What we're reading, the SFF edition

Continuing my read of Dragon Avenger, I must say I love Knight's fresh view of the Fantasy genre. There was a scene I read yesterday with a dragon riding a horse. Truly unique, indeed!

Sometimes being an early adopter doesn't pay. I was just starting to read Tamora Pierce's Alanna when my Nook froze last night. Apparently it's a known problem and irritating to correct. I had to pull the battery out and everything, blah. Somehow it lost its charge too so now I have to wait for it to recharge and hope it works.

I guess in the meantime it's back to playing video games and glaring at the snowstorm.

Finally started in on "Last Watch" by Sergei Lukyanenko, the last book of the Night Watch series. I freakin love this series so much. The worldbuilding is incredible, and unlike anything I've ever read...and it doesn't take center stage, which is also good. His characterization is awesome, too. On the surface, they're all frowny miserable Russians, but there is much more to them than that. This book takes place in Scotland instead of Russia, yay.

PS If you happened to watch the movie instead...I'm sorry. The movie is good but I think it's incomprehensible unless you've already read the book. At least it has a hot lady turning into a tiger, I guess.

Just about to start Ilfayne's Bane.

Just finished 'Catching Fire' by Suzanne Collins. Loved it. And now the long, long wait for the next installment.

Yes, I damn well do. There's a few series I'm desperate to read, but I'm waiting for the darn series to be finished. I am NOT patient.

I just started "Wayfarer's Redemption" by Sara Douglas. It began alright, but we'll see.

I just started reading His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik. Not bad, so far.

I'm also working on (re)reading Jhereg, but not very far in yet. There's a certain thinness to it -- it's not a book you can sink your teeth into like steak, but it's decent. I do remember it turning into a convoluted mess as it went, though...

Finished Ilfayne's Bane and just picked up Love is my Sin even though I've already exceeded my book budget for the month. So good to know I'm not the only one who loves the dark, twisty characters. XD

Now working my way through The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin. Sadly, it does rather feel like work...I keep getting jarred out of reading mode and into writer/critic mode. I'm stubborn and don't give up easily but I'm just not enjoying it very much. I'll try to stick it out for another chapter.

Picked up Barclay's Dawnthief after seeing the whole trilogy in the library, but it hasn't gripped me, and there are some things I am definitely not enjoying. I have plenty of time but can't be bothered to read more than 5 pages at a sitting.

I also have Eriksons's latest Dust of Dreams, but I am resisting until a flight next week.

DragonHeart said:

Now working my way through The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin. Sadly, it does rather feel like work...I keep getting jarred out of reading mode and into writer/critic mode. I'm stubborn and don't give up easily but I'm just not enjoying it very much. I'll try to stick it out for another chapter.

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I know what you mean.

While the immediate beginning was good and intrigued me, it pretty much disintegrated after that.

The characters seemed cliched and their motivations felt contrived. The story seemed trite and the kind where you could predict what was going to happen chapters ahead.

I never did finish it.

That's pretty much exactly how I feel about it, too. The ghosts and having a necromancer as a protag sounded cool but it's not really living (hah) up to the premise. I thought it would be a lot darker and less...juvenile, maybe.

The only character who seems even remotely interesting to me at this point is Carroway but he seems to be sidelined most of the time. It's like he's just there to throw in a token quip every now and then even though he's apparently better at fighting than the soliders, if his kill count is any indication lol.

Just finished The Shape-Changer's Wife by Sharon Shinn - a light read, but ultimately felt too light to be satisfying. (And no, still haven't finished Jhereg.)

I've just finished Stephen Baxter's Ark. It's widescreen, big-scale SF as a generation spaceship leaves a flooded Earth in search of another planet to live. Once I realised that the writing style would be no more than functional and the characters 2D, I quite enjoyed it.

I'm now a third through Adam Roberts's Yellow Blue Tibia, which is stylish and witty so far. It's about evidence of an alien invasion of Russia in 1986 - or at least so it seems at the moment, as there have been hints that the narrator isn't entirely reliable.

DragonHeart said:

Finished Ilfayne's Bane and just picked up Love is my Sin even though I've already exceeded my book budget for the month. So good to know I'm not the only one who loves the dark, twisty characters. XD

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*does a little dance*

Ahem. Apologies to your book budget. Carry on.

I'm currently reading The Devil's Alphabet by Daryl Gregory. I'm not yet far enough to determine whether or not I'd recommend it to a friend, but I LOVED Mr. Gregory's first book, Pandemonium. It's one of the best debuts I've read in any genre, with a perfectly executed twist that I did not see coming.

Finally finished The Summoner yesterday. I stuck it out because I'm stubborn but I really did not enjoy it very much. It should have been marketed as YA cause that was definitely not dark fantasy, but I do feel it would have worked if it were targeted at a younger audience.

Now on to Amberlight.

Rushed home from work to finish 'Tooth and Claw' by Jo Walton. Awesome!

Today I started reading The Apocalypse Door by AW's very own James D. Macdonald. I'm only a few chapters into it so far, so I don't think I can say whether I'd recommend it yet, but I am liking it already.