Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 5, 2014 Share Posted February 5, 2014 (edited) 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! That's not quite what I meant, although I'm happy to hear you won't be sending me any awful books I meant the next occasion I might send you something. 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. But how do you draw the line between what is deliberately humourous and what is not Yeah, especially if you get splinters in your bum from sitting on the fence Depending on the thickness of one's coating, it might not be a problem... Edited February 5, 2014 by frankie Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 5, 2014 Author Share Posted February 5, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 6, 2014 Author Share Posted February 6, 2014 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 (edited) 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 Ooh, it's a bit deep, isn't it? Listening to it now, very interesting. ETA: It would be better if both Erikson and the interviewer didn't sound so bored. Edited February 6, 2014 by Signor Finzione Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted February 6, 2014 Share Posted February 6, 2014 Hitchhiker's sets out to be funny from the start, and that sort of humour always feels a little forced and unnatural to me Hitchhikers doesn't really work for me as a book either, the original radio play is much better. I don't know what the series of books is like once they get clear of the original radio material though, they could be better, but I never got that far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 I loved The Hitch'Hikers Guide to the Galaxy series, but to each their own . I'll have to read Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell to see how I like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Raven Posted February 7, 2014 Share Posted February 7, 2014 My first contact with Hitchhikers was the radio series (which is very good if you have never heard it). After that the books felt kind of flat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 8, 2014 Author Share Posted February 8, 2014 # 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Wonderful review, Steve. I actually have a copy already. So, your review encourages me to move it up the pile. I've only read Shutter Island, right after we saw the film. Loved both, although seeing and reading so closely (we stopped on the way home for the book) isn't always the best thing. Now they are tangled up in my perception of the story. Oh well, considering it's DiCaprio, that isn't so terrible. He picks his roles well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Kate, I didn't even know Shutter Island was originally a book . . . I'd love to read it. *goes off to add to wish list* Great review of The Given Day, Steve, it sounds great (if a little complex). I had no idea Lehane wrote historical novels. 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!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pontalba Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 Kate, I didn't even know Shutter Island was originally a book . . . I'd love to read it. *goes off to add to wish list* Great review of The Given Day, Steve, it sounds great (if a little complex). I had no idea Lehane wrote historical novels. 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!! My work is done..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted February 8, 2014 Share Posted February 8, 2014 My work is done..... When I'm crushed by the weight of my TBR I'll know who to blame . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 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! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Signor Finzione Posted February 9, 2014 Share Posted February 9, 2014 Ooh, I've had a couple of Richard Morgan's fantasy ones on my wishlist for a while. I look forward to hearing what you think of him.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 9, 2014 Author Share Posted February 9, 2014 Yeah, I've wanted his fantasy books for ages as well, but I really wanted some sf this time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Little Pixie Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 # 8 The Peace War by Vernor Vinge The Peace War.jpg 1984 - Tor Paperback - 304 pages From Amazon: The Peace Authority conquered the world with a weapon that never should have been a weapon--the "bobble," a spherical force-field impenetrable by any force known to mankind. Encasing governmental installations and military bases in bobbles, No, sorry - I hear ` bobbles` and think `pom poms`. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 10, 2014 Author Share Posted February 10, 2014 No, sorry - I hear ` bobbles` and think `pom poms`. I kept thinking they were wearing bobble hats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 10, 2014 Share Posted February 10, 2014 I have Altered Carbon on my TBR so I look forward to hear what you think . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 11, 2014 Author Share Posted February 11, 2014 ^^ 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 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 11, 2014 Share Posted February 11, 2014 Oh thanks, I didn't know that! I bought it ages ago, at a time where I wasn't yet doing much research in terms of reviews etc. I'll have to give it a go at some point and if I don't like it give the book away. I look forward to see your review. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 13, 2014 Author Share Posted February 13, 2014 # 10 Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan 2002 - Gollancz ebook - 546 pages From Amazon: In the twenty-fifth century, humankind has spread throughout the galaxy, monitored by the watchful eye of the U.N. While divisions in race, religion, and class still exist, advances in technology have redefined life itself. Now, assuming one can afford the expensive procedure, a person’s consciousness can be stored in a cortical stack at the base of the brain and easily downloaded into a new body (or “sleeve”) making death nothing more than a minor blip on a screen.Ex-U.N. envoy Takeshi Kovacs has been killed before, but his last death was particularly painful. Dispatched one hundred eighty light-years from home, re-sleeved into a body in Bay City (formerly San Francisco, now with a rusted, dilapidated Golden Gate Bridge), Kovacs is thrown into the dark heart of a shady, far-reaching conspiracy that is vicious even by the standards of a society that treats “existence” as something that can be bought and sold. For Kovacs, the shell that blew a hole in his chest was only the beginning. . . . Thoughts: This book was on my wishlist for a long, long time. I’d seen much praise for Richard Morgan on other forums, both for his currently ongoing fantasy series (A Land Fit for Heroes) and his earlier science fiction novels, of which Altered Carbon is the first of a trilogy about a character called Takeshi Kovacs. Kovacs is an Envoy, essentially a futuristic member of the special forces. The story begins explosively as he and his partner, Sarah, are hunted down by the militia of Millsport on Harlan’s World. It’s one of the most riveting opening scenes I’ve read in a long while, and pulled me into the world immediately. Who were these people? Why was this happening? I wanted to know more. Naturally, it’s then that Morgan first pulls the rug from under your feet. Kovacs awakens some time later, back on Earth, and in someone else’s body. He has been ‘re-sleeved’. Basically, everyone has a memory implant, called a ‘stack’, implanted at the base of their skull, and their memories are saved onto this device. Upon death their consciousness can then be downloaded into another body. In a further twist, criminals serve out their sentences by being placed in storage for the duration. If and when they are eventually re-sleeved it could be hundreds of years later, into a world and a body they don’t know, with all their loved ones moved on, living in different bodies, or even gone completely, having taken the option of ‘real death’ (because most people can’t afford to be continually re-sleeved). The person who paid for Kovacs’s re-sleeving is a very rich man. His name is Laurens Bancroft, and he is a ‘Meths’ (a Methusalah – i.e. someone who has lived for centuries) - and he wants Kovacs to solve the mystery of his apparent suicide. Bancroft’s previous sleeve died, his head blown off, his stack destroyed. Fortunately, his stack is automatically downloaded to a secure store every 48 hours, but his suicide occurred right at the end of that cycle, and he has no idea what happened in the missing two days. All he knows is that he got a taxi home, parked it a couple of miles beyond his mansion’s security perimeter, walked home, then his head was taken off by a gun that was sealed in a safe that only he and his wife had access to. The idea of transferring an individual’s consciousness from one body to another isn’t exactly new, but the fun that Morgan has with this idea that really shines. He explores so many avenues of this idea, so many pros and cons, shows examples of all of them, and is completely brilliant in that he never lets this get confusing. The plot is complex, tortuous , and tight. The story is told in the first person, and Kovacs is an excellent character, occasionally upstaged by police woman Kristin Ortega, and the AI of the Hendrix hotel (yes, that Hendrix). The novel is perhaps 50 to 100 pages too long, mainly due to a couple of (I thought) unnecessary detours, otherwise I would've given it a 9. The other matters are those of personal taste. The violence in this book is graphic, and there are one or two sex scenes that fit that description, too. Morgan doesn’t pull any punches – this is no-holds-barred stuff, almost seeming to snarl from the very first page. It's most definitely not for the faint-hearted. It’s fierce, brutal, and uncompromising. It’s also very, very good. 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted February 13, 2014 Share Posted February 13, 2014 Great review! Richard Morgan has been on my wishlist for a while, both Altered Carbon and Black Man, but also like the sound of A Land fit for Heroes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Athena Posted February 14, 2014 Share Posted February 14, 2014 Great review ! I'm not too keen on the sounds of the violence and sex scenes, but I like the idea of the re-sleeving and the story of the book. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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