FenrisUlf Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I almost added Tim Powers to this list of heartbreakers' date=' but he puts out a good book every now and then. Kinda hard to top "The Anubis Gates", but at least "On Stranger Tides" and "Last Call" reminded me of why I like Powers' writing style.[/quote'] *reads the Tim Powers comment* Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Burn the heretic! More seriously, I've recently finished his novel Declare, and I still conisder it one of the greatest "secret history" books ever written. Though I'll always have a fond spot for Drawing of the Dark (magic beer saves Western civilization) and On Stranger Tides (Blackbeard, pirates, voodoo and the Fountain of Youth... what's not to like?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I really liked On Stranger Tides and The Anubis Gates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tancred Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Harry Turtledove just finished his huge alternate history series, with Settling Accounts: In At The Death. It was at least as good as the rest of the series, if not better. But there was a lot of sadness, at least for me, all through it. I knew I was saying goodbye to all the characters I had enjoyed all through this series. This is really some of Turtledove's best work. And I say that as someone who absolutely loved his Videssos books, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diamond Spear Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Harry Turtledove just finished his huge alternate history series' date=' with [i']Settling Accounts: In At The Death[/i]. It was at least as good as the rest of the series, if not better. But there was a lot of sadness, at least for me, all through it. I knew I was saying goodbye to all the characters I had enjoyed all through this series. This is really some of Turtledove's best work. And I say that as someone who absolutely loved his Videssos books, too. Which series was that book in? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted January 10, 2008 Author Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... *reads the Tim Powers comment* Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Burn the heretic! More seriously, I've recently finished his novel Declare, and I still conisder it one of the greatest "secret history" books ever written. Though I'll always have a fond spot for Drawing of the Dark (magic beer saves Western civilization) and On Stranger Tides (Blackbeard, pirates, voodoo and the Fountain of Youth... what's not to like?). Funny, "Drawing of the Dark" was another minor Powers disappointment for me. I have "Declare". I will move it up on the list of future reads... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted January 10, 2008 Report Share Posted January 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... First off' date=' for anyone who hasn't read Gibson, it can at times be a challenging read. He's got quite the vocabulary. While I'm no genius, I tend to know most of the language used by authors, rarely looking anything up. With the Kindle I was able to select a line of text and have it give me definitions of the prominent words on the line, so every few chapters I'd look something up using the device and found that regularly the dictionary didn't track that word! In at least one case I'm certain it's a "coined" word (like Cyberpunk), but in several others I think he just outsmarted the built-in dictionary.[/quote'] If you would like a great use of language for a dark steampunk/fantasy setting - I highly recommend the Perdido Street Station book by Chine Meiville. As to an ebook reader's dictionary - I have no doubt it will be abridged in some manner, and not likely to have many words in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... *reads the Tim Powers comment* Blasphemy! Blasphemy! Burn the heretic! More seriously, I've recently finished his novel Declare, and I still conisder it one of the greatest "secret history" books ever written. Though I'll always have a fond spot for Drawing of the Dark (magic beer saves Western civilization) and On Stranger Tides (Blackbeard, pirates, voodoo and the Fountain of Youth... what's not to like?). Agree 100%. Declare inspired me to run a game (which sadly, never got past the first adventure, sniffle) and remains one of my favorite books. On Stranger Tides is fantastic - so is the Stress of her Regard, which I recently re-read and enjoyed almost as much as I did the first time. The King of the West trilogy is also great "secret history" (and particularly enjoyable because I've been many of the places described in those books). In fact, the only things by Powers which are not top notch (IMO) are Forsake the sky and Dinner at Deviant's Palace which are both early books that got published after he became famous. Hell, I even have his autographed cookbook (it was a present form my wife ) cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted January 11, 2008 Report Share Posted January 11, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Hell, I even have his autographed cookbook (it was a present form my wife ) cheers, Mark I'd love to see his recipe for amomon root. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
incrdbil Posted January 12, 2008 Report Share Posted January 12, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... White Knight by Jim Butcher. Cursors Fury, by the same. 1834, the Bavarian Crisis. Tea with a Black Dragon. The Neverending Story. Starfist II. The Agentsof Ligt and Darkness by Simon R Green. Another trilogy I dont have the info handy for , will find it soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted January 13, 2008 Report Share Posted January 13, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished Day By Day Armageddon by J. L. Bourne. It is a zombie novel. The story is written as a journal kept by a survivor as the zombies rise and civilization falls. It is a pretty interesting read. The book covers a span of four months and begins just after new years with the main characters first entry, one of new year's resolutions had been to start keeping a journal. A mysterious disease outbreak is reported in China, just a curiosity in the news, but things go rapidly downhill from there. The story recounts the survivor's quest to survive and find other living humans. If you like zombie stories you should like this one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted January 14, 2008 Report Share Posted January 14, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Lisey's Story by Stephen King. After reading so many faster paced books, it's hard for me to explain this one. Most of the book is made of recaps as Lisey's dead husband leads her through a trail of memories about their marriage and the strange place he can go to when he needs to. The modern plot is psycho stalker who wants any unpublished stories that Scott might have written but really only wants to hurt Lisey. It echoes other books that King has written like Rose Madder, and Bag of Bones, but I enjoyed the visit to familiar ground. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Bran Mak Morn: The Last King -- the collected volume of REH's tales of the Picts and their king. Currently, I'm working my way through Kull: Exile of Atlantis. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Querysphinx Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Making Money by Terry Pratchett. It's not up to par with some of his other stuff like Night Watch, but it's still better than 90% of what's out there. 4 out of 5 stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tadk Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Whitechapel Gods by SM Peter I honestly thought it rocked Excellent Neo-Victorian, some good weapons, excellent villians, a few plot twists overall, and an ok ending. Really worth picking up if you like steampunk at all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Not Sci Fi or Fantasy, but I have been reading Lee Child's Jack Reacher books. I reccomend them. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted February 8, 2008 Report Share Posted February 8, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Making Money by Terry Pratchett. It's not up to par with some of his other stuff like Night Watch' date=' but it's still better than 90% of what's out there. 4 out of 5 stars.[/quote']Read it again in a week. That's where the extra star is hiding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AliceTheOwl Posted February 10, 2008 Report Share Posted February 10, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... On Log's recommendation, I picked up The City of Dreaming Books. I enjoyed it immensely, though it took me a while to get into it. The little illustrations of the characters did help; I convinced myself there weren't as many words to get through, so I might as well soldier on. The payoff was awesome. I can't think of a more perfect ending. It was the sort of book that affects the reader and changes his (or her) mindset throughout the narrative. We start out detached and somewhat unimpressed, then we go deeper and deeper and deeper, until we cheer aloud at the closing word. Well, okay, I didn't, but I did get tingles. I like books that give me tingles. ^ v ^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Edsel Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished reading Summer Knight by Jim Butcher. The fourth novel in the Dresden Files. Thus far I have enjoyed the novels and have already acquired books five and six. I had heard about them before the SciFi series but that TV show is what finally spurred me to start reading the novels. As is usually the case the books are better than the TV (but the series was good too). Now I am part way through the Esienhorn Onmibus by Dan Abnett. It is a trilogy following the career of an Imperial Inquisitor in the Warhammer 40K setting. It is a really well written piece of fiction. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sundog Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Manxome Foe by John Ringo and Travis Taylor. More action adventure sci-fi than Ringo's usual military flavour, but with some nice, intense combat scenes. Third book in the Dreen War series, probably not as strong as the previous two, but a fun and exciting read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted February 11, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished "Furies of Calderon (Book One of the Codex Alera)" by Jim Butcher. Upon finishing this book, I have confirmed a suspicion I voiced when I first started reading...namely, that Butcher is one of those rare writers that can write equally well in two genres. This book had interesting characters, several of which were various shades of gray-tinted morality instead of the typical 'sickeningly good' or 'thoroughly villainous'. Don't get me wrong, there were examples of stereotypical good guys and bad guys, but thankfully characters seemed to fit the bell curve in a morals distribution. The action built up to a frenzied conclusion that was very satisfying but for one minor quibble (see spoiler at the end if so inclined). I think this deserves and "8.5" out of 10. I look forward to reading the next book in this series. With the plethora of good fantasy books out there, why should the readers of the Hero Forums read this book? Simple answer...this book begs to be converted into Hero! The whole time I read "Freelancers" by Mel Odom I kept thinking, "Wow! This quasi-Frankenstein character would be cool to play in Champions.." or "Would 'Capt. Combat Skill Level' (my nickname for a character sans powers but oozing with weapons-using competence) be able to hold his own in a Champs' fight with your typical brick, etc?" The 'Furies of Calderon' stimulated thinking along similar lines, but imagine a Hero fantasy game where the characters had Champion-like powers. Not spell-based magic, but special effect based innate "furies" that felt more like super powers. The whole time I read this book I kept thinking, "We could build this character easily with Hero..." Susano or Killer Shrike (to name a few) could go nuts with this book as source material. ***************************** Spoiler Alert!!! OOOGGAAAA!!! Those who might want to read this book should not read the following: My one minor quibble....most of the major characters (both good and evil)were dying at the end of the book. Then (poof!) all of them get saved by one watercrafter! This is an authorial misstep in my opinion. Earlier, Bernard lay dying (or dead) and Isana brought him back, nearly losing her own life in the process. This made me believe that resurrection was possible but rare. This gave me the false belief that death was possible---which added needed tension to the combat scenes. That tension is now suspended for the second book. When a character falls in the future, I will probably shrug and think, "Oh well! A watercrafter will pop up to save him/her." A small problem in an otherwise very good book. **************************************************** Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FenrisUlf Posted February 11, 2008 Report Share Posted February 11, 2008 OT: Good news for Tim Powers fans According to what I've seen at my local Borders, the long out of print Tim Powers horror novel The Stress Of Her Regard will be available again soon. (As in, within a few months.) Considering that the only copies I've ever seen were going for something like $75-100 & I couldn't even get it on interlibrary loan, I am happy to hear this. Returning you all to your regular thread... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted February 17, 2008 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The sound of crickets chirping is deafening! Did ALL of you stop reading at once? Bump bumpitty bump bump! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captain Obvious Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The sound of crickets chirping is deafening! Did ALL of you stop reading at once? Bump bumpitty bump bump! I just finished reading The Count of Monte Cristo. Not really sci-fi or fantasy. Before that I read Coriolanus, before that, Antony and Cleopatra, before that Julius Caesar. It's been so long since I've read a sci-fi or fantasy novel that I'm not real sure what it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I've just read "Full Moonster" by Nick Pollotta. Fun, but hardly award winning stuff. Almost reads as if it should be a RPG adventure ("Horror Hero" ?) with the "secret government organisation" taking on werewolves (although they weren't in London, and there is no sign of Warren Zevon !) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Querysphinx Posted February 17, 2008 Report Share Posted February 17, 2008 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Er. Not so much reading as writing, actually. I recently finished Cockatrice: Carpe Demon, my quirky YA, superhero, urban fantasy. Violin Prodigy Jacqueline MacLean has always adored metahumans and wished for superpowers, but a wish is just a wish…unless you happen to be holding a demon’s contract when you make it. So now she’s got red skin, hooves, and a tail—that’s what you get for not reading the fine print—and she’s lost the contract, but she’s gained an astonishing array of superpowers, which would really come in handy when a delusional madman kidnaps her beloved sister, except Legion, a super-powered federal marshal, arrests Jacqueline instead. She looks like a demon, so she must be a villain, right? In custody, Jacqueline stumbles across a mysterious connection between her loathsome mother and the mighty Legion. Might they be lovers, and what does that say about Jacqueline’s parentage? Jacqueline proves her innocence to Legion, but that only saddles her with more restrictions. Only seventeen, she is deemed too young to join the hunt for her missing sister and is placed in overprotective custody, but Jacqueline does not let such a minor inconvenience stand in her way. She eludes her protectors and sets out to locate the missing contract, rescue her sister, and unravel the secrets of her family tree, before one wicked relative sets the demon loose on an unsuspecting world. Currently looking for an agent and/or publisher. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.