What Are you Currently Reading?

Been looking at getting the Horus Heresy collection for my Kindle, I got around 9 of the books on paper back but i want Ebooks as it is easier to read them at work. So i took a wee peek how much they on from the BlackLibrary.

TWO HUNDRED bloody quid ???? The sillly wankers!!!, Bollocks i say !

http://www.blacklibrary.com/horus-heresy/the-horus-heresy-the-complete-collection-ebundle_.html

 

Holy hell...

 

Yeah, but that's a LOT of novels all together. And most of them are pretty lengthy. That also includes quite a few short stories that didn't actually get published in paper form.

 

Man, being a nerd is a expensive way of life these days

 

I know. It's because they nerds have few places to go to get a proper fix.

 

I am reading The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch, of the Gentleman Bastard series. First in the series, The Lies of Locke Lamora kicks off what is currently something like four books. I believe the story arc is currently projected to be seven by the time it ends.

A buddy of mine recommended it to me; I'm really liking it thus far. It's a low fantasy novel following a band of prolific thieves in the realm of Camorr as they attempt to defraud the nation's elite in the name of avarice and a good fucking time. With silver-tongues and larceny in their hearts, I have been hard-pressed to put it down.

 

I was told the Gentleman Bastard series was good, but I haven't had a chance to check it out yet.

 

That was me. The first one is excellent, the second one is alright, I haven't read the third yet. If you like The Lies of Locke Lamora you may also like:

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson - Very creative fantasy, very awesome plot twists. Also, he can write excellent fight scenes and knows how to write a convincing girl, which is a big plus. First book is very heist-y, just like LoLL.

The Thief by Megan Whalen Turner - It's a children's book, technically, but the series is well-written and the main character is the same kind of roguish charming sort as Locke. Also some good plot twists, with an interesting sort-of-Ancient-Greek world. Nice to read non-medieval fantasy here and there.

Currently am rereading the Vorkosigan Saga by Lois McMaster Bujold, which is probably some of the most sci-fi fun I've ever had. Bujold is able to make her main character grow convincingly in every single book. The first one, Warrior's Apprentice, starts off with Miles (the main character) buying a ship to keep its pilot from being killed, which sets off a chain of events where increasingly crazy things happen. (I want to say what, but it's too much fun to spoil)

Aaaaand if you like Bujold (who I think is just the bee's knees when it comes to writers) her fantasy series starting with the Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls is some of the most creative, interesting fantasy books I've ever come across.

... okay I know there was a bit of superlatives in there, but I'm sharing some of my favorites, so I'm getting excited.

 

Aaand added to my book list.

 

Semper Mars, and the rest. good books, got half way through all that series. maybe i should go back to them.... hmmm......
Orson Scott Card, goood books. I have read most of his books. Just finished Earth Afire a few days ago. It had me up till 1 reading it lol
I would recommend this very engaging fantasy book i just finished today. I don't often read fantasy. The City by Stella Gemmell . Damn, realy good. Almost reminded me of Elder Scolls a bit... Hmm, another good but completely overlooked scifi book, would be Fire on the Border by Kevin O'Donnell. If you are into Star Wars, I would recommend the X-WING saga by Micheal A Stackpoke (cough cough Battletech Warrior series cough cough) and Aaron Allston, and also Republic Command by Karen Travis (she has some other good books as well). William R. Forstchen had some great Wing Commander books... And finally Anne McCaffery's Dragon Riders of Pern is really an enjoyable series.

 

I've read some of the Dragon Riders of Pern series, but I could never figure out what order the books were in, and read them completely mixed up. I didn't read all of them, but the ones I did read were fun.

 

I think I just finished the 5th Dresden Files book...just need to get another $20 together so I can snag 6 and 7.

 

I have every book (and most of the short stories) and eagerly await Skin Game this summer!

also, when you finish to Changes, you will most likely have a WTF moment. (pretty sure it's Changes, I can't find my copy of the book for some reason)

 

I admire the Colt Python that Harry's wielding currently.

 

I hope it's as good as it sounds, not quite the same thing, but the Posleen war series is pretty damn good for sci-fi (Legacy of the Aldenata, by John Ringo)

 

I'm currently on the final book of the Mistborn trilogy. I've been reasonably satisfied with them so far. I felt like it was a bit of an acquired taste for me.

Personally, I much preferred the second book to the first. It isn't that the first is bad, but I also wouldn't say my review would rave about it to the extent that many do.

I liked the setting well enough: Sanderson does a great job creating a dystopian backdrop as the jumping off point for his trilogy. It also has a very interesting and unique premise for a system of magic, and that's always a plus.

I suppose my biggest qualm with the first book is that I didn't personally see the level of character exposition or internal exploration that I hoped for. We do learn quite a bit of Vin (the main character), but it felt like many of the other central characters (even the other "main" character, Kelsier) lacked depth. You saw glimpses of their motivations and personalities, but, for characters who were featured in just about every chapter, I was disappointed with how unsubstantial many of them felt.

Now, allow me to clarify: I don't think it is a fault of Sanderson as a writer at all. I wasn't disappointed because I felt like he had an inability to accomplish that; I was disappointed because it seemed to me that he could have done that on many occasions, but those details kept on getting put by the wayside. I can't say that I fault him too much. In the end, given the projected plot of the trilogy, he had so many external components to develop and portray. I suppose it would be fair to say that he devoted a great deal of effort to exploring the "characters" of the society and magic system. While I can now see why that was done, I had a very hard time giving half a shit about most of the characters even at the end of the first book as a result. I didn't hate the book, but I wasn't exactly dying to devour the rest of the trilogy either.

I figured I'd give it a go though, and the second book did much more for me than the first.

Prior to reading the second book, I poked around to see what other people thought of it. I saw a common theme pop out pretty quickly. It sounded something like, "Geez the last 150 or so pages were great, but I almost didn't get there. The first 400 pages were hard to get through." I rolled the dice and started into it. The last couple hundred pages were great, but damn did I enjoy the first four hundred.

The second book focuses much more on that internal development that I wanted to see so much in the first. The society and the magic system were already adequately defined, which gave Sanderson more time to work with and explore the characters themselves. I thoroughly enjoyed it. It may not have had many of the unique battle scenes or fights that the first did, but I actually did start to give have a shit (maybe even a full shit) about Vin, Sazed, Elend, and the others.

I'm about a third into the third book right now, and I'm enjoying myself. The series as a whole had to grow on me, but I'm in a good place with it now. We've come to an understanding. I wouldn't say I'd name it as one of my top reads, but I have shifted from indifference towards it to pleasant satisfaction with it. The series has won that victory. Who knows, maybe the remaining two thirds of the final book will shift my opinion that much more.

 

I didn't read this for fear of accidentally coming across a spoiler, but I've been told to read Mystborn. And I'll get around to it. But cabalcat gave me "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" which I'm about to start now that I'm finishing "Ann of Green Gables" and I'm looking forward to it.

 

Fear not, no spoilers are there to be seen.