Jump to content

What Are You Reading, Part 2


Chaos

Recommended Posts

Honestly, that's a working theory.

The used bookstore actually exists a few years in the future, offering used versions of books not out yet. In SoHo everyone either dresses in high-fashion (read: weird) or like its the mid-90s so there's really no way to tell that I'm actually browsing for books in the year 2016.

Edited by Yados
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I finished reading Cold Days, the latest Dresden book.

Holy crap.

Ditto. I finished it this morning and...wow! I didn't think he could top Changes, but dang it, he did. I think that book gave me a geekgasm.

In other reading news, I finished Mainspring and it's so darn brilliant. Poison Flower by Thomas Perry is fantastic. He really upped the stakes and it made the book soooo goood.

This month I'm going on a Ken Scholes binge. I read the Santaman stories today (I highly recommend If Dragon's Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear) and I've moved on to his short story collection: Long Walks, Last Flights and other Strange Journeys.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Ditto. I finished it this morning and...wow! I didn't think he could top Changes, but dang it, he did. I think that book gave me a geekgasm.

I'm not sure it beats Changes, but it sure as heck equals it. So awesome.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'm not sure it beats Changes, but it sure as heck equals it. So awesome.

I don't know. While I'm interested in the implications, the execution really bothered me. We didn't get enough of Molly in the book and especially in the events leading up to that climax. Thus, to me, it came off as just something bad happening to Harry by proxy when really this, of all things, *should* really be about Molly.

Maybe that's a failure of the 1st person narrative, but it really read like a Women in Refrigerators moment to me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, there Molly didn't have a big visible role but neither did anyone else. This is Harry's story, Harry's dilemma, and everyone else is support staff. Besides, the events concerning Molly's training in Ghost Story plus Molly's page in the 2013 literary pin up calendar foreshadowed the ending of Cold Days. He didn't need to do a lot with her in this book because he'd already set it up.

On a related note, if I remember right there is supposed to be at least one short story about Molly that's supposed to go into her training a bit more, but circumstances out of Jim's control *cough-GRRM-cough* have postponed the release date.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, there Molly didn't have a big visible role but neither did anyone else. This is Harry's story, Harry's dilemma, and everyone else is support staff. Besides, the events concerning Molly's training in Ghost Story plus Molly's page in the 2013 literary pin up calendar foreshadowed the ending of Cold Days. He didn't need to do a lot with her in this book because he'd already set it up.

On a related note, if I remember right there is supposed to be at least one short story about Molly that's supposed to go into her training a bit more, but circumstances out of Jim's control *cough-GRRM-cough* have postponed the release date.

Well it's not really about set up. The event was abrupt. That was the point.

It's about how it's handled with regards to that character. The thing happens to Molly and then she's gone. *That's* what annoyed me. It makes it seem cheap because we only get Harry's side/feelings on something that effects Molly (and by extension, the Carpenters) much more.

And, true, it is Harry's story, but similar sorts of things have been handled very differently in past books. When Murphy got kicked off the force or demoted for helping Harry, it was a part of her own story. We saw how it affected her in those books as well as how it affected Harry (and those feeling Harry had were less guilt and more a growing ability to let others make sacrifices... which made it seem less exploitative). We even got an epilogue for Thomas' stuff in Small Favor after all those bad things happened to him.

Here we just get the event, Harry's stoic mainpain, and then the book ends. Not my favorite handling of this sort of character change. Though it is sort of similar to what happened with Molly's dad.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've been having a harder time finding new books to read ever since the Borders closed (not a huge fan of Barnes & Noble), but since my last post I was able to read Legion and The Emperor's Soul, as well as the Iron Druid Chronicles by Kevin Hearne. I loved loved LOVED these books - think American Gods minus all the dark stuff, written by an author with a knack for silly modern humor. A friend recommended these books to me, and after reading just the first 2 pages, I was totally hooked. That first page also gives you a pretty solid idea of how the entire series feels, so there shouldn't be any unexpected surprises for those of you who are content-shy. I laughed the whole way through these books.

I also read the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy omnibus with all the stories, and honestly I was surprised to find myself disappointed. I think it may just have been a problem of overhype, since I've heard nothing but good things about it, and I was probably expecting something different. I laughed at a lot of it, but overall was disappointed with where the story went.

I was sad when Arther just randomly lost his girlfriend and never saw her again, and then after everything everybody went through, they all die at the end anyway? I can sort of see the humor in that, but for me, I just don't appreciate this kind of ending. It spoils the whole thing for me, same with The First Law books.

But seriously, Iron Druid Chronicles all the way. Book One is called Hounded.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah, Mostly Harmless ended on a huge downer because, like Conan Doyle before him, Adams had grown to loathe his characters and wanted to wash his hands of them.

And Another Thing is a continuation, but as I've never read it, I have no idea how it deals with the downer ending. I believe it comes from Adams' notes for a continuation shortly before its death. The ironic thing, though, is that Adams went back and forth about whether the notes in question were for a new Hitchhiker's book or for a Dirk Gently book. According to the Salmon of Doubt, he had decided on Gently.

At least I believe that was what happened. It's possible I could be merging two separate stories about Adams.

I don't if anyone has read the Dirk Gently books here, but they're quite good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

I'm between books right now.

I tried Cold Magic for the sixteenth time because my gf loves it, but couldn't get past the prose.

Then I tried Dragon Prince by Melanie Rawn and, while the prose was fine, the characters (and the narrative's treatment of the characters) just irked me thoroughly. Why is everyone so in awe of the main character? He hasn't done anything.

I think I'm going to try Shades of Milk and Honey since I bought it the other day and got Mary Robinette Kowal to sign it (though I accidentally made an chull of myself in the process) since that seems relatively unlike either.

Man, I hate not having a book. This has gone on too long. And now Memory of Light is going to come out and I won't be able to read it because I finished Wheel of Time too long ago to remember it all, but too recently to justify a whole reread. Maybe I'll try doing Storm and Towers and hope it comes back to me.

Bah.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

You talking about Kate Elliot's Cold Magic? The first one is good, but she picks up her typical sex stuff in the second volume.

You tried Britain's Green Rider stuff? That is very good.

Looks like goodreads is telling me Sullivan's Theft of Swords is discounted at Amazon today as an ebook.

Edited by Aethling
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 weeks later...

I spent most of last month reading Ken Scholes' short fiction. I highly recommend any of the Santaman stories and Of Metal Men and Scarlet Thread and Dancing with the Sunrise. They're absolutely beautiful. I also finally read Kiss the Dead by Laurell K. Hamilton and it was meh. Now that the big baddie is gone there isn't enough tension to distract me from her choppy pacing.

Right now I'm reading AMoL and I'm taking my sweet time about it. :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got 3-4 months of books to catch up on now I've done with WoT, started with some Sci Fi (Starship Troopers and then Jack Campbell's most recent book) probably going to hit up Leviathan Wakes tomorrow.

I'll take me a while to get through my back log, I have 2 whole shelves of books I've not read!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've got 3-4 months of books to catch up on now I've done with WoT, started with some Sci Fi (Starship Troopers and then Jack Campbell's most recent book) probably going to hit up Leviathan Wakes tomorrow.

I'll take me a while to get through my back log, I have 2 whole shelves of books I've not read!

The Expanse series is fairly awesome, looking forward to book 3 XD

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Ended up rereading the Scalzi's Old Man's War trilogy, I really enjoy them for a nice easy read.

Finally started on Leviathan Wakes and thus far it s really annoying me that I've got 30+ new books to read but it looks like I'll be going out next week to buy book 2 rather than reading the books I already own! ><

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 4 months later...

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...