Karsa Orlong Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 If I say they are, would you double-check? Sadly, yes! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 I knew it would come to nothing! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Sheesh, you didn't even try! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 22, 2012 Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ooooh, so you were expecting me to try! Well here we go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 22, 2012 Author Share Posted February 22, 2012 Ooooh, so you were expecting me to try! Well here we go! LOL, awesome! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Yeah, and I'm achieving that by staying away from Waterstones, Forbidden Planet, Smiths etc etc, the theory being that if I don't actually see the books then I won't buy them. So I bought two for my Kindle yesterday instead Shocking! I am thinking of turning vigilante and hunting down all Kindles to destroy them .. by the cover of darkness probably .. I haven't got any superpowers so I'll probably have to do it by stealth. I think I could probably muster up a posse .. if the workload got heavy. If I walk up to Waterstones this morning and find it's not there .. I shall know who to blame for it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 Shocking! I am thinking of turning vigilante and hunting down all Kindles to destroy them .. by the cover of darkness probably .. I haven't got any superpowers so I'll probably have to do it by stealth. I think I could probably muster up a posse .. if the workload got heavy. If I walk up to Waterstones this morning and find it's not there .. I shall know who to blame for it Luddite I think you'll probably find the paperbacks being sold cheap in supermarkets and online have just as much - and probably more - to do with Waterstones losing business. Why pay 8 or 9 quid for a book when you can get it half the price elsewhere? Hey, maybe you and your posse should have a word with publishers and tell them to reduce their prices? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Luddite I am totally .. I haven't even got a decent mobile phone ... everyone else is embarrassed to be seen with me ... leastways I've always thought it was because of my phone I think you'll probably find the paperbacks being sold cheap in supermarkets and online have just as much - and probably more - to do with Waterstones losing business. Why pay 8 or 9 quid for a book when you can get it half the price elsewhere? Hey, maybe you and your posse should have a word with publishers and tell them to reduce their prices? Alright, alright .. we'll be looking into that too ... but it's the Kindles that will stop paper books being printed .. and ultimately put the poor printers out of work .. and I'm married to a printer so .. ergo ... I won't be able to eat buns if you carry on the way you're going. I just hope you can live with it that's all I shall be unleashing all sorts of terror ... water is obviously an enemy and coffee and x-ray machines .. I've got it all covered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kidsmum Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Can I join your posse Poppy? I can bring my own water pistol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 Can I join your posse Poppy? I can bring my own water pistol Yes of course Kidsmum .. I'm recruiting (Steve won't mind if I use his thread to do it .. you can't move in mine for cake ) You see Steve ... the ball is rolling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I am totally .. I haven't even got a decent mobile phone ... everyone else is embarrassed to be seen with me ... leastways I've always thought it was because of my phone Alright, alright .. we'll be looking into that too ... but it's the Kindles that will stop paper books being printed .. and ultimately put the poor printers out of work .. and I'm married to a printer so .. ergo ... I won't be able to eat buns if you carry on the way you're going. I just hope you can live with it that's all I shall be unleashing all sorts of terror ... water is obviously an enemy and coffee and x-ray machines .. I've got it all covered. I can probably keep him in work single-handedly with the books I buy. But maybe I should buy some more, just in case... I'll go and buy a water pistol tomorrow! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) You can all bring your waterpistols. I'll bring my flamethrower it's the Kindles that will stop paper books being printed Personally, I don't think there will ever be a time where more than a small minority own Kindles, but it is a Godsend for me as I simply don't have enough shelf space. But hey, if you'd like to buy me a big house I'm happy to go along with that Edited February 23, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 (edited) Those nice people from The Book Depository sent me the mass market paperback edition of Steven Erikson's The Crippled God today. I had already read it on my Kindle when it came out in hardback but, after a long wait, my paperback collection of the 'Malazan Book of the Fallen' is finally complete. You'll have to forgive me if I feel ridiculously happy to see them all together at last :wub: :wub: And here they are taking up a ridiculous amount of my shelf space: I had to get imported versions, from TBD, of the last three books in the series because the stupid publishers at Bantum UK decided it was appropriate to start releasing them in the larger size paperback format (like the Jo Nesbo books on the shelf there) after seven books in the series had already been released in the old smaller size. Eeeejuts! Edited February 23, 2012 by Karsa Orlong Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about these What lovely shelves .. looks gorgeous so much nicer that your boring old list on your boring old Kindle .. anyway .. I spy space .. you need to buy some more books Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 23, 2012 Author Share Posted February 23, 2012 I wake up in a cold sweat thinking about these That's, erm, worrying It's such a shame you didn't persevere What lovely shelves .. looks gorgeous Thanks Poppy so much nicer that your boring old list on your boring old Kindle Pfft, the list on my Kindle is not boring <<snooty look>> Actually, what I have found since writing up the TBR list is that most of the books I have on the Kindle are either later books in a series or the first book of a series, so it's tough to choose books to read because, if I read the first book of a series and like it, I'd then have to buy more from the series which defeats the object of reducing the pile, if that makes sense. So I keep skipping over certain books in case I like them and end up having to buy more I spy space .. you need to buy some more books Steve Well, that is the idea sooner or later, as I just gave a lot to charity to make that space Just to complete the picture (and yeah, I realise there's another thread for this but I've started here, so ...) I have those shelves, with books and dvds, then I have this slim book case, on which the books are double-stacked: and then I have these which are full of dvds and blu-rays: and that's it, that's all my shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppyshake Posted February 23, 2012 Share Posted February 23, 2012 So ... where do you keep your Jane Austens? No, really, your shelves look lovely .. the thing about sci-fi/fantasy books is that they have lovely vibrant covers and spines ... it makes for a really colourful display. I've noticed something worrying about the Eriksons .. they get a lot bigger as they go along Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 I've noticed something worrying about the Eriksons .. they get a lot bigger as they go along I think that's just the camera angle The first book is the shortest by some distance, after that they're all pretty similar in length Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankie Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Nice shelving and great collection of books, thanks for posting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kylie Posted February 24, 2012 Share Posted February 24, 2012 Very nice shelves, Steve. I see plenty of room for more books, though. And who needs heating? Get rid of the heater and buy another bookcase! I'm glad you're not totally converted to the Kindle and still get a lot of joy from real books. I'll lower my water pistol...for now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 24, 2012 Author Share Posted February 24, 2012 Thanks I do like my shelves, I just wish I had more of them I'm glad you're not totally converted to the Kindle and still get a lot of joy from real books. I'll lower my water pistol...for now. Scary I'm tending to use the Kindle for books I'm not sure about. I have actually read books on my Kindle and then gone out and bought the paperback because I liked them so much I wanted to collect them (Jo Nesbo, for example). And fantasy novels practically have to be bought in physical form - because of the maps Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 The Wine of Angels by Phil Rickman "'Gappy old grin, eyes like grey holes ... these very branches. Look up, Janey...' It looks like a paradise parish: cobbled streets, black and white timber-framed houses. But, even before she moves in, Merrily Watkins, the new priest, has witnessed an ugly death. Soon she'll be involved in a bitter dispute over a play about a 17th century vicar accused of witchcraft ... a story which certain old families would rather remained obscure. Welcome to Ledwardine, steeped in cider and secrecy. And, as Merrily and her teenage daughter, Jane, discover, a village where horrific murder is a tradition spanning centuries." I've only read one of Rickman's other novels, The Bones of Avalon, which was a historical novel, quite different from this one. Even though the village of Ledwardine's local history is a huge factor in this book the setting is contemporary and I did notice that Rickman's writing style was quite different and made for a quicker read. I think this was largely down to the main characters being very likeable, especially Jane, Lol and Gomer. Merrily, too - although, for a priest, she does come across as something of a blaspheming, chain-smoking neurotic, which I think was intentional, as she has turned to religion as a way of dealing with the death of her cheating, embezzling crook of a husband. Also, the first thing she witnesses in Ledwardine is an old man blowing his own head off with a shotgun, so it's got to have an effect, right? The novel moves along at quite a pace. This is surprising, because the first half is largely scene-setting. There's a tantalising supernatural element to the mystery of Ledwardine, and particularly its orchard, which always seems to loom in the background, almost like one of those creepy woods you used to see in old black and white horror movies. One local, an older lady called Lucy, says that the old guy's suicide, which took place in the orchard, has offended the spirits there, and Merrily's daughter Jane has a drunken out-of-body experience there which leads her to befriend Lucy and start to believe what the old lady's saying. Merrily, meanwhile, gets caught up in a local wrangle over a festival and a playwright's wish to stage a production in the church about a 17th century priest who was persecuted and hung (in the orchard, no less) for supposedly being a witch. All the while she's having nightmares involving her dead husband and ghostly goings-on in the vicarage into which she and Jane have moved. It's how Rickman orchestrated these - and other - subplots, introduces a large cast of supporting characters, most of whom are suspicious or unpleasant on one level or another, and brings them all together that I found really entertaining. I think the book is probably about 150 pages too long, but the end is quite exciting, the characters well developed, and it left me wanting to spend more time with them. I'm hoping that, now all the scene-setting has been done, the next book will be even better. 90p well spent, I think! 8/10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 glad you liked it I have read and enjoyed all his Merrilyn Watkin series they do move on a pace but I like her as a character the only oone who irritates me somewhat is the daughter but not enough to put me of Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 That's interesting, pickle - the daughter was probably the character I liked the most in this one - does she get worse? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pickle Posted February 27, 2012 Share Posted February 27, 2012 its not that she gets worse she is more teenagery (I made that word up ) and in that sense she is well written but sometimes she is too cool for school you know what I mean. Then there is archaeology it comes in the later books and of course makes me cringe. Wont put me of reading them though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Karsa Orlong Posted February 27, 2012 Author Share Posted February 27, 2012 teenagery (I made that word up ) It's a good word! I started Feist's Silverthorn this morning. Don't really know why, as it wasn't even on my radar when I finished The Wine of Angels. I guess it's because it had been sitting on the shelf for so long. I read Magician a few years back and enjoyed it at the time, but my tastes in fantasy have moved on from the kings/queens/elves/dwarves/goblins generic fantasy tropes, so I'm finding this one a bit lame at the moment. Hopefully I'll get more into it, but I do prefer my fantasy a bit grittier these days <<insert snooty expression>> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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