Karsa Orlong
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Posts posted by Karsa Orlong
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Finished Clan of the Cave Bear and started Persuader (Jack Reacher, No 7) by Lee Child. I love it already! After a 4 month break, its great to be in Reacher's head again
And it fits for February's Crime/ Thriller theme 
Persuader is one of his best, I think
Getting my head around Dune now...it's getting good.
Yay!
I'm about a third of the way through Richard Morgan's Altered Carbon.
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Short track speed skating! Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
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Yeah, I've wanted his fantasy books for ages as well, but I really wanted some sf this time
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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!
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Wonderful review, Steve. I actually have a copy already. So, your review encourages me to move it up the pile.
Thanks Kate - do give it a go, it'd be interesting to get your perspective on it
Great review of The Given Day, Steve, it sounds great (if a little complex).
If you can deal with SE I'm sure you'd find this a piece of pee
I had no idea Lehane wrote historical novels.
I think that's why it got some negative comments on Amazon - people were wanting another one of his usual style books
In other news . . . I don't think you'll be best pleased with this. The Polish version of Sanderson's The Way of Kings uses the original cover art for King of Thorns!!
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!
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# 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
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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.
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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
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I think all of us book lovers would enjoy this episode of The Twilight Zone (episode 8 from season 1) called Time Enough at Last. It's about a book lover who keeps getting into trouble at work and at home (by his evil, evil wife) for reading too much. One day he goes into the vault at work to read and a nuclear attack takes place outside, destroying everything and leaving him the only man alive. The ending is terrific, and the show deals with a problem we all have. It goes for 25 minutes, but please do watch it if you have the time!
(But note that there is a distressing scene of a book being torn apart 
.)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
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You're right, that is a nice cover!
ETA: I wonder how much it influenced Anne McCaffrey, cos they sound very similar.
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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 -
But how do you draw the line between what is deliberately humourous and what is not
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
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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!
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Well. Trust me to find a book that features so many of the qualities you hate in books, present you with it, and have you enjoy it nonetheless. Of course this is going to come back and bite me in the behind the next time ...
So please be kind. 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! Smug? Really? I'm happy I haven't come across those reviews. Humour is a difficult sport - not everyone's good at it, I suppose!
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.I agree! I thought I would have a lot of trouble with the footnotes, but like you, I didn't in the end, and I could just jump right back into the story and not start wondering where I was. And they were really interesting footnotes at that!
Anyhow. I'm really, really happy you enjoyed the book. And also really relieved
I was really on the fence with the book, not knowing if you would hate it or love it. And it's a pain to hate a book of such length!Yeah, especially if you get splinters in your bum from sitting on the fence
Oh, and last but not least. Great review
And once again, thank you
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Thanks, Steve, I've got The Unquiet Grave winging its way to my Kindle
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I prefer Clerks, meself. Brilliant film
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I don't normally post about this sort of thing, cos I tend to be very private about personal stuff on here, but I agree with a lot of what's been said above. I'm an introvert, too. I used to be painfully shy - I'm not quite so bad now, but I still tend to fade into the background if I'm with a group of people I don't know very well. I kind of recognise the comment about interaction being exhausting, in that - if I am going into a situation I'm not comfortable with, i.e. with a bunch of people I don't know - I expend a lot of nervous energy beforehand and end up clamming up and seeing the conversation pass me by. I'm not good with first impressions - I think it takes a long time for people to get to know me, and vice versa.
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Is that Szeth? He's my favourite and he has hardly been in it but like you say he must have more importance later on.
That's the one.
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All this sounds great- I love historical fiction and crime/ thrillers. Raiders of the Nile by Saylor looks great- comes out Feb. 25th.
Yeah, it does look good! I haven't read either of the prequels with young Gordianus, yet - shall get there . . . eventually!
I started with Roman Blood - well worth a look, and cheap on Kindle in the US at the moment, if you're interested -
Brilliant
Okay then, can I ask: is The Unquiet Grave a good place to start?
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I finished The Mad Ship a couple of days ago. It was very good but very long (900 pages) and I did feel it was a bit slow in the middle. I enjoyed it but felt it could have been shorter. I almost think there are just too many characters and too much going on in this story at times.
Interesting that you put it that way, Andrea - my feeling with Hobb is that she doesn't have enough going on to justify the length of her books - that's why I found the last Farseer book, in particular, dragged. I felt similar about the first Liveship book, which is why I haven't been back for The Mad Ship yet. Do you think you'll read the final book in the trilogy?
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Hmm, that's a good question. I'm not sure I've really read enough fantasy yet to make a good comparison, but his magic systems are always unique and interesting and Stormlight is no exception. Though the first Mistborn is still my favourite of his so far.
I do wonder about his preoccupation with magic systems, and the need to explain everything. Sometimes, to me, it makes the magic make less sense when it's explained in such detail. I don't remember Tolkien ever explaining the magic in LotR, and it made it all the more magical, imo
Out of the four of his books I've read, I think the first Mistborn is the one I liked the most, too. There was much I did like in The Way of Kings, believe it or not. I liked the setting for the battles, and I liked the whole idea of the bridges, which gave it the feel of a WWII movie, like they were landing craft on D-Day (although those sequences did get a little repetitive over the course of such a long book), and the shards, or whatever they were called. I loved the artwork, which gave the book a very polished feel and was quite exciting. I just wish the character development hadn't been so predictable. It was a shame that the most interesting character didn't appear very much. I'm assuming he's being saved for a later point in the series
Steve's Bookshelf 2014
in Past Book Logs
Posted
I kept thinking they were wearing bobble hats