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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Thu Jul 10, 2008 2:34 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just finished reading Terry Brooks' 'The Gypsy Morph', last in the 'Genesis of Shannara' trilogy. I've really enjoyed reading these books and 'Gypsy Morph' is no exception, 'post apocalypse + demons = cool as far as I'm concerned, but it was kinda spoilt by the fact the ending was never really in any doubt (as you can tell by the number of Shannara books on the shelves). For me, this robbed the story of any urgency and some of the more hard hitting events almost seemed pointless...
I reckon that fans will still enjoy 'Gypsy Morph' for the continuity etc, it just didn't work as well for me as the previous two books. My full review is over Here.
I'm now switching between Marie Brennan's 'Midnight Never Come' and Peter Brett's 'The Painted Man'...
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 3:09 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just finished reading Marie Brennan's 'Midnight Never Come', a tale of intrigue and machination set in a 16th century England where the faerie court is a real influence on the reign of Queen Elizabeth...
'Midnight Never Come' would have been a great story if it wasn't for the overabundance of historical facts etc dragging at the pace of the tale. It's still worth a read, just really heavy going in places... My full review is over Here.
I'm now reading Peter Brett's 'The Painted Man' and hope to finish 'Toll the Hounds' as well...
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Al. I. Cuza



Joined: 28 Jun 2008
Posts: 56
Location: Vienna

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

You are like a reading-machine
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Selik



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

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 9:33 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Scary isn't it? It's like he never moves from the bookshelf. Razz
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Drizzt



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

PostPosted: Fri Jul 11, 2008 10:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Hehe... the perils of being a reviewer!

Just finished 'The First Chronicles of Druss The Legend': excellent read.
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Mantyluoto



Joined: 21 Sep 2005
Posts: 573
Location: Somerset, UK

PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 4:53 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Drizzt wrote:

Just finished 'The First Chronicles of Druss The Legend': excellent read.


Druss is one of my favorite reads and its such a shame that no more will ever be written.
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skandranon



Joined: 25 Feb 2008
Posts: 147
Location: north east England

PostPosted: Sat Jul 12, 2008 9:04 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree Manty , David Gemmell just kept on turning out superb fantasy, Druss Skilgannon, Parmenion , Waylander, and the Troy books all fantastic and ive read them all more than once and intend to again. Very Happy
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Mon Jul 14, 2008 10:00 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Selik wrote:
Scary isn't it? It's like he never moves from the bookshelf. Razz


Very Happy

I do occasionally take breaks to eat and go to the loo Wink
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Thu Jul 17, 2008 2:54 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished reading Jeffrey Thomas' 'Deadstock'; a sci-fi noir tale of hard bitten detectives and alien mysteries. Lovely world building and characterisation but it does get in the way of the story itself which can be really frustrating at times. The book does just enough to make me want to read the sequel so the jury's out for now...
Full review over Here.
No idea what I'll be reading next!
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Fri Jul 18, 2008 2:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just been reading Ellen Datlow's 'The Del Rey Book of Science Fiction and Fantasy'. I thought it was a bit of a hit and miss affair (for me personally) but there were a couple of particularly good short stories and I've blogged about them Here.
I'm on holiday next week and will be working my way through Jacqueline Carey's 'Kushiel's Scion' and Adrian Tchaikovskys' 'Empire in Black and Gold' amongst others...
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Parmenion



Joined: 06 Oct 2006
Posts: 584

PostPosted: Sat Jul 19, 2008 6:41 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished Victory of eagles by Naomi Novik

When i picked this book up it was in the hope that naomi had managed to keep going a series that is both action packed and filled with great characters, and to start with i was worried, the action was not there, what was there though, was a new depth to the characters, a real depth of sadness and despair for Captain william laurence that really carried over to the reader, but was also counter balanced by the intelligence but naivety of Temeraire and his dragon friends and what they might do to help him.

And for those that dont care about that and just want the action...do not worry, when it does arrive it does so in spades.
As usual i finished the book in about 24 hours and was letf really looking forward to the next, and that the only pointer i need to know its been a great book.


now starting Harry Turtledove In at the death
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Mon Jul 28, 2008 3:28 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just finished reading Adrian Tchaikovsky's 'Empire in Black and Gold', intrigue and warfare in a land where humans take power from a 'totem insect' (pretty cool if you're a Wasp, not so cool if you're a silkworm or something like that).
It's by no means perfect but I haven't had so much fun reading a book in a long time and I can't wait for the next installment. My full review is over Here.
I'm now reading Al Ewing's 'I, Zombie' which looks like a cross between 'Night of the Living Dead' and 'The Matrix' so far...
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 3:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just finished reading Al Ewing's 'I, Zombie', a tale of one dead man's attempts to fit in with other humans... oh, and an invasion of insects from another dimension!
'I, Zombie' definitely wins the prize for 'copious swearing' and gets quite close to the knuckle with some of the stuff it portrays but still manages to be a really entertaining read that will sit well with fans of the 'Tomes of the Dead' series. My full review is over Here.
I'm now well into Karen Traviss' 'The Clone Wars' (book of the film!)
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Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Tue Jul 29, 2008 5:32 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just read a collection of short stories by one Jarosław Grzędowicz. And I'm totally disappointed. I really like this writer, his other works are great, but this one was a drag. One or two good stories, the rest was waaay too political for my taste. I mean - writers of course can have and express their political views in their works, but if a story is less of a story and more of a propaganda piece, something is wrong. Take for example Morgan - his "Altered Carbon" is really political but also great to read. This wasn't a case here, I'm afraid.

So I'm on to something else, something more entertaining, I hope. This will be either "Na ziemi niczyjej" by Brzezińska/Wiśniewski - three horror novellas set during the Great War, or "Lod" by Dukaj, an alternative history of early 20th century, where the Tunguska Event changed the course of history.
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Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 1:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I've just finished reading 'The Clone Wars' and I have to say... meh'
Don't get me wrong, it's got all the stuff that makes Star Wars books etc great (aliens, space battles etc) but the fact that it's filling in gaps between other events meant that I knew Anakin, Ben etc were all going to make it through to the end. Where's the excitement and anticipation if you already know how it's going to end up? I'll probably still see the film though... My full review is on the Blog.
I'm now reading Sean Williams' 'The Force Unleashed' (the book of the game!) in the hope that it will give me some better Star Wars reading, no luck so far...
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