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Karsa Orlong

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Everything posted by Karsa Orlong

  1. So sorry for your loss Km. My thoughts are with you at such a difficult time.
  2. ^^ I'll say this now - and probably repeat it when I review it - but it's not for the faint-hearted Given comments you've made in the past about not liking graphic violence/sex scenes, I have a feeling it might not be your cup of tea
  3. Saw the final of the men's moguls. Whenever I watch them do these things I always wonder how they do something like that the very first time. The guy who won it looked like a helicopter taking off at one point
  4. Glad you're enjoying it, Michelle. I must re-read it soon. Or should that be 'replay' it?
  5. Yes, the guy who played D'Angelo in The Wire
  6. I kept thinking they were wearing bobble hats
  7. That's my favourite PT song! Was listening to this one last night
  8. Persuader is one of his best, I think Yay! I'm about a third of the way through Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon.
  9. Short track speed skating! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
  10. Yeah, I've wanted his fantasy books for ages as well, but I really wanted some sf this time
  11. Yeah, I love the Winter Olympics, mainly for the ice hockey, but the only events that don't interest me at all are the figure skating/ice dance ones Both slope style competitions were ace. Well done JJ!
  12. Thanks Kate - do give it a go, it'd be interesting to get your perspective on it If you can deal with SE I'm sure you'd find this a piece of pee I think that's why it got some negative comments on Amazon - people were wanting another one of his usual style books Oh dear Odd decision, considering the cover art is usually the best thing about his books I read the first 50 or so pages of Grunts by Mary Gentle yesterday. Didn't like it at all, very poorly written imo. It was exactly what I was talking about up-thread, a book that tries to be funny, and it just wasn't working for me, so I've dropped it. First book I've abandoned in a while. At least it was only one I got on the cheap over Christmas I've been in the mood for sf recently, and the ones on my TBR list aren't appealing at the moment. I spent most of Friday trawling bookshops, picked up loads of books, couldn't make up my mind, put them all back, ended up coming home empty-handed So last night, after dumping Grunts, I made the fatal error of going onto Amazon directly from my Kindle, and bought this. His first book, Altered Carbon has been on my wishlist forever, so that was the one I went online for, but all five of his sf books for £12.99? Yes please!
  13. # 9 The Given Day by Dennis Lehane 2008 - Black Swan Paperback - 733 pages From Amazon: Set in Boston at the end of the First World War, bestselling author Dennis Lehane's extraordinary eighth novel unflinchingly captures the political and social unrest of a nation caught at the crossroads where past meets future. Filled with a cast of richly drawn, unforgettable characters, The Given Daytells the story of two families—one black, one white—swept up in a maelstrom of revolutionaries and anarchists, immigrants and ward bosses, Brahmins and ordinary citizens, all engaged in a battle for survival and power. Coursing through the pivotal events of a turbulent epoch, it explores the crippling violence and irrepressible exuberance of a country at war with, and in the thrall of, itself. Thoughts: I've only read one Lehane novel before, and it wasn't that great, but I'd always thought of him as a crime writer, so The Given Day is something of a surprise. Although there is crime involved, this is a sprawling historical novel, set in Boston around the end of World War One. Beginning with Babe Ruth and the World Series of 1918 (Ruth is a recurring character in the novel, his pampered, indulgent ways providing a contrast to the working classes of the main protagonists), the story quickly moves on to the flu pandemic that hit when soldiers returned home from the war. Amid all this, beat cop Danny Coughlin, son of a powerful Irish cop, is asked to go undercover in the hunt for terrorists, anarchists and revolutionaries, and a young black man called Luther Laurence, recently married and living in Tulsa, finds himself on the run after a multiple shooting at a crime lord's nightclub. Inevitably, these two stories entwine during a turbulent time of strikes and bombings and riots. Danny gets sucked further and further into the world of the unions as an all-out strike by the Boston Police Department looms, whilst Luther's past inevitably casts a shadow over him. I was feeling quite daunted when I first picked up this book. It's a big old beast, 700+ pages, and I didn't really know what to expect from it. I shouldn't have worried - it's one of the most enthralling reads I've had for a long time. Lehane's writing flows so well. His use of language, the sentence contruction, the imagery is all fantastic - the atmosphere never falters for a moment. The backdrop of a city teetering on the edge of an explosion of violence is tangible throughout. The story weaves its way through true events, using real life characters as well as fictional, and it's taut and thrilling and frequently tense and scary. The characters are wonderful, vividly drawn individuals who come alive through some of the best dialogue I've read. I don't quite know how he did it, but somehow Lehane got these characters to live and breathe. Danny and Luther are the main ones, of course, and the vast majority of the story is told through their eyes, but Danny's father, Captain Thomas Coughlin, is a truly brilliant, memorable character who leaps off the page. The women are equally well written, from Luther's wife Lila, to Coughlin maid Nora, and terrorist Tessa, who is horribly manipulative. I thought one of the best characters, though, was one of the worst: Danny's 'uncle', Lieutenant Eddie McKenna, who I could imagine talking with an Irish accent as he used and abused people, a corrupt cop and a genuinely scary character. Lehane ratchets up the tension really well, and maintains a pace and a grasp of the plot and background events throughout, meaning that the pages really do fly by. I've seen some people complaining about this not being his usual style of novel, and I guess I have benefited from not having read them all and therefore not having the expectations. If this is a change in direction for him, it worked for me. The only thing that stops it getting a 10 from me is that sometimes I found the geography of the city a little confusing. Street and place names fly around, but I was never entirely sure where all these were in relation to each other. The inclusion of a map of the city from the time would have been appreciated. That aside, The Given Day is a big, sprawling, intimidating, epic historical novel that I can't possibly do justice to without spoiling it completely. Brilliant. 9/10
  14. I've read two and a bit of them. I read The White Dragon many moons ago, and quite enjoyed it. I read Dragonflight soon after she died and thought it was okay. Then I recently tried to read Dragonquest and gave up on it pretty quickly cos it wasn't doing much for me.
  15. Fascinating interview with Steven Erikson, discussing his influences, the writing process, and the Malazan series as a whole (without spoilers). Starts at 7:50: http://www.adventuresinscifipublishing.com/?powerpress_pinw=661-podcast
  16. Brilliant, thanks Kylie! Love the ending - how typically twisted of Mr Serling. I do wonder how Henry and Helen ended up married in the first place, though Probably explains why he went on to become The Penguin Very dangerous, watching that. I'll probably spend all day watching episodes, now
  17. You're right, that is a nice cover! ETA: I wonder how much it influenced Anne McCaffrey, cos they sound very similar.
  18. Yeah, thanks for the review, Janet I'd be more tempted to read the book than to watch the second part of the tv version, that's for sure
  19. I'm not sure it's a case of drawing a line, it's just a personal preference. In JS&MN's case, I don't think its primary goal was to be funny, but there was humour in it and it came naturally through the dialogue, and sometimes through the footnotes. Hitchhiker's sets out to be funny from the start, and that sort of humour always feels a little forced and unnatural to me
  20. And in other news, Patrick Lee's The Breach is heading to the big screen: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/david-goyer-direct-breach-lionsgate-676303 I read the first book a couple of years back. It's a book just begging to be made into a movie, so this is potentially great news. Hope they do it enough justice to get the whole trilogy made!
  21. It's not like I'd send you a book I thought was awful Whether or not you think it's awful is another matter entirely! Personally, I don't really like books that set out deliberately to be humourous (I still don't get the fuss about The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ) but when the humour comes naturally through the characters and dialogue I think it's great, and JS&MN definitely fit into that category, for me. Yeah, especially if you get splinters in your bum from sitting on the fence And once again, thank you
  22. Thanks, Steve, I've got The Unquiet Grave winging its way to my Kindle
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