What are you currently reading?

[GreatEmerald]

Just finished reading the Silmarillion. Awesome book. I loved The Lord of the Rings and I love the Silmarillion even more. And Beleriand is a very good place for RPing and all - lots of elves everywhere, a few humans and Morgoth.

Also finished the Sea of Mist. And, well, it raised more questions that gave answers. However, I did like the spell effect descriptions - they were easy to imagine and shouldn't be hard to remake in something like Unreal II, too. The descriptions of Nymus, Clancy, Xarfax and Clavius were quite good as well (although I didn't expect Clavius to be so sesquipedalian, and they don't exactly match their biographies, though I guess it makes sense since they are on another world). But the whole story was quite confusing overall, plus rather short.

I'm now reading the Dreamwright, and gosh, it feels like Gravel doesn't talk the same English that know. Each sentence has at least one word that I have never heard of And since I just started it yesterday, I don't have much to say about it. Well, maybe except that the stone giant monster thing is a pretty odd idea.

[ThunderTitan]

Finished Blood of Elves, 1st book in the Witcher saga a few weeks back while in Greece... pretty good, even if it ended without much happening...

And The Last Wish, a short story collection about the Witcher just arrived today...

The other books still haven't been translated to english...

[hatsforclowns]

Mark Solms & Oliver H. Turnbull: The Brain And The Inner World: An Introduction To The Neuroscience Of Subjective Experience (2002)

I highly recommend it! Very interesting!

[Kalah]

I will be reading the latest research in Norwegian historical studies soon. Nice to keep up with the cutting edge of science even if not all of it is interesting.

[Pol]

Patricia Briggs - Cry Wolf. Sample

It's about werewolves and it's good.

[GreatEmerald]

I'm reading The Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt. Already finished WoT: The Eye of the World. It's a good read, too.

[wimfrits]

I'm reading The Wheel of Time: The Great Hunt. Already finished WoT: The Eye of the World. It's a good read, too.

The start is excellent. Later on the storyline is stretched out too much by detailled descriptions of minor quibbling. I have read all but the last 3 books but will wait with that until Brandon Sanderson finishes the last part.

I'm currently reading Tad Williams' Shadowmarch. At first the story seemed a too obvious mix between Memory, Sorrow, Thorn and A Song of Ice and Fire, but gradually it evolves into an epic fantasy.

[Corribus]

Shadowmarch got better as it went along, but I still had a lot of problems with it. Most main characters aren't particularly interesting - in fact were borderline annoying - and while the developed mythology was intriguing, the multiple names for each diety and divine event blurred together to the point where it all became incomprehensible. The middle two books dragged, particularly Briony's parts, with plots that ultimately served no purpose and way too many sluggish dream sequences. The two primary villains are way too similar to be effective. The final act (essentially the whole last book) was good and even had a few surprising twists but suffered from a stagnant setting. The denoument was way too long.

Meh, for me MST was far superior. Shadowmarch is worth a read but nothing I'll return to or remember fondly. The current king of fantasy in my opinion is Joe Abercrombie. Fast paced, interesting characters, an engaging writing style, and he actually finishes on schedule.

[wimfrits]

Meh, for me MST was far superior. Shadowmarch is worth a read but nothing I'll return to or remember fondly. The current king of fantasy in my opinion is Joe Abercrombie. Fast paced, interesting characters, an engaging writing style, and he actually finishes on schedule.

MST still is my all-time favorite. I think I'll give Abercrombie a chance next. Have you read The Prince of Nothing by R. Scott Bakker?

[Corribus]

No, good?

Abercrombie's first books definitely have a few rough edges. You can feel that he's learning a bit as he goes. But Best Served Cold may be one of the best fantasy novels I've ever read, and The Heroes is not far behind.

You might also try, if you've got an appreciation for dry humor and a bit of a sardonic style, the Engineer Trilogy by KJ Parker. It's not a swords and elves kind of fantasy, and the pace is slow (but never boring IMO); something altogether different, but I enjoyed it greatly.

[wimfrits]

I'll check things out. Need something to read very soon (going through shadowheart at lightspeed). KJ Parker sounds interesting as well. Smart move to not reveal his/her gender, as I usually skip female authors.

The Prince of Nothing is one hell of a ride. And I know that you especially, will love the main character
I still get shivers when thinking of the end of part 3. Only drawbacks are the use of diffcult-to-remember names and the fact that the trilogy is only the first part of a triple-trilogy of which the last 5 novels remain to be written..

[the beavers1]

Im currently reading "Mistborn" by Brandon Sanderson, but just recently finished "The Way of Kings" also by Brandon Sanderson.... which I might add was a great book and I recommend it to all fans of Fantasy.

[Corribus]

@wimfrits

We'll trade recommendations and then share notes.

[wimfrits]

Alright

[Corribus]

The Darkness that Comes Before is the first book? I've got to get through my current behemoth first (Swan Song by Robert McCammon) but then I'll make a trip to the library.

[wimfrits]

That's the first book indeed. You could add ..logical deduction is possible

[wimfrits]

@Corribus

I finished Shadowmarch, which was entertaining but like you said not near MST. I did shudder upon envisioning the God's emblem part, which is rare after having read Steven Erikson's Tale of the Malazan series.

After some research, I get the impression that KJ Parker's novels don't hold enough 'fantasy' for me to pick up.

So I bought the First Law series and am now nearly through the first book.
So far I think Joe has just the right amount of descriptive storytelling to make reading light and easy, which is really nice. A lot of switching between thoughts and spoken words, adding to the abundant humor in the story. Characters are interesting, though slightly extreme so far. I have a feeling the Inquisition part is inspired by Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun.
Looking forward to reading the rest.
Thanks for the tip!

[Corribus]

Funny you should mention it - I started Prince of Nothing last night. Not far enough into it obviously to have an opinion.

Engineer Trilogy isn't your typical fantasy in that there isn't really much magic to speak of, but there was enough sword slinging to keep me intereted. Definitely a slower, more plodding pace though.

First Law Trilogy has its issues, certainly - it was Abercrombie's first writing effort, after all - and some people complain it's just too depressing for its own good. If you haven't figured out already, there's not really any hero in it anywhere. But that plays to my sensibilities so I liked it. There are two "stand alone" books that take place after it, which IMO are better novels. But they're really only stand-alones in that they involve different characters. I hear the next one is due out in October.

[wimfrits]

Well, after several experiences with 'my heroes' suddenly dying I try not to get attached to characters too much anyway
Just started in Book2. Logen brought an entertaining surprise at the end of #1!

[wimfrits]

@Corribus
Completed The First Law yesterday. Highly entertaining!
Interesting choice of characters. I especially enjoyed Logen.
I thought there were pretty clear heroes, but perhaps my definition is different I did feel main characters developed little over the course of events, is that what you meant with 'no heroes'?

The absence of a world map and list of characters was annoying. I still don't know if Adua was situated on the west or east of the continent, and had trouble visualizing the Gurkish strategy because of that.
I could argue that most of the story twists were predictable, but it might also be that I read the 'wrong' books before this.

Best part of TFL for me is the abundant (dark) humor. Joe Abercrombie manages to make any situation interesting. Never a dull moment!

Next stop for me: Glen Cook's Dark Company