Karsa Orlong

Me too!! Yay for Xiao-Xiao

If? If??? Of course you'll like it, silly

Oi, Robin of Sherwood wasn't cheesy! <<snooty look>>

What you need is this

Might as well get The Island of Doctor Moreau and The War of the Worlds while you're at it - all three are brilliant

http://www.quoteswave.com/picture-quotes/370350 Love the quote but have to laugh at the 'fact' that H. G. Wells was apparently born 20 years after he died. Maybe he really did have a time machine

Nah, I haven't been able to summon the enthusiasm, and I really don't want to start another unfinished series . . . Far too big for my liking

If you're in the mood for hard sf you're probably best looking elsewhere, but if you're in the mood for something light and entertaining then it's a very good series I just saw that Patrick Rothfuss has a new 'Kingkiller' book coming out in October and had vague thoughts of finally reading the first two books, then realised it's only a novella set in the same world http://www.amazon.co.uk/Slow-Regard-Silent-Things-Kingkiller/dp/1473209323/ref=la_B001DAHXZQ_1_2_bnp_1_har?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1407227247&sr=1-2

I've not read any of them. Looking inside the book, there's a story by Lavie Tidhar, who wrote The Violent Century, which Laura read a few weeks ago and enjoyed

The order in my sig (apparently) avoids spoilers as you go along, but it's not definitive or anything If you don't read the ICE books then you get to the end of the SE sequence without closure on at least one major plotline (possibly more, as I've only read the first two of his so far). It's just a shame ICE's writing is nowhere near as good - I managed to finish the main sequence and was wondering what had happened to a particular character, completely forgetting that they had been dealt with in Return of the Crimson Guard. That's how memorable that book was! The novellas contain two characters from the MoI, but the storylines don't carry over

Ack! That's gone and done it . . . !

Yeah, it's pretty awful, from what I recall - can't imagine what would've happened if it had been filmed instead of ESB. But it was quite exciting at the time. I imagine it'll have some amusement value now

Yes, they are

Currently reading a short story called 'Weather' (it's more exciting than it sounds, honest! ) from Alastair Reynolds' Galactic North collection

Congrats! Sadly, I'm old enough to remember the fuss when Splinter first came out

I use bookmarks - Book Depository always stick several in with their deliveries and I've kept them all, I think. Lots of duplicates, but there's one with a diagram of the solar system on it of which they only ever sent me one copy - that one gets used exclusively when I'm reading sf I've never dog-eared pages of my books, or even cracked the spines <<shudder>> My books generally look like new, even if I've read them several times. I have a fit if a cover gets dinged

# 47 Cetaganda (Vorkosigan Saga #6) by Lois McMaster Bujold 1996 - Baen paperback - 262 pages From Amazon: When the Cetagandan empress dies, Miles Vorkosigan and his cousin Ivan are sent to Cetaganda for her funeral as diplomatic representatives of Barrayar. Upon arrival, the two men are inexplicably attacked by a servant of the late empress. When the same servant turns up dead the next day, Miles and Ivan find themselves in the middle of a mystery. Thoughts: Thought I'd post that lovely cover again just for the hell of it . . . This is the sixth story in the series (including novellas and ignoring Falling Free . . .) using its internal chronological order, although I think it was something like the ninth book that was written in the series. That usual confusion aside, it's getting difficult to know what to say about these books that I haven't already said about the previous entries Miles and Ivan arrive at Cetaganda for a state funeral, get attacked before they've even disembarked from their ship, end up in possession of some important Cetagandan regalia (which Miles, naturally, refuses to confess to until he finds out exactly why they were attacked . . . ), and then find their attacker - who has apparently committed suicide right beside the Empress's body, which just happens to be lying in state. Needless to say, the plot thickens. It's easy to see how Bujold's writing had developed at this stage. Her storytelling appears effortless (although I'm sure it wasn't!) and the characters, particularly Miles and Ivan, are full of wit and intelligence yet still flawed and vulnerable. She throws in an able supporting cast and some intriguing insight into Cetagandan society. Barrayar and Cetaganda hold an uneasy peace after a war some years before, and events in the previous novel, The Vor Game, also come into play. I wouldn't say it was necessary to have read any of the previous books, but it certainly adds to the depth if one has that foreknowledge. The plot plays out pleasingly and doesn't outstay its welcome, and the ending is satisfying. There's a lot of social mores and cultural differences involved, and Bujold has great fun with these aspects. There's a lot of humour, some tension, and a bit of action. In a lot of ways it reminded me of an episode of Star Trek (maybe Next Gen rather than the original series) - perhaps an above average episode but just short of being a classic, and never less than entertaining. Cetaganda is the first of two novels and a novella contained in the Miles, Mystery & Mayhem omnibus edition, and is also available separately in paperback and Kindle editions. 7/10

If 50 Shades of Grey was written by a man . . .

Actually, I don't think it'll be too bad, judging by the times the matches were on during the World Cup - it'll be mostly afternoon and evening Oh, forgot - I loved the men's and women's triathlons, too, and especially the relay. And that para events were included, as well

Same here, I think. I don't recall watching much of the Delhi games And yeah, Erraid was brilliant - couldn't stop smiling I loved the cycling as always (just sat through the men's road race - think my bum must be as numb as the cyclists ) and enjoyed the swimming, table tennis and hockey. Think my faves were Trotty winning the points race, and the men's 4x400m relay last night. Although, having said that, I think my highlights have been the Claire Balding/MarkChapman show each evening - they made a great team and it's just been a really fun show to watch these past nine or ten nights

Very envious of your shelves They look full already! Latest is the next book is 'anticipated' next year. The series was supposed to be five books but, according to Wertzone, the last word was that it's now six, so it'll be a while before it's finished. Maybe she knows GRRM? Think I'll probably wait until she's finished it before I contemplate giving it a go. It's pretty poor that she hasn't updated her website since 2011, though. And her forum's been taken over by spammers

Ain't it just! Hope Xiao-Xiao gets rid of the cone for good next week

Far easier to use spoiler tags That was in Gerrom, wasn't it? I think Shadowthrone sent the pigeons to stop any necromancy getting the bodies to talk (although I don't think SE explained why pigeons should stop that!) because it was the town (and building) where Sorry signed up and asked to be assigned to Dujek. So he was covering the trail, I suppose, otherwise Lorn would've caught her straight away