Karsa Orlong

So lightweight I even gave up on the Kindle version after 200 pages Mind you, I've replaced it with the first book of John Sugden's two-volume biography of Admiral Nelson, which is 960 pages long And the second volume's 1,040 pages. Might take a while Glad to hear you enjoyed East of Eden

Vikings 2x01

I'm just thankful for the Kindle's built-in dictionary Honestly, it's made reading those books even more enjoyable for me, being able to look up words immediately, not making a guess as to what it means and thinking 'oh I'll have to look that up later' - and then forgetting completely

Really? You've never mentioned that before

Alright, I'll read it in the summer. Not saying what year, though

It's stunning! Basically, it's a love letter to games such as Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale and Planescape Torment. Don't think I could possibly do it justice in just a few words, easiest just to point to a couple of video reviews . . . one for people who haven't played those other games: and one for those who have:

I'll read it in the winter

Finished Xenonauts the other day. Loved it, loved it, loved it! Made a start on Wasteland 2, which I was enjoying, but it's had to go on the backburner because I bought this yesterday: Bye bye life

Half the World (Shattered Sea Book #2) by Joe Abercrombie 2015 - Harper Voyager ebook - 363 pages SOMETIMES A GIRL IS TOUCHED BY MOTHER WAR Thorn is such a girl. Desperate to avenge her dead father, she lives to fight. But she has been named murderer by the very man who trained her to kill. SOMETIMES A WOMAN BECOMES A WARRIOR Fate traps her in the schemes – and on the ship – of the deep-cunning minister Father Yarvi. Crossing half the world to find allies against the ruthless High King, she learns harsh lessons of blood and deceit. SOMETIMES A WARRIOR BECOMES A WEAPON Beside her on her gruelling journey is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. A failure in his eyes and hers, he has one chance at redemption. AND WEAPONS ARE MADE FOR ONE PURPOSE Will Thorn forever be a tool in the hands of the powerful or can she carve her own path? Is there a place beyond legend for a woman with a blade? This is the sequel to Half a King, Joe Abercrombie's first foray into the YA market. Therefore the same rules apply: the violence has been toned down the swearing is pretty much gone the humour isn't quite swinging from the gallows like it used to the dark isn't quite so grim . . . or dark It didn't really make a difference in the first book: I thought it was brilliant. This time around . . . ? Well, I should probably say up front that I have been burned out on the fantasy genre for a while now. Just haven't wanted to read any more of it, cos there's been nothing new in an age. Most of it is either copying Tolkien or George R R Martin. If I see another fantasy book with characters' names as chapter headings I will hunt GRRM down and make sure he never gets the chance to finish A Song of Ice & Fire (or gets to see the end of the tv series, which is more likely ). So, yeah, been there, done that, got the t-shirt. I doubt that I'd even drag myself back for the next Steven Erikson novel. I'm just not interested any more. Except for Joe. Joe's an exception for me because his writing still feels fresh and invigorating. He never quite does things the way I expect him to, and that's a neat trick because - in almost every way - Half the World is easily the most predictable novel he has yet written. Unlike the previous book, there's virtually nothing in it that I didn't see coming a mile off. Its plot is almost pedestrian. Even the ending is telegraphed about 50 pages in. But he saved it for me, somehow. It's the characters - they are broken people, but they are wonderful. Not just those returning from the first book but those new to this one, too, and especially Thorn herself. She is fabulous. And, cleverly, the book is less a direct sequel than it is another story set in the same world. Also, the plot - as predictable as it is - does not exactly follow the path other authors might. Whereas most modern fantasy is notable for its rainforest-threatening page count rather than its brevity, Joe advances the plot in leaps and bounds, sometimes months disappearing between the end of one chapter and the next, so a book that most other authors would have milked to 600+ pages comes in at 360. Ultimately I didn't like it as much as Half a King and it never comes close to the genius of The Heroes, Best Served Cold, or Red Country. But even a lesser book from Abercrombie is better than most of what the genre has to offer these days, and I suspect he is gaining new legions of fans with this trilogy. At least, I hope so. Memorable quotes:

Gutted I didn't get to see it at all due to the cloud cover Although it did mean a bonus episode of Stargazing Live My mum said she couldn't understand why there was so much focus on it on the news cos 'it happens all the time' and she 'saw one when she was at school'. I felt it necessary to point out that it's about 1,000 years since she was at school so they obviously don't happen that often Some people have no sense of wonder

200 pages into Yawnsome Dove - er, I mean Lonesome Dove - and it's not exactly setting my world on fire. Good characters and some amusing dialogue but boy is it long-winded and uneventful. Think I'll stick to what I said at the start of the year, about not forcing myself to read books I'm not really enjoying, and put it to one side

That was Temple, wasn't it?

Shame, they're great books. Probably ones to read when you're first getting into fantasy, though. Mind you, to leave Eddings but go to Brooks . . . shame on you!

Nope, it's definitely one for the Kindle

Oh yeah, I read a few of Matthew Reilly's books in the late 90s/early 00s. They're unashamedly, hilariously bad and are great fun for that reason alone I remember the first one I read, Ice Station, had one action scene that lasted 300 pages And there were killer whales involved

You can do it! If it makes you feel any better, I've just started Lonesome Dove, which is 964 pages . . .

I thought East of Eden was very good. I was kind of daunted by it and wasn't at all sure I could be bothered with it, but I raced through it in the end. I hope you enjoy it

The Doomsday Prophecy (Ben Hope Book #3) by Scott Mariani 2009 - Avon ebook - 462 pages It's a long time since I read the second book in this series, The Mozart Conspiracy. I enjoyed the first two books very much. I could be completely wrong, but it's always felt to me that these books were conceived off the back of Dan Brown's success. I have to say, I think Mariani's books are much more fun than Brown's. So, as the story begins, Ben has retired from his post-military career rescuing kidnap victims, for a very good reason, and has decided to return to his theology studies, which he had abandoned nearly twenty years before. But then his professor's daughter goes missing, leading to a globe-trotting quest for vengeance . . . What's best about this book: The pace - it's relentless It revels in its own silliness Mariani knows how to write an action scene The main character, Ben Hope, is kind of a cross between Jason Bourne, James Bond and Robert Langdon. Maybe throw in a bit of Jack Bauer, too. He's hard as nails, and he's British. Men want to be him, women want to be with him. Oh, wait, that's Jack Reacher. He's also like Jack Reacher. Well he's almost as omniscient, for a start What's worst about this book: The pace - it's relentless It revels in its own silliness Mariani knows how to write an action scene The main character, Ben Hope, is kind of a cross between Jason Bourne, James Bond and Robert Langdon. Maybe throw in a bit of Jack Bauer, too. He's hard as nails, and he's British. Men want to be him, women want to be with him. Oh, wait, that's Jack Reacher. He's also like Jack Reacher. Well he's almost as omniscient, for a start Fortunately/unfortunately (delete as applicable) I bought the next five or six books in the series in a Kindle Daily Deal recently. I've no doubt I'll enjoy them, but they're the kind of books you only read once or twice a year, preferably on holiday, or at least on the plane on the way to a holiday (with the understanding that Ben Hope isn't actually on the plane cos, if he is, that plane's inevitably going down ). Memorable Quotes (for all the wrong reasons): Ben tends to do most things in this book faster/harder/better than he's ever done them before. Nice to know he's still got room for self-improvement . . . Well, it's either Ben or Nobody, make up your mind

Well I'd recommend trying before you buy, maybe download a sample to your Kindle. I found the first book, Master & Commander, quite hard going because of all the explanations of masts and sails and rigging and whatnot, but what Lucy Eyre says in that article about it being the equivalent of medical jargon in ER is very true. It kind of washes over you as part of the experience, eventually. If you do decide to try the series it might be an idea to have a look at either Desolation Island or HMS Surprise first and then go back to the start if you enjoy whichever of those And there was me thinking you'd be trying to get me to read more Austen instead

The third episode of 12 Monkeys. All Cole's jumping backward in forward in time, I keep thinking 'well if you did that and you're still here then it obviously worked' or' 'if you did that and it didn't work then you shouldn't exist!' - it's like the show contains its own spoilers because he's still alive

I've mentioned Defiance a fair few times in the 'What are you watching' thread - been watching it since it started on Syfy a couple of years ago. Looking forward to season 3.

I'm currently about two thirds of the way through Scott Mariani's The Doomsday Prophecy, the third in his 'Ben Hope' series.

Yep, that is true. That's cos I was struggling to find anything I didn't like It was too short, there you go Thanks Kay Re the Emma reference, you might find this interesting

What??? Have you got that score hot-keyed?

Clarissa Oakes (Aubrey/Maturin Book #15) by Patrick O'Brian 1992 - Harper ebook - 288 pages Back in my comments on the previous book I said that 'I realised, as I was reading, that - although there are a lot of events - the story follows its own currents, ebbs and flows, and it became apparent to me that I was just enjoying spending time with these characters'. Jo Walton said something, in her re-read of the series over on Tor.com, that sums it up a bit better: 'the books begin in the middle of things, they end similarly in the middle of things, there are ports but there is no destination, what you want is to keep sailing forever'. It pretty much says it all, really. Each book feels like a single chapter in a larger novel, and I feel like I'm being carried along on the most epic of adventures, compelled to dive straight into the next novel as soon as I finish the current one. I've having to resist that urge every time. The thing that saddens me is that there isn't going to be a proper ending Picking up immediately from the ending of The Nutmeg of Consolation, this story sees the Surprise heading for South America, continuing a mission which has been going on for several books now. A couple of days out of Botany Bay they are chased down by a cutter with new orders: the French are making a play for the Friendly Isles (aka Tonga), and Jack is to go to the island of Moahu to sort things out. What he doesn't realise is that he has an escaped prisoner stowed away on board - a prisoner who just happens to be a woman who becomes the centre of jealousies between the officers that threaten to destabilise the crew and the running of the ship. What I liked: O'Brian addresses some quite modern issues in the context of 19th century-based fiction, which is unexpected. Jack is quite at odds with his crew during this book, which makes it all feel quite tense. It turns out that the woman stowaway (whose name is Clarissa Oakes, if you hadn't guessed ) ties in to an ongoing plotline from several books earlier. The way O'Brian deals with the battle towards the end - he takes a quite different approach to it that I really, really liked - especially given that the battle itself is horrific. I mentioned a few books back (I think around book 11 or 12) that the series from that point was deviating from history, and it has, but to be honest it hasn't made the blindest bit of difference to my enjoyment or immersion in the story. It's still wonderful. Words I learned whilst reading this book (among others): Cicatrizing - heal by scar formation Murrelet - a small North Pacific auk (sea bird) Farinaceous - consisting of or containing starch Valetudinarian - a person who is unduly anxious about their health, or suffering from poor health Advowson - the right to recommend a member of the Anglican clergy for a vacant benefice Anyhoo, blah blah blah, fantastic etc etc In terms of memorable quotes, there are some absolutely priceless Killick-isms in this book. I loved the one where Jack starts yelling for him at dinner: Okay, you probably have to know the character, but I laughed for about five minutes He's always in the background, never really seems to do that much apart from complain, but he's just a brilliant character