Now Reading...

[Pellaz]

Calculus?


* flee *

I'll keep my fingers crossed, Pellaz. I'm anxious to find out what's been going on with the OTHER characters that were neglected in A Feast for Crows. I'd also like to find out what happens overall.

I have no doubt that GRRM deliberately left out a few characters -- well, one in particular, whose name begins with "D" -- to heighten the tension and excitement. There are several mentions of her from afar in A Feast for Crows, and it's clear that Something Big has been going on....

 

[Cheiron]

I'm currently reading The Chronicles of Amber, as well as Cormack's border crossing trilogy (currently on The Crossing).

I recently finished All The Pretty Horses (awesome) as well as The Road (awesome as well, can't wait for the movie!). I am on a Cormack kick, but I'm also focusing on some vintage fantasy.

 

[OrbWeaver]

He stated at the end of A Feast... that the book had gotten too big, so he decided to divide it up into two, and put half the characters in A Dance... As far as I can remember. It's been awhile since I read the last book, and it's currently back at my parents' house, so I can't double-check. :\

 

[jaimek]

Tyrion is in DoD too. *sigh* I really hope the film version does him justice...

I'm almost done with Isabelle Allende's "Eva Luna" (she has marvelous prose) and then I have the Chronicles of Amber I & II that someone gave me - older hardbacks with Frank Frazetta covers.

 

[Pellaz]

The Amber books are great!

I saw a nifty all-inclusive Amber compendium at B&N or Borders or both this past weekend, must be a new release.

 

[Perditions Ghost]

Just FINALLY finished The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova. That took me way too long. Good book, though.

Now reading The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

 

[Yippee38]

"The Tristan Betrayal" by Robert Ludlum. I used to really like this guy, so when my Dad offered it to me to read, I accepted. Now, however, I find the plot a bit weak, the details of the story to have holes in them, and the characters inconstant. It's still an exciting read, but kind of amateurish (strangely for a best selling author).

 

[kittybeast]

Houdini- the making of the first American Superhero

about a hundred pages into the book, very enjoyable and extremely insightful about the performances he'd done.

 

[metalprof]

"The Tristan Betrayal" by Robert Ludlum. I used to really like this guy, so when my Dad offered it to me to read, I accepted. Now, however, I find the plot a bit weak, the details of the story to have holes in them, and the characters inconstant. It's still an exciting read, but kind of amateurish (strangely for a best selling author).

Are you sure it's entirely by Ludlum? If this is a new release, it likely was only partially complete before he died, and who knows who finished it and how much they had to finish.

Or even worse, it could be one of those books with a famous author's name in big print, like "Tom Clancy's Op Center: Big Bangs and then the true author's name in small font on the lower portion of the cover, "by James McHack".

 

[Pellaz]

Or even worse, it could be one of those books with a famous author's name in big print, like "Tom Clancy's Op Center: Big Bangs and then the true author's name in small font on the lower portion of the cover, "by James McHack".

Oh lord, I hate that. And those books, FTM.

JRR Tolkien's Lost Tales Volume 13


--as coattailed by Christopher Tolkien​

 

[Yippee38]

Are you sure it's entirely by Ludlum? If this is a new release, it likely was only partially complete before he died, and who knows who finished it and how much they had to finish.

No. I'm not sure. It was published posthumously, but there is nothing indicating that it was partly written by anybody but he.

 

[Rakosh]

Just finished Night of Knives - Ian C. Esslemont.

Esslemont is the co-creator (with Steven Erikson) of the Malazan World. While he's not as good an author yet, this book is a much easier entry point into the massive Erikson books. Plus, he gives better physical descriptions of characters than SE does. (Hell, I never realized Emperor Kellanved was a short limping black man even after 7 huge books!). It's definitely recommended for those facts alone.

:Smokin:

 

[Magius]

Just finished Night of Knives - Ian C. Esslemont.

Esslemont is the co-creator (with Steven Erikson) of the Malazan World. While he's not as good an author yet, this book is a much easier entry point into the massive Erikson books. Plus, he gives better physical descriptions of characters than SE does. (Hell, I never realized Emperor Kellanved was a short limping black man even after 7 huge books!). It's definitely recommended for those facts alone.

:Smokin:

Hmmm. I got the impression Kellanved was a tall skinny pale limping man from the Erickson books.

NR: A Clash of Kings- George RR Martin.

 

[Rakosh]

Hmmm. I got the impression Kellanved was a tall skinny pale limping man from the Erickson books.

NR: A Clash of Kings- George RR Martin.

So did I until I got to Night of Knives, page 166: A small black man with gnarled limbs and short grey hair. A first glance he looked like nothing more than a whithered up old gnome. Yet one look from him could be enough to drive anyone away as if struck, or if wished, crush them to their knees.

And page 243: Now Kiska could see him more clearly: a short Dal-Honese, grey haired, his clothing torn and dirt-smeared. Kellanved--or what was left of him--snatched just shy of his goal.

I was pretty sure Dal-Honese were black skinned, and checking the wiki at http://encyclopediamalazica.pbwiki.com/Kellanved confirmed all this.

:Smokin:

 

[musicsnob]

I'm reading "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. Sort of a derivation of King's "The Stand" so far, in a way. I find McCammon to be a strange author. Most of his books aren't the greatest, but some of them are pretty unique and readable. This one is from 1987 so it's a little dated with the Soviet/US nuclear armageddon angle.

 

[Ruthven]

"Swan Song" is a solid novel. I liked "They Thirst" a lot as well.

 

[Pellaz]

I'm reading "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. Sort of a derivation of King's "The Stand" so far, in a way. I find McCammon to be a strange author. Most of his books aren't the greatest, but some of them are pretty unique and readable. This one is from 1987 so it's a little dated with the Soviet/US nuclear armageddon angle.

His book Boys' Life was drop-dead gorgeous, a true piece of literature (IMHO) that goes well beyond the cachet of just 'horror fiction.'

I have Swan Song here -- somewhere -- and really need to read it.



McCammon was recommended to me by a certain bookworm who, err, also plays guitar. None of the recommendations I got from Kirk Hammett (for Dan Simmons, etc.) have ever turned out to be poor.

 

[Magius]

So did I until I got to Night of Knives, page 166: A small black man with gnarled limbs and short grey hair. A first glance he looked like nothing more than a whithered up old gnome. Yet one look from him could be enough to drive anyone away as if struck, or if wished, crush them to their knees.

And page 243: Now Kiska could see him more clearly: a short Dal-Honese, grey haired, his clothing torn and dirt-smeared. Kellanved--or what was left of him--snatched just shy of his goal.

I was pretty sure Dal-Honese were black skinned, and checking the wiki at http://encyclopediamalazica.pbwiki.com/Kellanved confirmed all this.

:Smokin:

I'm pretty sure at some point I read in one of the books he was described as a tall hooded figure with a siver tipped cane... Could just be an inconsitency though.

I'm reading "Swan Song" by Robert McCammon. Sort of a derivation of King's "The Stand" so far, in a way. I find McCammon to be a strange author. Most of his books aren't the greatest, but some of them are pretty unique and readable. This one is from 1987 so it's a little dated with the Soviet/US nuclear armageddon angle.

I always liked McCammon better than King and other more famous writers of the genre. Night Boat, They Thirst, Stinger, Swan Song, The Wolf's Hour, and Mine were all pretty good.

 

[musicsnob]

His book Boys' Life was drop-dead gorgeous, a true piece of literature (IMHO) that goes well beyond the cachet of just 'horror fiction.'

I have Swan Song here -- somewhere -- and really need to read it.

Boy's Life was one of the good ones. Gone South was pretty interesting, too. Mine was unique. Have you read Speaks the Nightbird? Interesting period piece, but some of the dialogue was pretty hackneyed. Talk about a LOOOONG set of books.

 

[Cheiron]

Just finished Cormac McCarthy's The Crossing. Cormac is one of the greatest authors I've ever read.