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What are you Reading Now?

Sabu

New Member
Desiderium: The War Within by Katherine Frances. It's a self-published work by a writer I found via her fanfiction. I blew through about 70% of it and then put reading on hold. It's one of those where I can see the potential and I know she can write better, but it's a little hard to get through.

I've also been reading some Drizzt stuff on nights I can't sleep. Looking forward to a few other self-published novels and the rest of the Mistborn series since I loved the first one.
 

CupofJoe

Myth Weaver
Medieval Warfare Source Book: Volume 2 Christian Europe and its Neighbours.
From 400 to 1400 and from China, Russian, Turks and Mongol forces to Persian, Muslim and Byzantine warfare. It covers a lot and think you don't expect [like how the loot was divided, and how the forces were fed]. There are four pages on how armies were taxed...
It's a dry read but not a difficult one.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
The mentions of Silverlock (I'm proud to say I own a 1979 copy) made me think of another book in which many famous people appear -- The Fabulous Riverboat and To Your Scattered Bodies Go by the strangely brilliant Philip Jose Farmer. I'm not reading any of that at this time, so I'm sort of cheating here, but the books deserve attention, especially as an entirely different sort of fantasy.

I've also started reading A House Boat on the Styx by John Kendrick Bangs (written in 1895) which seems to be one of the earlier incarnations of this sort of thing. In which a whole host of famous dead people establish a club in a house boat on the Styx. Charon is the caretaker/butler. It's quite an interesting read, though so far seems to be more a series of vignettes where famous people of disparate ages get together to chat rather than a story. The banter between the dead is highly amusing when one is feeling in an intellectual reading mood.

Wikipedia calls To Your Scattered Bodies Go and The Fabulous Riverboat science fiction novels, which is perhaps why I hadn't heard of them. Seem very interesting though. May have to check them out.
 
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Clearmadness

Dreamer
I just finished reading The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson. I like it but it wasn't my favorite book by him by a long shot. I was expecting more to get resolved in the third novel but that didn't happen. They've still barely introduced the Big Bad.
 

tiggywinke

Dreamer
I'm reading Diana Gabaldon's "Outlander." The first two chapters were terribly, terribly dull, and unnecessary if you know what a Jacobite is, but the book has gotten better. I'm enjoying her portrayal of 18th century Scotland.
 

Russ

Istar
Medieval Warfare Source Book: Volume 2 Christian Europe and its Neighbours.
From 400 to 1400 and from China, Russian, Turks and Mongol forces to Persian, Muslim and Byzantine warfare. It covers a lot and think you don't expect [like how the loot was divided, and how the forces were fed]. There are four pages on how armies were taxed...
It's a dry read but not a difficult one.

Good on you for actually reading those. I own them, but always thought of them as more reference texts rather than books one reads from cover to cover.

Just reading Elantris right now, and a Tom Clancy/ Grant Blackwood novel, Under Fire.

Elantris is really strong for a debut.
 
C

Chessie

Guest
Elantris was also like his 5th book or something. I remember watching an interview with him where he talks about how he had been trying to get published for some time.

Just started "Silver On The Road" by Laura Anne Gilman. It has the best of both worlds for me: fantasy western. I'm still in the first chapter and loving her way with words.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Just finished Silverlock. It was excellent. Not sure what I'm going to dig into next. Maybe Elantris.
 

Russ

Istar
Elantris was also like his 5th book or something. I remember watching an interview with him where he talks about how he had been trying to get published for some time.

Just started "Silver On The Road" by Laura Anne Gilman. It has the best of both worlds for me: fantasy western. I'm still in the first chapter and loving her way with words.

Interesting about Elantris, the copy I have has a blurb that refers to it as a debut so I thought it was.

Gilman is a great lady. I got to know her years ago and had my wife "tuckerized" for charity in one of her series. Very nice lady and a pretty good writer to boot.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Well, I'm into Elantris and liking it well enough. I've not read a Sanderson book before and I wanted to give him a try but didn't really want to get into a series so this works. I think it tends to suffer from a bit of "serious writer voice" though.
 

Mythopoet

Auror
Interesting about Elantris, the copy I have has a blurb that refers to it as a debut so I thought it was.

My understanding is that Elantris is his debut, as his first book to be published. But he had written several books before it that were not published.
 

Incanus

Auror
I don't think I'm going to make through Brothers Karamazov. At least not all at once. I might have to set it aside for awhile and try again later, but I don't know. The main characters are interesting enough and I don't mind a plot taking a while to get underway. The main problem I have is that a majority of characters have a tendency to babble. A lot. The story and the babbling is... diffuse to say the least. I just can't tell what the point of most of the babbling is, unless it is to deliberately add fog and diffusion to everything, effectively hiding the plot and much of the characterization.

I'm sure I'm wrong about all this, and just don't 'get' it. Perhaps this is book for swifter readers? I guess I'm more of a Crime and Punishment kind of guy.

Next up is Gormenghast (book 2). This book is sure to be awesome...
 
C

Chessie

Guest
Gilman is a great lady. I got to know her years ago and had my wife "tuckerized" for charity in one of her series. Very nice lady and a pretty good writer to boot.
Really? Oh, that's so neat! She's a very good writer...but the problem I'm having with this story is that...well...it's much too slow a beginning for me. I haven't made it past the first chapter and I'm already bored which is a TOTAL bummer. The introduction into the mc's world is beautifully described, but I seriously don't need an entire page's worth of pointless backstory combined with bread making techniques from the 1800s.

Sigh. I was really hoping to get into this book but idk if that's going to happen. It's probably just me though. I have a short attention span so if a book doesn't captivate me within the first few pages, I'm kinda done. :(

So next up is "Doom Of The Dragon" in the Dragonships series. Will be biting into that tonight.
 

X Equestris

Maester
Just recently finished Sapkowski's "The Sword of Destiny" anthology. I think "A Little Sacrifice" ended up being my favorite story in it. That ending was a real gut punch.
 

Russ

Istar
Really? Oh, that's so neat! She's a very good writer...but the problem I'm having with this story is that...well...it's much too slow a beginning for me. I haven't made it past the first chapter and I'm already bored which is a TOTAL bummer. The introduction into the mc's world is beautifully described, but I seriously don't need an entire page's worth of pointless backstory combined with bread making techniques from the 1800s.

Sigh. I was really hoping to get into this book but idk if that's going to happen. It's probably just me though. I have a short attention span so if a book doesn't captivate me within the first few pages, I'm kinda done. :(

So next up is "Doom Of The Dragon" in the Dragonships series. Will be biting into that tonight.

Pity, the stuff of hers I enjoyed (maybe a decade or more ago), the Retrievers series, started out quite fast and exciting.

She is also a freelance editor. She made the short list of people who I want to work with when I get my @!#$% WOP finished, and if my first choice became unavailable she would be back in the running. She is smart, articulate and tough, just what I need in an editor.
 
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