Majkia's Magical Mystery Tour -2011

New readiing thread for new year.

Read This Year So Far:

1. The Blade Itself - Joe Abercrombie 31/2 stars
2. Starfarers -Vonda McIntyre 3 1/2 stars
3. The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms N.K. Jemisin 4 1/2 stars
4. Behemoth Scott Westerfeld 4 1/2 stars
5. Blameless by Gail Carriger 4 stars
6. Elfland Freda Warrington
7. Midnight Riot - Ben Aaronovich
8. Among Thieves - Douglas Hulick
9. The Sorcerers House by Gene Wolfe 3 1/2 stars
10. Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch XXXX
11. The Unwritten - Mike Carey XXX
12. Embassytown - China Mieville XXXX
13. Island in the Sea of Time - S. M. Stirling XXXX
14. The Black Company - Glen Cook XXXX
15. The Osiris Ritual - George Mann
16. Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding
17. A Dance with Dragons - George RR Martin
18. Magyk - Angie Sage
19. Heartless - Gail Carriger
20. Jhereg - Steven Brust
21. The Black Prism - Brent Weeks
22. Ghost Story - Jim Butcher
23. Memories of Ice- Steven Erikson
24. The Magician - Michael Scott
25. Blood Follows - Steven Erikson
26. Nights of Villjamur - Mark Charan Newton
27. House of Chains - Steven Erikson
28. The Man with a Load of Mischief - Martha Grimes
29. Ghosts of Manhattan - George Mann
30. Whitechapel Gods - SM Peters
31 Reamde - Neal Stephenson

------------------

Abandoned this year:

1. Dust Elizabeth Bear
2. The Dispossessed Ursula Le Guin

Happy reading everyone!

ETA: Updating stats as they happen

What is TIOLI?

I just finished Dust and am waiting for The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms from the library. I hope I get it in time.

TIOLI = Take It Or Leave It

It is a sub-group over in the 75 book challenge. As I understand it, and I may be limited in my understanding, there is a list each month (maybe) of books in an unusual category and the 75ers can choose or not from that list.

Probably someone in the 75ers group can explain it better than I can as I am still a bit confused. It did get myself a free copy of Beowolf for the Kindle to try to do one of their TIOLI books.

Morphy this thread: http://www.librarything.com/topic/105623
pretty much explains TIOLI.

This one is even better: http://www.librarything.com/topic/80417#1680410

Ah, The Blade Itself (and the series) has received massive praise from people whose reading preferences I often share so it's on my shelf, awaiting its turn. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts on it.

Welcome back!

Well, best laid plans and all that... Sigh. I just got an email from the publisher regarding an ER I won in September and never received. S/he sent me a better link to the ebook and I now have it. Given it has been so long, feel required to read it next. Wonder if I can shoe-horn it into a TIOLI challenge... Off to look...

Finally finished first book of the year:

1. The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie I'll do the review a bit later. Too busy at the moment. I'll give it 4 stars though. Great read!

Think I'll start Dust by Elizabeth Bear next. not sure I dare another fantasy too soon after that last.

#8 - Great! I'll definitely consider it once the brick I'm reading presently is done with :D

My review of The Blade Itself:

Anti-heroes abound in The Blade Itself . But then, when the world is a place full of violence, where the Inquisition is used to torture anyone into confessing to anything, what exactly is a 'hero' anyway?

Joe Abercrombie creates a bloody and violent world, sadly, a totally believable one. Magic is there, but understated and not well understood. The privileged use and abuse the masses, and are astonished when revolution raises its head.

The characters are all flawed, and worn down and scarred by their lives, all but one self-centered privileged fellow who, despite himself, seems about to finally open his eyes to see what is going on around him. He won't like it.

Reminiscent of George RR Martin's series, A Song of Ice and Fire, you just never know who will step up or who will fall apart. Nor, are you likely to know exactly what is going on any time soon.

Highly recommended.

oh, my, this book sounds depressing to the max. Would you say that or is there some light?

#10 - thanks - I've seen this one around a bit. Even flicked through it at a few bookshops. Was undecided then. I'm undecided now as well! I think the multi-character will be the nail in the coffin. Maybe if I can find it in the library I'll try it.

#11 and #12 Surprisingly, I didn't find it too depressing. There is a lot of gallows humor in it, and I like that a lot.

Also, no one is giving up. Even the ones who are scarred the most, plug along and always hope. One of the main characters' constant refrain after every battle is 'I'm still alive!' He's always surprised.

And the hints of magic to come and the plan that is beginning to take shape definitely leave me wanting more.

I enjoyed the whole of The First Law series but it is definitely located towards the darker end of the fantasy market. The characters are not the cut and dried in the good guys vs bad guys mould that a lot of books in the genre seem to be.

Geez, I'm a bit stunned! I just got a DM from torbooks that by retweeting one of their tweets I've won a copy of Farlander. I'm a happy birdie!

:D

I began reading Starfarers Quartet by Vonda McIntyre.

I've got some issues with it. I think the POV changes too often and I find the transitions from current events to stream-of-consciousness flashbacks a bit lacking, but otherwise it so far is a good yarn with some interesting twists already.

I like the political reactionary themes, particularly with respect to humans altering their bodies for differing environments and lifestyles. I can sooooo see that happening.

Also, it goes into the whole militarization of space controversy which again I can see as a major issue if we ever do decide to come up with the resources to explore beyond our planet.

Just finished Starfarers by Vonda McIntyre.

What a fun read. After initially having some issues with POV changes and transitions to flashbacks, I have to say the story was exciting and interesting and kept me wanting to keep reading! Good first story to the Quartet!

Here's the review: http://www.librarything.com/work/178750/reviews/68485518

eta: links are giving me issues today, so woman-handled it back in.

I edited my first post on this thread to put in a 'read so far this year' list.

Started The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms - N.K. Jemisin

Just finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms and gave it 4 1/2 of 5 Stars.

What a great read! Great characterization, world building is marvelous and complicated, writing is crisp and flows well, and I was sucked into the world within the first few pages.

Highly recommended. Not happy with my review but it is a hard book to review and not give away the plot!

http://www.librarything.com/work/8103741/reviews/66519812

'Gravity was something something you could beat: all it took was hydrogen, hot air, or even a bit of rope. But being a girl was a miserable, never-ending struggle.' - Behemoth - Scott Westerfeld

LOL.I know the feeling...

majkia, you and Morphy have convinced me to put The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms onto the wishlist. Thanks!

Wolfy, oh I do hope you enjoy it. I certainly did!

Finished Behemoth

My Review:

What's a girl to do? She;s been pretending to be a boy so she could serve on the Darwinist British Airship Leviathan. And poor Daryn is scrambling to keep her secret, but things keep getting in the way! One, most notably, being the escaped prince of Austria-Hungary who is aboard and is struggling to keep his own secrets.

Between the two of them, well, mayhem ensues. Look out Istanbul, you're in their crosshairs.

Another great read from Scott Westerfeld!

http://www.librarything.com/work/9536897/reviews/62321908

Just finished Blameless by Gail Carriger

What fun! I adore Floote and I'm in lust over Channing Channing of the Chesterfield Channings. Fangirl...

http://www.librarything.com/work/9589660/reviews/64474475

Woke up this morning and decided to abandon The Dispossessed. Not a bad book, but I've read a third of it and nothing happens. Well written, mildly interesting protag, but honestly. All he does is sit around and marvel at what a wonder he himself is and how he's abaonded his own world and their sister world for and feels isolated.

I don't need blood and gore and wild abandon in a book, but I do want either a mystery to solve, or a hero to cheer for. Poor whatisname here provides me neither.

I too abandoned The Dispossessed the first time I tried to read it, at what seems like about the same point... and for much the same reasons.

Some years later I picked it up again and while the first third of the book was about as non-whatever as it was the first time the rest of the book was worth it.

IMHO.

*shrugs*

It is overtly political, though, which sometimes overshadows the actual story.

Am about halfway through Elfland by Freda Warrington. Just wanted to post to remind myself why I'm enjoying this book so much. Yes, teenage angst, but angst with reason, and kids who are struggling to get through it, not wallow in it.

Also, amazingly, they grow up. They change, and a lot isn't predictable, and thankfully no gratuitous sex. Lots of interesting characters who are fleshed out, not only one or two.

There is some head hopping which sometimes startles me since in the ebook edition there is no indication of a change coming, not even an extra blank line or two. That might be the fault of the ebook, rather than the author though.

spent Fat Tuesday surviving the Fort Walton Beach 2011 Municipal Elections. Had quite a time of it, including several incidents.

I'm the clerk of the precinct so I was in charge and responsible for everything, for all 10 workers as well as making sure our voters have a positive experience.

The worst thing, but it could have been sooooo much worse, was a car accident in the parking lot. One older lady backed into a parked car, didn't see the damage and drove off. The other lady finished voting, went out to her car, saw the bumper and came back in upset. Luckily our bailiff saw the accident and knew who the driver was who'd hit her.

Police were called, endless paperwork accomplished, the cop was wonderful. He drove over to the lady-at-fault's house looking for her, and then called her several times. Happily she got the last message and drove back over so he didn't have to charge her with hit-and-run just with illegal backing.

Not sure I made either voters experience enjoyable but I tried!

Other than that turnout was light as expected and I did get about 100 pages of Elfland read, although interruptions were often and sometimes long.

To my utter astonishment, we were the first precinct at the transmit center to turn in our supplies and our ballots and machines. Yay!

Now to see how many mistakes I made... shivers

my review of Elfland

http://vyse.blogspot.com/2011/03/review-elfland-by-freda-warrington.html

Convoluted and confusing are words that almost guarantee that I'm not going to like something, dangit. Well, I'll see how far I get in it.

Finished and reviewed Midnight Riot by Ben Aaronovitch.

What a fun book, and i fell madly in love with Thomas Nightingale. And what exactly is Molly??

Review

Both so beautiful! Thanks.

Love the flowers! Taking a break from reading? ;)

I'm reading, just getting sidetracked by RL. Company here, and a husband with a bad back.

Finished Among Thieves: A Tale of the Kin by Douglas Hulick.

What a great read! Will do a review tomorrow.

Now starting The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe

Lovely photos, majkia! I really like those. And I love the humor in the name of your blog. Sharp woman!

Finished The Sorcerer's House by Gene Wolfe

Very very different, in that the story is told in epistolary fashion. Not my favorite method of storytelling, but for this book it worked quite well.

I gave it only 3 and a half stars because I thought the foreshadowing made the outcome a bit too obvious.

Review

Foreshadowing really annoys me in stories. I have enjoyed some books told through letters, but they have to be done well.

@38, Among Thieves has only just popped up on my radar but seems like something I would like and has made its way onto my wishlist. Thanks for your review.

Finally finished Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. Wow. Lots of twists and turns, and things more often than not going wrong for the Gentlemen Bastards.

The ending... Oi... I'm giving it 4 Stars and will review it after I have time to ponder it a bit.

Just beginning my first graphic novel, The Unwritten by Mike Carey

Finished my first graphic novel, The Unwritten by Mike Carey. I wasn't entirely impressed with the form. Too much has to go unsaid or unwritten, heh, and I found many of the transitions confusing and jarring. No doubt those are graphic novel conventions, and this is just a newbie's confusion.

I doubt I'll read the rest, unless I pick it up at the library. Too short a read to pay that much money for!

I haven't read that one so can't comment on the specifics but in my experience there's graphic novels and there's graphic novels, just like with ordinary books, so I shouldn't give up on the format. Like you say they can't be quite expensive though but perhaps there's some at the library?

Good picks, imho, is V for Vendetta (Alan Moore & David Lloyd), The Hunting Party (Enki Bilal & Pierre Christin) and Ballad of the Salt Sea (Hugo Pratt).

(cheezus have I fought with the touchstones!!!)

The Girl Genius:1 series is an excellent graphic novel series, (at least I think they're considered graphic novels). The best part is you can read them all for free online at girlgenius.com

Yes, some graphic novels are good, some not so much, some suit the reader's taste, some not so much, just like other genres.

Take a look at The Complete Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, or The Complete Maus by Art Spiegelman for something quite different from what you read. Both are often read in book clubs. The Sandman series by Neil Gaiman is another good one that's quite different.

P.S. A beautiful one with no words whatsoever, but quite a story, is The Arrival by Shaun Tan.

Seconding the Maus suggestion. Usually loved by people who think graphic novels are way below them. Part one is better than part the second, though, and that's by some. IMHO, and as I remember it.

#49 well, it certainly isn't that I feel graphic noves are way below me. Just that I have so many questions regarding the story and no way to discover the answers.

I found the girl genius pages and will read them at least. and I'll look around for some of the others.

Thanks for the suggestions thus far!

#50 - I didn't mean to say that, either - I just meant that Maus appeal even to people who normally don't take the genre seriously :)

Finally did my review of Red Seas Under Red Skies,

here

All I can say is... PIRATES!

Glad you enjoyed your second trip with Locke and Jean. It's unfortunate that the wait still goes on to see what happens next. I do however wish Mr.Lynch well and hope he can find a happier place in his life.

Hello there! :O)
*hugs for majkia*

Wanted to drop by your thread to wish you some Bliss!
and send some Thread Love your way. :O)

Oh BTW- I replied to your comment you left on my thread. Thanks for stopping by! Comments always delight me!

Much Bliss & Purrs,
~Pandora~

While I didn't give up on Dust or The Dispossessed, I didn't like them either. I finally gave up on the Women of Science Fiction after Doomsday Book. Out of the four books of the first part of the year, the only one I liked was Darkship Thieves. I'll still doing the Women of Fantasy challenge though as, overall, I've enjoyed the stories.

Morphy, I agree. I was surprised I didn't like the women of scifi selections. And yes, the women of fantasy books seem much much better. But I don't think that is significant other than the individual selections made for the categories.

Hmmm. I swear I updated this thread, but apparently not.

Finished Embassytown by China Mieville. It was an ER book. Wonderful book. Started a bit slowly but then the world was so very inventive and different it really had to.

My

review

is here.

Currently reading Island in the Sea of Time by S.M. Stirling. What a great book! Lots of twists and surprises and lots of thought on how folks from our era might handle suddenly finding themselves in 2000 or so B.C.

Ah, I'm planning to get my hands on Embassytown, despite thinking I'd not read any more Miéville for some considerable time - it got too interesting reviews, referencing it to other books that I do like.
Perhaps I should plan a trip to the bookshop, despite having an official book-buying-ban in place...?

Review: The Black Company - Glen Cook



The tale is told through the eyes of the company’s physician and Annalist. He’s fairly new to the company, and has limited knowledge of some of his more ancient colleagues. He reads and analyzes the history of the Company and attempts to order, in his mind, and in the annals, the story of his own service with the last free mercenary company as they struggle through a war-torn landscape where defeat is far more common than any sort of victory.

Croaker is an astute observer of both his friends and his enemies and struggles, as he writes,to understand motivations and philosophies for those he comes to know. But his colleagues are not men who willingly share their inner thoughts and fears, he has only their actions to use as a measure of these men.

We join the mercenaries as they are involved in supporting ‘The Lady’ against ‘The Rebel’ and are in a long and soul-deadening retreat, as her forces are being assaulted by a far larger and more motivated force attempting to drive her from power. The Black Company is the only group involved who are mercenaries, and are not sworn to fight for one side or the other.

Much of the book involves Croaker trying to make sense of what morality and loyalty involve in light of their situation, and as he sees it, it is mostly to his fellow soldiers and few friends, as well as living up to your word and your contract, no matter what horrors you find yourself facing, even when you realize you are fighting for Evil, or are you? Not knowing who is in the right, who is just, who is the lesser Evil, Croaker swallows his doubts and fears and just does what he’s told, to the best of his ability.

The characters in the piece are complex and interesting, and you never do really get their entire story, particularly not the two newest members of the mercenaries, Raven and a girl he saves from murder and mayhem, Darling.

But through Raven, somehow, Croaker ends up singled out by ‘the Lady’ who is a sorcerer and who is frightening even to battle-hardened men. He tries to understand why and how she chooses him and finds himself far more afraid of her, than he is of a terrifying battlefield.

This is not the sort of book that will appeal to a lot of readers. It is grim and gritty and there are no heroes and no clear winners. But the book held my interest and got me thinking of warfare and its effects on not only the landscape and the civilians but also on the soldiers themselves and their own efforts to justify actions that oftentimes seem inhumane and senseless.

4 out of 5 stars.

I think Glen Cook's Black Company books were the foundation for writers like Steven Erikson and Joe Abercrombie to expand upon. Although set firmly on a fantasy world there is very much a realness to them that make them stand out from the crowd. Glad you enjoyed your first trip with the Company.

Eek. I can't believe I didn't update for The Osiris Ritual by George Mann. Fun read, better than Affinity Bridge.

Began reading Opening Atlantis which was definitely not at all what I expected. I've got it on hold for now. Not a bad book, and interesting, just not what I wanted at the moment.

Now reading Retribution Falls which is terrific fun. Airships, pirates, machinations etc. Very very Firefly -ish, altho even Mel is more competent than Frey, who is truly a crummy pirate, lol.

I quite enjoyed the black company too - have been meaning to get my hands on the rest fo them for a while now, but haven't been able to find them as ebooks.

I just finished Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding. Wow. What a fun read! Very much Firefly -ish in the sort of world they are in, with pirates and a world still reeling from too many wars.

The characters grow and evolve and come together as a crew. Lots of action, and a pretty darn good plot.

Highly recommended.

I'll work on a review.

I'd started Magyk and was enjoying it very much but I'm afraid I set it aside for A Dance with Dragons.

Dammit, I'm such a slow reader...

Dance is pretty amazing, and, as usual, GRRM is entirely unpredictable. NOTHING has been going the way I envisioned it would. So all hail to Grumpy who is amazing, and surprising!

My Review on Library Thing

Additionally, I pretty much hated Dany in this book. I so wanted to smack her.  As usual, the ones who work the hardest to do the right thing, the smart thing, the honorable thing, are punished for it.  Betrayals and stupid stupid cowardice abound.  As does cruelty, terror, misery and magic. 

Best book of the series so far, IMO.

I see your on top of the game for that book.

What a great fun read. Gail is back on form, with lots of witty dialogue, twisty plots, and Alexia being her usual bowl everyone over self.

I also really liked the way the consequences of her actions are causing important changes round and to her.

Highly recommended

nice... i guess.

I just finished The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. Wow. What a terrific read! Lots of action, complex and well-drawn characters, LIKEABLE characters, which is important to me, plot twists, surprises, and wonderful capable women! Kudos. I'm preliminarily rating it 4 stars but I might up that to 4 1/2.

69 > you know Brent Weeks is on G+?

no I didn't! I'll have to look for him!

I just finished my review of The Black Prism by Brent Weeks. Find it here.

Also, I upped the stars to

My only complaint is that I thought the cover not very descriptive of the book.

I should also add that I LOVE that the women in the book are awesome!

I have Brent Weeks' Night Angel trilogy on my tbr shelves that I'll have to get to sometime. Have you read any of his other books or was that your first?

This was the first book of his I've read. I do have the first book of the Night Angel Trilogy, I just haven't gotten to it yet.

I have his Night Angel trilogy and have for a while, I'm hoping to finally start it by the end of the month.

Hard as hell to review this book and not give away spoilers since the entire book is a spoiler for book 12 Changes.

MY LT review is Here

Suffice to say it was a far different take on Harry. With loads of surprises and twists. Some of it I saw coming, some I didn't. Good job!

Nice review, majika. It is hard to discuss this book without spoilers falling out left and right, but it sure was a fun read.

Sigh. I'll get there, I will! I'm only on Small Favor right now.

Oh dear. I was afraid this was going to happen. I'm completely awed once again by Erikson's Malazan series and I'm afraid I'm going to drop everything else and keep reading...

I just began Memories of Ice and am already sucked in. So complex and so fascinating, layers upon layers of history that he metes out in tiny little bits that you have to put together. I love his writing style

“Thirty-eight bitter, resentful veterans, already twice betrayed. I wasn’t part of the treachery at the siege of Pale, and Laseen’s proclamation of outlawry embraced me as much as it did them. Neither event can be laid at my feet, yet they’re doing it anyway.”

Poor Paran. And what's up with Rake that he isn't at the parlay? And Silverfox! And... And... The Crippled God. Oh, boy.

And Kallor. No one knows who he is? And what's Lady Envy going to do when she runs into Rake who killed her dad Draconus with his own sword?

A description I want to remember!

Rake was an atmosphere, a heart-thudding, terror-threaded presence no-one could ignore, much less escape. Violence, antiquity, sombre pathos, and darkest horror - the Son of Darkness was a gelid eddy in immortality's current, and the Mhybe could feel, crawling beneath her very skin, every Rhivi spirit wakened in desperation.

The sword, yet more than the sword. Dragnipur in the hands of cold justice, cold and unhuman.

page 162 Memories of Ice

"Why are we doing this!"
Quick Ben: "Because it's fun?" Haha!

Also,

Dujek asked, "You are offering to set your Tiste Andii against the Tenescowri, Lord?"
"Hardly," Rake replied. "I mean to scare them witless. In person."

Memories of Ice whoa!

It also amuses me to see how often Anamander Rake is underestimated. "Oh, he'll be furious when he finds out xxxx." Then four chapters on we learn he'd known of xxx for years but found the secret unimportant. Even WJ has a tendency to forget the depth of Rake's intellect. And you'd think Crone would have figured it out... Sheesh. I guess cuz he's a big guy with a big sword he's supposed to be shallow. Hah.

Just finished Memories of Ice and am exhausted! What an ending. Heartwrenching, as I expected, but I do love the flashes of raw humor that pop up at the weirdest of times. Best book yet of the Malazan series.

And oh, gods, I sooo sooo want a book that details Caladan Brood, Anomander Rake and Lady Envy's adventures together.

The second book of the series The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel

I confess to having some major issues with this book. Firstly, this guy is supposed to be brilliant. Uhm, right. He heads off to Paris with the bad guys on his tail, and he HAS NO PLAN.  He wanders around Paris, not knowing or recognizing anything (he’s not been back for years) and didn’t even have an idea who he’d contact for help. Excuse me?

And don’t even get me started on the incompetence of the bad guys. Sheesh. What a bunch of clowns.

And my biggest beef?  The author turns the genius of Niccolo Machiavelli into farce. Seriously???

Granted, it’s a children’s book, but still…  I doubt I’ll read the rest of the series.

A short novel of the necromancers in all their weirdness. Here Emancipur Reese finds employment with the necromancers Bauchelain and Broach. Suitably weird, grim and decidedly strange.

I'm about halfway through The Nights of Villjamur. A couple of observations.

The writing is ... odd. At first I found it rather jarring. I've never been one to worry about complete sentences or slightly off-kilter use of words, but this one has a lot of that. However, that said, the story is interesting and trying to figure out how this world works is definitely keeping my attention.

I don't love any of the characters, at least not yet. One I despise and I keep hoping he's going to evolve into something better. The others are complex enough to keep my interest however, so I'm definitely invested in finishing this book.

I do love how he describes the world, how complex it is, how the descriptions evoke more than just mind pictures but use scent and feel and sound.

Out for a boat ride we played with friends. Damn hard to get a shot of a dolphin, let me tell you....



that white water is a dolphin who dove before I could get the shot.

What a delightful break!

Thanks Jill!

----------






Finished Nights of Villjamur and here's the review

In addition let me say that I really enjoyed the world he evoked with words. There was plenty of action as well, but I like a world that is realized and this one was well-crafted, with plenty of backstory (most of which is not explained which is a good thing) and you can feel the weight of history, long forgotten or erased, which colors the current events.

Interesting 'aliens' and interesting use of magic as well.

Love the pics. :o)

Cheese whiskers, but House of Chains by Steven Erikson is a tough read. I'm having to keep the wiki open constantly and then have to pause to check the Tor.com re-read after a chapter. There is SOOOOO much in nearly every chapter I'm sure I've missed a ton of stuff on every page!

And trying to keep the zillions of character straight, especially as so many are from the same families or groups that you can't always remember what the heck that particular dude or dudette was up to.

Hard work to read fantasy! Still, worth it!

Argh! I am close to throwing my Kobo Touch E-Reader into the trash. This last update has TOADALLY screwed the pooch.

I've ordered a new Sony, and can't wait to get it. This Kobo, although the hardware is fine, is being programmed by imbeciles.

All too usual. Good solid hardware, software made by retards who never ask themselves how the stuff is going to be used, for what and by whom :(
I feel for you.

Finally completed House of Chains by Steven Erikson, the fourth (or fifth) of the Malazan Book of the Fallen series.

http://images.amazon.com/images/P/0765348810.01._SX140_SY225_SCLZZZZZZZ_.jpg



I haven't written my review yet, I need to let it gel a bit first. And I'm horrible at writing reviews. But I do have a few thoughts on this and the rest of the series I'd like to put down.

First, Erikson juggles people and plots and simultaneous actions in disparate locations. Thinking about how he does it compared to say, George RR Martin, I was struck by how different the approaches are, yet how well both methods work.

While GRRM uses chapters with different POVs throughout his Ice and Fire series, Erikson sticks with the 3rd person subjective, not quite godlike viewpoint. Erikson will switch focus multiple times in a chapter, whereas GRRM for instance, sticks with one setting and one viewpoint per chapter.

The difference becomes huge as Erikson begins to weave the different threads together finally revealing to us how all of it fits together.

For me, to get a full understanding of the breadth and inter-connectedness of the action, I think Erikson's works better.

GRRM's, however, is wonderful at presenting actions and events in a manner skewed to the person who's POV is paramount. We see from multiple people, the same event, and understand how it is interpreted, misunderstood, lost in translation, as it were.

As for House of Chains itself, wow. Many threads which I knew were all related (because I trust the author, not because I was able to guess how all things fit) into a totally unexpected whole. And better yet, Erikson's characters grow and change. The main character whom I hated in the first 1/3 of the book, grows incredibly and changes as his experiences expand. It's quite wonderful (and as I'm comparing this with GRRM, think of Jaimie Lannister's growth and change).

The final scenes were not at all what I expected, not at all what seemed to be coming together. Like GRRM, you really don't know what the heck is going to happen, and for both authors individual characters have a way of 'misbehaving' and not doing at all what one (even the gods) expect.

And I adore Cotillion, much to my astonishment.

As usual, bittersweet endings, but some wonderful revelations, which will, naturally, keep me reading the series eagerly.

An unpretentious thriller with a steampunk vibe. It’s reminiscent of pulp thrillers and doesn’t pretend to be anything else. A fun read, but no deep thinking is required.

This is a re-read for me, of a really well-loved cozy. I'd forgotten how much I LIKE Richard Jury. A detective with some issues, but still a nice guy. Not the most difficult mystery to solve, but a nice Christmas-y read.

And of course this is where we meet Melrose Plant another nice guy. They make a fun team and the rest of the series is just as entertaining.

What a serendipitous suggestion! I was wondering what I would read next and the idea of Martha Grimes sounds lovely. I haven't read that one.

I'll be sticking a few NaNoWriMo posts in here:





1199 / 50000

Stayed up til midnight to start (as usual) and wrote for an hour or so. Am not unhappy with the progress!

My novel this year is sci fi titled The Kintari Chronicles.  I’ll be posting the results as they happen.

The best character in Reamde is a 'fucked Russian'! I adore Sokolov. If MI6 doesn't hire him, they're fools! Fools, I tell you!!

Besides, the guy's got the greatest dry humor going and makes Brit humor look positively wet.

I really do need to get around to Reamde. I really do.
Only need to finish the forever-read I'm presently struggling with... *sigh*
Good to know there's light at the end of the tunnel, though!

From Reamde: Sokolov's philosophy which I am adopting: Always assume you are about to be f-cked (in the bad way) and have your weapons loaded. I'm with him! I always knew paranoia was an effective, sane and rational life-choice.

Haha, that reminds me of my husband's philosophy. I've always said he has worked security for way too long ;-)

Hah! Busifer if your husband is in security he'll get a kick out of this true story:

I'm retired military, and live in a military area. One of the first things I did when we arrived here (I was still active duty at the time) was to hunt down the local Suicide/crisis hotline folks (I'd volunteered for them at places I was stationed earlier)

One of the things the people who ran it did, to figure out who would fit and who wouldn't be able t do this work, was (this was in the 80s) to give every volunteer, before they were accepted the psychological test the MMPI (
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Multiphasic_Personality_Inventory )

It has a lot of different psychological scales it measures. So when my test came back I was briefed on how I did. I turned out nearly clincially high on paranoia!

I was a bit astonished by this (since I had a psych degree for one thing). The local clinic director laughed and said, well, we have to always consider each individual applicant because ALL the military people show up equally high on the Paranoia index.

In my experience everyone working in security would score like that too. A lifetime of anticipating and preventing risks makes that to you ;-)

The reason to take a psych degree is so you can figure out who not to live beside, isn't it? ;-

Where the hell is Zokolov?!?! Huh? I know he's sneaking around somewhere! Hurry up and get here! I read Reamde for two hours at bedtime, and still no crazy f-cked Russian! What's up with that?!?!?!

Finished Reamde and here is my review

What a terrific ride. Can't recommend this book highly enough. I'd classify it as a technothriller, rather than sci fi though.

HAHAHAHA!  A comic review of Reamde by Neal Stephenson… SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO true!

LOL!

My November Tioli reads were:

1. Read a book with an animal mentioned on page 50 :
Goliath Scott Westerfeld

4. Read a book where the author's name is a profession:
Sweet Silver Blues Glen Cook

9. Read a book read and recommended by an LTer in October
Reamde Neal Stephenson (ER book)

16. Read a novel with titled chapters:
The Dragon Turn Shane Peacock (ER book)

December reads are:

Currently The Casebook of Doakes and Haig by Patrick Welch - not all that enamored with it.

Next up are:

River of Gods - Ian McDonald -- Tioli # 2 (book with god or being in title)
Before they Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie Tioli #13 (book by an author with 4 syllable surname)
Hogfather - Terry Pratchett Tioli #11 (book about a holiday character not Santa)

River of Gods was one of my best reads last year.
In retrospect I can't exactly put my finger on why this was so but enjoy it I did :)

#108 - I did that Cryptonomicon - gave it to my dad after I had read it. Well, bought him his own copy for Yule, but...
Had some wonderful special f/x (my dad went on to read the Baroque Cycle, all on his own, not to mention the loads of books on cryptography and cryptanalysis that found their way to my parents' home. But then I inherited my interest in SF from him in the first place, lol).

Finished The Casebook of Doakes and Haig, It was okay. Not crazy about leprechauns in any guise.

Just started River of Gods.

I finished River of Gods this morning. It was the best science fiction I've read in YEARS.

Complex, hard science, futuristic world extrapolated in a realistic fashion. Violent, granted. Still, wonderful.

Best hard science fiction I've read in years. Complex, multi-layered plot, set in a futuristic world which is realistically extrapolated from the world of today. The action can be raw and grim and bloody, and entirely fits into the world McDonald has created.

Highly recommended.

>116 majkia: Couldn't agree more, majkia!

(Although I began at the Original Post, and feel compelled to register my lack of affection for The Blade Itself)

Hahaha! Feel free. I enjoy Ambercrombie but that wasn't the best novel ever. Although perhaps River of Gods is up near there! Have you read Dervish House? I'm hearing very good things about that one too.

On my pile for 2012: River of Gods. Thanks for the recommendation as I need some good solid speculative fiction!

>118 majkia: Yes!! The Dervish House is spectacular, right along side River of Gods. Beautifully constructed, McDonald conveys a living, breathing , cacophonous Istanbul of 2027 with unforgettable vividness. Run, don't walk!

"She'd sworn that if she did indeed ever find herself dancing on rooftops with chimney sweeps she'd beat herself to death with her own umbrellla."

Yup, reading Hogfather. LOL

Appropriately enough, I finished Hogfather on the Solstice. :)

Just finished my 40th and last book for the year, Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. I've rated it 4 stars, and will think about a review.

A good read if you want to see the sorrows and miseries of men fighting men, and politics and lies from everyone. Not a happy read, but it does contain lots of gallows humor and unexpected twists and turns.