Timewaster's Guide Archive

Finishing off the King of Plagues right now--love it. 

Also finishing off Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett--shockingly good.  The alternate history in it is fascinating, and though the pacing is very slow, I love the guy's writing.

I'm also half-way through A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough.  Import  only at the moment, but it makes me think of R Scott Bakker had he actually done one of his thrillers right.

After that?
New Tchaikovsky
New Pevel
Barclay
New Pohl--All the Live He Led
New Valente
the latest Jasper Kent
More Larry Correia

I'm busy for a while.

It really depends on what kind of stuff you are looking for, and where your tastes are.  The easy answer is to drop by my blog over at Elitist Book Reviews.  Go to our 2011 Hugo post, or to our best of 2010 post (they essentially have the same stuff on it).

Lately though I've had a real soft spot for stuff by Jonathan Maberry.  Either read Patient Zero (adult action/horror) or Rot & Ruin (YA horror).  He is freaking AWESOME!

Another good, fun read is Larry Correia's Monster Hunter International. 

Dan Well's I Am Not a Serial Killer.

These are the things I like to read in between big novels.

Or, I HIGHLY recommend the the Shadows of the Apt series by Adrian Tchaikovsky--start with Empire in Black and Gold.

@fireflyz - Erikson's series is my fav.  Just be aware that the first 5 novels are essentially just setup for the last 5 books.  After the awesomeness of books 2 and 3 (which run concurrently) some readers feel the next few books are a let-down.  I never did, cause I felt Erikson became a better writer each novel, and became exceptionally good at character.  I do however agree that the novels could have done with a very heavy edit.  However, that said, from what I understand his novels actually have little to no editing to insure that they were released on a yearly basis.  I consider them incredible as is, so another 6 months of edits and drafts, in my opinion, wouldn't have made them better enough to warrant the added delays.  That's my view though.  To each his own.  Glad you are liking it though.

I read some stuff on my vacation to England.  Company Man.  Vampire Empire Book 1.  I started A Matter of Blood by Sarah Pinborough (freaking LOVING it so far).  Had lunch with Tom Lloyd and James Barclay, and also with their editor Simon Spanton.  My appreciation and respect for all of them skyrocketed. 

Not to mention the author of the original article talks about all of these authors--bashing them endlessly--and then says, "Oh yeah, haven't read this stuff."  If he read Abercrombie's THE HEROES, he would know that the title is meant for irony, is a direct product of philosophical discussions in the novel, and IS THE LOCATION THAT IS FOUGHT OVER FOR THE ENTIRE NOVEL.  It's one of my rules to reviewing: you have ZERO right to review something if you haven't read it.  A quick test:  has the writer of the article read THE HEROES?  No.  It kind of invalidates his comments on it.

I also personally loved his little part on Steven Erikson which shows his complete ignorance.  Again, he finds 1 bad review of the novel which he himself didn't read to help prove his point.  Seriously?  That's like me grabbing a random book at the store and writing a review based only on a cover-quote.

His claim that all the modern fantasy is nihilistic in nature is completely false, and saying that it applies to the works of Abercrombie and Erikson is absurd--again, it shows that he has read very little of anything by these authors (no matter his claims).  There is actually very little in fantasy that is nihilistic.  There is an astounding amount of hope, religion, righteousness in modern dark fantasy.  It's what makes it good, in my opinion.

But the article writer MUST be right, and everyone else WRONG because he invokes the name of Tolkien.  And EVERYONE knows that Tolkien was perfect, flawless, and a GOD.  Nope, he never once got his ideas from anywhere else.  Nope, before Tolkien, fantasy in another form never existed.

As usual in these laughable "essays" the writer points at an extremely few examples in the genre to make his point while ignoring the rest.  And even then, he gets most of it wrong because he couldn't bother to read the full series, or take off his elf-colored glasses.  He seems to be saying that all modern sword and sorcery is garbage, not game-changing, pitiful, and a diminished facsimile of "classic" work.  I somehow doubt that all these so-called classics were immediately loved and accepted as the best thing since sliced bread.

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).

Quote from: Peter Ahlstrom on February 08, 2011, 05:56:26 PM

But I can't decide if I should donate it to the library or just tear out the pages and recycle them.

I vote for ripping the pages out and then burning them.  Put the ashes in your garden, and then he'll have at least contributed something to your life.  That book was horrible.  And I even bought it.  Ugh.  I have really enjoyed the Prince of Nothing books, but I'm not going to be reading any more of Bakker's stuff that lands outside the fantasy realm without some fairly hefty persuasion.

Finished The Dragon's Path by Abraham.  Really, really good.  Loved that book and can't wait for the rest.  Review up soon at EBR.

Started Esperanza by Trish MacGregor today.  The prologue didn't inspire much confidence, and after reading Abraham, whose prose is tight and efficient, wading through the morass of this one might end up being more of a chore than I'd anticipated.  Ah well.  More fodder for the cannons.

@Peter - Just toss it to the library.  I'm a big Bakker fan and I though that book was terribad.  It had some interesting nuggets that people could debate, but as a thriller it failed miserably.  The pacing was balls, the story predictable, and the content was there for shock-value in an attempt to hide the absurdity of it all.

@Dan - I'm glad you liked it.  I assumed you would, but you never know (as evidenced by our comments about Neuropath).  Though your review for it won't get put up on EBR for a couple of months.  You tease.

Quote from: haperez on February 03, 2011, 03:31:53 AM

Anyway I am looking for something good... I have been thinking on reading the Chronicles of Elantra

I really like the Elantra books and would definitely recommend them.

Right now I'm reading Among Others by Jo Walton. It's a very different read, and I like it a lot so far.

EBR was sent a copy of that as well--looked interesting.  I was gonna read it, but then I remembered I had new Erikson, Esslemont, Matheson, Correia and Barclay to read...I wish it had actually been a tough decision, but it wasn't.