Karsa Orlong

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell I only found out about this book and its author when I saw the posters for the film adaptation. It aroused my curiosity. It's a short novel (193 pages) about a young woman, living in the Ozark mountains in rural America, whose father has disappeared and left her looking after her two younger brothers and her mother, who's lost her mind. When a policeman turns up and tells her that, unless her father shows for his court appearance in a few days, their house is forfeit, Ree sets off in search of him in an effort to keep a roof over her family's heads. Woodrell's writing is, I'd say, special. It has quite a languid style and pace about it which works really well in evoking the setting and the characters that inhabit it. When his character's spoke I could hear their voices quite clearly in my head. His sentences are pared back marvels, full of detail and yet not wasting a word. Ree Dolly, the central character, is a little wonder. If I had one comment to make it's that the plot is a little thin, but it's something of a moot point, as it's a story about character, and Ree's character in particular. There's a sense of foreboding that builds up as the story progresses. Surprisingly, when the violence comes it happens 'off-screen' which, if anything, makes it more intense. I still haven't seen the film, but I'm really looking forward to doing so. 8/10

Given that you like The Lord of the Rings I reckon you could do far worse than try some other fantasy classics, such as (if you haven't read them already): Magician by Raymond E. Feist, which is the first in a series but can be read on its own. Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay, which is a stand-alone fantasy novel and one of the best I've ever read (and I've heard that his The Lions of Al Rassan is even better, but it's sitting on my shelf waiting to be read, so I can't confirm that ... yet ). Legend by David Gemmell, which is top-notch heroic fantasy from one of the best storytellers in the genre. Special mention for The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers, which is a terrific, fast-moving time travel adventure that I absolutely loved. Whatever you choose, enjoy!

I'm about 140 pages into Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone. I haven't seen the film adaptation yet but shall certainly be making an effort to after reading this

Tried to watch Shutter Island but gave up after about 40 minutes, didn't like it at all. But I'm not a Scorcese fan, so I'm not entirely sure why I rented it in the first place Watched an episode of Supernatural season 6 instead

^^ Good to know I'm going to wait for it to come out in paperback before I take the plunge

Well, the good news is that Winter's Bone (which is brilliant) is only 196 pages long, so I'll finish it today, and I'm still keen on reading Sovereign next so ...

Yay, glad you're enjoying the Sansom books Sovereign's next on my TBR list, after I've finished Winter's Bone Mind you, I do have a tendency to finish a book and then decide on something else entirely

Can I pull the trigger?

The Bonehunters by Steven Erikson With the release of the final novel in Erikson's 'Tales of the Malazan Book of the Fallen' just over three months away I decided it was time to get back to my re-read of the series so that I'm up to speed when that hefty tome lands on my doormat On my first read through this was my favourite book in the series. This time through I'm not so sure. There's no doubting that it's a fantastic book but, this time, I found that the first half fell victim to the number of characters and the multiple changes in viewpoint that Erikson has to use as a result. He skips between them like lightning and, on occasion, without much of relevance to say. A bit of judicious editing to tighten up the first 500 pages would have turned this into a masterpiece. Unfortunately, this is a flaw that he carries over into the next book, Reaper's Gale, which is easily my least favourite of the series. Shame. Still, he pulled things back on track after that, so he obviously learned his lesson. That said, the second half of The Bonehunters is magnificent. Whereas, in each of the first five books, he had dealt with a specific plot on a specific continent, in The Bonehunters Erikson finally begins to bring his grand scheme together, and all the plots (and characters) start to converge. It is a massive juggling act, and the fact that he gets so close to pulling it off to perfection is testament to his grasp of his tale. Once the aftermath of the siege of Y'Ghatan has been dealt with the story truly kicks into top gear, and the resulting climax is both breathless and breathtaking - page-turning stuff of the highest order. Gods meddle, forces clash, set-ups from earlier books finally pay-off, Paran and Apsalar begin to show their true power, and Kalam's relentless running battle with The Claw had my eyes flying across the page. And we finally find out just why people are so terrified of Icarium. Amidst all the action he still does not forget the characters. It's great to find out more about Shadowthrone and Cotillion; the relationships between Karsa Orlong and Samar Dev, Paran and Apsalar, Mappo and Icarium etc are fleshed out wonderfully. Mappo's grief at his failure, in particular, is heartbreaking. There are also plenty of laugh-out-loud moments. Erikson has a wonderfully dry sense of humour that works really well. When all's said and done, this book is a little like The Empire Strikes Back. It takes great delight in putting the characters in the worst situations possible, and leaves you wondering how the hell some of them are going to get out alive. And, above all else, it leaves you craving more. 9/10

I thought it was great up until the episode 'Company Man', which was easily the high point of the two seasons I watched. After that episode it totally lost the plot. Managed to forget to record The Event on Friday. Fortunately it's repeated umpteen times.

I'm 450 pages into Steven Erikson's The Bonehunters. Only another 800 pages to go ...

My Alien Anthology blu-ray box set turned up, so I had to watch Aliens. It's pretty much my favourite movie, and I don't think I've enjoyed it that much in ages - it looks/sounds awesome

Dark Matter by Porcupine Tree

<<Gets on soap box>> New Larsson, blah blah. Wrong! Larsson's the new Jones Bo <<Gets off soap box>> I have a confession: I only realised - after Pontalba mentioned it - that it's a sticker that can be peeled off the cover

That's it, you've ruined it now

I've just noticed that you're on 2112 posts. You must never post again, just so it stays on that number (being the title of one of my all-time favourite albums ... )

Have you tried Jo Nesbo's Harry Hole series? Starting with The Redbreast: The Redbreast extract or any historical crime novels? Like C.J. Sansom's Shardlake series, starting with Dissolution: Dissolution extract

Maybe a bit late in the year to start adding reviews/comments but anyway ... I'll get it right from the start next year The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon Get ready for some gushing This was one of those books that I didn't want to end. It wraps you up in its spell and carries you along for the ride as you gaze open-mouthed at everything that's happening in its world. It's also one of those books that makes me feel woefully inadequate as a would-be-writer. I wish I could write like this (I can't, but I'll keep trying!). I've read a number of books which have been translated recently and I'm finding that a lot of my enjoyment hinges on the quality of said translation. Larsson was let down by it, Nesbo wasn't. Zafon most definitely isn't: Lucia Graves did a wonderful job. It flows beautifully and has a dream-like, lyrical quality to it at times that I found totally absorbing. It also has one of those characters, you know: the type that leaps off the page and comes alive in your head - Fermin Romero de Torres, full of humour and melancholy. Some of his lectures and witticisms had me laughing out loud. So in short, I loved it; it's made a huge impression on me, as you can tell. It's brilliantly plotted, beautifully written, populated by complex, believable characters, and seems to embrace so many genres it's hard to pigeonhole. More than anything else it seemed, to me, to be a love letter to books, and to reading itself - a pasttime being overtaken by cinema and the onset of television. It's one of those books that makes me feel like I should revise all my scores, above. It ranks alongside Tigana and Lustrum as my favourite I've read this year, and - like you Frankie - will probably end up among my favourites of all time. The final page left me with a lump in my throat and a tear in my eye. If I could give it more than a 10, I would. But I can't, so I'll just have to do a Nigel 'Spinal Tap' Tuffnell and say ... This one goes to 11. And now, with the impending release of the final book in the series, I'm heading back to my re-read of Erikson's Malazan Book of the Fallen, with The Bonehunters. It's only 1,200 pages long. I may be gone for a while

I don't think it would have made a difference if you'd seen every episode of Heroes, it was still a mess Apparently the ratings for The Event have been dropping like a stone in the US, so it might not be around for very long. It makes me wonder if it's thrown all its good ideas into the first couple of episodes and then has nothing left to give. Shall find out next week, I suppose!

So did anyone else watch the first two episodes on Channel 4 last night? What did you think? I caught it completely by chance (not knowing anything about it) and quite enjoyed it. I liked the jumping backwards and forwards in the timeline etc, and there were enough twists and action to keep me watching. I'll be tuning in next week. And yet, I can't help feeling it's going to be another Lost/Heroes and just end up annoying the hell out of me to the point where I start throwing things at the tv and then give up on it

I think I've actually seen that one - is it the one where they explain what happened to the lift (er, sorry - elevator)? I also like the Wil Wheaton one, where they had the bowling match and Wheaton was trying to split up Penny and Leonard just so Sheldon's team would lose the game

Martyr of the Free Word by Epica

It's nearly here ... On February 21st 2011 my favourite fantasy series reaches its conclusion ... Savaged by the K'Chain Nah'Ruk, the Bonehunters march for Kolanse, where waits an unknown fate. Tormented by questions, the army totters on the edge of mutiny, but Adjunct Tavore will not relent. One final act remains, if it is in her power, if she can hold her army together, if the shaky allegiances she has forged can survive all that is to come. A woman with no gifts of magic, deemed plain, unprepossessing, displaying nothing to instill loyalty or confidence, Tavore Paran of House Paran means to challenge the gods -- if her own troops don't kill her first. 122 days to go Which means I've got 122 days to finish my re-read of the first nine books