Timstar
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Posts posted by Timstar
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How far did you get in the series? I'm up to book 5 in the re-read and so far it's still good. I've not got back up to the point where it really started to drag yet though (and where I abandoned reading it until it was finished - an exceedingly long wait!). I think I managed to get half-way through book 4 before giving up, I couldn't believe when people said it only got worse and slower!
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It is! Tim didn't like it so much but, you know, that's Tim, so don't worry about it
I abandoned it about half-way through, didn't care for any of the characters. But clearly you've taken Steve's advice and 'Not worried about it'
Hope you enjoy it!Great review of The Final Empire. I enjoyed the first one the most but still loved the second two. There are specific scenes from the TFE still stuck in my mind, I read it about 4 years ago though, so really want to re-read
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Thank you! Yes, I really enjoyed it and look forward to reading the next one. I'm doing really well with SF at the moment - I've just finished book 3 of The Expanse and enjoyed that too! If you have any other 'gentle' SF recommendations you think I might enjoy then I'm all ears.
I'd recommend A Long Way to a Small Angry Planet by Becky Chambers, a fun light-hearted space adventure. It was self-published last year and snapped up by Hodder this year.
I'd avoid Neal Stephenson like the plague, if I were you - his stuff's quite hard work. I've got Beckett's Dark Eden but I really couldn't get into it - just didn't like the writing style. Scalzi's Old Man's War is decent in a seen-it-all-before kind of way, but I reckon you'd be far better off reading Joe Haldeman's The Forever War - it's a far, far better book, imo.
I'm listening to the audio book of Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson and it is quite hard work for little reward so far, I would probably have given up if I was reading it normally, far too much hypothetical statistical analysis but there are some interesting ideas, plus some of it is set at Bletchley Park which I love.
Didn't think too much of Redshirts but I'm not a Star Trek fan, would like to give his Old Man's War series a go at some point. I would also concur with The Forever War, it's a great read but don't bother with the sequels.
Glad you enjoyed Rivers of London, it sounds quite Gaiman-esque...
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I'm glad you enjoyed these books! Wow, you're reading a lot of books at once, I couldn't do that.
I can't seem to not do it these days. To be fair I would only have 1 or 2 standard prose novels on going. The others would be short stories, non-fiction, graphic novels or audio books, usually between 7 and 10 at any one time
I don't suppose you have a list of those graphic novels
? Or any that particularly stood out to you? I'm just curious . I've read some graphic novels, and they are hard to come by for a cheaper price here, but that doesn't mean I can't hear about them from others.My favourites so far have been: Preacher, Y: The Last Man, Wolverine: Origin and some Batman's such as The Killing Joke and Year One.
But my absolute favourite which I just finished is Alex + Ada, a heart warming love story set in the future with some profound issues raised:
It's only 3 volumes (I so wish it was longer!) and has superb art. I would highly recommend to everyone, even those who don't normally read graphic novels.
Yeah, I'm currently reading Rivers of London by Aaronovitch, which I'm actually really enjoying so far. I've looked into some of the other names and really fancy trying a few of them, namely Gavin Smith, Al Robertson and Elizabeth May.
Glad you're enjoying it, it does have a lot of great reviews. I've looked at some of the others but they don't interest me as much.
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Ooh, bargainous!
About to order my ticket for the Gollancz festival in October.
Although it means I'm going to have to do some reading before then . . . out of all the authors participating, the only one I've actually read is Abercrombie. 
Awesome! I've read Abercrombie, Sanderson and Morgan. Gonna try and read a Baxter and Aaronovitch at least before then.
Oh I've just noticed my total books read this year so far is 72, which means I'm already beating the 71 for the whole of 2014
Also read over 50 graphic novels which i've really been getting into lately, especially the non-Marvel/DC stuff.
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Ooh Rogues is on my wishlist - let me know whether or not it's any good.
Just over half way through at the moment, some really great stories, some I haven't bothered to finish. I got it for 99p on Kindle but I hear it is £2 in paperback at Sainsbury's at the moment. Definitely worth that.
Yay! I love that book
Have you seen the movie? Not for ages but yeah, great film. Definitely gonna read more Welsh.
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Haven't got any reviews in me at the moment but I have finished a few books lately:
Foundation and Empire by Isaac Asimov - 7/10
Elfstones of Shannara by Terry Brooks - 9/10
Trainspotting by Irvine Welsh - 9/10
Conqueror by Conn Iggulden - 8/10
Currently reading:
Rogues - Anthology
Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Four Past Midnight - Stephen King
To War with Wellington - Peter Snow
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I started that last year but abandoned it about 3/4 in. I can't really remember why, but it wasn't due to the 'she' thing, that was probably the most interesting aspect. I think the story just didn't grab me at all.
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Can't say I have ever paid any attention to Warhammer 40,000 or anything similar. It's a slippery slope until you find yourself painting model figurines in a dingy basement on a Saturday afternoon ... though I may be stereotyping a bit
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The newer one with Mark Wahlberg and Edward Norton was great!
You better run!!
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Hope they're taking their umbrellas and body armour with them
Yes me too! I would prefer if they went to Manchester the day after... just in case
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Thank you, frankie. It's a picture from an illustrated version of my favorite book; Little, Big.
I bought that a few months ago but haven't got around to it yet, it looks great though.
I hope your new supervisor isn't too bad
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That sounds awesome Tim!
Very jealous! Why are these things always in bloody London?!Well there is the exact same thing in Manchester the day before...
http://www.gollancz.co.uk/gollancz-festival-waterstones-deansgate-events/
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Oh yeah, I can see how that can be mistaken.. It's a good line-up but it's not THAT good
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Just booked my ticket to the Gollancz festival at Waterstones in Oct. Has a great line-up:
Ben Aaronovitch; Joe Abercrombie; Stephen Baxter; Aliette de Bodard; Adam Dalton; Joanne Harris; Alex Lamb; Elizabeth May; Ian McDonald; Simon Morden; Richard Morgan; Sarah Pinborough; Al Robertson; Justina Robson; Brandon Sanderson; Gavin Smith; Mark Stay; Tricia Sullivan; Tom Toner and more.
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The Girl With All The Gifts sounds like an interesting read. It's gone on the wishlist.
Likewise
BTW I was just accused of looking at dodgy websites at work as they could see the tab heading on your blog, so I hope you're happy!
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They occasionally re-show the TV series on Yesterday and I caught most of them [again] a few years back. It's not dated too badly, mainly because of the period setting, but the budget constrained battle scenes are a little lack-lustre when you know there should be hundreds of troops, rather than a handful.
Yeah, I think they did well with what they had... but they really didn't have a lot
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Filth. Absolutely brilliant! As hilarious and moving as it is shocking and outrageous. James McAvoy is superb. Not for the easily offended though.
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Wow, that's a lot of dedication Tim! You deserve a badge or something.
LOVE the new style of covers! Just send it in the post!
Hang on, I only bought them the Christmas before last I wouldn't mind, but he hasn't even been on here for five years himself
*whistles*
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I added HMS Ulysses to my wishlist
I'm pretty sure I read The Dark Crusader about 8 or 9 years ago, don't remember much about it about from something to do with a rocket...
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Great review, Tim. I'll get around to them eventually
You've been saying that for five years
Great review
! I'm glad you really enjoyed this series. The covers are quite pretty.They are nice and they all match really well. The pictures are taken from paintings of battles relating to the war.
Though I actually prefer the new style of covers they have released:
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Fantastic review! I have Malice on my Kindle. Do you know when the fourth book is due to come out? I will probably start the series nearer then.
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The Sharpe series by Bernard CornwellSynopsis
Following the escapades of the Essex-born, green-jacketed, hard-nosed, orphan Richard Sharpe and his faithful companion; the larger-than-life, overally pious Irish killing machine Patrick Harper, throughout the Penninsula war.
Review
At 22 books and approximately 8,000 pages it is no wonder the Sharpe series has taken me around 5 years to complete but I will have a fondness for them that will last at least another 50 years.
The first book written, Sharpe's Eagle, was released in 1981; set in 1809 at the height of the Peninsula war it sees Sharpe and Harper fighting at the battle of Talavera where he captures a much coveted French golden eagle (Napoleon's emblem). This was also the first Sharpe book I read and absolutely loved it, the vivid depictions of battle had me completely engrossed and the characterisation was top-notch. I didn't hesitate to buy the rest of the series.
Cornwell went on to write eleven more over the next ten years, (including a Sharpe's Rifles, set before Sharpe's Eagle) finishing off the Napoleonic wars with Sharpe's Waterloo before one final installment, Sharpe's Devil that sees him face-to-face with Bonaparte himself. No more were seen for a few years but after the emergence of the TV series starring Sean Bean, Cornwell decided to go back and write some more. Fitting them in and around the existing storyline, most were set in Portugal or Spain but Cornwell also penned a 'prequel trilogy' of sorts, set in India as well as a naval setting in Sharpe's Trafalgar and the one-off Sharpe's Prey set in Copenhagen.
With the exception of Sharpe's Eagle, these 'non-Pennisula' novels were my favourite, possibly because they stand-out more from the rest (which tend to all merge into one) with different settings and different foes, rather than an increase in quality. Here are all my ratings with the subsequent years they were released:
Sharpe's Tiger 1997 9
Sharpe's Triumph 1998 9
Sharpe's Fortress 1999 8
Sharpe's Trafalgar 2000 8
Sharpe's Prey 2001 9
Sharpe's Rifles 1988 7
Sharpe's Havoc 2003 8
Sharpe's Eagle 1981 10
Sharpe's Gold 1981 9
Sharpe's Escape 2004 8
Sharpe's Fury 2007 7
Sharpe's Battle 1995 8
Sharpe's Company 1982 9
Sharpe's Sword 1983 8
Sharpe's Skirmish 1999 8
Sharpe's Enemy 1984 8
Sharpe's Honour 1985 8
Sharpe's Regiment 1986 8
Sharpe's Siege 1987 9
Sharpe's Revenge 1989 9
Sharpe's Waterloo 1990 8
Sharpe's Devil 1992 9
Sharpe's Eagle was the only book I gave a 10/10 to, but the more I think about it the more I think it is just because it was the first one I read and as they are all written in a similar style it is hard to enjoy any of them as much as the first time. I believe if and when I re-read them, Sharpe's Eagle won't live up to the pedestal I have placed it on. But Sharpe and Harper will always have a fond place in my heart, and Sharpe's Eagle was were it began for me.
Overall: 9/10
A note on reading order:
Every book is written to be a stand-alone, which is good as it makes every novel a potential starting point but it does mean we are introduced to the same characters and same concepts again and again. My order (and the order I would recommend) was to read the first book written first (always the best introduction in my opinion) then go back and read them all in chronological order. This was a good method but not necessarily the best. This way you get a great introduction to the characters and then get a great chronological view of the Napoleonic wars but it can be quite jarring as you are often skipping ahead or backwards decades in terms of when they were written.
You could read them in the order they were released, this will give a nice flow to the development of the characters but could cause confusion as to which section of the war you are reading and therefore disrupt the overall narrative.
You could of course read them in which ever order you like, my only suggestion would be to read the three Indian novels together and in the correct order as these are the closest linked of them all, and finish with Sharpe's Devil as it is set 5 years after the rest of the series and has a nice conclusion.
I think if I went back and read them all again I would start with Sharpe's Rifles (the first Peninisula War novel) and read 6 or 7 in chronological order from there then go back and read the novels set before the war and then finish off with the rest. This would simply give you a break from all books set in the Peninsula War as they all start to merge into one after a while and I can't remember what specific ones were about.
A note on the TV series:
I hadn't watched any of the series before starting the first book but I have since watched them all. I would say they are good fun and capture some of the essence of the novels but not enough to do them justice. The budgets were far too small to convey the scope of the battles and they are mostly PG certificate (Suitable for all with parental guidance) meaning they couldn't portray the horrors of war often seen to a realistic degree in the books. Worth watching just don't expect Cornwell's vivid depictions to come across well. But Sean Bean and Daragh O'Malley are brilliant as the respective Sharpe and Harper.
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I thought The Evolutionary Void was the weakest of the trilogy as well, but still a great read. I am waiting til the sequel comes out before reading The Abyss Beyond Dreams, same as you.
Laura's Fantasy Corner 2015
in Past Book Logs
Posted
Fab reviews, I've been really wanting to re-visit some Abercrombie books but... the TBR pile!!
I'm looking forward to his short stories, I think I've only read one from that collection, the final story which was in the Rogues anthology which I am still making my way through.