noted, I think Grefter would like it. Or maybe Grefter would just really like Glotka), along it took a while to get rolling. Not really sure how much of an opening there would be a sequel just because...well, the author randomly decided to chuck out magic at the end, and it seems like without that, the odds were a bit overwhelming! But I suppose there is room for one, just hard to imagine it working all that well. I'd assume that West was the character/scenario that bored you?

[Cotigo]

Finished A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings this week. Didn't get but a few chapters into Game of Thrones until my trip home from DL-Con, but I ended up doing nearly nothing but reading it the entire time and marched right out to buy the sequel, which I've read over the last couple days. Great stuff, but a slog none-the-less. One or two of the plot threads at the end of CoK left me just sort of groaning (Theon). Hope we haven't seen the last of Davos though. Everyone loves Onion Knights! Danaerys seemed almost tacked on in CoK though. Hopefully it pays off in good time. Enjoying pretty much everything else though.

I'll probably get Storm of Swords tomorrow after class.

A recommendation:  Read Storm of Swords.  It's the best in the series as far as I recall (it's been a while).  Then, don't read A Feast for Crows until the next book looks like it's coming out.  Here's why:  Feast of Crows and... Dance of Dragons? Whatever were originally supposed to be one book, but that wasn't working out so Martin split the Point of View chapters between the books.  So some characters' stories end up in FoC, the others' in DoD.  The result is very disappointing considering DoD hasn't been announced after 4 years, and FoC is distinctly lacking in Tyrion and Davos.  I'm positive that waiting for the next book to be out will make FfC a lot less disappointing than it was for me.

[Yoshiken]

This was the only series you've read in the last 7-8 years? What specifically made you pick up this series? I read it...about 6 months ago. Interesting early foray (as noted, I think Grefter would like it. Or maybe Grefter would just really like Glotka), along it took a while to get rolling. Not really sure how much of an opening there would be a sequel just because...well, the author randomly decided to chuck out magic at the end, and it seems like without that, the odds were a bit overwhelming! But I suppose there is room for one, just hard to imagine it working all that well. I'd assume that West was the character/scenario that bored you?

I picked up the first a few years back because I was on holiday and bored and it looked interesting, simple as that. I recently got hold of the other two, which I've wanted for a while 'cause I loved the first.
Glokta is amazing, and definitely a Gref-style character, yeah. His writing style was brilliant - I loved the little comments throughout, and some of the recurring comments were good. Body found floating in docks...
The one that bored me was Dogman, actually. I liked West as a character, and his scenarios were usually varied, at least. Dogman didn't seem to have much of a personality, and it eventually came down to him complaining about the situation they were in in every. damn. chapter.
Spoilers: For sequel strength, I mostly mean that... well, nothing was completely resolved. Logen ends in pretty much the situation he started in, unconscious in the water, Glokta and Jezal have taken the places of the leaders before them, and Pike (who was another twist I loved in the end) could very easily take Glokta's old place. Ferro's gone off battling again, Black Dow could very easily take Bethod's place...

[superaielman]

Smoke and Mirrors: Gaiman's earlier collection of short stories. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and some of the stories (The one about the Muse posing in Penthouse and the intro story about the wedding story) were quite good. It's still inferior to Fragile Things, but no shame in that.

[Grefter]

The Da-Da-De-Da-Da Code by Robert Rankin - Robert Ranking writing about music, of course I enjoyed it  immensely.  Has its own soundtrack, should download it.

Not really a quintessential Rankin book or anything, but good for a fan.

[DjinnAndTonic]

Smoke and Mirrors: Gaiman's earlier collection of short stories. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and some of the stories (The one about the Muse posing in Penthouse and the intro story about the wedding story) were quite good. It's still inferior to Fragile Things, but no shame in that.

And what did you think about Glass and Apples?

[superaielman]

Interesting twist on the fable, if a bit on the brutal side. Ouch to the description of the King's body after his death.

[Lady Door]

Picture of Dorian Gray. I read it at work, in between waiting for lists to process, since it's part of the Gutenberg Project and therefore free and in HTML form.

I enjoy the dandies. Oscar Wilde had fantastic plays -- the one that comes to mind easily is The Importance of Being Earnest -- and a lot of what makes his plays fantastic is what makes this lone novel of his great.

This one falls prey to the same stylistic choices most Victorian writing does, in that it spends an inordinate amount of time in narrative philosophizing. Sometimes this is well executed; there are a number of oft-quoted witticisms to be found here ("A man cannot be too careful in the choice of his enemies." "Nowadays people know the price of everything and the value of nothing." To be in love is to surpass one's self.").

So: I enjoyed it. I'm glad I got around to finally reading it. It's one of those classics I kept meaning to read, but never got around to. Other books on this list: Metamorphosis, War and Peace, Paradise Lost (for real this time), The Satyricon, Faust (again), The Divine Comedy (again - and in Italian), more of Shakespeare's plays...

Yeah. I've got plenty to do in the next couple months.