Karsa Orlong

Three good books there Athena! The Redbreast is his best, I think, along with The Snowman. Hope you enjoy them

Plan update: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - finished 13/06/13 Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden Prophecy by S. J. Parris - finished 18/06/13 The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy - started 23/06/13 The Odyssey by Homer Something by David Gemmell, to be decided (probably either Hero in the Shadows or The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend) A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge The Technician by Neal Asher Pompeii by Robert Harris The Silver Spike by Glen Cook - finished 22/06/13 The one no-one saw coming: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Really into The Black Dahlia already. It's so long since I read one of his books, I'd almost forgotten what a great writer Ellroy is

Not watched Castle recently then?

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. Took itself a bit too seriously, but was surprisingly watchable.

Yeah, I'll never understand that, just daft Anyway, yes, they are great books. The Belgariad will always be close to my heart as it was the first fantasy series I read - I have very fond memories of reading both it and the follow up, The Mallorean. I also liked the Sparhawk trilogies, The Elenium and The Tamuli. I have to say, though, I thought The Redemption of Althalus was pretty poor.

Book #34: The Silver Spike By Glen Cook From Amazon: The Silver Spike . . . embedded in the trunk of the scion of the godtree, it contains the essence of the maddest of the Ten Who Were Taken . . .The Dominator. Defeated by the Lady and cast from this world, all that was left of him was a foul trace of lingering evil. But the graveyard that was once the Barrowland contains more secrets than dead. All who would possess the power of the Dominator are drawn to the spike. A foolhardy band of thieves is the first to reach it, and a rapacious and malign spirit is unleashed on an unwary world. The forces gather, sides are drawn, and mortal men can only die as the Dark Lords battle for domination. Thoughts: The is sort of a spin-off from the main Black Company story, but it is the last story included in the 'Books of the South' omnibus edition, so was next on my list. The first of the 'Books of the South', Shadow Games, began with the remainder of the Black Company splitting in two and heading in different directions. That book and its sequel, Dreams of Steel, were probably my faves of the series so far, following the adventures of Croaker and The Lady as they headed, well, south. The Silver Spike goes back in time, to the very beginning of Shadow Games, and picks up the story of what happened to Raven and The White Rose, as the evil the Black Company fought in the first trilogy stirs back into life. Bit of a cheat really, resurrecting old foes, but it's done in an effective and amusing way, particularly with regard to the return of The Limper, one of the Ten Who Were Taken (his severed head - still alive - is dug up by Toadkiller Dog . . . long story . . . ). The Silver Spike is great fun, laugh out loud funny at times, but it also manages to deal with some serious, uncomfortable matters. As usual, Cook's version of fantasy comes off like an otherworldly version of the Vietnam War (he's a veteran), kind of like Platoon in a fantasy setting. It's interesting in that it ends up shadowing events in the previous two books in a kind of 'this is what happened off-screen' way, and the antics of the group of thieves - Smeds, Tully, Timmy and Old Man Fish - are both amusing, horrific and sad. If you've seen the movie A Simple Plan you'll have an idea what it's like (I spent most of that movie shouting "Noooo, don't do that!" at the screen ). If I have a complaint about the book, it's that the ending seems very abrupt, perfunctory even. He obviously wanted to deal with what happened to these characters after they left the Company, but it feels like he got to a particular point and then thought 'I've had enough of this, I want to get back to the main story'. Of course, I'm saying that not knowing what the next book is actually about, but that's the way it feels. Kind of a shame, because the journey up to that point had been up to Cook's usual high standards. I missed the irrepressible presence of Goblin and One-Eye, too. 7/10

^^ Marvellous

I wish I could remember my teen years . . .

I'm trying to remember if I read Domain. I thought I'd read all the Rats books, but that description isn't ringing a bell at all. Maybe I only read the first two

Yeah, Lord of Light is my favourite of his that I've read so far

Great pics! Did you dance with them?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yI7VmpP7QA

So Microsoft have done a U-turn over the ownership of games: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-20-after-xbox-one-uturn-preowned-is-back-on-the-table-but-at-what-cost ETA: And they've changed their minds about the online requirement, too: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-19-microsoft-will-reverse-position-on-xbox-one-drm-today-report Sony's E3 announcements obviously scared the proverbial out of them

Plan update: Bring Up the Bodies by Hilary Mantel - finished 13/06/13 Emperor: The Gates of Rome by Conn Iggulden Prophecy by S. J. Parris - finished 18/06/13 The Mauritius Command by Patrick O'Brian The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy The Odyssey by Homer Something by David Gemmell, to be decided (probably either Hero in the Shadows or The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend) A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge The Technician by Neal Asher Pompeii by Robert Harris The Silver Spike by Glen Cook - started 20/06/13 The one no-one saw coming: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Making a start on Glen Cook's The Silver Spike today. "He got mad. I got mad right back. We yelled and screamed some. He threw things because he wasn't in good enough shape to run me down. I stomped his wineskin to death and watched its blood trickle across the floor." I do love the way he writes

I think the Charlton Heston version, The Omega Man, is actually a pretty decent film - it just doesn't bare much resemblance to the book

Contagion. Thought it was okay.

If you're not prepared to read on and get the answers to your questions then I'd suggest Erikson is not for you, as Sanderson and Jordan are not for me

Tony Soprano himself has passed away at 51 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22980414 R.I.P. James

Ah okay. I'm not a Sanderson fan, I'm afraid. His magic systems take over and the stories and characters become boring and predictable. Think he's vastly overrated. I've read four of his books and doubt I will ever read another.

First Law is Joe Abercrombie

It's like Marmite, I suppose. Some people struggle with it, some people love it. Or, as a friend of mine put it, it's a bit much if all you're used to is 'Rand al'Thor walked through the forest...' I hope you will go back to it - you've barely scratched the surface so far. The first book is small scale compared to what follows Welcome to the forums

I was trying to decide whether to read James Ellroy's The Black Dahlia or David Gemmell's The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend next. Couldn't make up my mind, so I'm carrying on with The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn for the moment. It's good, but it's not the sort of book I can read for long stretches (lots of names and dates to digest, as you would expect), so I'll have to continue to read it in short spurts whilst reading something else as well.