Tim's Horror, Fantasy and Sci-Fi Reads from 2012

[Karsa Orlong]

I also thought the action was notably different, his battles scenes, whilst great, tend to give more of an overview as well as the personal view of the character, TWK battles felt a lot more gritty and close up, you could feel every slash and shield charge.

 

That's interesting, I didn't know there was a difference as I haven't read any of the Sharpe books, but the Warrior Chronicles books (the ones about Uhtred and Alfred the Great) are very similar in style and feel to the Arthurian ones.  Probably why I've been enjoying them so much.

[Timstar]

That's interesting, I didn't know there was a difference as I haven't read any of the Sharpe books, but the Warrior Chronicles books (the ones about Uhtred and Alfred the Great) are very similar in style and feel to the Arthurian ones.  Probably why I've been enjoying them so much.

 

It will be interesting to see what you make of Sharpe, whilst i've always enjoyed BC, I haven't truly been able to recommend his books as brilliant until TWK. I bought the Warrior Chronicles a while back and they will be one of my many series for next year (although I have always heard of them called The Saxon Chronicles, which helps distinguish them more from the Warlord Chronicles, the ones i'm reading now)

[Karsa Orlong]

(although I have always heard of them called The Saxon Chronicles, which helps distinguish them more from the Warlord Chronicles, the ones i'm reading now)

 

Yeah, I've no idea why he's changed the series title

[Timstar]

Yeah, I've no idea why he's changed the series title

 

On his website they are both referred to by two different names Warlord/Arthur Books and Warrior/Saxon. It doesn't help that the Arthur books are full of warriors and saxons

[Karsa Orlong]

Well I hope you've got Enemy of God and Excalibur ready to go.  That's one of the few trilogies where I've read them one after the other and still wanted more at the end of it 

[Timstar]

Well I hope you've got Enemy of God and Excalibur ready to go.  That's one of the few trilogies where I've read them one after the other and still wanted more at the end of it 

 

I do, but I'm forcing myself to have a break, they are both in my next reading plan though

[Athena]

Great review! I haven't read any Bernard Cornwell books, this one sounds quite interesting. I'm glad you enjoyed it .

[Signor Finzione]

On his website they are both referred to by two different names Warlord/Arthur Books and Warrior/Saxon. It doesn't help that the Arthur books are full of warriors and saxons

 

 Yeah, that could get confusing. I'm looking forward to getting/reading The Winter King seeing as both you and Steve gave it a perfect score.

[Timstar]

 Yeah, that could get confusing. I'm looking forward to getting/reading The Winter King seeing as both you and Steve gave it a perfect score.

 

The paperbacks make a nice matching set as well Which is all that really matters when it comes to buying series, lets face it...

 

Reviews are forthcoming but plan is completed:

 

A Feast for Crows - George R. R. Martin (Song of Ice and Fire 4)

The Iron Jackal - Chris Wooding (Ketty Jay 3)

Randevous with Rama - Arthur C. Clarke

The Dragon Reborn - Robert Jordan (Wheel of Time 3)

Empire of the Sun - J.G. Ballard

King of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

The Rape of Nanking- Iris Chang

Double Dexter - Jeff Lindsay

The Sign of Four - Arhur Conan Doyle (Sherlock Holmes 2)

Sharpe's Enemy - Bernard Cornwell (Sharpe 12)

Before they Are Hanged - Joe Abercrombie

The Last Argument of Kings - Joe Abercrombie (First Law 3)

Hearts in Atlantic - Stephen King

Beyond Lies the Wub - Philip K. Dick

The Winter King - Bernard Cornwell

Frankenstein - Mary Shelley

Ultimate Weapon - Chris Ryan

Goldfinger - Ian Fleming

Prince of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Green Hills of Africa - Ernest Hemingway

 

New Plan:

 

A Dance With Dragons - George R. R. Martin

Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell

The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan

A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge

Replay - Ken Grimwood

The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham

Misery - Stephen King

Emperor of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Pebble in the Sky - Isaac Asimov

A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway

The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks

Isaac Newton Biography - Michael White

Space/Ranger Trilogy - C.S. Lewis

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

 

Disclaimer: Christmas gifts may disrupt plan

 

 

I know someone that will have some mixed feelings about it 

Edited December 9, 2013 by Timstar

[Karsa Orlong]

 

New Plan:

 

A Dance With Dragons - George R. R. Martin

Enemy of God - Bernard Cornwell

The Shadow Rising - Robert Jordan

A Fire Upon the Deep - Vernor Vinge

Replay - Ken Grimwood

The Dragon's Path - Daniel Abraham

Misery - Stephen King

Emperor of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

Pebble in the Sky - Isaac Asimov

A Farewell to Arms - Ernest Hemingway

The Player of Games - Iain M. Banks

Isaac Newton Biography - Michael White

Space/Ranger Trilogy - C.S. Lewis

The Way of Kings - Brandon Sanderson

 

Disclaimer: Christmas gifts may disrupt plan

 

 

I know someone that will have some mixed feelings about it 

 

Well you've got some awesome books on there (of the ones I've read).  Exciting times ahead     I'm ignoring the Jordan and Sanderson ones 

 

Congrats on finishing the previous plan

[Timstar]

Thanks!

 

First up is Misery

[Signor Finzione]

Well done on finishing your plan! Mine went down the toilet a few weeks ago.  Look forward to seeing what you think of the Lawrence and the Martin.

[Athena]

Congrats on finishing your plan! You've got some great reads on your new plan, I hope you enjoy all the books !

[Timstar]

Well done on finishing your plan! Mine went down the toilet a few weeks ago.  Look forward to seeing what you think of the Lawrence and the Martin.

 

Thanks, are you starting another one or going back to it? or just giving up on any plan for now?

 

Congrats on finishing your plan! You've got some great reads on your new plan, I hope you enjoy all the books !

 

Thanks, some of them have been put off for a while, but I know I will enjoy most of them, hopefully the rest as well

[Timstar]

 Beyond Lies the Wub - Philip K. Dick

 

 

Synopsis

 

A collection of PKD's early short stories, written over a nine month period in the early 50s

 

 

Review

 

 

I'm still fairly new to PDK so I can't compare this to his other work but I do know he is quite famous for his short stories, not least because of some the great films they have been turned into. This is the first of 5 volumes of the complete PDK short stories released of Gollancz.

 

I think short stories are never a great way to judge an author, they are hard to get right, they tend to be either poor and therefore instantly forgettable, or a great idea and therefore not long enough. However, I think PDK got some of these right, there are a number of them I still remember fondly weeks after reading, they were a combination of a great idea and great execution that rounded off nicely at the end. A few examples: The Indefatigable Frog; Based around the theory that is you put a frog at one end of the tube and every time it leaped it shrank in half, then it would never reach the end. Amusing and thought provoking. The King of the Elves was simply great fun, the sort of thing I would expect to see in an animated comedy show like Family Guy. Paycheck was a great little sci-fi thriller and Colony was actually pretty frightening!

 

There were a few others that were good at the time but these are the only ones I remember well enough to deserve a mention.

 

Overall a great collection with a splendid variety and I'm looking forward to reading the next volume

 

Overall 9/10

[Signor Finzione]

 

Thanks, are you starting another one or going back to it? or just giving up on any plan for now?

 

I still plan on reading the books that were on it at some point, but lately I've found that what I want to read changes from day to day. I'll probably try and start a new one in a couple of weeks for the new reading log.

 

Forgot to say that The Dragon's Path is one I hope to read soon - it'll be interesting to see what we both make of it.

[Timstar]

Cool, hope it goes more to plan this time

 

I want to get up-to-date with ASoIaF before starting another dragon-themed series 

 

So it will probably go something like:

 

Misery

Enemy of God

Dance with Dragons

Player of Games

Dragon's Path

[Signor Finzione]

Ha, fair enough . Hope you enjoy ADWD more than I did. Every year (since they made Game of Thrones into a TV show) I've done a full re-read of the series before each season. But I think if I were going to do that this time round I should have started last month.

[Athena]

Wow! That must've taken you some time, Laura ! I'm impressed.

 

I'm currently reading A Storm of Swords 1: Steel and Snow, so have a bit more to catch up on. There is a lot going on, a lot of characters etc, I am enjoying it though, for the most part (other than the cringy bits). It shouldn't be too long before I have finished it.

[Timstar]

Ha, fair enough . Hope you enjoy ADWD more than I did.

 

Thanks, me too! And more than Steve

[Timstar]

King of Thorns - Mark Lawrence

 

Synopsis

 

The second book in the Broken Empire series, Lawrence takes his young anti-hero one step closer to his grand ambition.

To reach greatness you must step on bodies, and many brothers lie trodden in my wake. I’ve walked from pawn to player and I’ll win this game of ours, though the cost of it may drown the world in blood…

The land burns with the fires of a hundred battles as lords and petty kings fight for the Broken Empire. The long road to avenge the slaughter of his mother and brother has shown Prince Honorous Jorg Ancrath the hidden hands behind this endless war. He saw the game and vowed to sweep the board. First though he must gather his own pieces, learn the rules of play, and discover how to break them.

 

Review

 

I've been thinking about what to write about this book a while, still don't know exactly what I think but i'll have a go at portraying it anyway. I did enjoy the book but certainly not as much as others on BCF.

 

Without ever spelling it out in black and white, we are slowly introduced to the world of the broken empire. A blended post-apocalyptic/medieval fantasy world, filed with larger-than-life characters and vivid imagery. Lawrence certainly paints a captivating world.

 

I had a number of issues with the book though, other than Jorg the characterisation is quite poor, I didn't feel anything for the sub-characters and didn't care at all if they were killed off. As for Jorg himself, there is nothing wrong with an anti-hero but I think it goes too far with Jorg, he comes across as completely emotionless which deprives the book of any heart, leaving the reader cold and detached. This wouldn't have bothered me so much if there had been other characters that we could connect with, fall in love or even love to hate but none of them did it for me.

 

The other major issue was the narrative style, a majority of the story is told in flash backs, as well as not moving the story onwards I also thought they were a bit dull, I just wanted to get back to the present and the approaching danger. I noticed on another blog on BCF that this isn't as much as an issue the second time around as you know what is going to happen. But that didn't help me here

 

For me it didn't quite live up to the hype, but it is certainly a bold creation and one step further into the darker side of fantasy. I will be reading the final book, but with less anticipation than when I started with this.

 

Overall 7/10

Edited December 13, 2013 by Timstar

[Signor Finzione]

A shame you didn't enjoy it as much as I did, Tim. Glad you're sticking with the trilogy to the end, though!

 

It was me who said I enjoyed it much more the second time round (though as you said, that's not going to help you much here . . .). I felt that Jorg was a lot more conflicted and sympathetic in this one, rather than being straight-up passionless. I also had similar issues with the lack of character development; I think it was Steve who suggested that this is part of Jorg's PoV - Jorg doesn't really give a damn about getting to know the other characters and therefore doesn't tell us much about them. But yeah, I think I said much of the same stuff in my review, though I liked it more.

 

I liked how the story built to its climax, and I didn't mind the flashbacks - apart from the Katherine letters. I wanted her to just DIE.  

[Athena]

Great review ! It's a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped, though I'm glad it was still enjoyable. I hope your next read will be (even) more enjoyable.

[Karsa Orlong]

Shame you didn't like it as much, Tim.  I think there's a lot of good points in what you say - I guess the flashbacks and supporting characters just worked for me where they didn't for you

[Timstar]

A shame you didn't enjoy it as much as I did, Tim. Glad you're sticking with the trilogy to the end, though!

 

I liked how the story built to its climax, and I didn't mind the flashbacks - apart from the Katherine letters. I wanted her to just DIE.  

 

The knowledge that it firmly ends after the third one helps as well 

 

Yeah she wasn't great, letters were pretty boring 

 

Great review ! It's a shame you didn't enjoy it as much as you'd hoped, though I'm glad it was still enjoyable. I hope your next read will be (even) more enjoyable.

 

Thanks, it is so far

 

 

Shame you didn't like it as much, Tim.  I think there's a lot of good points in what you say - I guess the flashbacks and supporting characters just worked for me where they didn't for you

 

I don't mind flashbacks at all but I think there should be more of the story set in the present then the past