James Barclay

Deornoth · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 446

Sounds like Napoleon was quite wasteful...

I've just finished a re-read of Neil Gaiman's 'Coraline' and it's just as good as it was the first time round. My full review is over Here. I'm now starting on 'Godmother', Carolyn Turgeon's retelling of the Cinderella story...
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

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Deornoth · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 446

I've just finished Carolyn Turgeon's 'Godmother', a look at how the Cinderella story might really have gone and what the consquences were... 'Godmother' is a slow old read but magical at the same time, the story has a dark edge to it and leaves you with plenty of questions. My full review is over Here.
I'm now reading Robert Rankin's 'The da da de da da code'...
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

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Drizzt · Joined: 07 Mar 2005 Posts: 1081 Location: Easington, UK

Currently wandering through 'Empire In Black and Gold' by Adrian Tchaikovsky... Seems pretty good, about 250 pages in and it's got me turning the pages.
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Pagan Music

Kerela · Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 372 Location: Germany

The Tenth Kingdom.
It's nice and funny but I don't understand why some people in another forum totaly freaked out and cried 'OMG that's such a great book', when I mentioned it.
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The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein

Alia · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 246

There was also a TV series under this title - I wonder if it's based on the book.
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Kerela · Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 372 Location: Germany

I think yes.
I really like the idea: a 20th-century New York-girl who stumbles into a totaly messed up fairy tale-world but somehow it's simply too much, stupid Trolls, evilevil stepmothers, werewolfes who read therapy-books, magic can do about everything and three main-characters I don't find very much likeable.
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The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein

Deornoth · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 446

I've just finished reading Robert Rankin's 'The Da Da De Da Da Code'; a tale of conspiracy theories, mind control and imaginary friends... The jokes are a bit hit and miss but I'm still chuckling to myself as I write this! My full review is over Here.
I've been taking a break from 'Dragonfly Falling', for a bit, so it's back to that now. Hopefully I should finish the book over the weekend...
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

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Lizzy · Posted: Tue Mar 10, 2009 9:15 am Post subject:

Just finished Use of Weapons by Iain M Banks. Taken me a while because I've lots on and had to read another book inbetween (not one for here)

It's an extremely clever book. Witty and horrific with such a shocking twist at the end. It's written with chapters alternating from the present story to the back story of the main protagonist. His past is written backwards so by the end you get the end and beginning of his story. This works incredibly well at the end, but is a tad confusing to start with. You'll never look at a white cane chair in the same light again....

Banks is a brilliant writer but some of the stuff is very twisted. I like his books but can't read two in a row.
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Listen to Lizzy, she's always right! as said by Jovial

Alia · Joined: 17 Sep 2007 Posts: 246

Banks himself claims some of his books are "grim" (Use of Weapons is certainly one), while some are "nice". Crow Road and Whit for example belong to the "nice" category - even though they still hold the twist.
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Rups · Joined: 02 Jul 2008 Posts: 45

My fav Banks book is Excession...

Deornoth · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 446

Finished reading D.M Cornish's 'Foundling'; a steampunky tale of smugglers, adventurers and monsters...
'Foundling' is the opening book in a trilogy and the resulting journey that the main character has to make (in order to get to where he needs to be for Book 2) can be a little monotonous. This is balanced out though by a book that's high on atmosphere and adventure. My full review is over Here.
I'm now finishing off Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle's 'Escape from Hell'...
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

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Kerela · Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 372 Location: Germany

I started with Cry of the Newborn.
So far it's mainly very confusing and has many characters Laughing

but it's also interesting.
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The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein

Selik · Joined: 20 Jan 2005 Posts: 1524 Location: South Shields

Keep going... it's worth it.
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"I sit on my arse, not my head." - Baron Gresse.

Deornoth · Joined: 08 Oct 2007 Posts: 446

I finished reading Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle's 'Escape from Hell', the sequel to 'Inferno'. Allen Carpenter escaped from Hell but now he's going back to rescue the souls that he had to leave behind...
'Escape from Hell' is a slow old read (almost too slow sometimes) but left me with loads to think about after I had finished it. I'm not sure I'd read it again but it was worth picking up. My full review is over Here. I'm starting to wonder if I'll ever get round to picking up 'Dragonfly Falling' again, it's not a bad book (quite the opposite) but it's just not doing it for me at the moment. In the meantime, it's onto Joe Abercrombie's 'Best Served Cold'...
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Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!