What book are you reading...

[dannyjo22]

I have added that to my audible wish list sounds good. Thanks

 

[No1newts]

Black Knife of Caine, third in the acts of Caine series. Really dark and gritty fantasy, the author manages to surpass Eriksen for how downright cruel he can be. Really good series.

 

[bayo000]

Can anyone recomend similar series to Jack Ryan books?

 

[xaldub]

Black Knife of Caine, third in the acts of Caine series. Really dark and gritty fantasy, the author manages to surpass Eriksen for how downright cruel he can be. Really good series.

I'm planning to read the Acts of Caine books in the very near future. First of all, need to wrap up the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham ; I'm enjoying it, but it's a bit over-rated in my opinion. Then, after I've finished that I'm going to enjoy a City of Stairs.

 

[Andrew_McP]

Just finished reading Joe Abercrombie's First Law Trilogy - found them tough going in places, but enjoyed it overall. Not sure that I'll read any more of his stuff yet though.

I had a similar reaction, but I can highly recommend the second set of three books. They're sequential in time and share some characters, but are stand alone and avoid the lousy magic which was one reason I didn't get along with First Law.

Best Served Cold (2009)
The Heroes (2011)
Red Country (2012)

I've taken my time with these, but they've been great companions to dip into over the last six months, with some pretty compelling writing at times. I think my favourite is The Heroes, but I haven't finished Red Country yet; partly because I like the idea of having more to read.

 

[opethdisciple]

I recently started Dune but after about 50 pages in it just doesn't grab me. I have no idea what is going on and it feels like I've started on book 2 of the series (I haven't - I checked!)

Dune is awesome (I mean all of them).

It gets bloody compex later on in the series but stick with it.

 

[Glaucus]

Finished Nightmare in pink, it's the second in the travis McGee series. Not only are they good, I like the fact they are short. It's nive to have a change to a shorter story ever now and then.

Now on to Undeniable by Bill Nye

Sparked by a provocative comment to BigThink.com last fall, and fueled by a highly controversial debate with Creation Museum curator Ken Ham, Bill Nye's campaign to confront the scientific shortcoming of creationism has exploded in just a few months into a national crusade. In this book, he expands the points he has made, and claims that this debate is not so much about religion versus science, as about the nature of science itself.

With infectious enthusiasm, he reveals the mechanics of evolutionary theory, explains how it is rooted in the testable and verifiable scientific method, and why it is therefore a sound explanation of our beginning. He argues passionately that to continue to assert otherwise, to continue to insist that creationism has a place in the science classroom is harmful not only to our children, but to the future of the greater world as well.

 

[Cap]

I've taken my time with these, but they've been great companions to dip into over the last six months, with some pretty compelling writing at times. I think my favourite is The Heroes, but I haven't finished Red Country yet; partly because I like the idea of having more to read.

I agree! The stand alones are great, especially "The Heroes". And there's a great scene in "Red Country" with Lamb holed up in a house (don't want to say more in case you've not read that! haha)


I'm currently reading Stonewielder by Ian Cameron Esslemont.

 

[No1newts]

Dune is awesome (I mean all of them).

It gets bloody compex later on in the series but stick with it.

Apart from the newest 2 written by his son (I think it was his son) they were down right criminal!

I'm planning to read the Acts of Caine books in the very near future. First of all, need to wrap up the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham ; I'm enjoying it, but it's a bit over-rated in my opinion. Then, after I've finished that I'm going to enjoy a City of Stairs.

Agree about the Abraham books. I heard so much about them a lot but when I read them I found them rather underwhelming. Marvellous concept but I just felt he tried to make it so large and broad and sweeping that he missed a lot of the human element. Most of the characters felt like plot peices to move on the story as opposed to fleshed out entities.


Re the Caine books if you hammer through the first as its so good just be prepared for the vast change of pace in book 2. Still a great read but you could imagine IT coming from a different author book 3 has more in common with 1 so far, especially the flash back scenes

 

[Elixir]

I'll write a proper review of my last few books when I finish it, but I'd highly recommend Do No Harm by Henry Marsh. Only four chapters in and absolutely gripped, it's written by a neurosurgeon and covers a range of experiences, extremely interesting insight into the profession.

 

[planty]

I had a similar reaction, but I can highly recommend the second set of three books. They're sequential in time and share some characters, but are stand alone and avoid the lousy magic which was one reason I didn't get along with First Law.

Interesting, thanks for taking the time to comment. I had heard good things about The Heroes before so maybe I'll give those stand alone books a go

 

[shroomz]

Interesting, thanks for taking the time to comment. I had heard good things about The Heroes before so maybe I'll give those stand alone books a go

I loved all six Joe Abercrombie books, read them based on a recommendation here. Heroes probably stands out as my favourite though, either that or Red Country.

Currently on House of Chains by Steven Erikson, The Malazan Book of the Fallen series so far should be a classic.

 

[Glaucus]

The chimp paradox , thought it was going to be more science based research stuff, not just a self help book. It's on audible so I'll probably get a refund.

 

[Rich_L]

The Malazan Book of the Fallen series so far should be a classic.

Understatement of the year

Finally got round to reading the Void trilogy over Christmas and New Year. Enjoyed it though I wish I'd read it sooner after finishing the Commonwealth saga though remembered enough to enjoy the references, also it did seem to drag a bit in the middle, especially fantasy storyline. Solid trilogy though and lots of words

Have just crunched through the last 7 books of the Horus Heresy (books 24 to 31). Betrayer and Vulkan Lives and Scars were the better books, the rest kinda meh. I'm not a huge fan of the short story compilations.

Also read the Martian, great fun book though as everyone seems to mention it does end rather abruptly.

 

[checjb]

I've just finished listening to the audiobook of "Strands of Sorrow", the fourth and final book in John Ringo's "Black Tide Rising" series. These are basically zombie books, although they're actually infected (think 28 Days Later) more than undead. I really enjoyed the books and it's an interesting slant on the zombie apocolypse theme. For a start, the set up in book one is (to a point) scientifically plausible, albeit with a couple of plot must-haves (dual expresor viruses etc) that are needed to fulfil the zombie needs. The series has a nice progression from outbreak, initial political and public reaction (scarily plausible, if I'm honest), fall of civilisation, initial fight back and slow recovery. Very American, very gung ho and full of "US Marine = awesome" but great fun. Some hysterical characters in them too.

Time for something different now. Perhaps one of the classics.

 

[molinari]

Just finished Force 10 from Navarone. Just like Where Eagles Dare and The Guns of Navarone (which this follows directly on from), I loved it from start to finish. A great WW2 action story.
I'm now reading The Desert Spear (Demon Cycle #2) after enjoying the first in the series when I read it last year.

 

[Vimes]

I've just finished listening to the audiobook of "Strands of Sorrow", the fourth and final book in John Ringo's "Black Tide Rising" series. These are basically zombie books, although they're actually infected (think 28 Days Later) more than undead. I really enjoyed the books and it's an interesting slant on the zombie apocolypse theme. For a start, the set up in book one is (to a point) scientifically plausible, albeit with a couple of plot must-haves (dual expresor viruses etc) that are needed to fulfil the zombie needs. The series has a nice progression from outbreak, initial political and public reaction (scarily plausible, if I'm honest), fall of civilisation, initial fight back and slow recovery. Very American, very gung ho and full of "US Marine = awesome" but great fun. Some hysterical characters in them too.

Time for something different now. Perhaps one of the classics.

Sounds good enough to listen to

Thanks for the heads up.

Just listened to the first two seasons of the Sean Platt and David Wright novels called "Yesterdays Gone" - covers up to episodes 12. But it doesn't seem that the other three seasons are out in audio format. Not quite the same having to actually read a book.! Using a text to speech option is doable but not very good.

A pity really as the post apocalyptic theme of the first two was pretty good and the narrator put a lot of passion into the characters.

 

[Glaucus]

Yep also put it on my wish list as well.
Love a good zombie series,

 

[Glaucus]

Zodiac Station by Tom Harper

Absolutely brilliant so far. Will have to get some more of his stuff.

An extraordinary thriller set at the frozen edge of the world, perfect for fans of Kate Mosse, Michael Crichton, and Dan Brown.

In the Arctic Ocean, the US Coast Guard icebreaker Terra Nova batters its way through the pack ice. There shouldn't be anyone near them for hundreds of miles. But then a lone skier, half-dead with cold, emerges out of the snow. His name is Tom Anderson, and he is the only survivor of a disaster at Zodiac Station, a scientific research base deep in the Arctic Circle. He tells an incredible story of scientists and spies, of lust and greed, of jealousy, mayhem, and murder. But his tale simply doesn't add up. Whose blood is smeared across his clothes? Why is there a bullet hole through the jacket he's wearing? And why is that jacket labelled with someone else's name? It's clear that more was going on at Zodiac Station than Anderson is telling. And someone else may have survived the disaster, as well...someone who has killed before, and who is willing to kill again.

After that is
To far From Home.

Here is an incredible, true-life adventure set on the most dangerous frontier of all: outer space.
The call of space is worth the risk it entails for a special breed of individual - men such as U.S. astronauts Donald Pettit and Kenneth Bowersox, and Russian flight engineer Nikolai Budarin. In November 2002 they left on what they thought would be a routine 14-week mission to maintain the International Space Station.

But then, on February 1, 2003, the Columbia space shuttle exploded beneath them. With the launch program suspended indefinitely, these astronauts had suddenly lost their ride home. Too Far from Home chronicles the efforts of the beleaguered Mission Controls in Houston and Moscow as they worked frantically against the clock to bring their men safely back to Earth. Chris Jones writes beautifully of the majesty and mystique of space travel, while reminding us all of how perilous it is to soar beyond the sky.

 

[jkb]

Simon Kernick - The Final Minute. A guy with amnesia is hunted by people because of what he apparently knows. A typical Simon Kernick book, non stop and gritty. It has the Tina Boyd character returning once again, now working as a private detective.