Support NeoGAF

[TwntyOneTwlv]

I finished Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere earlier this week, which I loved. I don't think he can write anything that I won't like.

Speaking of Neil, I'm also finishing another run-through of Norse Mythology, only this time I'm listening to it on audiobook, which is read by Neil himself! I would almost say that the audio version is better than the printed version - he really brings all these characters to life in a way that's hard to convey in text alone.

 

[Fuu]

Ico: Castle in the Mist was excellent, even better than I expected. Definitely not your run-of-the-mill game novelization and it more than stands on its own as a good fantasy novel. Great work by Miyabe in taking the general idea of Ico and expanding and reinterpreting it this way, you can feel how much she loved the game. Thanks again for the rec, duckroll.

I finished Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere earlier this week, which I loved. I don't think he can write anything that I won't like.

Speaking of Neil, I'm also finishing another run-through of Norse Mythology, only this time I'm listening to it on audiobook, which is read by Neil himself! I would almost say that the audio version is better than the printed version - he really brings all these characters to life in a way that's hard to convey in text alone.

I liked Neverwhere, but I felt that some of the beats were kind of by the numbers and that he could have gone even further with the characters and locations because it's such a fascinating concept. The whole thing was devised as a TV show in the 90s and it kind of shows imo.

Which reminds me, I read the UK version and I'm still curious about the rewrites in the US one. Apparently the publisher felt that the London references were too obscure for the US market, and there's even a third version that combines both earlier releases.

And yeah, Norse Mythology was great. I haven't listened to the audiobook, but I imagine Gaiman must have had a blast recording it.

 

[Haly]

 

[kswiston]

I'm just about done Sins of Empire by Brian McClellan. I'm glad to see that there hasn't been much quality drop off between this book and the first trilogy.

 

[Atraveller]

Red Rising, 2 bucks on Kindle store, how was it?

 

[Funyarinpa]

Downloaded Swann's Way (I came across a mention of Proust, and I like the prose, so why the fuck not?)

Also got a bit into "Wind, Sand and Stars" by Exupéry. Beautiful.

 

[Fuu]

Was at 42% of Honestly Ben and plannnig to finish it next month, but ended up sleeping way too late because I couldn't stop reading it until the end. Absolutely lovely. Bill Konigsberg has won my heart with these two novels (+ short story) and I'll be there day 1 if he decides to release another sequel. Rafe and Ben are too adorable.

 

[Max Armstrong]

I'm judging this book by its cover and it looks pretty interesting. I will check it out after I'm done with Vineland.

Fake edit: Turns out I had another book from this author in my backlog (A Little Life), I think I'll start with The People in the Trees since it's half the length.

 

[Servbot #42]

Mr. Koontz certainly makes a decent page turner, enjoying it so far hopefully it doesn't come crashing down at the end.

 

[More_Badass]

That's exactly what I hated about Acceptance. It was so weird I didn't know what was happening anymore. Guess I'll pass on this one. Thanks for the heads up.

This seems more like a far-future kind of weirdness than weirdness for weirdness sake though. At least from what I've read

 

[MilkBeard]

Just finished Thirteen Reasons Why. I jumped in after watching the show, to see how the book was. It's pretty good, and it was interesting reading the alternate ending in the anniversary edition.

Moving on to The Man Who Risked It All by Laurent Gounelle. My wife is reading this book (although it has a completely different title in other languages) and said it was good so I decided to jump into it for a quick read.

 

[Peco]

Is Jim Nisbet any good? Which books would you recommend?

 

[Mumei]

I'm judging this book by its cover and it looks pretty interesting. I will check it out after I'm done with Vineland.

Fake edit: Turns out I had another book from this author in my backlog (A Little Life), I think I'll start with The People in the Trees since it's half the length.

Good decision.

 

[Ravensmash]

Can anyone recommend some short story collections I could maybe read alongside a larger read?

I did mention Sherlock Holmes the other day, but I want more! Ideally, lots of individual pieces that'd be good for a 30 minute blast when bored... And when I don't have the attention for something longer/more complex.

 

[Fuu]

Can anyone recommend some short story collections I could maybe read alongside a larger read?

I did mention Sherlock Holmes the other day, but I want more! Ideally, lots of individual pieces that'd be good for a 30 minute blast when bored... And when I don't have the attention for something longer/more complex.

Quoting myself from the previous thread:

Among the ones I read recently I really enjoyed The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (Ken Liu) and Jagannath (Karin Tidbeck). Both anthologies can go to darker places, but they're still good picks for bedtime reading imo.

Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things are excellent reads too.

(The Ken Liu one has a few stories that are denser, but most of them aren't complex and they're all pretty great.)

 

[Funyarinpa]

Can anyone recommend some short story collections I could maybe read alongside a larger read?

I did mention Sherlock Holmes the other day, but I want more! Ideally, lots of individual pieces that'd be good for a 30 minute blast when bored... And when I don't have the attention for something longer/more complex.

Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami is quite good in terms of really short short stories. Very accessible to boot! As a plus, several stories in there either became inspirations for or parts of his novels.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

I loved books 1 and 2 but found book 3 incomprehensible.

I liked all three books quite a bit. It was a steady decline in quality over the three, but still enjoyable for me by the end.

The third one is the one that "explained" "everything".

The series was particuarly great as an audiobook because everyone has their own voice. Can't recommend it enough.

I'm going to ignore the people talking shit about VanderMeer and just pretend I didn't see it.

I suspect my next book will be Borne, by Jeff VanderMeer. It's out in four days, though, so I might get through something else in between.

Yup. I'm on the list at the library, though I might break down and just buy it if the list is too long.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished The Emperors Blades today and loved it. Feels good to be sucked in by a great fantasy series again. Now to switch things up before moving to book 2 with the The Narrows (Harry Bosch #10).

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Only about 30 pages from finishing this.

So, I liked Gardens of the Moon enough to continue on to Deadhouse Gates. I thought Deadhouse Gates was a huge improvement and greatly enjoyed it for the most part. I think I've enjoyed Memories of Ice even more than Deadhouse Gates; however, strangely, I have zero desire to continue with the series after this (unless the end blows me away and I can't help but instantly download the next book).

Why is that when I seem to be enjoying them? The series is just exhausting. When Erikson just chills out and paints a scene and doesn't try to shove every historical context of the current moment down your throat, his prose shines and his ability as a writer is notable. I cannot for the life of me imagine sustaining such endless information for SEVEN MORE DOOR-STOPPING NOVELS. Holy shit. And there are people who not only read the series once but re-read it? Damn, that ain't for me.

Memories of Ice features some of the best action I've read in fantasy actually, with the two sieges written in such a captivating and exciting manner. I grew to care for characters I never thought I would. However, as the novel is wrapping up Erikson is doing that thing again where he just unleashes a hailstorm of endless philosophical monologues, convenient names and references that tie plot-lines and narrative threads neatly in a bundle while I'm like, "Why am I so confused after 3000 pages into this world?"

So yeah, three books to round out my experience with the Malazan Book of the Fallen and I think I'm good.

I HAVE to read some shorter books next. First this year was The Stand, then these two... I'm surprised none of these 1000-1400 pagers have taken me longer than a month to read with how slowly I take my time.

 

[Pau]

Finished The Lost City of Z. Enjoyed it and curious to see how they film it, but overall I don't find the explorer himself that fascinating compared to the Amazon.

 

[Zelenogorsk]

One day I'll finish Gardens of the Moon. One day...

 

[besada]

Yup. I'm on the list at the library, though I might break down and just buy it if the list is too long.

It's great, so far. Lots of ambiguity, lots of deep weirdness, all grounded with a very human story. And a giant flying bear.

 

[kevin1025]

Yeah, I used to write short stories when I was younger and my two biggest problems were that I was way too overly descriptive and flowery, and I couldn't do dialogue. I used to love writing action moments and fights because you could get really detailed on the movements, the violence and thought process and reactions; and my dialogue was always really stilted, never could make it feel like natural back-and-forth

So when I read someone like King, and see how he can craft imagery with such precise word choice ("its thick and wormy grip", I could just imagine how I'd try to describe that), and make the dialogue flow so smoothly and ooze with character, I really appreciate it

Mega late replying (sorry!), but there are always ways of finding groove outside of dialogue. Everyone has their strengths, and if you loved the action beats, then play to that strength! I have the opposite problem, haha, I feel like my prose is not so hot and that my dialogue is always exactly what I wanted.

King, though, is a master of both. He really boils down his characters so perfectly. He deserves all of the love!

 

[combine42]

Just started

 

[Kawl_USC]

Finished up Curse of Chalion which I false started on the opening few pages a couple times in the past two years. It turned out to be a really wonderful book. Glad I finally got over the initial hump.

The thing that strikes me most here (and in Penric's Demon which I just read as well) is how pleasant and cheerable her protagonist are. They aren't by any means Mary stus or anything like that, but I find them kind of heart warming. They are usually just trying to do the right thing and be a good person. Really refreshing after reading stories with more of an antihero lead.

How does Paladin of Souls stack up compare to Curse of Chalion? I might go ahead and get the next Penric Novella for something quick since the first was so enjoyable.

Also reading The Disaster Artist which is just a bizarre story. Not sure I'm super crazy about the structure of the book alternating between the story of shooting the movie with Gregs experiences first meeting Tommy and moving to LA but it's a light interesting look into a real strange dude.

Picked up a couple of different books I'm trying to decide on what to read next:
Ship of Magic
Ship of Fools
Three Body Problem
A Closed and Common Orbit
Anasi Boys

Any thoughts on which to go for next?

 

[Cyan]

How does Paladin of Souls stack up compare to Curse of Chalion? I might go ahead and get the next Penric Novella for something quick since the first was so enjoyable.

Different protag (the focus is on Ista, the crazy mom/former queen), slightly different feel to the story, bit of a slow burn, but really damn good. I think it's even better than the first. Unfortunately the third book isn't on that same level, but it's still decent.

The second Penric is also nice, though of course it's bite-sized like the first.

 

[Mumei]

Different protag (the focus is on Ista, the crazy mom/former queen), slightly different feel to the story, bit of a slow burn, but really damn good. I think it's even better than the first. Unfortunately the third book isn't on that same level, but it's still decent.

The second Penric is also nice, though of course it's bite-sized like the first.

I think Paladin of Souls is one of her best single works. Even something I like a little better, like Memory, benefits enormously from the scaffolding built by the rest of the series. The Paladin of Souls comes so early in this series, and is much more independent of the previous work than something like Memory or A Civil Campaign or whatever are.

 

[JonnyKong]

I'm not really feeling Duma Key, I'm about 250 pages in and I just.... don't care what happens. It's rare for me to feel this way about a King book, but nm, I guess we can't like everything.

I honestly have no idea what to try next.

Edit: Think I'm gonna try Sleeping Giants as it seems to finally be a reasonable price for the Kindle.

 

[Fuu]

May thread is up

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1366855