James Barclay Forum Index James Barclay
Welcome to the forum for the author James Barclay.
 
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 

Currently Reading <cont 5>
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 19, 20, 21 ... 32, 33, 34  Next
 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    James Barclay Forum Index -> Books
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 2:25 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Robert Buettner's 'Orphan's Triumph', the last installment of mankind's battle against alien slugs (those pesky alien slugs...) as seen through the eyes of Jason Wander. It's a very entertaining read but was let down by choppy pacing and a sense that things were contrived to have Jason in the right place at the right time... My full review is over Here. Next up is 'The Best of Michael Moorcock'.
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Fri Jul 03, 2009 3:38 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Jasper Bark's 'Way of the Barefoot Zombie' where a course to 'unleash your inner zombie' becomes a lot more to the Voodoo priestess and Zombie Liberation Front agents caught up in it. I loved the concept, and characterisation, but Bark's insistence on having to explain everything to the readers really took the edge off what he was trying to say as well as slowing things down when they should have been speeding up... My full review is over Here. I'm now reading 'Through Violet Eyes' by Stephen Woodworth...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Tue Jul 07, 2009 7:18 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Simon Woodworth's 'Through Violet Eyes', a police procedural/urban fantasy thriller where a serial killer is hunting down people who can channel the spirits of the dead. I loved the concept and the work that had gone into the background setting but the elements of the plot and the characters were far too predictable to make this book really stand out. My full review is over Here. I'm now reading Max Allan Collins' novelisation of the new GI Joe movie. It's ok but isn't really anything special so far...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 7:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Max Allan Collins' novelisation of the new GI Joe movie. If the story had been fleshed out a little more then this could have been good. What we get though is a retelling of the movie without the impact that it would have on the screen, it felt like half a story to me... My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off 'The Hunger Games' (Suzanne Collins).
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Kerela



Joined: 10 Sep 2005
Posts: 372
Location: Germany

PostPosted: Wed Jul 08, 2009 8:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

After I had been distracted by some other books I'm back to Cry of the Newborn. It took a while till I finally got into it but now I love it.
_________________
The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

At the moment I am reading such fascinating books as "Psychology for teachers", "Teaching English as foreign language" or "Effective classroom control" (got an exam on Monday). But then there are some books that are waiting for me, now that technically I'm on holiday. These are Pratchett's "Thud", Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and Mieville's "Un-Lun-Dun". I've already started on Chabon and it's really crazy, absurd piece of work, just what I like - but I had to put it down because of the exam.
_________________
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 3:07 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading 'The Hunger Games' which is very much 'Battle Royale' for eleven year olds (and up). While it's a great read (well drawn world full of exciting and tense moments) I couldn't help thinking that it's target audience stopped the author from fully exploring some of the themes under discussion. To be fair though, if I was an eleven year old reading this for the first time I'd probably be saying something quite different! My full review is over Here. I'm now midway through Jasper Kent's 'Twelve', hoping to finish it for tomorrow but it's been heavy going so far...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Kerela



Joined: 10 Sep 2005
Posts: 372
Location: Germany

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 4:26 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Alia wrote:
At the moment I am reading such fascinating books as "Psychology for teachers", "Teaching English as foreign language" or "Effective classroom control" (got an exam on Monday). But then there are some books that are waiting for me, now that technically I'm on holiday. These are Pratchett's "Thud", Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union" and Mieville's "Un-Lun-Dun". I've already started on Chabon and it's really crazy, absurd piece of work, just what I like - but I had to put it down because of the exam.


I loved Thud! many of Pratchett's newer book were still good but not as great as his older stuff but Thud! was totally amazing again. But I admit I wasn't that overwhelmed by The Yiddish Policemen Union...
Yeah and I guess I have to take another look at 'The Mistakes Clinic for German-speaking learners of English' before my next exam Rolling Eyes
_________________
The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kerela wrote:
But I admit I wasn't that overwhelmed by The Yiddish Policemen Union...


This might be also the question of translation. The Polish one is really good, at least that's my impression. Also, I really love alternative histories.
_________________
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Kerela



Joined: 10 Sep 2005
Posts: 372
Location: Germany

PostPosted: Thu Jul 09, 2009 8:06 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well I read the English orignal...guess it was simply a bit too weird for me Laughing
_________________
The question that sometimes drives me hazy: Am I, or the others crazy?
Albert Einstein
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website Yahoo Messenger MSN Messenger
Max Power



Joined: 06 Dec 2004
Posts: 467
Location: United Kingdom

PostPosted: Sat Jul 11, 2009 12:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch. I love this series of books - even better than The Lies of Locke Lamora, which was pretty fantastic itself.
_________________
If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you can possibly imagine.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message MSN Messenger
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Tue Jul 14, 2009 3:17 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Kerela wrote:
Yeah and I guess I have to take another look at 'The Mistakes Clinic for German-speaking learners of English' before my next exam Rolling Eyes


You can't be as bad as I was when I did German A-Level! My German teacher met my Mum, a couple of years later, and told her how surprised the teachers were that I'd scraped a pass! Shocked (There was a little bit of cheating going on but that's another story... Embarassed )

Finished reading David McIntee's 'The Light of Heaven', latest in Abaddon's 'Twilight of Kerebos' series. When it gets going 'The Light of Heaven' is a fun read but, too often, it never really gets going. It has also has far too much of a 'medieval fantasy thing' going on without much else to mark it out in it's own right... My full review is over Here. I'm now finishing off 'Twelve' (no, really I am!) and I've also got James Braziel's 'Snakeskin Road' on the go as well...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Alia



Joined: 17 Sep 2007
Posts: 246

PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 12:20 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Chabon's "The Yiddish Policemen's Union". For me it was really interesting, a combination of crime story and alternative history, with a lot of absurd humour.
_________________
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Thu Jul 16, 2009 2:22 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading James Braziel's 'Snakeskin Road', a tale of human trafficking in a near future America that has been ravaged by a growing hole in the ozone layer. I loved the setting, and the plot had a suitable degree of urgency about it, but it was a real shame that none of the characters seemed to grow or develop over the course of the book. My full review is over Here. I'm now well into Alex Bledsoe's 'The Sword Edged Blonde'...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Deornoth



Joined: 08 Oct 2007
Posts: 446

PostPosted: Fri Jul 17, 2009 2:44 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Finished reading Alex Bledsoe's 'The Sword Edged Blonde' where a sword wielding private eye must solve a seemingly unsolveable mystery... This book sometimes strays too far into 'hard boiled American PI' territory and makes the fantasy setting a little harder to get into as a result. However, an intriguing mystery and a well rounded main character make this a very entertaining read and I'm looking forward to getting hold of the sequel. My full review is over Here. I'm now about halfway through Aaron Dembski-Bowden's 'Cadian Blood'...
_________________
Graeme's Fantasy Book Review

Does exactly what it says on the tin!
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Send e-mail
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    James Barclay Forum Index -> Books All times are GMT
Goto page Previous  1, 2, 3 ... 19, 20, 21 ... 32, 33, 34  Next
Page 20 of 34

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group