Now Reading...

[Ruthven]

I probably should check out some of those Ravenloft books. Some of them were written by writers I usually enjoy, like Elaine Bergstrom, P.N. Elrod, and Tanya Huff.

[LunaTEKKE]

“The 9 Steps to Financial Freedom” by Suze Orman.

Some of the info is pretty dated, but is still giving me some good things to think about -- such as long-term care insurance and bumping up my 401(k) contributions.

[jhallum]

The Highwayman by Salvatore and am halfway through The Ancient, it's sequel. It's not great, but it's good pulpy reading.

I also just finished The Yiddish Policeman's Union, my second Hugo nominee read of the 5 this year. I'll be surprised if it doesn't win it...the prose is very well done. It's not scifi at all, but an alt history mystery, like the Farthing and it's sequels by Jo Walton. Chabon, the author, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in '01, so the fact that he has a way with words is not terribly surprising. The story is good and creative. I had to google search some Yiddish slang, but otherwise, an interesting read.

On tap, the most recent Wild Cards anthology, the 3rd and 4th Hugo noms for long fiction (Ian MacDonald's Brasyl, and Robert Sawyer's Rollback). I always read the Hugo nominees every year, and I am rarely disappointed with the quality.

[metalprof]

Originally Posted by metalprof

I'm now into her Soldier Son trilogy. I've only read the first one so far, Shaman's Crossing, and it was strangely one of the best boring books I've read. I mean, the book was boring. She spent way too much time doing the whole "young man in a hostile school / academy setting" which has been done much better and more briefly by others - like David Feintuch or OS Card. And the ending was very anticlimactic. But nonetheless, she's such a good writer that I was drawn in to the characters, and am looking forward to the second book, Forest Mage.

Just following up my own comments, I finished Forest Mage this weekend, and it was quite a chore just to get through it. 700 pages of pretty much nothing happening, except a once fairly strong and interesting, but now completely wimpy, emasculated, indecisive, un-inquisitive, unlikable main character sitting around feeling sorry for himself and being unable to decide to do anything. The overall flow of the story (from where it started to where it ended) works, but it didn't need 700 friggin pages to get there. I'll read Renegade's Magic (the third in the series) because now I'm committed and I still have faith in Hobb to pull something interesting out of all this, but I'm not all that excited about it at this point.

Ken

[booB]

Originally Posted by metalprof

Just following up my own comments, I finished Forest Mage this weekend, and it was quite a chore just to get through it. 700 pages of pretty much nothing happening, except a once fairly strong and interesting, but now completely wimpy, emasculated, indecisive, un-inquisitive, unlikable main character sitting around feeling sorry for himself and being unable to decide to do anything. The overall flow of the story (from where it started to where it ended) works, but it didn't need 700 friggin pages to get there.

Thanks for this... I finally finished Twilight Watch (the most recent in Sergei Lukyanenko's Night Watch series), and I was trying to decide whether or not to go back to the Soldier Son series. I never finished the first book, and now I doubt I will ever try.

Any reco's from anyone on what I should read next? I really like stuff with very good character development and an interesting plot. Darkness is a plus. Not necessarily sci-fi or fantasy, as I'm pretty picky about what I read from both genres, but I'd be willing to research whatever is recommended. I was thinking of going with The Lies of Locke Lamora, because I thought it sounded like it was right up my alley. I also have a copy of China Mieville's Iron Council that I haven't read yet. Any other ideas?

[Yippee38]

Originally Posted by booB

Any reco's from anyone on what I should read next? I really like stuff with very good character development and an interesting plot. Darkness is a plus. Not necessarily sci-fi or fantasy, as I'm pretty picky about what I read from both genres, but I'd be willing to research whatever is recommended. I was thinking of going with The Lies of Locke Lamora, because I thought it sounded like it was right up my alley. I also have a copy of China Mieville's Iron Council that I haven't read yet. Any other ideas?

Yeah. The Lies of Locke Lamora is good. Give it a shot.

[Magius]

Steven Erikson- Gardens Of The Moon

[Cheiron]

Originally Posted by Yippee38

Yeah. The Lies of Locke Lamora is good. Give it a shot.

Apparently, movie rights were picked up on it.

I haven't read it.

[booB]

Originally Posted by Yippee38

Yeah. The Lies of Locke Lamora is good. Give it a shot.

By the time I finish the two that are out, maybe Lynch will have the next book done and released.

Just kidding. Sort of. I'm reading slowly these days.

[Harvester]

Originally Posted by Cheiron

Apparently, movie rights were picked up on it.

I haven't read it.

Put it at the top of your list. It's an Ocean's 11 for the fantasy world.

[VenomGA]

Bourne Supremacy which has NOTHING to do with the movie about the book and I do mean nothing outside the fact there is a character called Jason Bourne.
Also Martin Popoff's book on Black Sabbath.