Timstar
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Red Seas Under Red Skies - Scott Lynch (Audio book read by Michael Page)Synopsis
Escaping from the attentions of the Bondsmagi Locke Lamora, the estwhile Thorn of Camorr and Jean Tannen have fled their home city.
Taking ship they arrive in the city state of Tal Varrar where they are soon planning their most spectacular heist yet; they will take the luxurious gaming house, The Sinspire, for all of its countless riches.No-one has ever taken even a single coin from the Sinspire that wasn't won on the tables or in the other games of chance on offer there.
But, as ever, the path of true crime rarely runs smooth and Locke and Jean soon find themselves co-opted into an attempt to bring the pirate
fleet of the notorious Zamira Drakasha to justice. Fine work for thieves who don't know one end of galley from another.And all the while the Bondsmagi are plotting their very necessary revenge against the one man who believes he has humiliated them and lived; Locke
LamoraReview
New city, new names, new plan... Same rotten luck.
After the amazing The Lies of Locke Lamora finished without the real need for a sequel I was both excited and worried to get started with Red Seas. There was no need to worry, the sequel keeps the series at a brilliant high without ever feeling unnecessary.
The first half of the book follows the familiar mixed chronology that we saw in the first book, this allows us to jump straight into the action, then after settling down in the city of Tal Varrar it begins to explore the intervening period as well as a couple of 'reminiscent' chapters that fans of Father Chains will love. Things are not any easier in the new city for Locke and Jean as we see them get thwarted and manipulated just as much as they try to manipulate others.
As you can tell by the name a good portion of the book is set at sea, which provided a great challenge for both Lynch and his characters and he pulls it off brilliantly. There may not be as much nautical expertise as you would expect from the likes of Patrick O'Brian or Bernard Cornwell, but given that Locke and Jean know nothing about sailing or pirating we are introduced to it all through their eyes and their struggle to learn it all in such a short time. This method really works and Lynch definitely knows his stuff.
The plot is fantastic, rich and detailed, full of amazing characters that always leave an impression one way or the other. The story is full of twists and turns that even though it gets very complicated at one point it never trips over itself so to speak. The story was clearly well planned out from the beginning and Locke and Jean fully recognise the situation is as ludicrous as it it becomes. The story is very much based upon these two characters and their friendship which is built up further from the first book.
The only negative I would have, and it is a minor one, is that the story wraps up a bit too fast. Other than that it was very good, but not quite as good as the first one. I felt it didn't tug at my heart strings quite as much and wasn't quite as suspenseful, but only in a small way. It still did tug and suspend much more than many books i've read.
Overall 9/10
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I've just ordered it Tim, looks lovely! I also ordered Graves White Goddess.
Thanks so much for mentioning it.
Oh great! Glad to help, it is lovely, complete with maps and illustrations. I would like to read I, Claudius by Graves. Will also check out White Goddess
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Got this lovely edition of Robert Graves' The Greek Myths
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Finished Ender's Game and Red Seas Under Red Skies audio book, reviews coming soon.
Starting Academ's Fury tonight.
Totals this year:
Paperbook: 22
Kindle: 4
Audio book: 6
Total: 32
Which isn't bad but not as good as I hoped.
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We saw the new Star Trek last week. Saw it in 3D but was a bit too close to the screen.
nah that's just an effect of the 3D... it comes towards you
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You know, before I realised it was a gun cosy, I thought both he and you had gone soft in the head...
Thanks for the vote of confidence!
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Yeah, he can even knit!
Oh yeah, forgot he was there! It's a great picture, I love his serious expression and that he's knitting a gun cosy.
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King has such a talent for making three dimensional characters, in my opinion. I remember when I was reading the book as a teenager, and I could almost feel my own hands starting to ache when I was reading about Polly. She and Alan Pangborn are two of my most favorite characters by King! (One cannot forget Tom Cullen in The Stand!!)
Haha Kiefer would do good
He's quite oddly one of the few who can be equally convincing as the bad guy and as the good guy. King's characters are always the best! Although rarely relate-able they have qualities, that King pushes to the limit, that you can often see in others.
Kiefer Sutherland is my favourite actor, he has such a versatile range!
I might look up a couple of the sequels from the library at some point then.
I started made a second plan list for when I finished the first but ended up starting books from it anyway... here are both
Plan 1 update:
Sharpe's Battle - Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe 12)Under the Dome - Stephen KingStorm of Swords: Blood and Gold - Geroge R.R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire 3)Dr. No - Ian Fleming (James Bond 5)No Country for Old Men - Cormac McCarthy
Diary of Anne FrankWise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss (Kingkiller Chronicles 2) -AbandonedThe Desert Spear - Peter V. Brett (Demon Cycle 2)The Pheonix Rising - Richard Sanders (PheonixConspiracy 2)
WarBreaker - Brandon Sanderson
Retribution Falls - Chris Wooding (Tales of Ketty Jay 1)Furies of Calderon - Jim Butcher (Codex Alera 1)Cabal - Clive Barker
The Great Hunt - Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 2)
The Heroes - Joe Abercrombie
The Wind Through the Keyhole - Stephen King (Dark Tower 8)
Plan 2
20th Centuty Ghosts - Joe Hill - Started
The Man in the High Castle - Phillip K. Dick - Need to buy
Ender's Game - Orson Scott Card - Started
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 3)
Domain - James Herbert (Rats 3)
Dexter is Delicious - Jeff Lindsay (Dexter 5)
The Shrinking Man - Richard Matheson
Bitter Seeds – Ian Tregillis
The Coldest War – Ian Tregillis - Need to buy
Necessary Evil – Ian Tregillis - Need to buy
The Daylight War - Peter V. Brett - Awaiting Library Reservation
Academ's Fury - Jim Butcher (Codex Alera 2)
The Iron Lung Captain - Chris Wooding (Ketty Jay 2)
She Wakes - Jack Ketchum
On the Road - Jack Kerouac - Started
NOS4A2 - Joe Hill - Need to buy
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Yeah, I've read the two immediate sequels, Speaker for the Dead and Xenocide. I enjoyed them very much at the time, 20+ years ago, but - since recommending them quite widely for a long time - I have dropped them from my list, having learned more about the man himself. He'll get no more of my money
The movie of Ender's Game is out later this year - a trailer was released recently.
Just saw the trailer, it doesn't look a lot like the book so far but maybe that will change, I like Harrison Ford as Graff.
I assume you're talking about his outspoken homophobia, I was very annoyed by that as well. I certainly won't pay a penny for a new book and I was reluctant to read Ender's Game after hearing about it but it is commonly in the top 10 sci-fi lists so I decided to go for it.
May try a couple of the sequels from the library or second hand shops.
Well, one can always add to the list, I guess it's everyone's own business how they deal with their plan, if they feel like going strictly by it or if they allow removing and adding
I like that thinking
Oh yes, they left out a whole lot of things. And I think I always had it in my head, reading the book, that Polly Chalmers was black? Not that it matters, but it was weird seeing a Caucasian Polly in the movie. You've just read the book, was Polly described as black? I could be totally wrong. Anyhow, it was a decent movie, but yes, the book's so much better.
I didn't think she was... I might have missed that. She was younger than I was picturing her in the book especially considering she has such bad arthritis .
I just didn't like they missed out the entire Ace Meryl story, would love to see Keither Sutherland back in that role! he would be the suitable age about now as well
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I'm listening to Wool at the moment, and I agree so far. Part 1 was really good, and to my mind, made a good short story. Since then, it's been rather slow, and I'm close to giving up.
Glad someone else agrees! no one on Amazon appears to. Let me know you're final thoughts if you finish or give up.
Started Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card which has been on my TBR pile for ages, really enjoying it!
Has anyone read the sequels or other series in the same world?
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I only knew about the Dresden Files, I don't think I knew Butcher has been writing other stuff and other series as well. Are you going to dip into the DF at some point, do you think?
I might do, but I will certainly finish the Codex Alera series first.
Nice to see other people are doing Plans
Do you feel you've been more focused since you started doing this, or have you at any point felt constricted by your plan?I've not felt constricted, but I think I made it too long meaning other things came along that I wanted to read before getting round to finishing the plan
I don't know why but this book intrigues me. I like the title, and I like the author's name. Maybe it's the Lynch thing. You know, David Lynch and Jennifer Lynch...
The title grabbed me as well. I would highly recommend it! Listening to the sequel now and it too is amazing.
By the by, where has your Wife been? I don't think I've seen her around. I hope we haven't scared her off?
She is stuck on Pinterest... and her Kindle ran out of battery
I agree with you Tim and bobbly, I think it's definitely a solid King read, not the best perhaps but certainly not the worst either, or even one of the worst.
It is good yeah, I watched the film at the weekend, wasn't bad but they cut out so much important stuff. Had no chance to live up to the book.
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Wool - Hugh HoweySynopsis
Life in the Silo is grim and boring, cameras show the dead and desolate world outside. The air is toxic and the surface uninhabitable.
The monotony is only broken by the unfortunately individual who is tasked with 'cleaning' the cameras. They are given a protective suit but the toxic air soon seeps in and they don't come back.
Not everything is as simple as it seems, the suits aren't as protective as they could be, and one department is to blame... IT.
Review
I was first enticed by this seeing the posters throughout the London Tube, no more information given then what is one the cover above. I looked it up and learnt Howey was self-published via Amazon Kindle and the reviews were tremendous.
Without knowing too much about it other than its dystopian setting I rented it from the library. I am glad I didn't pay for it.
The story was OK, it could have been better, but it was good enough to keep me interested because there wasn't much else to be honest. The world didn't seem particularly well thought out. The Silo itself is 148 levels deep and there are no lifts or pulleys so much or the work involves hours or days of trudging up and down the spiral staircase. Mining is going on at the bottom with no method to remove the ore or waste :S There is no back-story either true or mythical as to what happened to the world. There were other things throughout that didn't quite make sense as well which I won't get into due to spoilers.
The characterisation was poor, very much 2D characters with little or no personality. The writing was very average, I can see why it was self-published.
I kept thinking I like the concept but so much more could have been done with it. Tonnes of potential and a good story but poor delivery.
Overall 6/10 (and I think that's being generous)
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I got that they restarted a Cyberplanner or something, but I don't understand where the whole army came from, if they were already there how could no one have known about them?
I did actually enjoy the episode believe it or not!
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Not a bad episode at all, but that was the worst child acting I have ever seen! especially the boy, every line delivered in a flat monotone. I was actually laughing I couldn't believe how awful it was. The Doctor on the other was fantastic, one of Matt Smith's finest moments.
The ending was a bit cheesy but I suppose that can be expected from Gaiman and Doctor Who.
I'm not sure if I missed something but where did all the cybermen suddenly come from? and how could they suddenly move so fast?
I still feel like the series hasn't built up to anything, like the previous ones with 'Bad Wolf' and 'Vote Saxon' etc. But hopefully I will be surprised.
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Ah.. well that wouldn't be too bad then, they just have to wait!
For me, it's pretty perfect - I want to see each Doctor's regeneration, and some of the titles are on my existing list, so to have them accompanied by a nice book is ideal. I've been watching Planet of the Spiders already, mind you, and am finding it too dated, it's quite laughable really.
Those spiders terrified me as a kid!
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I read it as there is one in there that isn't released yet but will be in November...
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That is a pretty awesome boxset! Some incredible episodes there, I know my brother would love that.
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Argo, brilliantly tense drama!
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Until I finished this book I didn't realise that James S.A. Corey is actually the pen name of fantasy author Daniel Abraham and Ty Frank, who is - apparently - George R. R. Martin's assistant (which kind of calls into question yet another Martin quote on the cover
). Daniel Abraham is an author whose fantasy series 'The Long Price' and 'The Dagger and the Coin' have been on my radar for a long time, but I just haven't taken the leap and bought any of his books yet. At least, not knowingly.(I'm gonna boast and say I knew that, then shake my head in disbelief of you know not knowing.)
.... 
All three of those series are on my wishlist... would love to have time for them but
... maybe one day. -
The Bridges of Madison County... Yawn
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Bought Bitter Seeds today which I heard someone mention was good. Also got a new copy of Heart-Shaped Box by Joe Hill in prep for his signing I'm going to at the end of the month for his new book.
Still working my way through Wool which is ok but maybe got a bit over hyped in reviews. Hopefully finish it by the end of the week.
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You convinced me... Pre-ordered it
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hmm let's hope so... might be worth pre-ordering just in case
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I read Sharpe's Company by Bernard Cornwell (the 11th in the series I believe). Now reading Wool by Hugh Howey.
Steve's Bookshelf 2013
in Past Book Logs
Posted
I have had A Fire Upon the Deep for a while now and it is high on my sci-fi list with the likes of Ender's Game and Night's Dawn. Glad it didn't diminish over the years.