Karsa Orlong

'Ello Sarah What fool told you about this place?

Good, that means my TBR list can stay as it is Thank you! No no, you'll probably find yourself in good company on here with your mountains of unread books Welcome, btw - good to see you post at last! And get that cat out of my thread! Pixie won't like it

I hope you enjoy it, too - it's one of my faves! The good thing with it is that it's a series of interlinked stories within an overarching storyline, so there are lots of different aspects to it. I seem to remember it being labeled as the SF equivalent of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales

So in my usual way I went to Waterstone's at lunchtime with the intention of getting one of the history books mentioned above, and ended up buying two The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn by Alison Weir and Winter King: The Dawn of Tudor England by Thomas Penn I blame Hilary Mantel for the former and Penn's own (excellent) BBC documentary for the latter. On the plus side, it was buy one get one half price

It's not that I can't read if I'm feeling sleepy, more that I shouldn't because, as emelee says, I often pick up the book the following day and can't remember what was going on in the last bit that I read I used to try and read about 100 pages a day - sometimes more, sometimes less - but I haven't been doing that this year. I've gone back to just reading as much as I feel comfortable with, and I've found I've been more relaxed and possibly enjoying the books I've read more as a result, even if it has been taking me longer than usual to finish them. I also find that the mornings are when I read most, either on my commute or when I'm at home, before tiredness sets in

This is usually - not always - my approach with trilogies. I figured waiting is a good idea after my experience with Peter F Hamilton's 'Night's Dawn' trilogy, where I read them as they were published and, as each came out, I had to re-read the previous book(s), so I ended up reading the first three times, and the second twice, but the third only once. I've also found with some trilogies that they could quite easily have been condensed into two books but have been padded out, when there really isn't enough interesting happening in the story to actually justify a third book. But then I'm reading the second book in a trilogy at the moment, with no idea when the final one will be published, so it's not like I have a hard and fast rule for it. Martin's 'Ice & Fire' series is the king of the waiting game for the series I have read. Five years between books 3 and 4, six between 4 and 5. He's taking so long to get it done, and the last couple of books have been comparatively poor, imho, that I'm losing interest. At the moment, I don't know if I'll be back for the next book, when it's eventually published in around 2018. By then I'll have forgotten everything and have to re-read them again. I might just wait for the tv show to tell me what happens, instead - it'll probably be done sooner I am finding series generally a bit wearying these days, though. I don't mind so much if each entry is a separate story with the same character(s) - i.e. C J Sansom, Jo Nesbo, Lee Child etc - but when it's an ongoing story that requires knowledge of events in previous books, and then having to wait for ages between books (or even just take a break from them when they're all sitting on the shelf because the thought of reading them one after another is . . . just . . . too . . . much ), I think I am just about burned out. Erikson's 'Malazan' has pretty much ruined all other fantasy series for me. I have found that trying any other such series in its wake has seen them inevitably pale in comparison, and I've quickly got bored with them - so I guess that'll save me from too much waiting around in the future

Think I mentioned this earlier in the year, but I have finally ordered this

Forge of Darkness paperback to be published on 18th July 2013. The second book in the Kharkanas trilogy, Fall of Light, has appeared on Amazon with a publication date of 5th June 2014. Only a year to go . . .

As always seems to be the way when I start reading a historical novel set in Tudor times, I start looking at other books about the period. I am drawn, for the umpteenth time, to Alison Weir's The Six Wives of Henry VIII, and The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn. Also quite drawn to her book about Lancaster and York: The War of the Roses, for no other reason than curiosity. I've no doubt there are many, many other highly-rated non-fiction books on these subjects, but I'm thinking these would be a good place to start. I can see my TBR pile growing again

No, nothing like that, it was the British characters suddenly using words like 'snuck' and 'billfold' and 'sidewalk'.

There seems to be a consensus forming! What was it, three years between the first two? So 2015 for the hardback of the next one, 2016 for the paperback . . . Still, that's probably sooner than the next George RR Martin book I loved Wolf Hall, but it's about three years since I read it, so I can't really say for sure. I'm thinking this one, so far (260 pages in), has a brisker pace about it. I've found both of them completely absorbing

I think that's why I found the lapse into Americanisms so distracting in the third book. He'd maintained the 'Britishness' of the characters so well for two books, then suddenly it all flew out of the window. No idea why

Thought it was a bit of a dull finale (not really a surprise after last week, I suppose). I thought Charles Dance stole the episode again, although Stephen Dillane and Liam Cunningham are giving him a good run for his money

I don't know I had no inclination to immediately purchase Blade of Tyshalle, just immense relief that I'd finished this one. I think my score is probably a little unfair, but it just shows how conflicted I am about the book. It's not the worst book I've read this year, yet my score indicates that it is. The only justification I can give is that I enjoyed The Children of the Sky more, and I gave that one a 6/10. Hmmm. I might come back to Caine one day but, for the moment, there are too many other books I want to read.

Book #31: Heroes Die (Acts of Caine Book 1) by Matthew Woodring Stover From Amazon: Two worlds. One killer. Renowned throughout the land of Ankhana, the assassin Caine has killed his share of monarchs and commoners, villains and heroes. He is relentless, unstoppable, the best at what he does. At home in the real world, Caine is Hari Michaelson, a superstar whose adventures in Ankhana command an audience of billions. Yet he's shackled by a rigid caste society, bound to ignore the grim fact that he kills men on a far-off world for the entertainment of his own planet. But now Michaelson has crossed the line. His estranged wife has disappeared in the slums of Ankhana. To save her, he must confront the greatest challenge of his life: a lethal game of cat and mouse with the most treacherous rulers of two worlds. Welcome to the world of Caine: Assassin. Hero. Superstar . . . Thoughts: I tried to read this book last year but gave up on it after a couple of hundred pages, partly because I wasn't enjoying it so much, but mainly because the sequel was damn near impossible to get (unless I was to pay silly prices for a used copy). Now the entire series has been released for Kindle it is no longer an issue, so it seemed a good time to try again. Heroes Die doesn't sound particularly original if you read the blurb. It is a hybrid of SF and fantasy, a tale of two Earths that are out of phase with each other. Our world, in the future, has become so technologically advanced that we are able to transport people to the other Earth, called Overworld, which has a pseudo-Medieval culture. Our future world and Medieval Overworld are painted in broad, fairly standard brushstrokes. Neither world really comes alive. So far, so ho-hum. But it is then that the original slant comes in. The only people sent from our Earth to Overworld are Actors. Hari Michaelson is one such Actor, the most famous Actor around because of the exploits of his Overworld persona, Caine - and Caine has been responsible for some the biggest upheavals in Overworld society. He has, quite literally, changed the world, whether it be through assassinations, or leading uprisings. No Prime Directive here. The studio sends Hari/Caine into the midst of the events that they think will make them the biggest bucks, either through so-called First-Handers - who get to experience Caine's latest adventure as it happens, through his own eyes - or by selling cubes (DVDs, if you like) of the adventure after it has happened. Caine is a mass of muscle and barely concealed fury, and his adventures on Overworld are violent in the extreme. He is a tool, a weapon that the studio uses to manipulate events for ultimate effect. In effect, Stover is presenting an allegory. Take a step back from the narrative and you can see him punching and kicking at present day forms of entertainment - movies, tv, video games - and the way in which modern society has become inured to its content. Caine's adventures are the futuristic equivalent of a blockbuster movie where people die in vast, gory numbers and nobody bats an eyelid. I'm fairly used to violence in books, and I like a little darkness in my SF and fantasy novels, but I think the reason I didn't get along with this book first time around is because the violence seems all-encompassing. The book starts with a decapitation and snowballs from there. It is, at times, very unpleasant, downright nasty. The characters and their motivations are well conveyed, but it's really tough to like any of them. They are bitter, twisted, self-serving people and even though Caine's motivations in this story are somewhat noble, it doesn't prevent him from leaving a trail of blood and guts in his wake. Even taking into account the ultimate message Stover is trying to get across, I think he takes it a little too far, even for me. And I like Joe Abercrombie's books! (It should be noted that this book was first published in 1997, when George RR Martin's tale of ice and fire had barely left the starting blocks, and long before the current trend for grittier, darker fantasy had blossomed) You need a strong stomach for this book. It is not for the faint-hearted - it is fierce and uncompromising, well thought through, perhaps too long for its own good, has some of the best (but visceral) action scenes I've read, and possesses a central character who drives the story forward through sheer force of will. You could read this book and walk away not needing to read the rest. I am somewhat at a loss as to what score to give it. I found a lot to like, and a lot to dislike. It made me feel very uncomfortable at times. I'm guessing that's what Stover was aiming for. It worked, but I remain a little unconvinced by the result, despite all the glowing praise to be found elsewhere. 5/10

160 pages into Bring Up the Bodies. Can't put it down. Must be glue on the cover or sumfink

Crikey, this has happened so quickly R.I.P. Iain

Thanks Athena I forgot to say, my 'book no-one saw coming' for this plan, which I hinted at up-thread somewhere, is To Kill a Mockingbird I'm making a start on Bring Up the Bodies today. Really excited to get back into Cromwell's world. I was tempted to re-read Wolf Hall first to refresh my memory, as I read it three years ago now (and loved it!), but decided I could wing it as the main events in it are so well known.

All fantastic books

I've heard of a couple of those authors - Greg Egan and Glenda Larke, in particular. I've looked at their books many times but never actually bought them. Trudi Canavan's books don't interest me at all

Must have been a tough decision, Michelle, but I can imagine the weight lifting from your shoulders. There's nothing worse than feeling that you have to do something and ending up not enjoying it as a result

That can change Ooh, a challenge! I think there's a danger of tarring everything with the same brush - there's infinitely more to SF than Star Trek

I didn't dare ask

Oh yes, you'd fit right in