Ghost Archer Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished the seventh book of the Nightside series by Simon R Green. I think the only reason I have gotten this far with then is I was given the first eight and I was bored. I think I read a review that went something along the lines of 'Raymond Chandler meets HP Lovecraft'. Yeah, right. Green tries too hard to give his main character, John Taylor, a hardboiled Chandler spin but I think it fails. He manages to fill the books with his 'neat little' tropes that get dull after the third repeatition. I mean, here is the guy that can find 'anything' with his special gift and doesn't work over half the time so he has to rely on 'old-fashion detective work'. Also by his descriptions every thing in the Nightside is mad of MEAT and I think he's in love with the word. Like most 'Urban Fantasy' books I have read, the big bad in each book is more terrible that anything the hero has ever seen, until the next book. That gets old too. Mr Green needs to read the Dresden series. At least Harry doesn't go around killing gods like they are goons. I do admit some of his supporting cast is amusing, Shotgun Suzy, Razor Eddie, Dead Boy but they are pretty one dimensional but that is a Chandler character trait, right? If you have nothing else to read and someone gives them to you as a gift, waste a little time, other else...If I read "I opened my inner eye, my third eye, my rpivate eye..." one more time, I'll hire Suzy Shooter to take me out. Two out of five stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Ahh... I read one of Green's short stories in the Mean Streets book. I wasn't impressed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Next one on the agenda: the new Harry Dresden book' date=' which is out next week.[/quote'] Me too. I was the first person to get a reservation on it at the local library. Me three Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage double feature with the Sea Magician about fraud and historical treasure and the living fire menace with a scheme to find out what powers minerals deep in the earth. CES Gotta love the Doc I have 181 of the DS stories in ebook form. I am waiting for a decent reader, but so far they are either idiotically limited (Kindle) or hideously overpriced (Kindle). Right now I read them on my laptop, but it just isn’t the same. But Doc is a fantastic mine of ideas for Pulp Hero Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Next one on the agenda: the new Harry Dresden book' date=' which is out next week.[/quote'] I'm waiting for a chance at that one myself. I like the Dresden books; they're not very deep, but they make for good entertainment. Hmm, any ideas on what'll be happening to poor Harry this time? (Aside from the usual, "The Council hates me, the vampires are out to kill me, Murph is driving me nuts with sexual tension, Bob is being a pain, and I need a job to pay the rent.") Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Morgan is accused of being a traitor to the White Council. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted April 2, 2009 Report Share Posted April 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Morgan is accused of being a traitor to the White Council. Geeze, so for once it isn't Harry on the griddle. At least not at first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Geeze' date=' so for once it isn't Harry on the griddle. At least not at first.[/quote'] He goes to Harry for help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... He goes to Harry for help. The first few chapters are up on Butcher's website as a teaser (or they were a few weeks ago). Pretty cool stuff. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just got through reading Alan Dean Foster's Book of the Damned trilogy (A Call to Arms, The False Mirror, and The Spoils of War) this last week, after reserving the books at the local library, and they turned out to be very interesting reads. I'd seen the mention of the story on a thread here on the boards a couple of years ago, but last week was the first chance that I actually had to see if the library even had the books. Some other sci-fi books that I've read in the recent past are Chronicles of the Lensmen, Vol. 1, Dragonsdawn, The Chronicles of Pern: Year 1, and The Masterharper of Pern, as well as Execution Hour. In the near future, I plan on finding out which of Robert Adams' Horseclans books that the library has and checking them out to read; with any luck, they'll have the full set (however many that turns out to be). Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Wow... I haven't heard much of anything from Alan Dean Foster in years. I know he had a hardback release some time back, which was a big deal, but other than that, nothing. I'm not sure I even own any of his novels anymore. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Apparently my local library is ignorant of street dates. I got the Hold Pickup notice this morning to get Turn Coat. So I'll be getting that in an hour or so and have it done by the end of the weekend. Bwa ha ha ha ha. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiggins Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Dragonsdawn, The Chronicles of Pern: Year 1, and The Masterharper of Pern, I think that dragonflight and dragonquest SUCKED! but she seemed to have taken a wrighting class before she wrote the next (whitedragon) and it got a LOT better. BUT, since she let her son take over the series it SUCKS :thumbdownagain. he's changed a couple set in stone concepts that now make no sence Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Apparently my local library is ignorant of street dates. I got the Hold Pickup notice this morning to get Turn Coat. So I'll be getting that in an hour or so and have it done by the end of the weekend. Bwa ha ha ha ha. I read the first five chapters online. Argh.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted April 3, 2009 Report Share Posted April 3, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I read the first five chapters online. Argh.... Just got it. When I told the person (after I had it checked out) that the Street date was the 7th, and I got it early, she just said "Cool". I'll give non spoiler impressions after I read it - but so far I've loved every book, so I really doubt they will be negative. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted April 4, 2009 Report Share Posted April 4, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I think that dragonflight and dragonquest SUCKED! but she seemed to have taken a wrighting class before she wrote the next (whitedragon) and it got a LOT better. BUT, since she let her son take over the series it SUCKS :thumbdownagain. he's changed a couple set in stone concepts that now make no sence I haven't read either Dragonflight or Dragonquest, so I can't really comment on either one, or for that matter, any of the early Pern stories except for The White Dragon, which I liked. Some of the other stories of the series that I've read are Dragonseye (I think that was the title), All The Weyrs of Pern, The Dolphins of Pern, Dragonsblood, and The Skies of Pern. Neither can I comment on any of the stories that McCaffery's son has done since taking over from her. Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted April 4, 2009 Report Share Posted April 4, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just remembered which thread it was in which the Book of the Damned trilogy was mentioned (Star Hero fictional settings that we haven't seen). The post by ChuckG, while it was accurate in some respects, was off in other re- pects, particularly with regards to the situation existing by the end of the tril- ogy. SPOILER WARNING: IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THESE STORIES YET, DON'T READ THE FOLLOWING. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED. Still here? OK, let's go. The first error is where he says that by the end of the story "The Amplitur are long gone". Actually, they're still around; what happened is that, realizing that they couldn't hope to win against a Human-led Weave assault, the Amplitur decided to surrender, abandoning their goal of actively uniting all races under the Purpose -- or at least, that was what they wanted everyone to believe. The real plan, however, was far more devious: they would wait until Human dissatisifaction and resentment toward their Weave allies gradually built up. Then, after a century or two (the Amplitur take the long view with regards to their goals), the Amplitur would gradually begin to advise Humanity, with the end aim of using it to accomplish what they couldn't through their own servant races: the eventual conquest of the Weave, and the assimilation of every intelligent species into the Purpose. Fortunately for Humanity and the Weave, there is a secret group known as the Core -- descendants of Humans that had been surgically altered by the Amplitur to serve them and, after being freed by Weave surgical techniques, ultimately developed mental powers identical to those of the Amplitur -- who are aware of the Ampliturs' true goals, and are waging a covert war against them, while keeping their abilities a secret from their normal Human bretheren and their Weave allies. His second statement that "Humanity is the dominant power in the universe" is also somewhat in error; while Humans are, compared to their Weave allies, superior warriors and designers of formidable weapons (having in centuries past taken Weave weapons technology and improved upon it considerably), they fall behind them in certain other areas. There is also the fact that, un- known to Humanity at large, the Weave doesn't really want to extend membership in its organization to them; the Weave's attitude towards Human- ity can basically be summed up as "Yeah, we like you as the kick-a$$ fighters that you are, but we don't want you as equal partners in our little group" -- which, in the third book, is exactly the attitude that the Amplitur are count- ing on to assist them in their eventual efforts to influence Humanity. His third statement about the other races in the Galaxy cowering in terror is not entirely incorrect; while the fear of the Amplitur felt by the Weave races has diminished somewhat since the "surrender", their fear of Humanity has remained constant or, in some cases, increased -- especially since, in the third book, Humanity has started regressing back to the way it was prior to contact with the Weave: fighting amongst itself rather than against an exter- nal enemy, which is something else the Amplitur counted upon happening when they "surrendered". Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiggins Posted April 5, 2009 Report Share Posted April 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Dragonsblood, and The Skies of Pern. Neither can I comment on any of the stories that McCaffery's son has done since taking over from her. Major Tom pretty shure that those 2 are his. But won't swear on it. it was clearly stated that watchwears DON'T fly. But now they do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Major Tom Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... pretty shure that those 2 are his. But won't swear on it. it was clearly stated that watchwears DON'T fly. But now they do. That might well be an offshoot of the recently-activated (as of The Skies of Pern) telekinetic abilities of the dragons; as genetic cousins of dragon- kind, watch-whers may posess a telekinetic flight capability, similar in some respects to the telekinesis-based flight powers of the Ace/Joker Peregrine (from the Wild Cards series of books; she has wings, but actually flies by means of telekinetic levitation). Major Tom Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Gotta love the Doc I have 181 of the DS stories in ebook form. I am waiting for a decent reader, but so far they are either idiotically limited (Kindle) or hideously overpriced (Kindle). Right now I read them on my laptop, but it just isn’t the same. But Doc is a fantastic mine of ideas for Pulp Hero I shouldn't have picked up the ten or so I did pick up since I have a number of the old Bantam editions locked away in storage. I even have Escape from Loki and the Will Murray novels somewhere. DC should have hired Murray to write Doc Savage for them instead of letting Denny O'Neill update the character. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage double header with the Dust of Death and the Stone Man. The Inca in Gray has prolonged a war between two countries for four years with his killing dust. Spad Ames has discovered something that will turn men into statues in a hidden valley. He decides to try and grab the secret from the hidden people protecting it. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Another Doc Savage double header with the Dust of Death and the Stone Man. The Inca in Gray has prolonged a war between two countries for four years with his killing dust. Spad Ames has discovered something that will turn men into statues in a hidden valley. He decides to try and grab the secret from the hidden people protecting it. CES Just Pulp Hero stories waiting to be played Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished Turn Coat (Yay for libraries that ignore street dates). Spoiler free commentary. I thought it was one of the best in the series. It did have some obvious transitional stuff, and set up for future bits, but most all the recent Dresden books have had that. We get some more info on Harry's mom, lots of info on the White Council, and most every secondary character (except the Carpenters) appears in the book somewhere (even if just for a cameo). Harry is actually planning things a little more ahead, and there is serious butt kicking. There are also a number of things that end up sad for Harry... but things are hopeful at the very end, even with the bittersweet moments. Highly recommended. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mwiggins Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... That might well be an offshoot of the recently-activated (as of The Skies of Pern) telekinetic abilities of the dragons; as genetic cousins of dragon- kind, watch-whers may posess a telekinetic flight capability, similar in some respects to the telekinesis-based flight powers of the Ace/Joker Peregrine (from the Wild Cards series of books; she has wings, but actually flies by means of telekinetic levitation). Major Tom maybe, but the dragons are a LOT smarter than a watchweyrs. the likelyhood of it suddenly getting smart enough to learn now are low (IMO). on the other hand, the dragons get most of thier intelligence from the link with thier rider. It is stated that the whatchweyrs are impressionable, so maybe they can get smarter from the same type of link. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spence Posted April 6, 2009 Report Share Posted April 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just read two books by Dennis Schmidt. These are from the 80’s. The two I read are Way-Farer and Kensho. They were a good read and I have tracked down and ordered the last two in the series. Good story and overall good read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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