What was the last book you read? Post about it here.
I just finished Shadowrun #4 - Drops of Corruption (from the recent line of SR novels). I really enjoyed #1-#3, but #4 is a bit harder pill to swallow. First of all, 1-3 were a trilogy and all involved mostly the same characters. #4 has a couple of cameos from a few of the characters I liked in 1-3, and one character that I didn't like so well in 1-3 plays a more central role in #4. So I guess it was a bit frustrating at first not having all my "friends" from the series in it.
The plot in #4 however, I thought was very well done, if a tad slow moving. I can see why he did it the way he did, however. It involves the mafia, and one character who was basically a good person slowly getting trapped into working for the mob and how they hooked him in. There are a lot of nasty characters in this book as one might expect from a book dealing with organized crime. Even the main character, who was as I said essentially good, was hard to like for other reasons I can't get into without spoilers. So having a cast of essentially unlikable characters didn't help my enjoyment of the story too much either.
But as I said the plot was well done, and in the end, a rewarding story that actually did have a "lesson" or whatever. There were some really cool scenes in the book, and overall I felt this was a book worth reading especially for Shadowrun enthusiasts like myself. Not my favorite in the series, but I did end up enjoying it, even though it was a slow read for me and I set it down several times before I finally got into it.
This is not a novel I can heartily recommend to anyone. If you enjoy books about organized crime, this book might be for you, with the caveat that it is completely fictional and not all that realistic, plus set in a fantasy future. If you like Shadowrun, this book is definitely worth picking up for a couple of reasons. First, it's a good in depth look at how the mafia in Seattle operates, and secondly it involves a bit of Tir Tairngire, which was interesting, and of a mage who has "burnt out" so you kind of get a feel for how that would work. This book is not a "fan fiction" work, the writing is good quality writing, but the subject matter is such that essentially it will appeal to a limited set of eyes.
#771 posted December 28, 2008 at 1:22am (EST) edited December 28, 2008 at 1:23am (EST)
Finished 1634: The Ram Rebellion by Eric Flint and Virginia DeMarce. Other than the "letters to the editor" section (which is part of the story, but written like a "letters to the editor" page or a series of correspondences between various people), I liked the book. It filled in quite a few little gaps that weren't covered in detail in the other books in the series.
Almost finished with 1635: The Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis. Very engaging book and one of the best in the series. It continues with some of my favorite characters, too (Ruy Sanchez de Casador y Ortiz and Sharon Nichols, as well as Giovanna Marcoli Stone). This is a very fun series, especially (but not only) if you like alternate history.
Got caught up on Batman, Detective, Nightwing, Amazing Spider-Man, and others. Really frickin' hated the RIP story arc in Grant Morisson's Batman. Paul Dini's Detective was great however, the "Heart of Hush" arc was just awesome, so if you are keen to read recent Batman stuff I suggest picking up the last 12-24 issues of Detective Comics which is IMHO the best Batman for the buck. Nightwing is pretty great also lately. ASM is fun too, really liked the 2-parter that Mark Waid did, and the 6-parter "New Ways to Die" by Dan Slott is fantastic.
Oh, yeah, I also finished with the Secret Invasion mega-crossover event for Marvel which caught me up to all the "Avengers" titles plus some other stuff. I have to say, Secret Invasion ended up being better than I had expected it was going to be, but still not IMHO "must read" however, if you are at all interested in keeping up with Marvel events I think you'll probably want to pick up the trades for this once they start coming out, I can't imagine being able to understand anything that is going on in Marvel Universe (616) unless you've read at a minimum the Secret Invasion mini-series itself and I also highly suggest reading the last 10 or so issues each of Mighty Avengers and New Avengers. I'm sure all of this stuff will get collected into trade paperbacks and up on Amazon soon. But anyway, I enjoyed it more than expected even though I have a pretty high "event burnout" going now (I completely dropped DC except for Bats and Supes because of all the "Final, No, We Really Mean It, This Time, Crisis" nonsense).
Im currently reading You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers. Almost done. Then I have a few choices to read next: Klosterman IV, Palahniuk's Stranger Than Fiction, Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, The Gun Seller, everything bad is good for you or East of Eden. Hmm.
How'd you like Eggers' YSKOV? I read A Heartbreaking Work... a couple years back. I really liked it a lot and was the perfect book for me at the time -- but I didn't particularly like YSKOV and I'm not sure why. I imagine I should give it another read one of these days.
I went to see Dave Eggers give a reading a long while back to promote his book of short stories. He was pretty interesting, seeing as he refused to read from the book he was promoting and instead read a couple of other miscellaneous short stories that might have been weird recollections of his childhood. I got to talk to him for a little bit after the reading and he signed my books and talked about some other authors he thought I might like. Compared to the other readings I've been to with other authors, I felt he was a really genuine guy who seemed to really appreciated his fans.
Just finished Nightingale's Lament by Simon R. Green, book 3 in the Nightside series. Kinda fun like the previous two. The whole series feels like a cross between Neil Gaiman's Neverwhere and Jim Butcher's Dresden Files...both of which are a v. good thing IMHO. :)
Finished Dark Tower IV -- Wizard and Glass recently (It's been a while since I've had free reading time). It started off slow to the point where it didn't bother me if I didn't pick it up for a while but then the back story started to come fast and furious. Still a great read.
I need to finish The Wastelands...it slowed down for me, and I put it down, need the urge to pick it up again. I'm curious to read the back story in IV.
I finished I Know This Much Is True by Wally Lamb a coupla days ago. Big, warm and wonderful.
Just finished book 5, The Wolves of the Calla, last night. good stuff. I kept forgetting this book was written YEARS after the first four books, but Mr. King did an excellent job of keeping the "feel" the same. A couple of modern references were silly, though (one being a Harry Potter reference, for example). Also, the whole tie-in with Father Callahan from 'Salem's Lot was simultaneously cool and weird. The fact that 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King was ACTUALLY mentioned in the book was definitely weird (Callahan begins to doubt if he's even real because he LIVED what happened in Salem's Lot, yet the book came out a few years after the events of the book were supposed to take place). Crazy. The whole Susannah/Mia/chap thing intrigues me, too. Can't wait to get the next book.
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SmarmySir wrote: > Continuing the Dark Tower love...
>
> Just finished book 5, The Wolves of the Calla, last night.
> good stuff. I kept forgetting this book was written YEARS
> after the first four books, but Mr. King did an excellent
> job of keeping the "feel" the same. A couple of modern
> references were silly, though (one being a Harry Potter
> reference, for example). Also, the whole tie-in with Father
> Callahan from 'Salem's Lot was simultaneously cool and weird.
> The fact that 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King was ACTUALLY
> mentioned in the book was definitely weird (Callahan begins
> to doubt if he's even real because he LIVED what happened
> in Salem's Lot, yet the book came out a few years after
> the events of the book were supposed to take place). Crazy.
> The whole Susannah/Mia/chap thing intrigues me, too. Can't
> wait to get the next book.
All roads lead to Mid-World. Randall Flagg (from The Stand) makes a visit in Wizard and Glass as does reference to mother abigail.
SmarmySir wrote: > Continuing the Dark Tower love...
>
> Just finished book 5, The Wolves of the Calla, last night. good stuff.
> I kept forgetting this book was written YEARS after the first four
> books, but Mr. King did an excellent job of keeping the "feel" the
> same. A couple of modern references were silly, though (one being
> a Harry Potter reference, for example). Also, the whole tie-in with
> Father Callahan from 'Salem's Lot was simultaneously cool and weird.
> The fact that 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King was ACTUALLY mentioned
> in the book was definitely weird (Callahan begins to doubt if he's
> even real because he LIVED what happened in Salem's Lot, yet the book
> came out a few years after the events of the book were supposed to
> take place). Crazy. The whole Susannah/Mia/chap thing intrigues
> me, too. Can't wait to get the next book.
>
GOSH wrote: > How'd you like Eggers' YSKOV? I read A Heartbreaking Work... a couple
> years back. I really liked it a lot and was the perfect book for
> me at the time -- but I didn't particularly like YSKOV and I'm not
> sure why. I imagine I should give it another read one of these days.
>
> I went to see Dave Eggers give a reading a long while back to promote
> his book of short stories. He was pretty interesting, seeing as he
> refused to read from the book he was promoting and instead read a
> couple of other miscellaneous short stories that might have been weird
> recollections of his childhood. I got to talk to him for a little
> bit after the reading and he signed my books and talked about some
> other authors he thought I might like. Compared to the other readings
> I've been to with other authors, I felt he was a really genuine guy
> who seemed to really appreciated his fans.
Well it definitely wasn't as good as Heartbreaking, but it was decent. I kept waiting for something major to happen and it seemed it never did. My favorite part of the book were the characters that they met and I wished it was more in depth on them or just something more. Also the whole back story about Jack and such never panned out.
Overall it seems to be the flaw of the book was there wasn't anything to in depth. It just seems to be a travelogue and I was wanting something more.
I am not usually interested in autobiographies. The only reason I picked this one up is because I didn't know it was an autobiography. He was an incredibly interesting man. Had some amazing life experiences. Highly intelligent. I didn't know he was a doctor (MD) and a lawyer. I highly recommend reading it.
Your Heart Belongs To Me by Dean Koontz - I am disappointed. At least 1/4 of the book could have been done away with. It seemed to lack his usual gripping suspense.
mmm40x wrote: > Noltillian wrote: >> Just finished Timeline by Michael Crichton.
>> It's a little far-fetched, but a decent read.
>>
>>
>
> Have you ever read his autobiography, Travels? >
> I am not usually interested in autobiographies. The only reason I
> picked this one up is because I didn't know it was an autobiography.
> He was an incredibly interesting man. Had some amazing life experiences.
> Highly intelligent. I didn't know he was a doctor (MD) and a lawyer.
> I highly recommend reading it.
Thanks for the recommendation. I'm not really one for autobiographies, either, but I'll keep it in mind in case I ever come across it.
I'm almost finished with A Clash Of Kings by George R. R. Martin, but why I'm really posting is this: Has anyone seen the Kindle 2 on Amazon? That's a sexy machine. For those who enjoy the original, is the new iteration that much improved?
A Clash Of Kings is great , although it started a bit slow.
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, although it started a bit slow.