What book are you reading...

Marching Powder by Rusty Young

MARCHING POWDER is the story of Thomas McFadden, a small-time English drug smuggler who was arrested in Bolivia and thrown inside the notorious San Pedro prison. He found himself in a bizarre world, the prison reflecting all that is wrong with South American society. Prisoners have to pay an entrance fee and buy their own cells (the alternative is to sleep outside and die of exposure), prisoners' wives and children often live inside too, high quality cocaine is manufactured and sold from the prison. Thomas ended up making a living by giving backpackers tours of the prison - he became a fixture on the backpacking circuit and was named in the Lonely Planet guide to Bolivia. When he was told that for a bribe of $5000 his sentence could be overturned, it was the many backpackers who'd passed through who sent him the money. Sometimes shocking, sometimes funny, MARCHING POWDER is an always riveting story of survival. ‘All the staples of the prison memoir are here: sadistic guards, an attempted break-out, the terrors of solitary confinement, the joys of freedom . . . The result is a truly gripping piece of testimony’ Sunday Telegraph ‘This exotic, cautionary yarn opens the abyss beneath our wealthy world’ Uncut

Read it back in 2009 when I was in New Zealand. Told my girlfriend about it and she wanted to read it so I bought it again, currently reading it.
 
Forgotton voices of the Great War. Max Arthur.
First hand accounts from soldiers who thought in WWI.
bloody depressing half wish I hadn't picked it up.
 
Well, happily read through The Blade Itself while on holiday in Canada - cracking read, will be ordering the second book after I finish the third Malazan book (Memories of Ice; I am actually near finishing this too!!)

Bought another book while in Canada too; Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. Quite a fun read, absolutely littered with '80s music, film and gaming culture references. A few of these probably passed me by as I'm not old enough, but the book was still a brilliant page turner. Basic story is that society and infrastructure is collapsing, and that there's a massive virtual reality MMO/internet in use, with the game's creator popping his clogs but not before announcing there's an easter egg hunt with the eventual prize being that the person wins his entire fortune and game company etc.
 
TehBluebear said:
Well, happily read through The Blade Itself while on holiday in Canada - cracking read, will be ordering the second book after I finish the third Malazan book (Memories of Ice; I am actually near finishing this too!!)
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The First Law trilogy is superb, so if you enjoyed the first book then you'll love the 2nd and 3rd!
I've read the first of the Mazalan books which I enjoyed, are the 2nd and 3rd good? I was put off the 2nd because most of the characters are different.

As for me, I've finally finished A Darkness at Sethanon, book 3 of the Riftwar Saga. Perhaps I have been spoiled by GRRM and Joe Abercrombie but this series felt like a Disney fairytale. Utterly predictable, dull and uninteresting characters, and a story that could have been quite exciting but failed in many places. The magical side of book 3 was very important to the story but was the most boring part. The military battles were the best parts of the story but predictable because you knew exactly what would or wouldn't happen to the characters. On top of that, I found the writing of the books quite poor, they felt like books written for kids with poor dialogue and a fair amount of repetition.

Next for me is Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London book 2) by Ben Aaronovitch.
 
About half way through world war Z, it's a great book.
As its load of sort "stories" (surviver accounts) you never get bored, there's always something new, and it just constantly builds upto a much bigger picture and seen from multiple angles. It's a bit of a great way of doing it.
 
The Cold War: A New History by John Lewis Gaddis.

Very good primer on the whole subject, and made me see things I'd never considered before. If you want to get a handle on the cold war this is a good place to start.
 
molinari said:
The First Law trilogy is superb, so if you enjoyed the first book then you'll love the 2nd and 3rd!
I've read the first of the Mazalan books which I enjoyed, are the 2nd and 3rd good? I was put off the 2nd because most of the characters are different.

As for me, I've finally finished A Darkness at Sethanon, book 3 of the Riftwar Saga. Perhaps I have been spoiled by GRRM and Joe Abercrombie but this series felt like a Disney fairytale. Utterly predictable, dull and uninteresting characters, and a story that could have been quite exciting but failed in many places. The magical side of book 3 was very important to the story but was the most boring part. The military battles were the best parts of the story but predictable because you knew exactly what would or wouldn't happen to the characters. On top of that, I found the writing of the books quite poor, they felt like books written for kids with poor dialogue and a fair amount of repetition.

Next for me is Moon Over Soho (Rivers of London book 2) by Ben Aaronovitch.
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Deadhouse Gates ( Book 2 ) is my favourite book of the Malazan series. Initially, I held the same concerns as you - but I found it to be a breathtaking, intense and emotional tale about human sacrifice. It's the literary equivalent of "watching" something harrowing, yet captivating, like Schindler's List.

Memories of Ice ( Book 3 ) is probably the top book in the eyes of most Erikson fans. And, it features the return of some of the characters from Book 1 ... so you should feel right at home.
 
Given the recent lovely weather we've had in Scotland I've put my Kindle aside and spent my time in my back garden and I've just finished No Easy Day by Mark Owen (the ex Navy Seal and not the Take That singer). It's his story of his life throughout his early years, his entry and training to qualify as a Navy Seal and his training to become a member of the elite DEVGRU with the story culminating with the controversial attack in Pakistan in 2011 that ended the life of Osama Bin Laden.

I say controversial as the Pakistanis still refuse to admit they sheltered him - the fact that the Americans knew he was there for weeks before Operation Neptune Spear and they launched their attack without informing the Pakistanis just goes to show how much trust/faith they put in them. The majority of the story is told as flash backs but it's such light reading you're never left in any confusion - I quite enjoyed it and it's definitely one I'd recommend to be read. :)

Since finishing that I'm now on Stephen King's - Under the Dome and though I'm only a hundred or so pages in it's already massively different from the two episodes of the television I've seen so far (no surprises there). I've seen others saying the ending of the book is a let down but then I've read Cell which probably his the worst ending so far in a Stephen King book imo. I'll finish this book like the hardened Stephen King fan I am, though I'm not holding out on anything spectacular.
 
Just finished Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and moving onto The Scar by the same author.

PSS was a good book. Great world building, atmosphere, pace and descriptive ability by the author and created good tense situations.

On the flip side the pacing was a bit lopsided with about 10 pages spent describing rolling a cable as an example. The characterisation was a little lacklustre and didn't really give a toss about his characters. His big moments were a little predictable too.

Good solid read and I thoroughly enjoyed thanks to the world he created but the story and characters were a disappointment.
 
Currently just bought the boxset a song of ice and fire. Just finished the first book. Absolutely loved it. The thing though is if you let your mind wander for even a second you can miss a lot of details. You really have to concentrate when reading these books where i have to even take a break after reading a chapter.

10/10 so far :)
 
No1newts said:
Just finished Perdido Street Station by China Mieville and moving onto The Scar by the same author.

PSS was a good book. Great world building, atmosphere, pace and descriptive ability by the author and created good tense situations.

On the flip side the pacing was a bit lopsided with about 10 pages spent describing rolling a cable as an example. The characterisation was a little lacklustre and didn't really give a toss about his characters. His big moments were a little predictable too.

Good solid read and I thoroughly enjoyed thanks to the world he created but the story and characters were a disappointment.
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That mirrors my thoughts exactly. Loved the world building and intermingling of different races / species but the character development was lacklustre. I felt let down by how the story ended - more of a damp squelch than a big almighty bang.
 
Currently reading the first Malazan book, Gardens of the moon. It's a little hard work and I feel like I hardly understand anything currently haha. But I'm quite enjoying it and like many have said look forward to Deadhouse Gates.

Out of interest does anyone know of the correct order to read Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont? Danke
 
Cap said:
Currently reading the first Malazan book, Gardens of the moon. It's a little hard work and I feel like I hardly understand anything currently haha. But I'm quite enjoying it and like many have said look forward to Deadhouse Gates.

Out of interest does anyone know of the correct order to read Steven Erikson and Ian Cameron Esslemont? Danke
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Don't worry - you're meant to feel a bit confused and uninformed when reading a Malazan book. Erikson has a habit of filling in the gaps later on ( usually the next book in the series ).

As for timeline, try this http://forum.malazanempire.com/topic/25979-reading-order-updated/
 
Finally finished Dust of Dreams; stuck at the beginning of The Crippled God because these mighty tomes are now too heavy for me to hold comfortably. ;)

Currently reading The Strain by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan.
 
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