posted
I just finished re-reading Smoke and Ashes, the third novel in Tanya Huff's "Smoke And..." series. I think it's the 4th time I've read it (I just love it!). The series is a spin off of her Vicki Nelson books (which they are making into a syndicated series in Vancouver).
I'm debating what to read next. I'm leaning toward something gay (naturally), but will have to check my bookcases and see what grabs me
-------------------- Some people are like slinkys: not really good for anything, but they bring a smile to your face when you knock them down a flight of stairs
From: Penthouse atop Levitz Hall, LMBP Plaza, Embassy Row, Legion World | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I'm between books. That's a very strange place for me to be in. I'm thinking of going back to reading Wicked, but I got distracted from it the first time. I'm not sure if that's my fault or the books.
-------------------- arachne3003.deviantart.com Current Obsession: Birds of Prey/Secret Six
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
Wicked was not what I expected (for some reason I thought it was going to be comedic), but I definitely think it's worth reading. I also enjoyed the sequel: Son of a Witch.
From: Canada | Registered: Aug 2003
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Well I read the last 4 Harry Potter books since then. The Nibelungenlied as well. Pretty cool reading some heroic tales almost a thousand years old. And I liked it better than Le Morte d'Arthur to tell the truth. A bit more exciting.
Anyways reading the Sun Also Rises currently. I have never read it. Also haven't read any Hemimgway since highschool. Thought I'd give it a shot.
From: Tampa | Registered: Mar 2004
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I have been trying to get my hands on a copy of Peter S. Beagle's sequal to his classic "The Last Unicorn" for a very long time. My womderful husband picked up a signed copy of "The Line Between" for me for Christmas. I didn't even know about this printing. I am such a lucky girl geek.
My husband and a friend of ours have been pouring through Orson Scott Card's "Empire." Our friend had it with him at a restaurant and my husband read 2 chapters by the time the waiter returned with our drinks.
posted
I haven't checked this thread in at least a year, but I might reread some pages when I get a chance (your comments, once online, may always be read dear posters! ).
I just picked up three cool books with a Christmas Gift Card at Barnes & Noble:
- 'On Sparta' by Plutarch, following my love for all things Greek & Roman
- The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, which I've never had the pleasure of reading
- 'The Brothers Karamazov' by Dostoevsky. I'm a huge, huge, huge fan of 1840-50's Russian Romance Literature, and I've always wanted to read this one, as it contains very compelling arguments for and against the existence of God.
From: If you don't want my peaches, honey... | Registered: Sep 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
Hmm... I'm currently reading (well, technically, listening to on CD when I'm in the car) Salmon Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown. It's fairly interesting as a study of the origins of "terrorism", but nothing mind-blowing.
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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Oscar Wilde. I completely forgot I have his complete works now, and I haven't read any of them. I'll have to get on that.
I'm rereading Winter Rose by Patricia A. McKillip. Great book, almost poetic, but that's appropriate given that it's based on the Ballad of Tam Lynn. McKillip has written a sort of sequal to it called Solstice Wood that I'll be reading next.
-------------------- arachne3003.deviantart.com Current Obsession: Birds of Prey/Secret Six
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Has anyone else read this? It's overwritten in my opinion. I like the ideas, but she puts too much into her exposition. I find that more of a hurdle than her complex philosophical ideas.
From: Denver, CO | Registered: May 2004
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Yep, she does. I tried to read it over the summer. I got a little way into part 3 and gave up. Her philosophy is interesting, although I don't agree with all of it, but I had a really hard time caring about any of the characters and it is totaly overwritten. She needed a good editor, IMO.
-------------------- arachne3003.deviantart.com Current Obsession: Birds of Prey/Secret Six
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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Eryk Davis Ester
Created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
posted
quote:Originally posted by Eryk Davis Ester: Hmm... I'm currently reading (well, technically, listening to on CD when I'm in the car) Salmon Rushdie's Shalimar the Clown. It's fairly interesting as a study of the origins of "terrorism", but nothing mind-blowing.
Have I mentioned that novels that end with cliffhangers are really annoying?
From: Liberty City | Registered: Jul 2003
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I got my Border's Books email yesterday and it was highlighting a new book by Dan Simmons. I have enjoyed Dan Simmons' work since he was a baby writer (young 20's) and published a series of vampire books featuring Valentine who was a pre-teen immortal who could sing like an angel but was as depraved as a demon. Then Simmons began writing historical fiction, and his latest work is called The Terror which takes the reader into the lives and mysterious deaths of the crews of the 1850's explorer ships The Terror and Erebus in the polar ice cap. The ships were found, and theoretically the crew should have survived since they had more then enough supplies. Over the years several crewmen were found frozen and perfectly preserved by the cold. But as medicine became a more exact science, it was discovered that all of the food and water and lemon juice and tinned meats were all canned in lead lined cans. The punishing cold wasn't bad enough, the crewmen succumbed to madness...... Anyway this looks like a fantastic read.
From: Utah (non-Mormon!!!) | Registered: Jul 2003
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Been a couple of months so lets see... I've read:
Urban Shaman by CE Murphy The Silent Blade by RA Salvatore The Spine of the World by RA Salvatore Masquerades by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak Storm Front By Jim Butcher Fool Moon by Jim Butcher Ill Wind by Rachel Caine
Urban Shaman by CE Murphy Not a bad little yarn by a first time novelist. It had some pacing issues but kept me interested for the most part. I'll read her follow up book to see if she got better. I'd give it a strong B+. It's kind of a modern urban fantasy noir piece told in the first person account of a female police mechanic. She's quippy, and smart alecky, and generally likeable. What Murphy does with this tale is she takes the tired-old-yelling police captain type and turns him into a respectable character. My one knock on this book is that a lot of the major action in the book takes place while the heroine is asleep or unconscious.
The Silent Blade and The Spine of the World are (I think) books 11 and 12 in the Legend of Drizzt series from the Forgotten Realms setting. Salvatore is an excellent writer. These books seem a little out of place with the rest of the series so far, but that's a minor knock when you look at them on their own merits. I can't recommend Salvatore enough... especially his Drizzt books.
Masquerades by Jeff Grubb and Kate Novak This was the fourth book by Grubb and Novak that had something to do with their Alias character from the Finder's Stone trilogy (Forgotten Realms). Again... this story just seemed a little out of place when viewed as a whole with the previous trilogy. On it's own merits... its a better than average read. Alias had some weak character moments that were out of step with how she'd been portrayed before, but overall the book kept my attention. Decent read... not great, but decent. It just lacked the energy of the original trilogy and if I read it on its own without knowing Alias' background... I'm not sure I would have liked the character at the end of this one.
Storm Front and Fool Moon By Jim Butcher
These two books were diamonds in the rough for me. I stumbled across these on amazon.com and read the recommendations and ratings. Harry Dresden is the main character of this series and he is America's only openly practicing Wizard for hire. He's even in the phone book. I like this series. Dresden is based in Chicago and Butcher writes him very well. He's always in a tough situation and they only get worse, until he finds a way through. Some of the situations had me laughing out loud in the first book. The second book was a good take on Werewolves. The style of these books? They're very noirish, but with a modern, fantasy twist. And Dresden is like a macabre Indiana Jones. Right behind Salvatore, Butcher is the best writer that I've read in a while.
Ill Wind by Rachel Caine This book was a lot like Urban Shaman in some respects. Strong, yet vulnerable female lead coming into new powers and learning how to function while being pursued by the bad guys and other entities. She's sassy, smart alecky, and very quippy as well and just a little more sleazy than the Urban Shaman. This was the first in the Weather Warden series which has a bunch of books with weather related titles: Ill Wind, Chill Factor, etc. Of the books I read since last posting, this was the weakest. Having said that, it was still a decent read. It's got muscle cars, djinns, and elemental power wielders. Some of the twists are hard to see coming, but I wouldn't put this book above a "Beach Read" status.
That's almost it for now... I got half way through the second book in David Edding's Belgariad, The Queen of Sorcery, and put it down. I know a lot of people here love that series but the first two books have had a difficult time keeping my attention. I start reading them, and find myself wanting to read something else. I'm going to finish it someday, but man they are tough for me to stay "into".
-------------------- Something Filthy!
From: NOVA by way of NOIN | Registered: Jul 2003
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posted
I'm finished Winter Rose by Patricia A McKillip and on to Solstice Woods. It's a contemporary fantasy novel which gives it a different feel from the first book. Winter Rose is never really given a location and time period. I was quite surprised to find it set in New York. Still, it's a good book. I'm looking forward to the rest of it.
-------------------- arachne3003.deviantart.com Current Obsession: Birds of Prey/Secret Six
From: Canada | Registered: Jul 2003
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I tried to read it over the summer. I got a little way into part 3 and gave up. Her philosophy is interesting, although I don't agree with all of it, but I had a really hard time caring about any of the characters and it is totaly overwritten. She needed a good editor, IMO.
