Author Topic: What are you reading, part 3  (Read 309869 times)

WriterDan

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1650 on: February 11, 2011, 10:46:07 PM »
Twinkies for you.   8)

Solid rocket propellant ignition.  I do computer simulation and construction of both steady and non-steady-state models.

Most everyone on my committee is on-board right now.  Well, except for my original adviser.  We have...um...shall we call them, differences of professional opinion.

And since this is a What are you Reading board...

I listened to Hurt Me, by MLN Hanover (Daniel Abraham) on PodCastle yesterday.  Really liked it, right up until the end where we find out that there's been information withheld from us.  Grumble grumble.  Apparently, this was the point of writing the story in the first place though, as evidenced by comments on his blog.  Can the flow of information be handled such that surprises about something the POV character knows aren't presented until the end of the story.  In my unprofessional opinion, the answer is no.  Although, in this case he's done it better than about 95% of all the others I've read who've tried to do it.  And beside the fact, it's still a pretty freaky-good yarn.
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1651 on: February 14, 2011, 05:41:55 AM »
I started reading White Cat by Holly Black last night at 8 something, and did not want to go to sleep. But I did anyway, and finished it in the morning. I really liked it. But there's this one twist in the climax where I laughed out loud and thought, "Oh, that's awesome"...and then later realized it wasn't awesome, it was a plot hole. I went back and checked and as far as I can tell, yeah, it's a plot hole. Has anyone read it who can discuss it with me? Maybe I'm still missing something.

The book also has a gut-punch denouement that was perfect. Horrible but perfect. Of course, I expect it to get cleared up in a later book in the series (trilogy, I guess?).

Also there are believability issues with the world that are easier to accept in a YA book like this than in adult fiction. Basically, it's an alternate history where a certain type of magic has been around for centuries, but most things in history have still gone exactly the same way. Doesn't make sense, but it's a worldbuilding issue present from the very beginning so it's easy to just accept and move on. But that plot hole in the climax does not fit that category.
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dhalagirl

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1652 on: February 15, 2011, 06:32:24 AM »
I just finished reading Shadowfever by Karen Marie Moning.  Fantastic!  A bit contrived at the end, but still a fantastic end to the series.  A few (ahem :-*) scenes made my toes curl, and that does not happen very often!

Sigyn

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1653 on: February 15, 2011, 06:38:30 PM »
I'm on to Consider Phlebas by Iain Banks.
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Bookstore Guy

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1654 on: February 15, 2011, 08:19:35 PM »
So.  The Crippled God.  Wow.

Also read Farlander.  Mixed bag.

Going to start on the new Matheson, Other Kingdoms and also read Wolfe's The Sorcerer's House (since I imagine it will be on people's Hugo Ballots).
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WriterDan

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1655 on: February 15, 2011, 09:49:42 PM »
Hawkmoon:  The Runestaff.  Classic stuff.

Also going to start the final Alcatraz from Sanderson tonight with my wife.  At a glance, I wondering what the freak is up with the chapter titles, but I guess I'll figure that out.

And going to finally get to I Don't Want to Kill You next.  So excited for that.
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Miyabi

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1656 on: February 16, 2011, 04:33:28 AM »

I've started The Osirus Ritual by Mann a few times the last couple weeks, just keep getting distracted. lol.
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WriterDan

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1657 on: February 20, 2011, 05:30:47 AM »
I Don't Want to Kill You rocks.  Went to LTUE today.  Listened to Dan talk.  He said he wanted to make people cry with this one.  Mission accomplished.  Just wow.  Amazing ending.

About 1/4 of the way through Buntline Special by Mike Resnick right now.  If you like books that are driven by dialogue, you'll probably like this one.  It's like 80-90% dialogue with very few tags.  Kinda crazy, actually.
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Sigyn

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1658 on: February 22, 2011, 06:28:17 PM »
I read The Warrior Heir by Cinda Williams Chima, and I think I was just too old this week to get into it. Sigh. Now I'm going to read some Agatha Christie.
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WriterDan

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1659 on: February 23, 2011, 06:07:44 PM »
Started Strange Affair of Spring-Heeled Jack this morning.  The cover is super-mega-tastic-awesome.  Story so far is pretty mediocre and switches POV mid-stream pretty often  Very well-written though.  Guy can write.
« Last Edit: February 23, 2011, 06:11:40 PM by WriterDan »
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Nessa

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1660 on: March 03, 2011, 04:50:59 PM »
Right now I'm reading Among Others by Jo Walton. It's a very different read, and I like it a lot so far.
I just finished this one yesterday. I liked it, and found it kind of nostalgic because of all the SF she reads as a kid. But the magic and saving the world aftermath part is good, too. It just kind of ends, though. But I think that's why she uses the diary format, because it's just a slice/stage of Mor's life. Do you think that makes it excusable Sigyn or just lazy?

Also just finished A Discovery of Witches by Deborah Harkness. Urban Fantasy vampire romance (that pretty much says it all). She showed up at the New York Comicon on a fantasy author panel with Sanderson, Butcher, Abercrombie, Novik, and Brett so I was curious about her. Turns out she was probably thrown onto that panel for publicity's sake and not necessarily because those authors' readers will want to read a vampire romance book.
« Last Edit: March 03, 2011, 04:52:52 PM by Nessa »
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Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1661 on: March 03, 2011, 05:43:20 PM »
Everyone on that panel was there for publicity's sake. It was wholly put together by publicists from various publishing companies.

I'm reading Wise Man's Fear and loving it. Unfortunately, I have to sleep sometime. Sigh.
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Sigyn

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1662 on: March 03, 2011, 06:42:11 PM »
It just kind of ends, though. But I think that's why she uses the diary format, because it's just a slice/stage of Mor's life. Do you think that makes it excusable Sigyn or just lazy?

I've thought a lot about this book because there were a lot of things I liked about it and things I didn't. I don't think Walton was being lazy in using the diary format or that the story was just a bunch of ends. It isn't a question of excuse.  In my mind, this book is a story about what happens after someone saves the world and has to deal with going on with life. It's thoughtful that way and so completely character driven. It reminds me of some literary fiction I've read. I think the author specifically wanted it to be a bunch of ends seen through Mor's eyes. The plot is negligible on purpose.  I could be wrong, but it felt like Walton was trying to do some very specific things with this book, and she did them, though they did not necessarily always work as an enjoyable read. I've read Walton's blog on Tor.com and that might be coloring my view as well.
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Dragon Shard

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1663 on: March 08, 2011, 04:11:06 PM »
Im reading Unseen Academials by Terry Pratchet. Im 3/4 into the book and its more then up to his usual standards. :)

Peter Ahlstrom

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Re: What are you reading, part 3
« Reply #1664 on: March 08, 2011, 10:25:12 PM »
I'm reading the Unincorporated Man by the Kollin brothers. Parts of it are interesting. The anti-virtual-reality segment was pretty good, if heavy-handed.

The book has terrible POV issues though. It just goes all over the place. It feels like a third-person-omniscient book that was partially edited into a third-person-limited book. There are often scene breaks inserted when the POV changes within the same scene, but then a section will have a POV change or two within it without any scene break, even from one paragraph to the next. Even if they kept it omniscient, though, that POV always bugs me and strikes me as amateurish. Well, this IS their first novel.

Its technological view of the future is straight out of the 50s, but with nanotech grafted on. There's the obligatory "Look how enormous New York City is now!" scene from that era of writing. And it's a very Western-centric future, with the convenient excuse that India and China nuked each other out of existence. Or rather, it says India and Pakistan nuked each other out of existence, which I totally understand, but then it just throws China into it too. Why? No idea.

Oh, and there's a note in the acknowledgments page thanking the alpha readers for pointing out how terrible the first draft of the sex scene was. Well, the version that made it into the book is still pretty terrible, if blessedly short.

Still, I'm interested to see how the story plays out. There is a fairly competent antagonist who has a legitimate reason to fear the protagonist's affect on his society. And I'm still fascinated by the basic premise of personal incorportation, selling shares in yourself.
All Saiyuki fans should check out Dazzle! Emotionally wrenching action-adventure and quirky humor! (At least read chapter 6 and tell me if you're not hooked.) Volume 10 out now!