I have just read....

[Stuart M]

*dusts thread*

Iain Banks / Iain M Banks (first prize for least obscure nom de plume?)

I don't really know why I've never read any Banks before this year. I've managed to work my way through several now though (the trains have been pretty bad ). Mainly the sci-fi - enjoyed Against a Dark Background and Player of Games particularly. Thought the ending of The Business was a bit weak so am not tempted to try any of his other non-genre novels - unless anyone can recommend a good one?

I you enjoyed the sci-fi, I would recommend Alistair Reynolds' Revelation Space. More space opera, bit slow to start but in my imagination's cinema screen it makes for some amazing visuals.

[Gav]

I've just finished "Everville" by Clive Barker.
I'm a big fan of Clive Barkers and I was looking forward to this sequel to "The Great and Secret Show".
The book starts by going back before the earlier book to explain why it's set in Everville and to give a bit more background to what's happening.
Then it comes back to the point that The Great and Secret show left off and picks up the old characters.

One of Clive Barkers best attributes is that he makes his fantasy and horror almost believable, however, that's where he has failed with Everville. He lost that little edge that made his stories seem real.
Worse than that, the book doesn't end, it just fizzles out.
I've read almost everything that Clive Barker has offered and this is the first time I've ever been disappointed.

I'm going to re-read "Sacrament" next, because it's been so long that I can't remember much of it.

[Katie Kicks Ass]

The bad mothers handbook. Slightly predictable.

[StokeBloke]

The bad mothers handbook. Slightly predictable.

The World According to Clarkson. Slightly predictable.

[Mezzosoprano]

The Bloodline of the Holy Grail (Laurence Gardiner) and the Second Messiah (Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas)... both interesting and there's nothing I like better than a religious mystery..... but not exactly light reading... going to go back to Pratchett for a while!! Has anybody else read Labirynth (can't remember who wrote it but Kate Mose/Moss comes to mind)?

[Beowulf]

Posted 9th-September-2006, 02:13 PM

Well going by the recommendations above I have just purchased Perdido Street Station and have just started it. I'm only a couple of chapters in but already I see it has promise.

and the best thing? I got it on Amazon market place for £2.70 when I've finished it I'll let you know what I thought !!

erm.. I have just finished reading this (it's the long words like thauma...(reads it phonetically) th..au..ma..tu..r..g..y .. thaumaturgy that give me the biggest problems )

Actually I started it, then lost the book, found the book, restarted, lost it again , found it again recently and, over a couple of days finished it.. (EVENTUALLY!)

It's pretty good, although I did think it left too much hanging at the end, it's obviously the first book in an ongoing series, so I can forgive it for that. I love the mix of science and magic, clockwork calculating engines, battery powered magical devices. Very cool.

So I guess I'll have to get the next book in the series.. expect a review of that one sometime around August

[Beowulf]

So I guess I'll have to get the next book in the series.. expect a review of that one sometime around August

just as an after thought.. what IS the next book in the series?

[Barry Shnikov]

Bad luck and trouble, by Lee Child

[jiveaddicted]

Bad luck and trouble, by Lee Child

Thats on my shopping list for this weekend i had to read the hard way in a single sitting as it would not allow me to put it down!!!

Have just recently finished The Vanished Man by Jeffery Deaver which was excellent.

M

[straycat]

just as an after thought.. what IS the next book in the series?

Next one... is The Scar.

Don't expect to see anything from the last one resolved though. They don't share any characters, although the book centres on one of Isaac's former lovers (she gets exactly one mention in Perdido)

After that there's Grey Council, which is set some years after The Scar.

The Scar is my favourite of the three, but all three are excellent. Grey Council is the least popular though - I'd say it's certainly the least accessible of the three, but all three share the same wild imagination, and intricate characterisation and plotting. Very curious about what he's going to do next.

[straycat]

Just finished re-reading Bill Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy (last read them around the time the third book came out) - even better on a second reading.

[jiveknight]

The Bloodline of the Holy Grail (Laurence Gardiner) and the Second Messiah (Christopher Knight and Robert Lomas)... both interesting and there's nothing I like better than a religious mystery..... but not exactly light reading... going to go back to Pratchett for a while!! Has anybody else read Labirynth (can't remember who wrote it but Kate Mose/Moss comes to mind)?

Have you read "Rule by Secrecy" by Jim Marrs? Includes some similar stuff although I can't strictly speaking declare it here as I'm still reading it...

[Rhythm King]

I just wrote a long reply with reviews of two books here and it hasn't flipping posted - grrr!

[firefly]

Just finished re-reading Bill Pullman's Dark Materials trilogy (last read them around the time the third book came out) - even better on a second reading.

Sorry to be pedantic but I think it might be Philip Pullman; isn't Bill Pullman an actor? (Independance Day springs to mind)

[LMC]

Independence Day even (sorry, couldn't resist the pedantry there ) - but you're right

Currently re-reading Tad Williams Otherland quadrilogy (or whatever the word for it is). Great 'near-future' conspiracy theory stuff with LOTR-type plot. Much better on the second reading as the multiple-strand storylines/what's real/what's not were occasionally confusing first time round.

[straycat]

Sorry to be pedantic but I think it might be Philip Pullman; isn't Bill Pullman an actor? (Independance Day springs to mind)

Ho hum. Maybe I should start proofreading my posts or something

[firefly]

Independence Day even (sorry, couldn't resist the pedantry there ) - but you're right

Urgh, that was how I spelled it originally then thought it didn't look right. Maybe I need to start using a spellchecker

Thread hijack over...I've just read The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon, and Susanna Clarke's The Ladies of Grace Adieu, set in the same world as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norell.

[Mezzosoprano]

This should be "I have just Re-read"

Jane Austen :

Northanger Abbey - man what an annoying little person Catherine is... what on earth are those men chasing her for?

Mansfield Park - Fanny Price.... boring!!

Persuasion - Anne Elliot is a proper heroine... far more interesting and almost my favourite who is......

cliffhanger moment.....

Elizabeth Bennett - I like that girl..bet she would have done a mean Tango!

[Beowulf]

So I guess I'll have to get the next book in the series.. expect a review of that one sometime around August

Have just finished "The Scar" by China Miéville. Hmm, Book one (perdido street station) was interesting, book 2 was interesting too.. but both of them seemed to end leaving you a bit unsatisfied.

I don't know if it's just me, but both stories seemed to end leaving a lot up in the air. Not going to put any spoilers here for people who have not read them but you have the unresolved story of the heroes from the first book. It's barely mentioned in the second book (I think they are mentioned in passing but nothing is resolved)

Then at the end of the second book, after building up and up to get the main characters to the place named in the title of the book.. they, well.. again I can't say too much but those of you who have read it will understand.

Is book three the same? what about his collection of short stories? do any of these fill in the gaps? I did enjoy reading the books but at the end I was sort of left with a feeling of "oh? is that it??" at the end.

[straycat]

Have just finished "The Scar" by China Miéville. Hmm, Book one (perdido street station) was interesting, book 2 was interesting too.. but both of them seemed to end leaving you a bit unsatisfied.

...

Is book three the same? what about his collection of short stories? do any of these fill in the gaps? I did enjoy reading the books but at the end I was sort of left with a feeling of "oh? is that it??" at the end.

Erm - yes. 'Fraid so. Kinda. He seems to have a habit of resolving the main storylines while leaving the character stories a little up in the air. Although (trying not to spoil anything here) - in some very strange ways, Iron Council does it the other way around

Haven't read the short stories.

Iron Council does give you a little more info on certain characters who cropped up in Perdido, but I don't think you get anything more on the characters from The Scar. It's ... a little different from the other two - it feels a touch more distanced from its characters in some hard-to-fathom way. The incredible imagination and attention to detail remain though, and I was utterly riveted from start to finish.