What book are you reading...

[Supercow]

Blood Song - Anthony Ryan

Love me some epic fantasy!

Hmm outta stuff to read, any good series recommendations to get my teeth stuck into?

A good sample of the stuff I've read to date:

Wheel of Time
Malazan books
Game of Thrones
Sword of Truth
Mistborn Trilogy
Way of Kings (books 1 and 2 anyway)
First Law books + standalone ones
Night Angel trilogy (Brent Weeks)
Broken Empire (Mark Lawrence)
Painted Man (Peter Brett)
Nights Dawn Trilogy (Peter F Hamilton)
Riftwar + Empire trilogies (Raymond E.Feist)
Belgariad books (David Eddings)
Just finished reading The Martian

The above mentioned Raven's shadow trilogy should be right up your street, along with the Gentleman B@stards series.

 

[HungryHippos]

Yeah I read the Blood Song books recently on another recommendation from a friend, really good! 3rd one coming soon too I think so looking forward to that

After those I started on the Dresden Files, which I like but not as much as some of the other stuff I have read, reasonably good though, plenty of them to keep me going for a bit longer.

My friend also recommended the powder mage series which sounds interesting too (wikipedia link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Powder_Mage_trilogy). That might well be next on my list.

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

Finished - 45 by Bill Drummond. Interesting to get a peek in to the mind of the nut case, or rather artist, behind the KLF. Getting a whole chapter to devoted to my home town, Aylesbury, was very strange.

Currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo. Initially I thought it was going to be hard work, but I'm actually getting in to it. 350+ pages in and we're only just getting to the start of his revenge. I do have to try and get the image of Richard Chamberlin out of my head though.

 

[No1newts]

Just finished Steelheart by Brian Sanderson, tight writing and God world building as usual with him but I still find his vanilla style off putting. The use of "calamity" and "sparks" as curse words? Really? The world has ended in a brutal fashion..... But don't worry! Elocution and manners are on the up!!

There's no edge to his novels and whilst I like hs characterisation and world building I really find the fluffiness of his stories effects my enjoyment.

Finishing third Acts of Caine book now.

 

[Gambisk]

I'm about 2/3 of the way through gone girl, I was really starting to lose all interest in this book but as soon as the 2nd half of the book started I haven't been able to put it down. Should have it finished in a day or two.

 

[shroomz]

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 really cool, think I'll pick it up but I can't let it get in the way of the Malazan books

 

[Rich_L]

Just finished Heroes Die by Matthew Stover. Holy **** what a book, was looking for recomendations on dark/gritty fantasy and apparently this bloke was an inspiration for Abercrombie and the other new darker authors.

Really fantastic stuff and quite different from most fantasy you see, good twist to it all the seperatea it from the run of the mill stuff.

Big book and read it In about 4 days, already bought the next one.

*&^% a goat, what an awesome book! Loved it

Had seen it recommended a bunch of times but for some reason the blurb never really grabbed me. Looking forward to the next two books in the series but it's going to be a tough act to follow

 

[molinari]

Just finished The Desert Spear (The Demon Cycle, Book 2) by Peter V. Brett, and I really enjoyed it. A good follow on from The Painted Man although perhaps not quite as good. It was long, but I didn't get bored reading it, and I'm looking forward to The Daylight War (Book 3) even though it has a number of reviews that really slate it.
Apparently the story is being dragged out to 5 books, so with book 3 being 810 pages long, I expect the pace to slow down even more, and there to be plenty of padding to stretch it as far as he can, which is a shame.

 

[Josh]

The Beast - Raymond Hunter Pyle.

Book #4 in his Vietnam War Fiction series, think a toned down Lee Child crossed with a very toned down Andy McNab - good page turner but don't expect to gobsmacked. I enjoyed it.

 

[jumpy]

Just finished a cheap Duncan Kyle thriller, something about a freelance pilot getting mixed up in a global heroin conspiracy.

Before that it was Dispatches by Michael Herr (vietnam thing). Continuing with the theme LLRP - the professional by Frank Camper.

I'm about 1/3 through Contact by Carl Sagan. (again).

Not sure what to read next.

Currently reading The Count of Monte Cristo. Initially I thought it was going to be hard work, but I'm actually getting in to it. 350+ pages in and we're only just getting to the start of his revenge. I do have to try and get the image of Richard Chamberlin out of my head though.

@ 1312 pages it is indeed an epic tale of suffering and revenge.
Hah, roll with it I read an unabridged version last year, translated by Robin Buss. It sucked me right in, unlike Moby Dick which completely lost me somewhere around debating the metaphysical aspects of man, god, the crew and captain and one supposedly belligerent whale - I never got to the whale, having been board to tears in my futile quest for a coherent story.

 

[shroomz]

*&^% a goat, what an awesome book! Loved it

Had seen it recommended a bunch of times but for some reason the blurb never really grabbed me. Looking forward to the next two books in the series but it's going to be a tough act to follow

Are we talking Abercrombie-type gritty or Martin-type OTT gratuitously gritty?

 

[Rich_L]

It's more single character focused than a sprawling multi-character epic so more Abercrombie than Martin in style.

Just finished the 3rd book, damn this is some dark stuff, great though definitely on my 'must read again' list!

 

[Lunatic Dreyfus]

Recently finished Vengeful Spirit (my latest venture in to the money printing Horus Heresy series). Sometimes the one sided space marine vs space marine battles got very silly and it could probably have done with being longer due to the amount of stuff/characters the author crammed in, but I enjoyed it well enough. Unusually it not only advanced the overall story arc a bit, it also had something approaching a series of happy endings too, which should be considered 'heresy'.

I really should get back to the Count of Monte Cristo now.

 

[No1newts]

It's more single character focused than a sprawling multi-character epic so more Abercrombie than Martin in style.

Just finished the 3rd book, damn this is some dark stuff, great though definitely on my 'must read again' list!

There's a fourth iirc.

 

[DEL 707]

Bit late to the party, but I've just finished the Harry Potter books, not seen any of the films, but it's impossible to not know about spoilers.

Spoiler

I knew Dumbledore died and Snape turned out to be a good guy before I even knew who they were

Kind of at a lost as to what to read on the train tomorrow night.

 

[Baron C]

I started the Eisenhorn Ombnibus by Dan Abnett...Superb so far!

 

[CHokKA]

At the moment I'm reading the Belgariad books. I'm onto book three and it's an amazing series so far. Very well written and the characters are all really great. I've always wanted to read it, ever since it was at our school library, but it was always out and couldn't be reserved so I missed out. 20 years late to the party but it's been worth it so far!

 

[Glaucus]

Just finished Mad, Bad, and Dangerous to Know
Really short book, so was a bit concerned it would be rubbish. But it's surprisingly good. It's a run down of Ranulph Fiennes life and adventures and well plenty of failures. But what a life.

 

[No1newts]

I'm reading Emperor of all Maladies which is a history of cancer from its roots to now in an almost biopic style, riveting so far.

 

[Nursie]

Currently reading Trinity, the second book in Conn Iggulden's War of the Roses series.