gewing Posted June 21, 2011 Report Share Posted June 21, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished "Midnight Tides" by Steven Erikson. This is book 5 of "The Malazan Book of the Fallen" series. It took me nearly 5 months to finish it. This book is hard for me to judge...sometimes I wanted to hurl it against yonder wall. At other times, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. This is the first book of this series that has afflicted me in such a manner. Why did it take me 5 months to finish this book? The problem revolves around two central characters Tehol Beddict and his manservant Bugg. I do not like it when scenes of absurd humor are frequently interlaced throughout a story of dark fiction. It is rather like having syrup-laden muzak stick its unwanted voice into my favorite Tool song. It doesn't belong (IMHO) and it ruins the mood. I found myself wishing that someone (ANYONE) would kill these characters (and all their attendant silly retainers) and remove them with extreme prejudice. Of course, when it looked like a bunch of Tiste Edurs were going to grant my wish towards the very end of the book, I found myself saddened by Tehol's (apparent) ignoble demise. I still don't want the "Tehol and Bugg" show to continue in other books, but I wouldn't wish for Tehol to be treated in such a fashion. Strange how these thing work out, huh? I guess I became more fond of the Tehol character than I had realized... In summary, this was my least favorite book (of this series) thus far. Don't get me wrong, this book had some awesome fights with some spectacular sorcery battles thrown in for good measure, but the frequent comic relief made me enjoy it less than the other books in this series. I still recommend this series for those that appreciate dark fantasy. Although I may change my mind in the future, I still rank this series as in the top 5 of fantasy series I have read to this point. Tehol and Bugg keep showing up. I agree, at times I want to turn them into fish food, but at other times, they do something that is absolutely awesome. I keep telling people that we are in a bit of a golden age of Fantasy. Erickson, Butcher... we are lucky. But I still have to wait another month for "Ghost Story" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted June 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Tehol and Bugg keep showing up. I agree, at times I want to turn them into fish food, but at other times, they do something that is absolutely awesome. I keep telling people that we are in a bit of a golden age of Fantasy. Erickson, Butcher... we are lucky. But I still have to wait another month for "Ghost Story" I agree with your golden age assessment. When I started to read fantasy seriously, we had slim pickings (Eddings, Brooks, Anthony). Now we have a wide range of excellent authors from which to choose. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted June 22, 2011 Report Share Posted June 22, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... It started a little slow (which lead me to stop reading on several separate occasions over the years) but I made a promise to myself to finish it. Before long' date=' a vicious three-part conflict erupted that kept me riveted for the rest of the book. The ending was a little too neat/tidy for my tastes, but this is a very minor quibble. Cheryyh has a writing style that is hard to explain, but frequently succeeds. Her "Foreigner" series exhibits the most fully developed alien culture I have encountered in Science Fiction. I am glad to have started another of her series. This really scratched the space opera itch I had developed. I will probably read "Merchanter's Luck" in the near future (but not before I read another of her "Foreigner" books).[/quote'] I was somewhat less impressed with her worldbuilding in the "Foreigner" series when I realized the Atevi are sci-fi Dark Elves, run through a biological lens . Kinda like figuring out the magician's trick. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel across a postapocalyptic hellscape in search of food, shoes, and hope. Won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. There is no question that Mr. McCarthy is a really good writer. His tricks of avoiding the quotes key and not having chapters help to foster an atmosphere of silence and relentlessness that pervades the story. But more than that, the book manages to convey a great deal of nuance and meaning with some very spare text. Were I to write a novel, I'd like to be this efficient at it. I picked up this book thinking, hey, Pulitzer winning PA book, how can I not read this? It is an excellent and moving adventure story. But heads up: it may be the bleakest story ever written. This book makes Road Warrior look like a Boy Scout camping trip. It makes the Galactica reboot look like a commercial for Carnival Cruise Lines. The Postman, Lucifer's Hammer, Dies the Fire, Ivan Denisovich, even Nineteen Eighty Four aren't even close for sheer epic hopelessness. Make no mistake, this book is about the end of the world. You've been warned. A very good book if you think you can handle it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Markdoc Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel across a postapocalyptic hellscape in search of food, shoes, and hope. Won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. There is no question that Mr. McCarthy is a really good writer. His tricks of avoiding the quotes key and not having chapters help to foster an atmosphere of silence and relentlessness that pervades the story. But more than that, the book manages to convey a great deal of nuance and meaning with some very spare text. Were I to write a novel, I'd like to be this efficient at it. I picked up this book thinking, hey, Pulitzer winning PA book, how can I not read this? It is an excellent and moving adventure story. But heads up: it may be the bleakest story ever written. This book makes Road Warrior look like a Boy Scout camping trip. It makes the Galactica reboot look like a commercial for Carnival Cruise Lines. The Postman, Lucifer's Hammer, Dies the Fire, Ivan Denisovich, even Nineteen Eighty Four aren't even close for sheer epic hopelessness. Make no mistake, this book is about the end of the world. You've been warned. A very good book if you think you can handle it. And the movie is every bit as cheerful except for a very slight hint that things might take a turn for the better right at the end. cheers, Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The Road by Cormac McCarthy. A man and his son travel across a postapocalyptic hellscape in search of food, shoes, and hope. Won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. There is no question that Mr. McCarthy is a really good writer. His tricks of avoiding the quotes key and not having chapters help to foster an atmosphere of silence and relentlessness that pervades the story. But more than that, the book manages to convey a great deal of nuance and meaning with some very spare text. Were I to write a novel, I'd like to be this efficient at it. I picked up this book thinking, hey, Pulitzer winning PA book, how can I not read this? It is an excellent and moving adventure story. But heads up: it may be the bleakest story ever written. This book makes Road Warrior look like a Boy Scout camping trip. It makes the Galactica reboot look like a commercial for Carnival Cruise Lines. The Postman, Lucifer's Hammer, Dies the Fire, Ivan Denisovich, even Nineteen Eighty Four aren't even close for sheer epic hopelessness. Make no mistake, this book is about the end of the world. You've been warned. A very good book if you think you can handle it. I found a web page that traces the journey. Apparently it's through the Carolinas to the Atlantic Ocean. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... And the movie is every bit as cheerful except for a very slight hint that things might take a turn for the better right at the end. cheers, Mark The appearance of the bug is also a slight glimmer of hope, all things considered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Mhoram Posted July 3, 2011 Report Share Posted July 3, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Last week I read 1632 by Eric Flint. One of the best books I've read in years - it's going on my "Shelf of renown" with the Donaldson, Tolkien, Harry Potter, F Paul Wilson and Jim Butcher. It's a little over 10 years old, and I was only prepherially aware of it. The wife and I went used book hunting and I picked it up. Read it in one day, and bought the next 5 books. The story is this - a West Virginia town (about 7 miles in diameter) gets transported to Germany smack in the middle of the 30 years war. It's about them trying to survive, and trying to make life better for those around them. The characters are interesting and the tone is great. The author wanted to have regular people in this situation, and does a good job. With an entire town (including the local power plant and high school) coming along they have a strong base to operate from. The characters are very down to earth American - and that really shows through the book - it's a West Virginia Mining town, and very down to earth characters. Being a sucker for both transworld fantasy and alternate history I was hooked. The other really interesting thing about this setting is that he initially intended for it to be a stand alone novel, but it got a lot of response on the Baen boards. So he decided to do a sequel (co written with David Weber) - and while that was going on the community on the boards were analyzing things, and doing fan fiction. Some of it really good - so he published a short story collection - half from established authors (David Weber and Mercedes Lackey among them) and the other half being the stuff that came up on the boards. Then he started publishing an e-magazine of the stuff on the boards (fiction, and some analytical bits). And the stories that came up there (and from published authors) began influencing the novels. He created the world, and co writes most of the novels, and created the bible for anyone who wants to write in that universe - and now he says he is much a co-ordinator as author. The setup has so many possible characters this really works. And as he said in an authors note - alternate histories run the risk of the author getting hung up on a specific thing that as time goes on pulls the quality down, but real history is messy - so by having a community to use, it alleviates that risk. Overall the story was really good, characterization was amazing, the hook concept was fantastic, and I really enjoyed the tone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted July 6, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 6, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Baen has a really nice free e-book page run by 1632's author Eric Flint... There are many good books to be found, including "Doc Sidhe" by Aaron Allston. http://www.baen.com/library/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished "Consider Phlebas" by Iain M. Banks. I believe that this is the first "Culture" novel in the series (however, others more familiar with the series have stated that the books can be read in any order). The "Culture" novels deal with a space-faring quasi-empire known as ...wait for it!...the Culture. This Star Trek Federation-like association of hedonists disdain money and material wealth. The Culture also grants AI's equal rights to humans. Things aren't always peaceful for these drone-loving space hippies as there is a darker(some would say, more realistic) side that operates covertly in ways seemingly at odds with their space hippy manifesto. I think that this dichotomy is what makes these books (at least the two I've read to date) interesting. Lately, I have found myself in a mood to read lots of Space Opera...hence my decision to resume reading the "Culture" novels. Back in the late 80's/early 90's I very much enjoyed what I believe to be the 2nd "Culture" novel---"Player of Games". I intend to re-read "Player of Games" in the near future to see if Bozimus of 2011 likes it as much as Bozimus of the late 80's/early 90's. How did I like "Consider Phlebas"? I found it to be slightly above-average space opera. There are parts that bored me to death (one in particular made me pause my reading of this book for nearly 6 months) and other parts that had me rapidly flipping the pages. The "Culture" has numerous cool gadgets and interesting alien species making for an effective space opera setting. I think "Player of Games" was the stronger novel, but that might be because I am more jaded than I was 20 years ago. Based on my enjoyment of "Player of Games" I expected more from "Consider Phlebas". However, "Consider Phlebas" is a good book in its own right. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The only explanation for the Cultures' success, though, is that they are not, in fact, human. The approach they take would result in violent, uncontrolled spoiled brats if tried on humans. For that reason, it goes in my "bad fiction" list, as the author is clearly presenting it as a "human utopia". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted July 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... What I am about to say may be considered a spoiler by some while others may not consider it a spoiler in any way/shape/form. To be safe I will treat it as a spoiler... I am no expert on the "Culture" books...having only read two of them, and one of them 20 years back. But I think Iain Banks is playing a practical joke on those that would advocate a utopian society. The Culture (supposedly) holds to a set of utopian mores while its Contact division violates those same mores to insure the Culture's survival (in some cases) and its dominance in others. I could be wrong, but I don't think Banks is holding the Culture up to be some utopian ideal... Again, I have only read two of these books (not a sufficient sampling). Maybe someone who has read more of these Culture books will comment? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... ...Subtle trolling is also unlikely to get a book on my "good book" list. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The only explanation for the Cultures' success, though, is that they are not, in fact, human. The approach they take would result in violent, uncontrolled spoiled brats if tried on humans. For that reason, it goes in my "bad fiction" list, as the author is clearly presenting it as a "human utopia". He admits as such. His objective is to create interesting plots for the utopia to deal with. Or, at least, a certain segment of it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 7, 2011 Report Share Posted July 7, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I just finished "Consider Phlebas" by Iain M. Banks. I believe that this is the first "Culture" novel in the series (however, others more familiar with the series have stated that the books can be read in any order). The "Culture" novels deal with a space-faring quasi-empire known as ...wait for it!...the Culture. This Star Trek Federation-like association of hedonists disdain money and material wealth. The Culture also grants AI's equal rights to humans. Things aren't always peaceful for these drone-loving space hippies as there is a darker(some would say, more realistic) side that operates covertly in ways seemingly at odds with their space hippy manifesto. I think that this dichotomy is what makes these books (at least the two I've read to date) interesting. Lately, I have found myself in a mood to read lots of Space Opera...hence my decision to resume reading the "Culture" novels. Back in the late 80's/early 90's I very much enjoyed what I believe to be the 2nd "Culture" novel---"Player of Games". I intend to re-read "Player of Games" in the near future to see if Bozimus of 2011 likes it as much as Bozimus of the late 80's/early 90's. How did I like "Consider Phlebas"? I found it to be slightly above-average space opera. There are parts that bored me to death (one in particular made me pause my reading of this book for nearly 6 months) and other parts that had me rapidly flipping the pages. The "Culture" has numerous cool gadgets and interesting alien species making for an effective space opera setting. I think "Player of Games" was the stronger novel, but that might be because I am more jaded than I was 20 years ago. Based on my enjoyment of "Player of Games" I expected more from "Consider Phlebas". However, "Consider Phlebas" is a good book in its own right. I've read all them and liked them all. However, I recall thinking Consider Phlebas wandered a bit at times. However, I really liked Player of Games and Look to Windward and do think his writing gets better and better as he progresses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... He admits as such. His objective is to create interesting plots for the utopia to deal with. Or' date=' at least, a certain segment of it.[/quote'] ...Sorry, it's not clear to me which part of my post you're referring to when you say "He admits as such.". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bozimus Posted July 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... I've read all them and liked them all. However' date=' I recall thinking [i']Consider Phlebas[/i] wandered a bit at times. However, I really liked Player of Games and Look to Windward and do think his writing gets better and better as he progresses. I am glad to learn that the quality improves over time with this series. The science fiction and fantasy genres are rife with series that continued long past the point where they should have been terminated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... ...Sorry' date=' it's not clear to me which part of my post you're referring to when you say "He admits as such.".[/quote'] The author... Ian M Banks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Man Posted July 8, 2011 Report Share Posted July 8, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Ian or Iain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Ian or Iain? Errr... I think it's Iain, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... The author... Ian M Banks. No, as to what, exactly, he's admitting. There's at least two things in that paragraph I can think of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Susano Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... No' date=' as to what, exactly, he's admitting. There's at least two things in that paragraph I can think of.[/quote'] If I'm recalling the essays he's written, he admits it's a utopia and that it's overly optimistic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Narf the Mouse Posted July 9, 2011 Report Share Posted July 9, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... If I'm recalling the essays he's written' date=' he admits it's a utopia and that it's overly optimistic.[/quote'] Ah, ok. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
csyphrett Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Read No Hero by Johnathon Wood. Arthur Wallace is lifted from the Oxford police to be a member of an eccentric government department. That's when things hit the fan. CES Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
death tribble Posted July 11, 2011 Report Share Posted July 11, 2011 Re: What Fantasy/Sci-Fi book have you just finished? Please rate it... Club Dead. Sookie has to go and rescue Bill from the King of Missouri. More entertaining than the Anita Blake books. There is sex but it is a lot more restrained. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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