Karsa Orlong Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 Cheers Killing Floor is pretty good, I hope you enjoy it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
~Andrea~ Posted July 13, 2012 Share Posted July 13, 2012 Crikey, that blurb is dreadful Lol - it's terrible. Glad the novel was better. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willoyd Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Great review, Steve, even if it convinces me that I definitely don't want to read the book itself! (Actually, that's partially what makes it such a good review). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 14, 2012 Author Share Posted July 14, 2012 (edited) Book #48 : Something Wicked This Way Comes by Ray Bradbury Blurb: It's the week before Hallowe'en, and Cooger and Dark's Pandemonium Shadow Show has come to Green Town, Illinois. The siren song of the calliope entices all with promises of youth regained and dreams fulfilled ... And as two boys trembling on the brink of manhood set out to explore the mysteries of the dark carnival's smoke, mazes and mirrors, they will also discover the true price of innermost wishes ... Thoughts: This is a simple tale, wonderfully told. In a lot of ways it felt to me like an ode to childhood, friendship, and also to childhood lost. The two main protagonists, Jim and Will, are 13-year-old boys who both dream of being older. Bradburys' writing borders on the poetic. I don't usually bother typing out quotes, but this time I will, because there were so many passages that I re-read just for the joy in the use of language, and the imagery that it conjured. Like all boys, they never walked anywhere, but named a goal and lit for it, scissors and elbows. Nobody won. Nobody wanted to win. It was in their friendship they just wanted to run forever, shadow and shadow. Their hands slapped library doors together, their chests broke track tapes together, their tennis shoes beat parallel pony tracks over lawns, trimmed bushes, squirreled trees, no one losing, both winning, thus saving their friendship for other times of loss. Meanwhile, Will's father, Charles, worries that there are less years in front of him than there are behind, and dreams of lost years, and the fact that he has never really connected with his son. Watching the boys vanish away, Charles Halloway suppressed a sudden urge to run with them, make the pack. He knew what the wind was doing to them, where it was taking them, to all the places that were never so secret again in life. Somewhere in him, a shadow turned mournfully over. You had to run with a night like this, so the sadness could not hurt. And then along comes the carnival, and Mr Cooger and Mr Dark, Mr Electrico and the Illustrated Man, and Jim and Will get sucked into a game of cat and mouse after they witness something they really shouldn't have. I'd say it's creepy, rather than scary, and the carousel is probably a not too subtle metaphor that gets rather hammered home, but Bradbury built atmosphere through wordplay rather than more conventional means, and I thought it really worked. If I have one complaint, it is just that I felt he didn't do quite enough with Jim's character, and why he wanted what he wanted. Sure there are hints there, such as when Jim becomes a peeping tom at the window of a young couple, but there doesn't seem to be much more to it. Apart from that, it's a terrific read. 8/10 Edited July 15, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted July 14, 2012 Share Posted July 14, 2012 Good review Steve. Going to have to re-read this soon now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 Just bought a novella, called Adrift on the Sea of Rains, for Kindle. It's by Ian Sales, who posts quite regularly over on SFF Chronicles, and it seems to be quite well received (plus I'm really interested in the Apollo era, so it instantly appealed). It's the first of four novellas called, unsurprisingly, the 'Apollo Quartet' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vodkafan Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 Sounds interesting Karsa. Let us know what you think of it . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 18, 2012 Author Share Posted July 18, 2012 ... aaaand add to the TBR pile The Breach by Patrick Lee, first in a sf trilogy (the last part of which has now been published), recommended to me by a few peeps over on Malazan Empire. It's also got a recommendation from Lee Child on the cover. What's not to like? http://www.patrickle....com/breach.php Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timstar Posted July 18, 2012 Share Posted July 18, 2012 (edited) The Breach sounds quite interesting, from the reviews it looks like a decent thriller/sci-fi. Be interesting to see what you make of it. I also laughed at Lee's profile... Patrick was born in west Michigan in 1976. His accomplishments over the next eighteen years included waiting for Nintendo to be invented and then playing lots of Nintendo Edited July 18, 2012 by Timstar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I also laughed at Lee's profile... I hadn't read that I think I'm going to put The Breach straight to the top of the TBR pile, it just looks like a huge amount of fun Of course, I might change my mind when I finish my current book ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 I also laughed at Lee's profile... That was pretty funny Karsa, so you've been buying books? How do you figure this goes towards reducing pile TBR? Fes up, how many books have you bought and added to your wishlist in the past two weeks? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 Crikey, I only posted the titles 4 or 5 posts upthread, is your scroll wheel not working? The answer is: two. I tend to buy things when I'm bored at work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 19, 2012 Share Posted July 19, 2012 Crikey, I only posted the titles 4 or 5 posts upthread, is your scroll wheel not working? The answer is: two. I tend to buy things when I'm bored at work Two? TWO?! You complain about buying two books?! I thought you were talking dozens. Get a grip, man (I did notice the titles when I posted, but I was wondering where the rest of them were!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 19, 2012 Author Share Posted July 19, 2012 I don't remember complaining Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 21, 2012 Author Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) Book #49 : Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay Synopsis: For two years Shen Tai has mourned his celebrated father and lived like a hermit beyond the borders of the Kitan Empire. There, by a mountain lake, the bones of the soldiers killed in great battles between the Kitai and the Tagurans lie unburied and their wailing ghosts strike terror into the living. Tai has laboured alone, laying to rest the mingled dead of both empires, until a letter arrives. It contains the promise of a poisoned chalice: Tai will be given two hundred and fifty Sardian horses by the Tagurans, legendary steeds from the far west, as a reward for his courage and piety. Now, Tai must try to return alive from solitude to a glittering, dangerous court. For to give a man even one of the famed Sardians is to honour him greatly; to give him so many is a reward which would overwhelm an emperor, and could be Tai's death warrant. Thoughts: This is another of GGK's historical fantasy novels, this time based on the An Shi Rebellion in China during the Tang Dynasty. It starts out well enough, with Shen Tai, in the official period of mourning after the death of his father who was a famous General, living amongst the bones of a great battle between his country and the Tagurans (Tibetans, I'm assuming). He has set about burying these bones and, as a result, both sides honour him by bringing him supplies as he goes about his work, living among the ghosts. He's been doing this for two years when a Taguran emissary arrives with a letter from royalty presenting Tai with 250 Sardian horses. These horses are the most prized asset in his country, and he is suddenly a very rich man. Unbeknownst to him, though, there are already assassins coming for him for other reasons, and suddenly his life gets very complicated. I was looking forward to reading this - really looking forward to it. I suppose it could never live up to my expectations, but this is the first of GGK's books that I have felt genuinely disappointed with. It is too long at 576 pages, and it is s-l-o-w. I guess you might call it sedate. There is action in it, especially in the early chapters, and some of the characters are great, but it gets bogged down in politics and it starts to drag. I lost interest about two thirds of the way through, really. There are some intriguing supernatural elements which I felt he could have done a bit more with, too, but they kind of get left by the wayside once they have served their purpose. Much like his Sarantine Mosaic duology, it is about an ordinary man out of place, fighting for his life amid emperors and politicians and powerful wives and concubines who know the game far better than him. Unlike the Sarantine Mosaic, it didn't grab me and hold my attention. Where I found that one riveting, I felt this one was a little bit by-the-numbers. I hope that I may enjoy it more on re-read, with my expectations lowered. There are some typically wonderful Kay moments, though. "Sometimes the one life we are allowed is enough" he says, as his characters pass into history. And my particular favourite, "Time runs both ways. We make stories of our lives." 6/10 Edited July 26, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy this one as much as GGK's other work, I know how much you've enjoyed some of his other stuff I hope it grows on you if and when you read it again (And I remember a whole lotta complaining! ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy this one as much as GGK's other work, I know how much you've enjoyed some of his other stuff I hope it grows on you if and when you read it again Thanks Frankie (And I remember a whole lotta complaining! ) Pfft! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 22, 2012 Author Share Posted July 22, 2012 Started reading Peter F. Hamilton's book of short stories, Manhattan in Reverse. I'm not going to read it all in one go, just dip into it occasionally. The first tale, called Watching Trees Grow, was a murder mystery that takes place over two centuries, starting in 1832. It's set on Earth, but this is an Earth where the Roman Empire never fell, but quietly withdrew instead, the Borgias still sit in The Vatican, and the world is ruled by families, including the Caesars. It's also an Earth where technological advances were made far sooner as a result, including the lengthening of the human lifespan. It was quite an enjoyable story that ended up being more about the abuse of science and technology than about the actual murder. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ooshie Posted July 22, 2012 Share Posted July 22, 2012 Talking of GGK, I finally found The Lions of Al-Rassan, just in time to be my next read! I knew it would happen eventually... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Yay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 24, 2012 Author Share Posted July 24, 2012 I'm enjoying The Breach enough that I bought the two sequels, Ghost Country and Deep Sky, today Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted July 25, 2012 Share Posted July 25, 2012 Two new books to add to mount TBR... I'm dreading you will never get to reading Fingersmith! (And no, I don't want to pressure you Just saying!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 25, 2012 Author Share Posted July 25, 2012 I've always planned that it will be my first purchase when the TBR pile hits 70 That's why I keep buying more books No! Seriously, didn't mean it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted July 26, 2012 Author Share Posted July 26, 2012 (edited) Book #50: The Breach by Patrick Lee Instead of the blurb I'll post this, it's hilarious: My problem with that ad is that it totally mis-sells the book, making it out to be a generic action thriller, when actually it's a science fiction ... action thriller And it's a cracker. Travis Chase (why do these heroes never have normal names, like Derek? Or Clive, for that matter) is just over twelve months out from a 15 year stretch in prison (I won't say why, the story gradually reveals this information) and has been trying to decide whether he wants to join his brother's IT company or strike out and do something on his own. He's taking a solo hike into the Alaskan wilderness to give himself some thinking time when he happens across the wreckage of a downed 747. How it came to be there, why there aren't rescue services swarming all over it, what happened to the crew and passengers, all these questions flash through Chase's mind as he climbs down to and enters the aircraft. There he finds that it's no normal plane. There are no markings on the outside, and the inside looks more like Kennedy Space Centre - apart from the bodies. Following a trail of blood he finds America's First Lady, dead, clutching a note. The note tells him that there are survivors, they have been captured and are being tortured for information on something called Whisper, and it pleads for whoever finds it to find them and kill them before they divulge this information. Kill the hostages first, it says. All sorts of merriment ensues (the body count may actually be higher than the page count ... ) as Chase becomes involved in a race against time that might alter the future. The science fiction element quickly comes into play with the mysterious device called Whisper and the desperate struggle to keep it out of the wrong hands. I'd call this a big screen novel. It is fast moving, action-packed, has a twisty-turny plot, but you have to suspend your disbelief before you read it, because there are a few instances where you'll be wondering how the hell the characters are allowed to get away with what they're doing. It's not going to win any awards for writing, but the two main characters, Travis and Paige, are well developed. Again, the ad and the blurb mis-sell it, making out that Chase is some kind of Jack Reacher. He isn't, he's flawed and fallible, and there are very good reasons - which become apparent as the story progresses - for him being where he is and doing what he's doing. Some of the twists are truly jaw-dropping, and the thrills are genuinely thrilling, which is more than I can say for most thrillers I've read recently, and Lee takes time with set-ups that pay-off really well in the end. And what an ending. Really did not see it coming at all. It's the kind of ending that demands you read the next book immediately. Recommended. 8/10 Edited July 26, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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