Markdoc Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Finally got around to reading Daywatch and Nightwatch. Very different from the movies*, but an enjoyable and quick read. Now looking for Twillightwatch. cheers, Mark *It's like they took the characters from the books, set them in an entirely different plot and dotted it with vignettes from the books in a more or less random order. Actually, that is what they did! cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Finally got around to reading Daywatch and Nightwatch. Very different from the movies*, but an enjoyable and quick read. Now looking for Twillightwatch. cheers, Mark *It's like they took the characters from the books, set them in an entirely different plot and dotted it with vignettes from the books in a more or less random order. Actually, that is what they did! cheers, Mark Speaking of good non-English fantasy, I hear good things about The Dwarves by Markus Heitz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 1, 2009 Report Share Posted October 1, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Being out of work has given me a lot of free time, so.... Ian M Banks: Against a Dark Background The Algebraist Pat Frank Alas, Babylon David Brin The Postman Steven Pressfield Gates of Fire and have just started Glen Cook The Return of the Black Company (consisting of Bleak Seasons and She Is The Darkness) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just finished The Return of the Crimson Guard by Ian Esselmont. If you have read the Malazan series by Steven Erikson you'll love this. And you need to have read Night of Knives by Ian as well. If you have then you'll love this. It is brilliant. And it is also sad. Recommended. Also read The Lovers by John Connelly another of the Charlie Parker books. That was well worth reading as well. Next up Dust of Dreams by Erikson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Return of the Black Company omnibus. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
L. Marcus Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... ... I haven't finished Kell's Legend -- Book 1 of the Clockwork Vampire Chronicles yet, but I don't think I want to keep reading. So I might as well rate it now. The plot is not too bad, but the writing is seemingly by a sixteen-year-old guy writing for other sixteen-year-old guys. I've caught myself I don't know how many times actually rolling my eyes at the writing, and I'm only halfway through. How the editor ever let this one through is beyond me. I feel like the author -- one Andy Remic -- got the publishing of the book as a present on his birthday by his doting billionaire of a grandpa. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard I listened to this one on the drive out here a few weeks ago. No technically fantasy/scifi, but it is a story I think several here would enjoy. It's a prohibition era crime story focusing on a boy who grows up to be a famous and dangerous U.S. Marshall. It also focuses on one particular criminal he goes after and spends a lot of time on several of his encounters with the wannabe "Pretty Boy" Floyds of the era. Leonard's storytelling is a lot of fun here with great characters and dialogue in an unlikely but rich setting, 1930s Oklahoma. Classic cops and robbers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 5, 2009 Report Share Posted October 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Red Harvest by Dashel Hammit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gojira Posted October 6, 2009 Report Share Posted October 6, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Recently finished The Onion Girl and Moonheart by Charles de Lint. Both are good, although The Onion Girl is really a great book and easily the best of the two. Both are urban fantasy, both are more about the people in the stories rather than, say, the Dresden Files books, which seem to be more about Harry Dresden flinging spells around to get out of a jam. Four out of five stars for Moonheart. It's a good book, but drags in a few places, and one plot device involving the house the protagonists live in was not my favorite. Overall a definite thumbs up. Five out of five stars for The Onion Girl. It's great. It's also about child abuse, so it's a little heavy. Don't go into it expecting light hearted fare, although de Lint does a masterful job of creating a satisfactory ending that isn't depressing or overly-saccharine either. Thumbs way up here, you need to read this book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 8, 2009 Report Share Posted October 8, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Odd Hours by Koontz. Odd Thomas saves the world, and becomes a bodyguard for a madonna. Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child. Reading Ground Zero by Paul Wilson. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. 4.5 out of 5. I'm not usually into politics and intrigue, as opposed to action, but this book really held my interest. The book centers around three POV characters, who are all well developed, but the book really shines when they happen to be interacting with each other. Those interactions were deep and well thought out. I don't actually know why I'm docking the book half a star except that it's not Game of Thrones and I wasn't actually staying up all night to finish it. Mainspring by Jay Lake. 2 out of 5 stars. In this book, the world is literally a Deus Ex Machina, part of an enormous clockwork mechanism. It's a very interesting world concept. Hethor, the protagonist, finds himself seriously questioning his own faith in his quest to find the Key Perilous and rewind the mainspring that drives the world. The characters he encounters are usually one dimensional and opaque; even the bad guys are so poorly explained that the reader doesn't care about them one way or the other. Hethor (ahem) "hooks up" with a monkey-girl and rationalizes that it's okay because it's not premarital sex if it's not human. (The obvious hole in that logic goes unaddressed.) Anyway, Hethor's incompetence and stupidity eventually force God to save him over and over through repeated deus ex machinas until, by the end of the book, one feels as though Hethor was literally dragged through his quest by God Himself. It is never explained why God chose such a dumb*** for his quest. Perhaps God is a dumb***? Anyway I give this book two whole stars because 1) it only offended me a little and 2) I did manage to finish it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Since I know take the MARC train into Union Station (in Wash. DC) I've had a lot of time to read. So far I've knocked off... In Harms Way (an account of the sinking of the USS Indianapolis during WWII), The Postman, Earth, Halting State, Chasing Ghosts (non-fiction about the invasion or Iraq), Rendezvous With Rama, and Ringworld. Next will be The Ringworld Engineers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranxerox Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Recently, I read the The Caryatidsby Bruce Sterling. Set in the mid-2060s it's outside of what I consider to be Bruce's sweet spot of 20 to 30 years into the future. I was worried a bit use of a three world power system with each power representing different world view. There is a long history of opposing sides in science fiction representing opposing ideas. Generally, in these scenarios the author "proves" his favorite idea is best by having its side come out victorious. Fortunately, Mr. Sterling does not give into this impulse and at the end of the book all the sides remain balanced. The title characters of The Caryatids are 4 "sisters" cloned from the DNA of there war-criminal mother, and all of the sisters loath each other. Going into the book, I found this notion too artsy by half. However, over the years Bruce Sterling has matured from I guy who is good at coming up with ubercool future gadgets into an accomplished storyteller, and for the the most part I think he managed to pull off the clone thing. On the whole I would give it 3 out 5 stars. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... [quote=Old Man;1926008 Mainspring by Jay Lake. 2 out of 5 stars. In this book, the world is literally a Deus Ex Machina, part of an enormous clockwork mechanism. It's a very interesting world concept. Hethor, the protagonist, finds himself seriously questioning his own faith in his quest to find the Key Perilous and rewind the mainspring that drives the world. The characters he encounters are usually one dimensional and opaque; even the bad guys are so poorly explained that the reader doesn't care about them one way or the other. Hethor (ahem) "hooks up" with a monkey-girl and rationalizes that it's okay because it's not premarital sex if it's not human. (The obvious hole in that logic goes unaddressed.) Anyway, Hethor's incompetence and stupidity eventually force God to save him over and over through repeated deus ex machinas until, by the end of the book, one feels as though Hethor was literally dragged through his quest by God Himself. It is never explained why God chose such a dumb*** for his quest. Perhaps God is a dumb***? Anyway I give this book two whole stars because 1) it only offended me a little and 2) I did manage to finish it. You are being too generous. This book isn't worth one star for all the reasons you stated and more. My favorite piece of logic is the main villain wants the mainspring to wind down so God will have to come back and restart it again as proof he exists. Never mind that the planet is ripping itself to pieces the longer it takes Hethor to get to the South Pole and learn to use his spirit magic. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Curufea Posted October 25, 2009 Report Share Posted October 25, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett. (or Football makes it to Discworld) It worried me slightly because the intro give thanks to someone else for doing most of the typing - but I guess he must be in a bad way these days. It hasn't affected his writing at all though - as this one was still full of quotable quotes, funny footnotes and real world allegories. It reminded a bit of a cross between Night Watch and Making Money. Well worth reading. The basic story involved the wizards of Unseen University puttiing a team together - but you can see that from the cover anyway Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... You are being too generous. This book isn't worth one star for all the reasons you stated and more. I felt like I had to leave space for books I liked even less. Although I'm having trouble thinking of any at the moment. Oh wait--The Crystal Empire. There. My favorite piece of logic is the main villain wants the mainspring to wind down so God will have to come back and restart it again as proof he exists. Never mind that the planet is ripping itself to pieces the longer it takes Hethor to get to the South Pole and learn to use his spirit magic. So many other things bothered me that that one didn't even register. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Logan D. Hurricanes Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Reverse psychology, right? Ok, enough with the hard sell! I'll go read Mainspring, geez. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... You're not Mhoram, are you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Major Tom 2009 Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished Legion: Secrets and Lies (part of the Horus Heresy series of novels set in the Warhammer 40K universe)...and talk about a major case of being damned if you do or damned if you don't. Major Tom 2009 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted October 30, 2009 Report Share Posted October 30, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read Ground Zero by Paul WIlson Repairman Jack learns his old enemy helped destroy the World Trade towers to dig up a secret weapon that almost works. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Southern Cross Posted October 31, 2009 Report Share Posted October 31, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Phobos by Ty Drago.Here is the book description from Fantastic Fiction. Essentially,it's an excellent mystery (and giant monster) novel set mainly on Phobos and Mars.It would make an excellent movie. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted November 2, 2009 Report Share Posted November 2, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... "Fortune's Wheel" by Lisanne Norman. Slightly hard going (it is a longish book) but interesting. I like telepathic felinoids ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sociotard Posted November 5, 2009 Report Share Posted November 5, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Makers by Cory Doctorow. This isn't for everybody; the characters swear a lot and there's one scene of nookie that leaves it rated R. I will say it was interesting, if kind of sad. My biggest problem with it was that it didn't really have a strong plot arc, or at least not one that ran the whole course of the book. The book is set in the near future (2010-2030 or thereabouts). One of the strong selling points of the book is that it is *not* the kind of scifi that treats technology as a stand in for magic (like Star Wars) or a frequent Deus Ex Machina (like Star Trek). It focuses on one technological trend and speculates how that technology might influence society. Specifically, technologies that make it easier for people to make stuff, inovate and invent, like 3D printers. There's no mention of energy or oil shortages. Garbage is a handy place to go to get materials to invent with, but there's no real vision of sustainable industry; everything is disposable and not recycled as near as I can tell. Like I said, this book doesn't have a strong arc. More like a cycle that keeps repeating itself. Guys invent something cool. Guys get so involved with the business implications of what they invent that they have less and less time to invent. They become miserable. The business collapses or otherwise ends. Guys go back to inventing cool things and are happy again. By the end of the book I was just hoping that they would at least die while in the happy phase. It was all I could hope for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted November 7, 2009 Report Share Posted November 7, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Just After Sunset by Stephen King. A collection of short stories with ghosts, a survivor of 9/11, a cat from hell and a things from another universe causing OCD. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
st barbara Posted November 9, 2009 Report Share Posted November 9, 2009 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I've just read "Horror Wears Blue" by Lin Carter. The last (? not sure) of his "Doc Savage" pastiches featuring "Prince Zarkon and his Omega Men". Good fun, with some nice "nods" to the genre (having them run into Bulldog Drummond, The Saint and James Bond, among others, when they reach Britain for example) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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