John Desmarais Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. Oh wow. I remember reading that 30-some odd years ago. One of my all-time favorite juvies (and I've never been ablet o get my kid to read it ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted September 30, 2006 Report Share Posted September 30, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Oh wow. I remember reading that 30-some odd years ago. One of my all-time favorite juvies (and I've never been ablet o get my kid to read it ) I just bought a copy. It's grade-A fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Kushiel's Chosen in which the masochistic heroine Phaedre goes to Venice hunting the evil Melisandre and ends up doing a longer tour of the alternate version of the Med than she ever intended. I like the book as the heroine is something quite different and the ideas seem to come naturally ie how do you prove to people that someone is not an imposter. I have to buy and read the third part at some time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpira Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Mushashi Flex by Steve Perry. This book is a prequel to the whole Matador Series. All in all a very entertaining read but be forewarned that it is targeted at those that have read the series. I am not certain how much enjoyment I would have gotten out of the novel if I had not read at least the first three Matador books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Superskrull Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I was going to read We Few by David Weber & John Ringo the other day but discovered after I started it that it was the fourth in a series. On the bright side, after rummaging through a few used bookstores I located the first in the series, March Upcountry, which was still quite entertaining. It's the whole snotty royal brat matures into a decent human story. At least I wound up finding a series of four decent novels by buying one on a whim. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I read the Sleeping Dragon, which is the first of a series about role-players who fall into the world they've been playing in. It's a bit too mechanics-heavy for my liking, especially in the beginning, but it has a lot of interesting commentary about the idea of roleplaying. And it pokes fun at the guy playing a thief who steals from EVERYONE, just because he can. Though, it's a bit grittier than you might expect. I recommend it, in general. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I read the Sleeping Dragon, which is the first of a series about role-players who fall into the world they've been playing in. It's a bit too mechanics-heavy for my liking, especially in the beginning, but it has a lot of interesting commentary about the idea of roleplaying. And it pokes fun at the guy playing a thief who steals from EVERYONE, just because he can. Though, it's a bit grittier than you might expect. I recommend it, in general. The first of a pretty decent series, although I haven't read past the fourth or fifth book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I'm told you don't really need to. My friend lent me the first four books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... "The Conan Chronicles : Vol 1 :"THe People Of The Black Circle" by Robert E Howard. I seem to keep getting distracted by various other things (such as my "All The Worlds Heros" project) but I am slowly going through this. (It's the Fantasy Masterworks edition) Almost finished "Queen Of The Black Coast" which is the 7th story (and one of the really good ones !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenn Posted October 2, 2006 Report Share Posted October 2, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... It's been several weeks since I finished it, but Jasper Fforde's "The Fourth Bear." In the city of Reading, Goldilocks is missing, presumed dead. And it's up to Inspector Jack Spratt and Seargant Mary Mary to find the killer. It also addresses the messed up thermodynamics of the middle bowl of pooridge being the coldest. This is the second of Fforde's "Nursery Crime" novels, which kind of spun-off from the Thursday Next novels (third one, to be precise.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... It has been a while since I read anything by Graham Masterson, but I saw Night Wars and picked it up. Night Warriors are ordinary people who gain weapons and abilities to protect dreams. The problem is demons use dreams to carry out their schemes. So when a demon wants to use babies to learn the secret of creation to pull it apart, it's up to the heroes to go into dreams and stop it at the risk of their own lives. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 12, 2006 Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I've just finished The Sword and the Chain by Joel Rosenberg. Disappointing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted October 13, 2006 Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I recently finished Reclamation by Sarah Zettel. A very nice scifi story. There is a slight amount of jargon that may be initially offputing - but it is nowhere near Wormwood level. Anyhow, an interesting setting and interesting characters. Unfortunately it isn't part of a series and resolves in just the one book Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 17, 2006 Report Share Posted October 17, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished Some Golden Harbor by David Drake. Commander Leary has been sent to settle an invasion attempt on another planet outside of his nation's borders. The problem is his vessel is a corvette with almost no weapons. Time to beg, borrow, and mostly steal what he needs to get the job done. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlackSword Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished The Forever War, by Joe Haldeman. It was a Hugo and Nebula award winner. Tells the story of a soldier who's progressively more and more out of touch with society as relativistic time lags move him further and further into the future. We don't see much of Earth society, but crime is endemic at one point and overpopulation leads to universal homosexuality, until society eventually develops to a post-Singularity type culture. It was, indeed, well-written, and interesting. But it's dated, and I don't mean in the timeline that postulates an interstellar war starting a little before our own time. I mean that it's attitudes toward sexuality and homosexuality (in particular) are dated, naieve, and a little offensive in some way I can't quite put my finger on. Also, the ending kicker is just a bit too propagandish. Nonetheless, I'm looking forward to reading the two sequels. I just finished reading The Forever War, it was enjoyable and a good read. A few times I wasn't able to put it down. On the ending I am split, on the one hand I am glad it was a happy ending (pre George Martin's kill 'em all style), but the on the other hand it did feel a bit contrived. It wasn't too contrived as I had the same thought (see spoiler). in reading it I thought that whoever returned first, either Jose or Marygay, could take a 'long way' home to return at the same time as the other without aging. Using the ship as a time machine was a bit more well thought out that what I had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Publius Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I finished World War Z by Max Brooks (son of Mel and Anne Bancroft) and loved it so much I will be buying it for friends come Christmas time. The book is an excellent account told from an eyewitness-to-history style. This means that it does not read like a "standard" scifi book, but I was all the more captivated by the story because of that. Very fresh in that respect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Enforcer84 Posted October 20, 2006 Report Share Posted October 20, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... reread the novelization of DC's Kingdom Come by Mark Waid. It was fun, and a quick read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished David Weber's latest Honor Harrington novel, At All Costs. Better than I had feared; his previous volume was something of a "time marker", and had far too much exposition. If anything, more happens here than should be in one volume, and Weber seems to rush some sections. All that said, this is a rip-roarer of a ride. Weber has a real knack for creating a world you can get immersed in, and the fact that this contains the single largest battle so far in the timeline - close to six hundred of the wall in a single engagement - is merely the cap on what would have been an excellent novel anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebuchet Posted October 22, 2006 Report Share Posted October 22, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished David Weber's latest Honor Harrington novel' date=' [i']At All Costs.[/i] Better than I had feared; his previous volume was something of a "time marker", and had far too much exposition. If anything, more happens here than should be in one volume, and Weber seems to rush some sections. All that said, this is a rip-roarer of a ride. Weber has a real knack for creating a world you can get immersed in, and the fact that this contains the single largest battle so far in the timeline - close to six hundred of the wall in a single engagement - is merely the cap on what would have been an excellent novel anyway. Wow. Quite a difference from my own opinion. AAC was the book that finally convinced me that the Honor Harrington series had jumped the shark. I found it by far the least interesting of all the books, hated the developments in the protagonist's personal life, and considered the huge battle to be extraordinary dull - the war itself was very contrived and the final battle itself almost anticlimactic. It was like Weber decided to substitute massive scale for good writing. "Oh look! Hundreds of ships of the wall will make this a neato battle!" Yawn. I've about given up on Honor Harrington; which I find very depressing since it was by far my favorite SF series. Fortunately The Shadow of Saganami set in the same universe shows Weber hasn't lost it entirely. Hopefully the new series will keep that feel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Well, I'm tempted to say "of course" the war seems contrived - one of the main themes of the book is how Manpower, Inc. is manipulating Manticore and Haven into continuing a conflict they no longer have a rational reason to fight. But I understand what you mean - it stretches credulity that the previous Manticore government was that incompetent. Still, that was the previous book. Which, I think has been the absolute nadir of the series, I'll easily grant. As to Shadow of Saganami - I'm with you 100% that it's the best novel he's put out for the past five years at least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chimpira Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished Cordelia's Honor by Lois McMaster Bujold. It is my yearly ritual, like how some people read The Lord of The Rings every year. Well I reread the Vorkosigan Series every year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted October 23, 2006 Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Josh read me Coraline while I drove to Wilmington. Good stuff. ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson. The rise of Newton and Liebniz during the 17th Century against the background of the reigns of Charles II, James II and William III. Very interesting indeed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I read The Dragon and the George. It's about two people accidentally sent to an England where dragons and magic exist, and the guy ends up in a dragon's body. He has to defeat the Dark Powers to get his girlfriend back, and needs allies to do it. I thought it was handled pretty realistically, and it was a neat story. I liked it. ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted November 1, 2006 Report Share Posted November 1, 2006 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I read The Dragon and the George. It's about two people accidentally sent to an England where dragons and magic exist, and the guy ends up in a dragon's body. He has to defeat the Dark Powers to get his girlfriend back, and needs allies to do it. I thought it was handled pretty realistically, and it was a neat story. I liked it. ^ v ^ I liked the first one, the sequels less so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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