What are you reading now?

[Hilarity Unit]

Following Deep's example...

Recently started Axis by Robert Charles Wilson (follow up to Spin). Seems on course to keep up his recent excellent standard.

[disrepdog]

The Burning Man by Mark Chadbourn, again, but it's very good and to be recommended after you have read the previous 7 books in his trilogy of trilogies. :D

[Deep Black]

Ahh yes, always a popular thread.

Currently reading "The Drowned World" by JG Ballard

[RedKing]

Hardwired - Walter Jon Williams, for the n^th time

[armchairanarchist]

Singularity's Ring by Paul Melko.

[edash]

The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan.

[rac]

Finished the Phil Rickman book I was reading, and read the new Rowling thing in a couple of hours last Saturday. It's very good fun- she really is an astonishing writer, but it's way too short to be considered a 'book'!

Currently reading David Attenborough's autobiography.

[Hilarity Unit]

Ahh yes, always a popular thread.

So was/is "Post Here To Own The Board" - but I suspect it may be frowned upon here :D

[FearfulSymmetry]

The Tenderness of Wolves by Steph Penny
Historical murder mystery set in snowy 1800s Canada... bit of a slow burner so far.

[scooterman]

Down and Out in Paris and London by George Orwell

[RedKing]

So was/is "Post Here To Own The Board" - but I suspect it may be frowned upon here :D

I'm sure we'll sneak something in... :eek:

[Chiaroscuro]

Pyramids by Terry Pratchett.

In the last year I've also read The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, which I would probably never have read if I'd realised its subject matter before picking it up and getting hooked from the first paragraph; Hogfather which a friend leant to me and was my first Terry Pratchett novel and kept making me laugh in public places - always sure to get you your own seat on a train; Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay which I thought started of really well and then fizzled a bit; Company of Liars which was interesting but never quite hit the spot for me; Smoke and Mirrors and Stardust by Neil Gaiman, enjoyed both, but he seems to have this pervading sadness in his stories that has put me off reading more. Then I bought The Colour of Magic and it's been Terry Pratchett since September.

[Deep Black]

Am currently about 2/3 the way through Midworld by Alan Dean Foster

Next up (& it litterally just dropped through my letter-box 15 mins ago) will be Titus Groan by Mervyn Peake

[RedKing]

W. Axl Rose by Mick Wall. It's a gripping read so far, it shows how power and fame corrupt as well as feeding your ego so you don't notice.

[armchairanarchist]

Mind Over Ship, second novel from David Marusek. So far it's every bit as rammed full of brain-food as the first (Counting Heads), which comes highly recommended... though I'm not sure that it ever got a UK release, so you might have to import.

[Champagne Socialist]

Perdido Street Station; China Miéville; Very very good

[RedKing]

I've bounced off that book about half a dozen times. I might try just one last time...

[Deep Black]

Recently aquired it myself. It always takes me a while to build up to one that long (oo-er)

[Champagne Socialist]

Recently aquired it myself. It always takes me a while to build up to one that long (oo-er)

Now if Claire had said that...

[Chiaroscuro]

Now if Claire had said that...

Oi!

:D

[edash]

Jasper Fforde's Something Rotten - ingenius, madcap and completely silly, but I wouldn't expect any less from him.

[Luseferous]

Edwin A Abbott. Flatland. Havn't finished it yet. It's quite hard going. ''A mathematical fantasy about life in a two-dimensional world''?!?!?
Oh...I'm NOT a mathematician. Not that one needs to be to read it. Was just saying.

[Hilarity Unit]

Mind Over Ship, second novel from David Marusek. So far it's every bit as rammed full of brain-food as the first (Counting Heads), which comes highly recommended...

I've had Counting Heads in my Amazon basket/wish list ever since AA recommended it when it first appeared in hdbk; suppose I should do something about it...

Axis by Robert Charles Wilson was a bit disappointing in the end as it didn't really answer many of the questions posed in the first book (Spin).

Now nearly finished Stealing Light by Gary Gibson - a rip roaring page turning with many a nod to Alastair Reynolds, Dan Simmons & TMH. Recommended.

[edash]

The new one from Michael Marshall, Bad Things.

[Hilarity Unit]

On to Put Me Back on My Bike: In Search of Tom Simpson by William Fotheringham.

Pulled a muscle in my calf the other day (playing that vicious game: badminton) so less chores to do round the house & a lunch hour when I don't have to go home & walk the dog - result: more time to read. Although also means less time on my bike.

[BeckyH]

Enjoying Richard Morgan's Takeshi Kovaks series. Also trying out a new way to find books at the library-I wander the stacks and when I see an intriguing title I check it out. Read some neat authors I'd either missed first time around or never saw at all.

[Champagne Socialist]

I got really annoyed with the Takeshi Kovaks novel I did read.
It was sold to me as a Noir slant on a Culture type universe, but what I read was lazily written graphic sexual violence with the thinnest patina of plot.
The guy is supposed to be an uber sophisticated detective, yet all he does is go off half cocked from fight to rape to murder getting nowhere to suddenly jumping to the right conclusion just in time for another blood bath because the author had a deadline.

"If Bond worked for the Culture" My sweet shiny posterior.

Sorry for the big scary rant, and anyone is welcome to disagree with me, thus is the succour of debate.

[RedKing]

Richard Morgan has an 'interesting' thread on rec.arts.sf.written which has, as pert of it, the following:


I must, however, warn anyone considering reading {The Steel Remains} that Richard Morgan most definitely violates the generalized version of McCutchen's Law though. Violates it long and hard and energetically.


What is McCutchen's Law?


Avoid novels featuring forcible anal penetration.

The law in specific is intended to be applied to the work of John Barnes, but the generalized version applies to the work of other authors as well.

I don't know if that now makes me want to read them, or not. I'm also assuming that it isn't the John Barnes known for a goal against Brazil and some very bad rapping. ;)

[rac]

Man, my reading's getting slower and slower!

Just finished Attenbrough's autobiography.

Have now begun the new Stephen King collection 'Just after Sunset'.

[iansales]

I just finished Larry Niven's Ringworld - which I've written about here (http://justhastobeplausible.blogspot.com/2009/01/2009-reading-challenge-1-ringworld.html).

Next up I'll be reading The Survivor by James Herbert, because, well... I review DVDs for VideoVista (http://www.videovista.net/) and when I saw the film adaptation of The Survivor on the list of DVDs available for review I picked it because "I've always sort of liked the book". And I got sent it. At which point I realised I'd got confused between Herbert's The Spear and The Survivor. So now I've got to read The Survivor before watching the film...

[Chiaroscuro]

The Survivor was one of my favourite Herbert novels. I enjoyed the film too, but it's been years since I've seen it so if it ends up being rubbish I apologise. :)

[rac]

I seem to remember the film being waaay different.
Having (this is all from long ago memory) the psychic character (Hobbs?) turned into a woman, and changing the ending.

Good book though.

[iansales]

I'll be mentioning the differences between book and film in my review. I'll post a link here when it goes up at the beginning of February, if anyone's interested.

[rac]

Yup- looking forward to it!

[edash]

Just started Philip K Dick's A Maze of Death.

Also Jeff Evans' A Beer A Day, which if I'm to read in the correct manner will take me all year to finish.

[Adamus]

As with many I'm working on several books at once. In order of progression:

Critique of Criminal Reason - Michael Gregorio. Decent enough though obviously from an inexperienced writer. Too many one-dimensional characters, plot holes and unsatisfactory twists. But all in all an entertaining read in an original setting.

50 Mathematical Ideas You Really Need To Know - Tony Crilly. Accessible book that explains the most important mathematical concepts and ideas. I sucked at math in highschool and I figured it was about time I caught up with it, as I do enjoy it when this particular science makes an appearance in pop culture. Not as thorough as I'd like, which is an unfair criticism really as when you have to cram 50 concepts into one book you can't really go into too much depth, can you?

Gradisil - Adam Roberts. Enjoying this one thoroughly so far. About 1/3 of the way through.

[Hilarity Unit]

Just started on Angel Stations by Gary Gibson - not as promising as his Stealing Light, but it is early days.

[Adamus]

Re: Richard Morgan, imho his best book was the one he wrote first (but was published later); Market Forces. I enjoyed his Takeshi Kovacs series - not strong plot-wise but stuffed full of (bio)tech and sex, which always endears a book to me. Black Man (Thirteen in the USA) was a disappointment, and his first foray into fantasy in the form of The Steel Remains breaks a lot of the genre's usual boundaries but doesn't satisfy entirely either. It's as if he tried too hard to make it different.

[Deep Black]

Also Jeff Evans' A Beer A Day, which if I'm to read in the correct manner will take me all year to finish.
& are you gonna have the appropriate beer each day?

[Chiaroscuro]

I seem to remember the film being waaay different.
Having (this is all from long ago memory) the psychic character (Hobbs?) turned into a woman, and changing the ending.

Good book though.

I remember it was different, but you've got a better memory than me about the changing gender character.

Goes to show the power of books again though, that I can more vividly recall scenes I imagined in the book than I can scenes I watched in the film.

[edash]

& are you gonna have the appropriate beer each day?

That would be fun but would require too much planning sourcing them all. Of the 366 (he includes the 29 Feb) featured, I've had 111 of them, with another couple of them in stock (which is totally coincidental as I bought them before I got the book).

[rac]

I remember it was different, but you've got a better memory than me about the changing gender character.

Goes to show the power of books again though, that I can more vividly recall scenes I imagined in the book than I can scenes I watched in the film.

Remembering every useless detail of things is my gift... and my curse..!

[Luseferous]

''Call me Ishmael'', Moby Dick.

[edash]

Watchmen

Yes, I haven't read this before so thought I better see what all the fuss is about.

[boberick2]

Use of weapons



'tis good

[Hagbard Celine]

Black Light by Stephen Hunter, so far it's good.

[Deep Black]

The Pastel City by M. John Harrison

[haddonsman]

Use of weapons

Shit, knew I should have been reading something this morning.

Ahem; The Bridge. And UoW. Honest.

[edash]

The Digital Plague by Jeff Somers

[jag]

The British National Formulary.
Gotta know what all these drugs are doing to me.

[edash]

The British National Formulary.
Gotta know what all these drugs are doing to me.

Ah yes, the BNF. Very familiar with that. Use it every day in work.

[Deep Black]

Also working my way through Margaret Atwood - Oryx & Crake ,on Audio book (tape)

[Chiaroscuro]

Just started Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett, but have also just bought This Things of Darkness by Harry Thompson which, if I end up not enjoying it, will make a useful portable step.

[rac]

Almost finished the new King book- I'm on fire at the moment!
Also reading Persepolis, which is brilliant.

Audio book at the moment is The Deathly Hallows.

[Deep Black]

My wife's on Deathly Hallows at the moment too

[RedKing]

My wife's on Deathly Hallows at the moment too

Is that the new euphemism for 'lady troubles'? :rolleyes:

[rac]

Hahaa!

It's funny cause it's true!

[Chiaroscuro]

Is that the new euphemism for 'lady troubles'? :rolleyes:

:D It is now. Let's see how long it'll take it to catch on.

C'mon Jasper Carrott managed it with 'zit'.

[Deep Black]

Except this Deathly Hallows is lasting longer than normal:eek:

[RedKing]

And I shan't be dashing to watch the movie, now I come to think of it...

[rac]

Still haven't watched the last movie...

[198505]

Up a Tree in the Park at Night with a Hedgehog
by P. Robert Smith.

[Deep Black]

Stephen Fry - The Liar

[rac]

Stephen Fry - The Liar

I was just thinking about that book a couple of days ago- I wouldn't mind reading it again.

So, today I finished both the new King novel and the Harry Potter audio.
Next audio is The Road, which is loaded up and ready for tomorrow.
Next book... dunno yet, I think it'll be a handy paperback sized one though.

[the blondini gang]

Chugging through old Analog sci fi mags that I picked up second hand. And The Bridge for the non M bookclub.

[Halmyre]

As mentioned elsewhere, 'Redemption Ark' by Alastair Reynolds. I've got John Martyn's biography waiting by the bedside as well.

[boberick2]

Use of weapons

and it's confusing...

[BeckyH]

Regenesis by C.J. Cherryh. Odd, how in 200-some pages we've had a few meetings, some dinners and the odd conversation And that's it. The whole thing is the interior lives of the characters-there has been NO action. Just "I can trust him right?" "Oh, lok, now he talking to a new person! How did he meet this person? Is this person dangerous? What do they want?" Will the boy leave the chair? Will the boy leave the room? And what about Naomi??!!" (obscure reference)
In the Foreigner series there are at least brief bursts of action between these rounds of introspection. And our hero is trying to figure out an alien mindset. This has moved to be the book on the toilet tank, so I only have to deal with it in little bits.
A fair amount of general literary literature.
BeckyH

[RedKing]

I prefer ReGenesis the band. In the last lap of Use Of Weapons

[boberick2]

I prefer ReGenesis the band. In the last lap of Use Of Weapons


No spoilers!

i still haven't got over what they did at sunday school

tell me the ending of the damn new testiment




http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c217/alleinashe/Jesus/spoiler_jesus_dies.jpg

[Deep Black]

Or does he?

[Attitude Adjuster]

Well I finished Excession this morning (again!) and I'll now move on to the book my loving darling wifey-poos bought me for Valentines day - John Pearson's 'The Profession of Violence - The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins'. Do you think she's trying to tell me something:confused::confused:

I made quite a start on it yesterday and it looks like a good read but maybe a bit stomach churning in places; especially when you realise it really happened. But hey, they were smashing lads really, only killed their own and loved their mother.

[Chiaroscuro]

Well I finished Excession this morning (again!) and I'll now move on to the book my loving darling wifey-poos bought me for Valentines day - John Pearson's 'The Profession of Violence - The Rise and Fall of the Kray Twins'. Do you think she's trying to tell me something:confused::confused:
Ahhh, romantic. :)


I made quite a start on it yesterday and it looks like a good read but maybe a bit stomach churning in places; especially when you realise it really happened. But hey, they were smashing lads really, only killed their own and loved their mother.

:D

I've been trying to remember the author of a short story I read years ago. It might be Isaac Asimov, but I'm just not sure.

The story is about a family that need to lose weight and they use a robot to regulate what they eat. The robot short circuits and traps them in the house and won't feed them anything except dry toast and black coffee, or possibly water.

Ring any bells with anyone?

I remember there being other stories in the book that I thought were really good, but I can't remember if it was a collection of various authors or just one and would like to try to find it again if it's still available.

[Deep Black]

No idea, but it sounds more like PK Dick than Asimov...?

[Hilarity Unit]

Finished Angel Stations by Gary Gibson - not too shabby. Took a while to get into it, mainly because there were too many story lines in the first 50 odd pages. There were also too many similarities with Stealing Light (confused female lead with implants, long dead aliens who left high tech stuff behind, some third thing, etc...) but it was his first novel so all is forgiven.

[Chiaroscuro]

No idea, but it sounds more like PK Dick than Asimov...?

It could very well be.

Edit to say: But it's not! I've found it! The Iron Chancellor by Robert Silverberg.

[Old Vig]

I think the Asimov story you were thinking about was one of the Robot stories, where the American positronic computer had been given the problem of faster than light space travel to solve. This problem had driven the Soviet positronic computer insane. The American brain survived the experience, but gained a wicked sense of humour. The first FTL pilots discovered that their entire onboard food supply, although packaged in many different containers was composed entirely of baked beans and condensed milk. lol.

[Halmyre]

It could very well be.

Edit to say: But it's not! I've found it! The Iron Chancellor by Robert Silverberg.

I could have sworn it was Asimov as well! I remember the story - blackly funny...

[198505]

Just finished the Banksoniain #14 very good work as always Dave.:D

[Chiaroscuro]

I think the Asimov story you were thinking about was one of the Robot stories, where the American positronic computer had been given the problem of faster than light space travel to solve. This problem had driven the Soviet positronic computer insane. The American brain survived the experience, but gained a wicked sense of humour. The first FTL pilots discovered that their entire onboard food supply, although packaged in many different containers was composed entirely of baked beans and condensed milk. lol.
I've not read that particular one but it sounds good. :)

I could have sworn it was Asimov as well! I remember the story - blackly funny...
That's the one. A lot the Silverberg collections are only available through sellers on Amazon, but I think I'll seek one out. Looking at the titles I think the collection could have been Needle in a Timestack because that title is ringing all sorts of bells - available at prices anywhere from 95p up to £60.16!

[Deep Black]

Currently working my way through Watchmen again, in preperation for the film

[Old Vig]

Just finished Love in the Time of Cholera. It's on a list of 100 books to read before you die, and not written in a style I like, so was a bit of a grind to complete. At least it didn't take me 2 years like Don Quixote did. I'm re-reading Anansi Boys for a bit of light relief, and Dark Blood by John Meaney is next up.

[edash]

Dan Simmons - Ilium

[claverhouse]

Re-re-re-read Complicity and Espedair Street in the last couple of days,and just about to start rereading all 28 volumes of "Lone Wolf & Cub".

[jag]

The manual for street fighter 4 (Xbox 360).
What a bitch.

[Champagne Socialist]

I'm so jealous.
I was going to nip to the shops and get that on Saturday after my jog.

what's it like what's it like what's it like?

[rac]

Children of Men

[Hagbard Celine]

LA Confidential.

[Deep Black]

Finished "The Liar" by Stephen Fry - pretty good.
& nearly finished "Oryx & Crake" by Margrat Atwood (on audio tape)

Have now started "The Book of Skulls" by Robert Silverberg

[Hilarity Unit]

Nearly finished Saturn Returns by Sean Williams. I won't be bothering with the other 2 books in the series - it just doesn't cut it. Huge holes in the plot, tech & timelines.

It will be interesting to contrast this with Alastair Reynolds' House Of Suns (due out in pbk tomorrow & hopefully on my doorstep the day after) which also deals with multiple copies/clones of the same person - I should think they don't go around murdering each other for no apparent reason.

[BeckyH]

Greatly enjoyed Taylor Anderson's Destroyermen series, which I read all in the space of three weeks. A nice alternate earth story, if a bit simplistic in the political end of things.

[Halmyre]

Just finished Allen Steele's 'Spindrift', entertaining enough, but by the end I was fed up with the various characters. Interesting that an American author has imagined a world where Europe has developed as a superpower; but overall it hasn't inspired me try his other books, TBH.

[edash]

Have now started "The Book of Skulls" by Robert Silverberg

Got bored with that one, didn't care about the characters, one of the few books I haven't finished. But don't let that put you off, quite a few reviews I've read reckon it's a work of genius.


Nearly finished Saturn Returns by Sean Williams. I won't be bothering with the other 2 books in the series - it just doesn't cut it. Huge holes in the plot, tech & timelines.


Have a copy of it but not got round to reading it yet. Knowing there's a character in it with a Gary Numan fixation doesn't bode well though.


Just finished Allen Steele's 'Spindrift', entertaining enough, but by the end I was fed up with the various characters. Interesting that an American author has imagined a world where Europe has developed as a superpower; but overall it hasn't inspired me try his other books, TBH.

Tried to read his first one, Coyote, and gave up after about 150 pages. All the characters seemed interchangable, even the children, parts of what little plot there was up to then were too convenient and the writing style was too dry.

[boberick2]

Wasp factory
kid keeps heads on sacrifice poles
dad measures everything

..wat..

[jag]

an Xbox magazine.

[Hagbard Celine]

Singularity Sky by Charles Stross, so far good stuff.

[Deep Black]

Got bored with that one, didn't care about the characters, one of the few books I haven't finished. But don't let that put you off, quite a few reviews I've read reckon it's a work of genius.

Really? I've been finding it quite gripping, I've nearly finished it, which is pretty quick for me.

I certainly wouldn't call it work of genius though.

Actually I also question as to whether it's even an SF book really?

[Adamus]

A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge.

My second attempt at this book. The first time I couldn't get into it and had to put it away after the first few dozen pages. This second try is much more fruitful and enjoyable, over halfway through already.

[Deep Black]

I read that recently. I wasn't overly impressed.

It came across as more of a "young-adult" novel.

& the way the characters w-were w-written w-with a l-little s-stutter w-when t-they w-were a-anxious really got on my pectorals.

Shame as the main idea & the aliens were great

[Hilarity Unit]

It came across as more of a "young-adult" novel.


I sort of understand that pov - it is a bit boy's own adventure SF. But his aliens are up there with the best (this is even more so in the prequel/follow-up A Deepness in the Sky) and its a cracking page turner. So much so that it on my todo list of re-reads.

[Deep Black]

I have "A Deepness..." on the shelf, but - espectially being quite a bit thicker than "A Fire Upon..." - I've not been to keen to get started on it.

D-do t-the c-characters t-talk l-like t-this in the Prequel?

[Deep Black]

Now reading Lemony Snicket's, A Series of Unfortunate Events, Book the First, The bad Beginning

Nice short simple little book

[Conscious Bob]

Dug out Watchmen again not for reading, this time for signing. Dave Gibbons is in Glasgow tomorrow.

[disrepdog]

Neverwhere, Neil Gaiman. So far very readable (yet to read one of his that hasn't been)

[Champagne Socialist]

very good book.
Have you read the sandman graphic novels?

[edash]

Next up for me is Mike Carey's new one, Thicker Than Water.

[disrepdog]

very good book.
Have you read the sandman graphic novels?

Yes , not all but I'm working on it :)

[rac]

Dug out Watchmen again not for reading, this time for signing. Dave Gibbons is in Glasgow tomorrow.

I know a load of folks who are going to (or in fact, have went to) that. How'd it go?

[rac]

very good book.
Have you read the sandman graphic novels?

The only one I've read is Endless Night. It was... alright. I've a few more on the shelves that I'll have to get around to reading one of these days...

[Conscious Bob]

I know a load of folks who are going to (or in fact, have went to) that. How'd it go?

Borders could only guarantee the first hundred in the queue would get a signature. There were three big guys acting as security and another crowd liason guy asking people what dedication they would like before writing it on a post-it and putting it on the book. The book was taken from me, given to Dave then handed back to me. Maximum signatures, minimum chit chat which is fair enough if he was on a tight schedule. I was ninety five, I got the book signed within ten minutes.

[198505]

Went on a bit of a spree with my redundancy check just finished Choke by Chuck Palahniuk, not as good as Fight Club but worth the effort.
Next up is Biohell by Andy Remic, then I've got a Steam Punk short story collection, Opening Atlantis by Harry Turtledove, The Dragons Nine Sons by Chris Robertson, The Salmon od Eoubt by DA, William Gibsons Cirtual Light and lastly The Gargoyle by Andrew Davidson, as it was on offer for 3 quid when you spent over £20

[jag]

Beyond good and evil by Nietchze.
Going to the new one by Irvine Welsh.

[Deep Black]

Now reading The Gap into Conflict: The Real Story by Stephen Donaldson, seems ok but not brilliant

Have read the first 7 Sandman Graphic novels, plan to read the rest when I can

[Deep Black]

Didn't really enjoy The gap novel much.

Just started Mister Monday by Garth Nix

Oh also finished Oryx & Crake, really good, but man what an anti-climax finish...

[Halmyre]

I've been reading 'Roxy', by Michael Bracewell, which tells the story of the formation of Roxy Music in the context of the artistic world which Ferry & co. were part of. Pretty tedious in places, to be honest. So for lighter reading I've picked up 'Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy'. Again.

[edash]

Didn't really enjoy The gap novel much.

Oh also finished Oryx & Crake, really good, but man what an anti-climax finish...


I got the first volume of the recent reissue of the Gap series, with the first two books in one volume. A lot of reviews I've read are very positive about it, even claiming that they're stronger than his Thomas Covenant books. Not read those so won't be able to compare.

Oryx and Crake I read at my mother's insistence as she's an Atwood fan and reckoned this was a work of genius. I thought it was quite average, and not particularly original for seasoned SF readers like us, despite comments to the contrary and loads of great reviews from the mainstream press. But then, it's not SF, as Margaret Atwood vehemently denies ever writing any.

[Halmyre]

I've just read an article somewhere in the weekend papers which puts forward the view that it's the authors' publishers who hate the SF tag, fearing it'll put their author in some sort of ghetto, forever barring them from prestigious literary awards.

[RedKing]

But then, it's not SF, as Margaret Atwood vehemently denies ever writing any.

She's backtracked (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/jun/17/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.margaretatwood) a little since the infamous "squids in space" comment:


Atwood has since said that she does at times write science fiction, and that Handmaid's Tale and Oryx and Crake can be designated as such. She clarified her meaning on the difference between speculative and science fiction, while admitting that others use the terms interchangeably: "For me, the science fiction label belongs on books with things in them that we can't yet do.... speculative fiction means a work that employs the means already to hand and that takes place on Planet Earth", and said that science fictional narratives give a writer the ability to explore themes in ways that realistic fiction cannot."

[Deep Black]

A lot of reviews I've read are very positive about it, even claiming that they're stronger than his Thomas Covenant books. Not read those so won't be able to compare.

Have also read the first Covenant Novel "Lord Foul's Bane" & wasn't overly taken with that either.

Thought maybe his SF might be better.

Maybe I just don't get on with his style...

[Halmyre]

Have also read the first Covenant Novel "Lord Foul's Bane" & wasn't overly taken with that either.

Thought maybe his SF might be better.

Maybe I just don't get on with his style...

I ploughed my through both Thomas Covenant trilogies, and swore I'd never read them again, but lately I've been thinking about revisiting them.

I remember Fish (from Marillion) being interviewed on the radio, and mentioning that he'd met Donaldson, and that he "wasn't what you'd expect". I got the idea that meeting him was a great disappointment to Fish, but he didn't elaborate...

[Deep Black]

Never met him (or heard him talk or anything) but the foreword & afterwork in The Gap book just make him seem a bit annoying

[Adamus]

Just started on The Portable Atheist: Essential Readings for the Nonbeliever. Great collection of writings from some of humanity's most brilliant minds.

[jag]

My own thoughts.

[Conscious Bob]

She's backtracked (http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2005/jun/17/sciencefictionfantasyandhorror.margaretatwood) a little since the infamous "squids in space" comment:

Got to admit, that's an impressive explanation.

[Champagne Socialist]

Finally finished Perdido street station.
Was a bit of a slog at times, but well worth it.
An ending TMH would have been proud of.
All in all satisfying.

[Champagne Socialist]

Have now begun reading 'Scar' the follow on novel from Perdido Street Station

[Old Vig]

Perdido Street Station
I absolutely lothed PSS. It seemed like the author had decided that all possible physical laws were allowed to meet in a single reality, meaning that he could make the plot go favourably for the heroes whatever the seemingly impossible odds they faced. Demonology met mind control met intelligent machines met magic met cactuses with lightsabers the size of cities. Stupid and unbelievable.

[Old Vig]

Just finished Gotham Central, Unresolved Targets, decent 8 out of 10, and Vimanarama by Grant Morrison good effort but a bit silly, 5 out of 10. Moving on to Highwater (John Constantine Hellblazer).

[Champagne Socialist]

I absolutely lothed PSS. It seemed like the author had decided that all possible physical laws were allowed to meet in a single reality, meaning that he could make the plot go favourably for the heroes whatever the seemingly impossible odds they faced. Demonology met mind control met intelligent machines met magic met cactuses with lightsabers the size of cities. Stupid and unbelievable.

Well everything except the lightsabers, which would have been really cool!

It's interesting, the reasons you didn't like it are the reasons I did.
Perhaps because I have to deal with the physical laws of reality so much day to day.
I have to admit that the writers apparent 'head up own rectum, look what an imaginative world I've created, aren't I just fantastic' attitude at the beginning did annoy, but the quality of writing soon overcame that.

I'm hoping the same will hold true for this next one as well.

[Conscious Bob]

Ghost Stories of Henry James.

[rac]

lost boy, lost girl by Peter Straub.

[Old Vig]

Finished Lucifer, Evensong, I really should learn to read stuff in the correct chronolgical order because I'm now a bit confused over some unfamiliar characters, and the demise of some others is going to have been a bit spoiled by the time I catch up.
Just started The Time Traveller's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger, which has been widely reviewed as 'proper literature' and not more of that "terriible SF" tm. Good so far, but no real revelations yet.

[RedKing]

Finally finished Perdido Street Station.

I'm with Old Vig on that one. Bounced off it so many times that I've had to hide it behind some Jeffery Archer on he shelves to stop it glowering at me.

[jag]

'If you liked school, you'll love work' by Irvine Welsh.
:cool::cool::D.

[Adamus]

The Manuscript by Michael Stephen Fuchs. Pretty fun hi-tech geek novel, though lacking a bit of depth.

[Conscious Bob]

'If you liked school, you'll love work' by Irvine Welsh.
:cool::cool::D.

Heh, great book. An illegal dogfight takes place on a farm between Alloa and Clackmannan in the story Kingdom of Fife. My schoolpal lived on a farm between Alloa and Clackmannan and the description of the road leading to the fictional farm in the book is spot on with the real farm I know. There weren't any killer dogs but there certainly were monster turkeys.

[jag]

Yah! Welsh back on true form.

[Deep Black]

Just starting "Sacred Games" by Vikram Chandra. Non-genre. & at nearly 1000 pages I expect to finish sometime around October

[Hilarity Unit]

Half way through House Of Suns by Alastair Reynolds - great stuff so far. He does have a habit of leaving too many loose ends [for my liking] so final judgement is reserved.

[Champagne Socialist]

I like the loose ends. It shows
There's a bigger world going on around.

Is he still doing the story from to ends conjoining [ ;-) ] in the middle?

[BeckyH]

The Domino Men by J. Barnes. Very nice bit of London with a twist, the rule of alien tentacled overlords with a purpose you will never guess.
There are a few other John Barnes's out there writing SF, or one who writes two totally different kinds of books. This could get confusing.

[rac]

Very nice bit of London with a twist, the rule of alien tentacled overlords with a purpose you will never guess.

Sounds cool- but what's the twist..?

[RedKing]

Sounds cool- but what's the twist..?

Step away from the SPOILERS, rac.

[BeckyH]

Well there are some might odd people about and the royal family has a few problems that have nothing to do with divorce court.
Also, there's a secret civil war going on.

[Champagne Socialist]

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just to make the wife's head explode >:-)

First 3 Chapters free (http://irreference.com/pride-and-prejudice-and-zombies-chapters-1-3/)

[Deep Black]

The City and the Stars by Arthur C. Clarke

[disrepdog]

Temeraire. Really enjoying it.

[Champagne Socialist]

I've read that Greg Bear will be writing a prequel trilogy for Halo.
Being as so much of Halo is a rip off of The Culture what do you think TMH would have made of it?

[Conscious Bob]

I don't think of Halo being a rip-off, any more than I think Iain Banks Orbitals are rip-off Larry Niven Ringworlds. I read Blood Music by Greg Bear, didn't like it much.

[Old Vig]

Finished the Time Travellers Wife. Couldn't put it down TBH. Allowing for the subject matter there's still a pretty clumsy use of foreshadowing, but the tension continues right to the end. The author makes a big deal of disallowing time travel of anything physical, however makes an exception with information. I am not a scientist, but that seems a bit wrong to me :/ I don't think it eclipses my favourite time travel story, The Dancers at the End of Time (trilogy), which shares the themes of love and time travel.

Speaking of Moorcock, London Bone is up next.

[jag]

Moorcock. A great trio of Him, Rodney Matthews and Tim Blake made for a well pro stoned youth. I was/am in awe, the last of a dying breed I fear.

[RedKing]

I went off Mr Moorcock when he essentially wrote the same book a dozen times. I still hold dear The Time Of The Hawklords as one of the worst books I've ever read.

[Deep Black]

Only read Behold the Man, which wasn't bad.

Also starting The Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin by David Nobbs (now have 3 books on the go)

[Old Vig]

I went off Mr Moorcock when he essentially wrote the same book a dozen times. I still hold dear The Time Of The Hawklords as one of the worst books I've ever read.
I know what you mean, when I was 14 he was writing them faster than I could read. On the other hand, he has written some real quality stuff, I loved The War Hound and the World's Pain for instance, and the Brothel in Rosenstrasse. Inconsistent he may be, but there's something unique about British SF authors that you don't get from anyone else. I like John Meaney, Jeff Noon and even Neil Gaiman, and none of them are perfect all the time.

[RedKing]

Don't get me wrong, some of Moorcock's stuff remains on my favourite list - "Sailor On The Seas Of Fate", the second Corum trilogy and lots of the Jerry Cornelius stuff, for example. The story Neil Gaiman wrote for the Tales Of The White Wolf collection, "One Life, Furnished with Early Moorcock" encapsulates the teenage attraction to his work.

[edash]

Blue War (http://www.solarisbooks.com/books/blue-war/blue-war.asp) by Jeffrey Thomas.

[Old Vig]

Stealing Light by Gary Gibson. Embarrassingly I thought this was by William Gibson when I picked it up from the library. In any case this was an enjoyable bit of space opera very much after the style of TMH. Maybe a bit derivative, Gibson even tosses in a quote from The Wasteland at one point.

[RedKing]

Just finished the last two books of the "World War" series by Harry Turtledove. They've remained on my shelf for over a decade, unread. Now I've finished them, I remember why I didn't bother reading them after the first two.

[Hilarity Unit]

Finished House Of Suns (Alastair Reynolds) and just started The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin.

House Of Suns was damn fine. Only moan was that the main cast of characters were all clones but you didn't get any sense of cloneness. A big ask I suppose: to create oxymoronic characters (distinct but the same), but that was a goal he set himself.

[Adamus]

Daemon by Daniel Suarez. Quite enjoyable hi-tech thriller with accurate hack-speak for a change, but lacking a little depth. Much like its cousin, The Manuscript.

[Old Vig]

just started The Disposed by Ursula Le Guin.The Dispossessed? I remember it being a very good book (and it's now in that SF masterwoks series). I suppose it was written during the cold war, and reflects a lot of the tension from that era.

[Hilarity Unit]

Yes, The Dispossessed :o

At least I spelt her name correctly.

[RedKing]

You missed out the K from her name. :)

[Deep Black]

I'm trying to work my way through the SF Masterworks series.

I didn't really enjoy The Dispossessed all that much, I expected more, it just didn't do much for me.

[Halmyre]

Stealing Light by Gary Gibson. Embarrassingly I thought this was by William Gibson when I picked it up from the library. In any case this was an enjoyable bit of space opera very much after the style of TMH. Maybe a bit derivative, Gibson even tosses in a quote from The Wasteland at one point.

I've just got this from the library, so I'm glad to hear a good word for it! I also got Terry Pratchett's The Night Watch (already devoured) and Alastair Reynold's Absolution Gap. I've also sped my way through Patricia Cornwell's Point Of Origin, which my wife brought home; I've now read two Cornwell novels and I think that's probably enough! Everything's tied up too swiftly, and she introduces a new character right at the end to help account for all the grisly goings-on.

[Hilarity Unit]

I thought Gary Gibson was pretty respectable - certainly better than Neal Asher. Angel Stations is also much in the same vein (too much so to be honest).

[rac]

I have, at long last, got round to reading Rama Revealed.

[RedKing]

Just bought from my local charidee shop:

Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko
The Minotaur Takes A Cigarette Break - Steven Sherrill
When Giants Walked The Earth, A Led Zeppelin Biography - Mick Wall

[198505]

Just finished finished Nemesis The Warlock volume 2 books 5 -7.
Now on Falling Out Of Cars by Jeff Noon

[jag]

'The Picture of Dorian Gray' by Oscar Wilde.

[rac]

Nearly finished the Rama book, then it's on to a couple of boigraphies I'm reading for research.

Also recently read Hercules: The Thracian Wars by Steve Moore. Interesting stuff. It's a more 'realistic' take on the character. While his divinity is mentioned, it's not overt and any feats of strength are well handled. Gorgeous art too.

Also read Razorjack written and drawn by the legendary John Higgins. Excellent violent pulpy fun.

[Hilarity Unit]

Finished The Dispossessed (Ursula Le Guin) - found it interesting but a bit of a slog. Now onto Child Of The River by Paul J Mcauley, as recommended by someone on some other thread.

[Old Vig]

I'm reading special topics in calamity physics. It's another one of those 'soft' kind of books that I normally wouldn't bother with but it was waiting to go back to the book exchange in my mum's utility, and my to-read pile is empty, so I thought I'd give it a go. It's a book about Americans. Does anyone else think that Americans are stranger than aliens?

[BeckyH]

I'm an American and I resemble that remark!

[Deep Black]

Not far to go with Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds now, liking it so far. I seem to recall people saying it's his best book, anyone read more? Opinions?

[Halmyre]

Not far to go with Revelation Space by Alistair Reynolds now, liking it so far. I seem to recall people saying it's his best book, anyone read more? Opinions?

Redemption Ark is not quite as good, but I made allowances for it because I thought it was at least setting the scene for the final book, Absolution Gap. However, Gap is the weakest of the three, IMO.

Having said that, they're all far better than Ben Bova's Titan, which I have just finished. Not having read any other Bova, I presume his reputation as an SF author has better foundations.

[jag]

I'm gonna start that 'Child 44' novel about Ruski cold war stuff.
Got half way thru PODG by OW, but like all these old timer novels it does drag on a bit.

[edash]

Recent reads

Solar Lottery (http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/MP-27364/Solar-Lottery.htm) - Philip K Dick
Revolvo (http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/revolvo_hc.html) - Steven Erikson
Olympus (http://www.orionbooks.co.uk/MP-39242/Olympos.htm) - Dan Simmons
The Catacombs Of Fear (http://www.grayfriarpress.com/catalogue/catacombs.html) - John Llewellyn Probert

[RedKing]

Finished both "The Minotaur Take A Cigarette Break" and Zep book, even though I was trying to eke out the Zep one. Will hit the "Night Watch" today, then back off to my local charidee shops, I think.

[Attitude Adjuster]

The Land Where The Blues Began by Alan Lomax. A fascinating read. I picked it up in a bookshop, read a page and took it to the till. It's not really about the music, but about the people. As well as recording music, he also interviewed on tape, religious gatherings, kids at play etc and analysed. It is in places very funny, very sad, very emotional and also fills me with anger that such a divisive society was positively encouraged by the authorities so recently in a 'civilised' country. Having said that, selfishly the music that resulted has either directly or indirectly brought pleasure to a wider world.

[BeckyH]

A Madness of Angels. Yet another entry in the altered-London sub-genre, but this London is less changed than some. Our hero is a sorcerer who comes back after being dead for a while. And sometimes he's singular and sometimes he's plural-and who are the blue electric angels? A great read.

[edash]

Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie.

[Old Vig]

I'm reading special topics in calamity physics. It's another one of those 'soft' kind of books that I normally wouldn't bother withFinished. So yeah, I shouldn't be so quick to judge. Not a soft book at all. It's one of those books that's hard to put down once you've started. It does contain a lot of stuff about contemporary American culture, and is self-deprecating about some of the seedier bits about America/Americans.

So I've moved onto some genuine rubbish I was given by my secret santa last xmas, Do Bats Have Bollocks?

[Deep Black]

Finished Alastair Reynolds - Revelation Space. Not bad, I quite enjoyed it in the main, though the ending didn't come to much (see http://www.iainbanksforum.net/showthread.php?t=100&page=3 for more)

Now starting Neil Gaiman - Worlds End
&
JG Ballard - Empire of the Sun

[jag]

'Bravo Jubilee' by Clive Owen.

[Deep Black]

Been listening to Night Watch by Terry Pratchett (audio book). Gotta say for a humorous fantasy there is very little humour or fantasy. That said it's a decent book, good characters, good story, pretty grim in places.

Gonna start a Pratchett thread if people wanna say more...

[Chiaroscuro]

Good idea, Deep.

I've not read Night Watch yet. Going through them in the order he wrote them and have got a good few to go before I reach it. I'll say more on the Pratchett thread. :)

[Hagbard Celine]

Neil Gaiman - American Gods

[jag]

A text from God.....It reads, "The Piano sketch featuring Laurel and Hardy was all about the trials and tribulations of getting into heaven. A straight assault ain't gonna work.

[Deep Black]

M John Harrison - The Centauri Device

Enjoyed Sandman 8, Worlds End by Neil Gaiman, but I felt some of the short tales were just to short. I'd like some of the stories within stories to have been expanded on a bit more. Lots of ideas all stuffed into one of the shorter Sandman books

[Champagne Socialist]

Finished reading The Scar.
The end felt very... nae. Very curtailed.

Now on to Iron council and that'll be Bas Lag done.
Kind of a shame, it's an interesting expansive universe.

[edash]

Neal Asher - Shadow of the Scorpion - or Agent Cormac: The Early Years as it should be subtitled, as it's a prequel to all the other Cormac books.

[Deep Black]

OOoohhhh I won a copy of that recently.

& coincidently I also found 3 other Asher books for about £1 each too

[Old Vig]

The Brothel in Rosenstrasse, M W Moorcock. Maybe my 4th reading. There's a lot of depth in this book.

[Hilarity Unit]

Child Of The River by Paul McAuley - took a while to get into it but worth persisting. Has the feel of [the first half of] Matter with its mix of fantasy & SF. Already ordered the other two book of the Confluence series.

[edash]

Just started the new one from Tim Lebbon, Bar None - "a novel of chilling suspense, apocalyptic beauty and fine ales" it says on the cover.

[Champagne Socialist]

I've had Charlie Stross recommended to me as a good read, a Scottish author, politically similar to TMH.

Has anyone read anything by him? Or heard anything?

[RedKing]

The things by him I've read seem like TMH with your finger on the fast forward button - lots of ideas thrown at you at pace, but you just get a sense of an outline of storyline and characters.

I prefer his D&D monsters to be honest... :)

[BeckyH]

He's written a lot of different types of books-I like his Merchant Family series much more than I liked Accelerando, but I've found it hit or miss. He's worth trying out to see if you like him.

[Deep Black]

Yeah as said there, his SF is very Ideas heavy. He's quite a techy kind of writer making them pretty intense at times (apparently). Say him at a booky thing a while back, seemed a decent guy, quite funny, perhaps a little self obsessed.

Oh & I've just started Triplanetary by EE Doc Smith
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triplanetary_(novel)

[edash]

There's loads of his stuff available online, short stories mainly and a novella.All linked to over at Free Speculative Fiction Online (http://www.freesfonline.de/authors/Charles_Stross.html).

[Champagne Socialist]

cool.
Cheers for the link Ed

[Zero Gravitas]

Azimov: The Unauthorised Life by Michael White.

[Deep Black]

This guy?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_White_(author)

Any good?

Oh & hi there ZeroG

[Champagne Socialist]

Have finished Iron Council.
very, and inevitably, satisfyingly Orwellian ending.
I wasn't able to predict how this was going to end.

Next up is The Princess Bride, and then it will be Spin.

I'm also reading the Silmarillion on and off at work.
I avoided anything to do with Tolkien when younger due to it being to nerdy.
Having read The Hobbit and the Lord of the rings trilogy I don't think I missed that much. Having read most of the silmarillion it is my fervent belief that Elves are arrogant and stupid, Valar are lazy and delinquent in their duties, as are Mayar, and anyone/anything related to elves are/is stupid.
I won't be bothering with the umpteen other books available.

[Adamus]

I've never gotten around to reading Tolkien, mostly because I find his writing style rather off-putting. I don't have the patience to work through such layered and complicated sentences - i.e. I'm too stoopid.

Almost done with the Peace and War omnibus of three of Joe Halderman's works - Forever War, Forever Free and Forever Peace. While great in concept, I find that Halderman suffers from Stephen King syndrome: great start, meandering middle bit, what-the-fuck-is-this-stupid-shit ending.

[RedKing]

He suffers more from Asimov / Le Guin disease, i.e. adding bad books to a perfectly good series as an bit of retcon, or writing a sequel to a book that really doesn't need one.

I say that as an Asimov / Le Guin / Haldeman fan...

[Old Vig]

On holiday I
1) re-read feersum endjin. I still don't know why some readers seem to struggle with Bascule's sections.

2) read Winter in Madrid, CJ Sansome. I found this so formulaic as to be entirely predictable. The background detail on the Spanish civil war was interesting enough to keep me going to the end.

3) read Revolutionary Road, Richard Yates. The reviewers seem to see this as the perfect novel. For me, rather like Consider Phlebas, I could see how things were going to end up long before the end of the book. I suppose I don't really enjoy these sorts of story where the protagonists never escape their roles/fate. Maybe it's too much like life.

Anyone like to recommend me some good escapist science fiction I might enjoy? Something recent and not excessively padded preferably. tia

[RedKing]

Still slogging through The Reality Disfunction it may take some time, I fear.

[BeckyH]

Lots of lovely new stuff-J. Carey's latest- Naamah's Kiss, and a slew of American mystery/thriller types who all have release dates this time of year.
The most fun was a new author whose protagonist is an English teacher at the same school my mom was an English teacher at, and where I graduated from high school. It was odd seeing the name of the place pop up on page 6.

[Luseferous]

Alastair Reynolds - House Of Suns. Very IMB.

[edash]

Joe Abercrombie - Last Argument Of Kings

[Felonious Monk]

Right now I'm in the middle of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night". As soon as I finish that play I'm moving onto H.G. Wells The war of the worlds, or maybe the time machine and the invisible man. However, I just picked up Feersum Endjinn at the bookstore. Since my girlfriend gave me Use of Weapons last August for my birthday, I've had to force myself to read other books between IMB's books.

[Deep Black]

Go for Feersum (of you can handle the phonetics)
How many IMB book have you left to read?

[Felonious Monk]

So far I've read: Use of Weapons, The Wasp Factory, Consider Phlebas, The Player of Games and The State of the Art. I've truly enjoyed all of them. I read some of the reviews on his books on http://www.goodreads.com, which made me mention to my girlfriend that I wanted to read something by him. And the journey began. :)

[Champagne Socialist]

Have finished Nation. It was nice.

Now rereading Excession.

[RedKing]

Grinding toward the end of The Reality Disfunction what a pile of tosh it is...

[Champagne Socialist]

See, I don't quite understand that.
I've tossed so many books because I wasn't enjoying them.
Why struggle through something you don't like... unless you're being paid for it I mean.

[RedKing]

I got more than halfway through before it started to get stupid. I did think that it would pull out of the dive, given the praise I've heard about the books, but it just got worse and worse.

It was an exercise in masochism, I normally do give up on things like that - I'm looking at you, Perdido Street Station...

[Halmyre]

Alastair Reynolds - House Of Suns. Very IMB.

Just finished it. A bit slow to start, and it almost had the feel of a fantasy novel, rather than SF, but then things shifted into higher gear. It's a great concept where crossing vast timescales and distances are commonplace. I thought the Abigail bits of the book were left hanging somewhat at the end - such as the name of the young boy she played with, and the fact she was sending out these mentally disturbed clones. I'd also like to see a Reynolds book where ancient and (dare I say it) godlike civilisations weren't running the show - that's the main difference between him and IMB, IMHO.

[Hilarity Unit]

I'm reading Ancients Of Days by Paul McAuley and have last night came across the passage that obviously inspired House Of Suns. Haven't got the book with me at the moment but I'll try and remember to quote the relevant part soon.

Have to say I prefer HoS but I'll try some more (with less fantasy) from this McAuley chappie.

[Champagne Socialist]

It was an exercise in masochism, I normally do give up on things like that - I'm looking at you, Perdido Street Station...

I almost didn't get past the first chapter of PSS, but as I persisted, and the novel stayed true to it's own rules, I found a quite interesting read.
Persistance was in this case rewarded.

[jag]

I'm giving up reading for the next few weeks.
See how long I can last without a book!!

[Deep Black]

Good luck with that one Jag.

Just starting Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

[Felonious Monk]

Almost done with The Art of War, Sun Tzu. Then it's on to Against A Dark Background (a birthday present, so I'll still have Feersum Endjin for later)

[Deep Black]

Ben Elton - High Society (on audio)

[Old Vig]

Re-read Brother Berserker, Fred Saberhagen.
I must have become more critical since my teenage, as this now seems to be a very dated in the social attitudes and the science.

[edash]

Recent finishes were

Solaris Book of New SF Volume 3 - edited by George Mann

Couple of early novellas from PS Publishing - Making History by Paul J McAuley and Reality Dust by Stephen Baxter

Cormac McCarthy's The Road

Now on

Rain Dogs by Gary McMahon

[Deep Black]

Finished Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson . It was excellent. 9/10
Also finished Triplanetary by EE Doc Smith. Pretty good 6.5/10

Now on Cats Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut
& will also be starting Transition by TMH

[RedKing]

Adventures In Hi-Fi - a REM history.
The Silm*r*ll**n - JRR Hartley
Inversions - TMH

A fiver all in from Oban Oxfam shop.

[Champagne Socialist]

You're reading those?

oooh, Oban.
I love Oban.
14
do me a favour red and go visit the distillery for me.
just say high and have a tipple.

[RedKing]

Am back now from my hols, saw lots of distilleries...

[Champagne Socialist]

ah, shame. Never mind

[BeckyH]

Quite a lot of stuff, mostly of the average type. I did finish Lamentations by K. Scholl-it may have been a Hugo short-list title. Cripes that was mediocre, from the opening in the city of Glimmerglam. to the lord of the Nine-fold Forest Houses and his Gypsy scouts, to the ending with hints of more to come.
I kept waiting for the book to show it's ironic edge, but instead it reads like a mystery grab-bag of fantasy stereotypes. Take one evil wizard, add a few curses, then a boy who is more than he seems, and a foxy foreign lady with tricks up her sleeves, down her boot-tops and tucked into her panties. Have one guy who mysteriously pulls all of the strings, but who is NOT the evil wizard.....yaargh.
I do keep running into alternate London stories, most of them not very good. alas.

[rac]

Just finished Doghouse Roses, a collection of short stories by Steve Earle.
Now reading a Warhammer 40,000 novel by Dan Abnett, the name of which escapes me. I'm thinking of pitching to them, so thought I'd read some and see what they're like, and this one os pretty damned good sci-fi actually.

[edash]

Sun Of Suns by Karl Schroeder.

Before that was The Crystal Cosmos (http://store.pspublishing.co.uk/acatalog/the_crystal_cosmos_jhc.html), a completely bonkers and surreal space opera novella from Rhys Hughes which I picked up in the PS Publishing sale.

[Hilarity Unit]

Finished Transition the other day and have to say its his best non-M book for a long time. Easily on a par with Complicity (1993). More to follow in a dedicated thread. Suffice to say I think you will all enjoy it.

Also say TMH in Perth last night and will give further details soon.

[Halmyre]

Just finished Paul McAuley's "The Quiet War", which took a while to get going, but by the end was galloping along nicely. It's about the build up and execution of a war between Earth and the outer colonies on the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, and leaves plenty of loose ends for a sequel. Hard (but mainly plausible) SF, at the possible expense of some character development, and better than most I've read recently.

[Hatchling]

For breakfast, Anthem by Ayn Rand
For lunch, Memories Of My Melancholy Whores by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
For dinner, The Algebraist.
I always look forward to dinner most though, fatty.

[Deep Black]

Mmmm dinner

[Felonious Monk]

The War of The Worlds by H. G. Wells.

[Hatchling]

Mmmm dinner

Mmmm, space sandwich...

[Champagne Socialist]

Have Finished Spin, which, despite some annoying gaff's that really should have been picked up by any decent proof reader or editor, is a good story the main thrust of which was coherent within its own rules. More importantly it was very entertaining.

Now reading Dying Light.

[edash]

Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill

[rac]

Transition!

At last!

[Deep Black]

I'm about 100 pages in, it reminds me a bit of Crow Road, in that there isn't much of a plot yet, just characters doing stuff.

[Old Vig]

Transition. About half way through. Initial impression is that I keep being reminded of {insert other alternate reality story here}. So far I've been reminded of Luther Arkwright, The Eternal Champion multiverse, Harry Potter, The Subtle Knife etc. A lot of the set piece events have been used before by other authors; transition during sexual congress, the red pill, blue pill thing and others. So far so blah. Hope it improves.

[claverhouse]

Picked up one of my 8 year old sons "Young Bond" books by Charlie Higson and am now annoying him greatly by reading them all.

[Adamus]

Started and abandoned midway: The Unincorporated Man - an Atlas Shrugged wanna-be concept novel for pro-capitalism libertarian retards. Read my review of it here (http://www.amazon.com/review/R28Z2BA3SLRNP8/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm).

Now on to Neverwhere, one of Neil Gaiman's gems. Enjoying it immensely so far.

[Old Vig]

Excavated my original, but now about 33 year old, copies of Asimov's Foundation trilogy from the loft. My goodness how social values have changed! Funny how smoking suddenly seems so passe. I love the bit where the wife character cooks everyone a nice home baked pie aboard their spaceship. Written with great vision despite all that. I can see how the battle against an invisible enemy has been reused in, for instance, the changelings in Star Trek, who were defeated by a very similar ruse to that used against the 2nd Foundation.