What are you reading, part 3

[WriterDan]

Put it down for a bit to re-read The Folding Knife though.

So....the ending makes sense to you? You liked it?

As Steve said,  I love to read KJ Parker.    Although, I have to admit that the first time that I read this one I was left a bit...flat, shall we say.  I'm actually looking forward to going through this one for a second time.  I'm hoping that my rose-colored glasses will be  a little less tinted this time, and that I'll be able to develop a more unbiased opinion of it.  Taht being said, I'm about 20 pages into the re-read and thoroughly loving it.  lol.  She does character development right; if not character consistency or justification perfectly.  I wasn't thoroughly impressed with the ending of The Company, though I fully enjoyed that story.  Yes she has a number of imperfections inherent in her books, but the things that she does well, she does really well, imho.  Honestly, the only reason I'm re-reading this one so soon after the first time through (March 1st) is because of a little impetus that has arisen involving a particular book review site I frequent...

On a side note, WriterDan, I assume you ordered Parker's new novella from SubPress?  As well as the Daniel Abraham collection?

You scared me there for a bit.  Thought they'd already been released!    So, yes, I'm planning on getting a copy of both of them.  Up until a couple weeks ago though, I'd been without funds to do so.  Thank heaven for birthdays!  Now I'm not-so-broke, instead of just broke.    Blue & Gold isn't out until December, but I need to order Leviathan Wept today.  Thanks for the reminder, Steve.  

[Bookstore Guy]

The Company pissed me off.  The end just kinda...happened, and left me totally flat and deflated.  I found myself thinking (the whole entire novel), "Why can't we just have a book about their exploits in the war?  Those are the only sections of this book that I like..."

[guessingo]

@nessa: I am a Robert Jordan fan. One thing I find lacking in his book is the weakness of his writing about really old characters. Aes Sedai are old. When I read his books (and re-read them), I remember wishing that he would have written old characters the same way that Anne Rice writes them. She does a very good job explaining what it is like to live for hundreds of years.

[Nessa]

@nessa: I am a Robert Jordan fan. One thing I find lacking in his book is the weakness of his writing about really old characters. Aes Sedai are old. When I read his books (and re-read them), I remember wishing that he would have written old characters the same way that Anne Rice writes them. She does a very good job explaining what it is like to live for hundreds of years.

Interesting. I'll keep that in mind. I'm about halfway through it.

In the meantime I just finished Bujold's The Sharing Knife: Passage and The Sharing Knife: Horizon, thus completing a satisfying series.

[Renoard]

Aes Sedai are old, but the whole issue of slowing and centuries of what amounts to middle age would tend to make them distinctly abnormal, psychologically. He does that. But I think his handling of the genuinely elderly is pretty on target. We see that in Thom and Jain Fairstrider, and a few others.

[ErikHolmes]

Yah, I had no problems with how the older Aes Sedai were portrayed. A hundred years as an Aes Sedai and a hundred years as a blood drinking murderer are entirely different.

People tend to adapt I think, someone who'd lived a few hundred years might not be much different then the guy next door. My favorite is Corwin of Amber, part grandpa and part wise cracking smartass.

[Renoard]

Agreed.

[Patriotic Kaz]

Finished Empire in Black and Gold, Dragonfly Falling and i only have a few chapters left in Blood of the Mantis.... problem is Salute the Dark doesn't come out until September which is when i leave for the Air Force!!!! That isn't just!

[guessingo]

Finished The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon. I think this won a nebula a few years ago. I liked it. It is different from most science fiction books. Most of the book is in the first person by someone who is autistic. It takes place in the future where for a younger generation autism is cured. His manager is pushing him to have surgery to fix his autism.

I don't know what this book competed against for the nebula, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. Moon is a gifted writer. You don't see much of this type of work in genre fiction.

Now I am listening to Hidden Empire by Kevin J Anderson. Bookstore guy heard it was bad, but it was sitting on the library shelf staring at me and daring me to check it out.

[Bookstore Guy]

I never said I heard it was bad.  It was reviewed on the blog Nick and I run.  I just don't care for Card as a person, so I typically avoid all of his books.

[ryos]

Monster Hunter Vendetta E-ARC is out from Baen. So far, it's been even more fun than MHI was.

[Sigyn]

I'm reading Darkborn by Alison Sinclaiar.  It has a terrible cover but the book is quite good so far.

[mtlhddoc2]

Im struggling through the elric saga. getting near the end of book 6 and I have to say, the story is rather weak, it has kept me mildly entertained but it jumps around too much and the magic system is barely explained. How did this series make it onto a "Top 100" sci-fi/fantasy book list? It isnt the worst I have read, even this year, but I couldnt justify putting it on the same list as the likes of Tolkein, Jordan and Eddings....

but then again, this is where I got the list..


http://home.austarnet.com.au/petersykes/fantasy100/lists_books.html

And you can plainly see the person compiling the list deigned to include Twilight and Eragon, both pretty darn high up too.

So.... I am almost finished with Elric and probably going to start George RR Martins Song of Fire and Ice set...

[guessingo]

@bookstore: You have the book mixed up. This is not the Empire book by Card about a civil war in the US(I didn't like that book much). It is the first book in the Saga of the Seven Suns by Kevin J Anderson. I think you posted that you knew someone who said it was boring until book 4. It was in the library so I grabbed it. They have a limited supply of sci-fi audiobooks and I burn through them in the summer. I have a 40 minute commute to work and then I am outside alot. When I am outside I like to have audiobooks on. I don't want to sit on my couch and read a book in the summer.

Why don't you like Orson Scott Card? From what I read about him, he seemed like a nice guy.

[Bookstore Guy]

Ah, my bad--yeah my good friend said the series is boring until more than half way through.

Why don't I like Card?  Because I saw him scream and berate a kid (I'd estimate 12 years old) behind me in line at a book signing for bringing 4 novels (that he had just purchased) for Card to sign.  Pretty silly considering other people had stacks of 10 books for signing.  The kid didn't say anything, I think he was nervous to meet Card, but looked like he was gonna cry after.  Everyone around me was stunned.  I had 2 novels for him to sign (one was mine, and one I was going to purchase).  I left the unpurchased on a nearby table.

It could have been an aberration.  He could have had a bad day before the signing.  He did come in in a stained white t-shirt and what looked like pajama shorts.  Didn't really seem like he cared to be there (that was my impression before he yelled at the kid).

So there you have it.  That was my experience.  I'm sure 9 billion people have had good ones with him, and that's fine.  Card won't miss my not buying his books.