What Books Are You Reading Right Now?

[CarpeGuitarrem]

My train reading is Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. I didn't enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as most people seemed to, probably because I expected something like Hustle in fantasy novel form, i.e. mostly nonviolent trickery and cons. There was some conning, but it wasn't all that impressive, for the most part. (Locke charming his way into the office of a bank director just to get some clothes was really good, though). Instead, there was a whole lot of vengeance and stabbing.
Anyway, the second novel is, so far, a lot better, actually. Maybe I'm just used to the tone now, but in this one, the main characters have to run a heist, while working for three different factions, namely a dictator, a casino owner and a pirate captain, who are all thinking they are implanting the pair as double agents into the other factions. Quite enjoyable so far.

The second and third books adopt very different tones from the first.

The first book is a mafia/Camorra story. The second book is a nautical/pirate book (with more of the casino elements, yeah). The third book is back to the intrigue, plus you start to get answers about world lore and see that Locke's actions in the first book got a bunch of rippling-out done.

(But yes--the first book was downright vicious and brutal with its crime world.)

[Eldan]

I did like that Lynch didn't pull any punches with the brutality. But I felt that I wasn't quite attached enough to some of the characters to feel much about them being eliminated in various viscious fashions.

[Eulalios]

Recently finished The Color of Magic (Finally got around to reading Discworld, and it seems to have a nice start) ... after which I plan to either read Good Omens or The Silmarillion, not sure which one yet.

Yeah, admittedly this is hardly the most deep and intellectual of reading lists.

Pratchett's a bit under-appreciated. Read him as a satirist in the tradition of Swift, and it will feel a bit more highbrow.

Most recent really good read for me - received Stephen King's new tome for Christmas. Doctor Sleep. Good. Denied me some to finish it within twenty four hours of opening it.

Before then - "Worm." It's net-published and extremely long. Gripping read, at least for me.

[Knaight]

Though I'm reading it really slowly. There's very few of his stories that I like (mostly from the dream cycle) and most are just too slow and dense. At least the early ones are also really predictable by modern standards. I try to read all the shorter stories in one piece, but I only manage about one every three days or so.

This reminds me of Robert Howard's work. I read through a collection of Conan stories semi-recently, and the extent to which they were valueless drivel was downright surprising.

On a better note, I'm currently reading Water Margin and Tess of D'Urbervilles. Both are excellent.

[BWR]

Lovecraft's dream stories are his best.
Conan is far from Howard's best work. I'm been amazed that Conan is the most famous and popular creation of his.
Kull is a better barbarian, Solomon Kane is his best 'cool swordsman fighting evil and magic', and his various other short stories are generally better than any of the Conan stuff. Not that I haven't enjoyed reading the Conan stories, they just aren't generally as good as the rest. Try reading "The piegeons from hell", "The Black Stone" or "Worms of the Earth" for some of his best work.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by BWR
I don't know if this is the article you're referencing....

No, it was an email conversation from some years ago. Unfortunately the actual email is probably long gone, devoured by Hotmail, alas.

Originally Posted by warty goblin
I'll have to put that one on my list then.

I really recommend it. The Forgotten Beasts of Eld is subtle, wistful, strange, involving, with an understated narrative tone and a finely classic feel. I read it during an awful time (work, grad school, girlfriend, everything) and something about it recaptured that sense of subtle, almost Tokienesque magic, with beasts that might have trotted down from a medieval tapestry. It's magnificently done.

Originally Posted by Eldan
I didn't enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as most people seemed to, probably because I expected something like Hustle in fantasy novel form, i.e. mostly nonviolent trickery and cons. There was some conning, but it wasn't all that impressive, for the most part.

A lot of people seem to enjoy it, but I found it extremely tedious and gave up after the first fifty pages, which is a vanishing rarity for me. I didn't find much compelling in Locke himself, and thought the narration was rather overdone.

If you like heists, cons and schemes, and if you haven't read it already, definitely check out the first Mistborn novel. What better heist than taking apart an evil empire?

[TheThan]

Also on my list, though my local Temple used book store only had the first volume. Old pulps are fantastic though, in no small part because they could pack a remarkable amount of content into tiny amounts of space.

Yeah, I had to go and find digital copies. I suggest you check the local library.

dunno how I'm going to find his Venus series though.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by TheThan
I suggest you check the local library.

dunno how I'm going to find his Venus series though.

Check with your local library and see if they can get them on inter-library loan, or ILL. They should have access to WorldCat, and from there they can request a loan from any library in the US. Postage is usually just two or three dollars, and they'll ordinarily give you two or three weeks minimum plus one renewal. I do this a lot and it's a great option.

Also....

Originally Posted by warty goblin
...just got back from a three mile jog. Air temperature: 8 Fahrenheit. Wind: 25 mph Northeast by North. Hardest damn three miles I've run in my life.

You are a madman. A glacier-striding northern madman.

I walked a mile in snowy woods, air temp maybe 19 F, and felt wiped out for the rest of the afternoon. I really enjoyed it, but something about walking in subfreezing temperatures really drains me.

And makes me really, really hungry. Maybe my body is burning more energy just to keep warm?

[TheThan]

Check with your local library and see if they can get them on inter-library loan, or ILL. They should have access to WorldCat, and from there they can request a loan from any library in the US. Postage is usually just two or three dollars, and they'll ordinarily give you two or three weeks minimum plus one renewal. I do this a lot and it's a great option.

yeah, the local one has a fairly lackluster selection of sci-fi and fantasy books. but we do have something similar. all the libraries in the area are linked together via a website, you can search it and rent a book online and they ship it to the closest library to you and you can pick it up. its free as well so bonus points.

[warty goblin]

You are a madman. A glacier-striding northern madman.

The opportunity for suffering was too excellent to pass up, and I run Monday-Wednesday-Friday-Sunday anyways.

I walked a mile in snowy woods, air temp maybe 19 F, and felt wiped out for the rest of the afternoon. I really enjoyed it, but something about walking in subfreezing temperatures really drains me.

And makes me really, really hungry. Maybe my body is burning more energy just to keep warm?

At 19, assuming moderate wind, I don't think the cold would tire you out so much as the snow- walking in that stuff is hard.

But yes, a body does burn more energy when it's cold out. Even well insulated, you still need to breathe, and that sucks heat out of a person. Replacing that takes energy. I felt pretty wiped after my run, and I was sweating by the time I got back, keeping warm took so much work.

[turkishproverb]

When I was a kid I had to walk miles in the snow everyday, uphill both ways.

True story.


Anyway, I'm currently reading:

Lovers and Other Monsters, an anthology edited by Marvin Kaye and Steven Turnbull's Samurai. In addition, I'm re-reading some Conan, in the form of The Essential Conan and have the anthology Dangerous Women to start. After that I have a few more books to get into, including Beyond the Shadows and a dozen other books and/or short story collections.

[Killer Angel]

My train reading is Red Seas under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. I didn't enjoy The Lies of Locke Lamora as much as most people seemed to, probably because I expected something like Hustle in fantasy novel form, i.e. mostly nonviolent trickery and cons. There was some conning, but it wasn't all that impressive, for the most part. (Locke charming his way into the office of a bank director just to get some clothes was really good, though). Instead, there was a whole lot of vengeance and stabbing.
Anyway, the second novel is, so far, a lot better, actually. Maybe I'm just used to the tone now, but in this one, the main characters have to run a heist, while working for three different factions, namely a dictator, a casino owner and a pirate captain, who are all thinking they are implanting the pair as double agents into the other factions. Quite enjoyable so far. .

What i like more of the first book: the youth's flashbacks, and Lamora's tricks with the brandy Austershalin.
What i like less: there's the invincible mage, you cannot do nothing about it.

In the second book, it's all mind schemes between Lamora and various factions, so to me it's far more enjoyable.

[Ravens_cry]

A British comic novel from the early 60's called 'Down the Hatch', telling the story of the officers and crew of the fictional submarine, the HMS Seahorse, captained by the "Artful Bodger".
Dated in its way, but still very funny, authored by one John Winton.

[Hawriel]

I'm reading 3212 by Kim Stanley Robinson.

[pikeamus]

Yup, I actually looked at that one first, but he picked up at the start of the 1200s, and didn't seem to address the prior seven or eight centuries. I'll give it another look if you think it's worthwhile.

...

I was looking for the later period stuff more anyhow, so that didn't bother me.

As mentioned I don't tend to read history books, so I don't feel I can adequately rate it against the standards of the genre.

[Palanan]

Originally Posted by turkishproverb
...and Steven Turnbull's Samurai.

Which one? He's churned out a lot of variations on samurai books, and some of them are out in several editions, so I've been leery of possible recycled content. His Osprey book on ninja seems to be a condensed version of his 1992 book from Firebird, for instance.

Not that his books aren't interesting, and The Samurai and the Sacred was especially well-received, but he seems to do a lot of repackaging.

Originally Posted by Liffguard
I'm currently reading River of Stars by Guy Gavriel Kay. IMO, Kay has probably the best prose style that I've read in a long time. He's very lyrical and good at making a poetic turn of phrase but he never lets the prose get so purple or flowery that it becomes too dense to read easily. He's also masterful at crafting complex characters.

Guy Gavriel Kay is fantastic, and someone I haven't read in far too long. His Lions of Al-Rassan is one of the best historically-inspired fantasy novels I can remember reading.

[warty goblin]

I
Before that I was reading Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson. I got just short of halfway through but I've had to put it on hold. I haven't completely given up on it, I just need a break. It's an exhausting read, even moreso than its predecessor. The characters and backdrop are enthralling but the technical detail, exposition and infodumps are too often just completely overwhelming.

That's exactly what happened to me. I loved the first of Robinson's Mars books, liked the second, and just couldn't take the third.

[turkishproverb]

Which one? He's churned out a lot of variations on samurai books, and some of them are out in several editions, so I've been leery of possible recycled content. His Osprey book on ninja seems to be a condensed version of his 1992 book from Firebird, for instance.

Not that his books aren't interesting, and The Samurai and the Sacred was especially well-received, but he seems to do a lot of repackaging.

Samurai with a subtitle of "The Story of Japan's Greatest Warriors" and published in 2004, republished 2013 looks like.

And yea, nonfiction re-use does seem to happen a lot, but you have to remember, even history books get outdated. The re-releases are updated based on new findings and, in the process, often with new titles.

[StrawDog]

I love me some biblio-voyeurism.

Currently reading; 'the man who lives with wolves' and 'the ley hunter's companion'.

[Hogwarts9876]

I was reading Blood Rites about a month ago, but it got returned to the library and I've been trying it find it ever since.

Do comic books count? I'm also reading the Angel comics at the moment.

[BWR]

Quick break from "Pirate Freedom" to reread "The Apocalypse Codex" by Charles Stross and the Starlight and Shadows trilogy by Elaine Cunningham. Back to PF tomorrow.

[erikun]

Hmm, what have I been reading lately?

My most recent nonfiction book was apparently Something About Harry by Dakota Cassidy. I can't say that I'm very interested in the romance genre, but after reading through a few, the characters in the books are well done and the stories are (if poor for a mystery) at least fun for a short action romp. Good pacing, as well. Just note that there's material here that's not appropriate for underage readers.

Stupid Science by Leland Gregory was something I picked up at the bookstore for cheap, and is just a bunch of funny or unusual one-page reports about research of one thing or another. Oddly enough, not all the things mentioned would really be considered stupid, although a fair number of them probably are.

Other than that, I've taken the time to read through the Fate Core and Fate Accelerated Edition sourcebooks, something that I've been putting off for awhile.


Next up on the list is probably going to be more RPG books (Fate System Toolkit) or Brian Aldiss's Neanderthal Planet. I have a huge number of books lying around that I haven't read yet.

[Hawriel]

Huh, I got the title wrong on that book.

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson.

My next book will be either Patrick O'Brian's 4th Jack Aubrey book The Mauritius Command, or Red Shirts by John Scalzi.

[IthilanorStPete]

Currently reading The Ocean at the End of the Lane, by Neil Gaiman. Should be interesting. I've recently read:
-Ancillary Justice, by Ann Leckie. Absolutely fantastic space opera story, lots of great ideas, very well-written.
-The Quantum Thief, by Hannu Rajaniemi, which was a fairly entertaining SF/heist story. A little too dense with ideas and not enough payoff for my tastes, though.
-Barbara Tuchman's classic The Guns of August. Great book about the beginnings of WW1.

One of my New Year's resolutions is to increase the diversity in what I read. I haven't read much of the New Wave of SF from the 1960's and 70's; I'm planning to check out some Ursula K. LeGuin, Samuel Delany, Joanna Russ, and other authors in that vein.

'The Spy Who Came in From the Cold' by John le Carre. Seventy percent in now and I'm pretty impressed. There is a lot of tension and atmosphere built up with very few words, very terse prose. I really can't tell if it's all going to end tragically and in failure, with some sort of pyrrhic victory or with some genuine success and relief.

John le Carre's on my list of authors to check out. After reading Charles Stross's Laundry series, I'd like to read some of the British spy thrillers he was inspired by; le Carre, Len Deighton, Anthony Price, perhaps some other writers in that vein.

Once I've finished scraping the car, I'll probably go with Thomas Madden's Venice: A New History, which has been a great read so far, even if he ran through the city's first five hundred years in the first two chapters. (Guess those Magyars weren't so tough after all. ; )

Funnily enough I also have a history book of Venice on the go. 'City of Fortune' by Roger Crowley. I don't normally read histories, even pop ones, but I am enjoying this. I started reading as research for a writing project, and although it isn't giving me much of what I was initially after (which with hindsight it never promised to, given the title) I am learning a lot and getting some good ideas.

I'd like to check these out; playing Crusader Kings has given me the urge to read more history.

I really enjoyed On a Pale Horse, but Bearing an Hourglass bored me to tears. So much so I haven't picked up the other books in the series. Are any of the others as good as the first?

I really liked On a Pale Horse, thought everything between that and For Love of Evil was pretty bad, and For Love of Evil was...all right. *shrug*

[Seerow]

Just started (and finished) Earth Unaware today. Was honestly better than any of the Ender's books IMO. It was tragic reading it knowing the whole time they were destined to fail from the start. Almost like watching The Star Wars Prequels, except I think this book was higher quality than Ender's game, rather than significantly worse.

(Orson Scott Card haters may now proceed to flame me for buying this book).



I have the first two books of the Dresden Files sitting in my queue to read next. I'll probably be reading the first of those next Saturday.

Other than that I'm waiting eagerly for Words of Radiance (and thanks to my horrible self control I have read all 10 of the leaked preview chapters, and will likely read the last set coming out next week as well. Oh well I'll be rereading it all when I get the book either way)

[warty goblin]

Wait, Card wrote something actually readable after Ender's Game? I managed to make it all the way through that series, though Children of the Mind took two tries and was pretty wretched, and have tried a couple other Card novels. The last one I picked up was Empire, which was terrible in some fairly special ways.

I had a brief moment of celebration in the bookshop the other day when I happened across an honest-to-gods Tom Holt novel. I bought a couple of his books over a decade ago in London, but have never been able to find them in the states.

[Seerow]

Wait, Card wrote something actually readable after Ender's Game? I managed to make it all the way through that series, though Children of the Mind took two tries and was pretty wretched, and have tried a couple other Card novels. The last one I picked up was Empire, which was terrible in some fairly special ways.

Yeah, it's strange. I've been reading the novels mostly out of habit at this point, but this book really hit me in a way others haven't. The main story focuses on the crew of a mining ship who first discovers the approaching formics, their reactions and their attempts to get the news out. Like I said, I consider it a much stronger book than Ender's game. Others may not agree, but there were a lot of touching moments in there that I really haven't seen out of Card's books in the past, and I enjoyed it.

[JoshL]

Glad to see another Solomon Kane fan! My favorite Howard character by a large margin. I'm also on book 3 of the Dresden Files, and they're starting to get interesting, but the first two are pretty bad. I'm far more a Charles de Lint fan, but he's one of my favorites in general, let alone in the genre.

Just finished a re-read of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (still love them, and would love a proper film adaptation) and going through A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin. And as much as I love the series, it still doesn't hit me as hard as some of his short fiction. "the Sandkings" and "for a single yesterday" both hit me VERY hard.

[warty goblin]

Just finished a re-read of Lloyd Alexander's Prydain Chronicles (still love them, and would love a proper film adaptation) and going through A Dance With Dragons by George R. R. Martin. And as much as I love the series, it still doesn't hit me as hard as some of his short fiction. "the Sandkings" and "for a single yesterday" both hit me VERY hard.

Aye, I've developed a real fondness for Martin's shorter fiction over the years. As much as I like A Song of Ice and Fire, it suffers in the exchange of scope for laserlike focus I think. Something like A Song for Lya or (if I hate myself) Meathouse Man is kinda like getting punched in the gut.

(Speaking of movie adaptions, I'd love a good version of Dying of the Light. Worlorn is a place that's just begging for a really opulent production, and it's been too long since anybody's made a really excellently depressing sci-fi movie.)

[Zaydos]

Just read This Immortal by Roger Zelasny... it was disappointing in that he has a lot of better books and yet you do hear about it by its other name "Call Me Conrad". This is mitigated because TVtropes points out its his first novel and well that is to be expected that he grew as an author.

Edit: And personally I've enjoyed Conan more than Kane. Although I will agree that some of his best work is the miscellaneous short stories, and it's quite possible that Kane has a higher median quality than Conan (I tend to remember my favorite stories after all).