# [July] What are you reading?



## Krug (Jul 7, 2011)

Just finished *A Visit from the Goon Squad*. Deserving Pulitzer Prize winner, with some amazing chapters in it, though as a whole it wasn't that cohesive. 

I guess everyone's waiting for *A Dance with Dragons*. Got mine pre-ordered for the Kindle..


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## Crothian (Jul 7, 2011)

I am not waiting for_ Dance of Dragons_.  I'm waiting for _Ghost Story_.  

I finished reading the last two books of the Hunger Games Trilogy.  They were not as good as the first.  The author I think left her comfort zone and what she is good at writing.


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## Agamon (Jul 7, 2011)

Yup, _A Dance of Dragons_ is pre-ordered.  Getting the hardcover to go with the other ones.

Just finished _The Next Decade_ by George Friedman.  Interesting look at how the geopolitical landscape of the world could shape in the next 10 years.

Also just finished _Bossypants_ by Tina Fey, the audible book version.  Damn, she's funny.

Currently reading _The Earthsea Trilogy_, which, oddly, I hadn't read yet.  It's cool reading older books like that for the first time now and seeing where a lot of the fantasy tropes came from.

Also started working my way through _The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich_.  Very interesting and well writen.


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## Ahnehnois (Jul 7, 2011)

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Hippocratic-Myth-Pressure-Practice-Compromise/dp/0230603734#_"]The Hippocratic Myth[/ame], and [ame="http://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-Cthulhu-Mythos/dp/0978991184/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310074692&sr=8-1"]The Rise and Fall of the Cthulhu Mythos[/ame].



> I guess everyone's waiting for A Dance with Dragons. Got mine pre-ordered for the Kindle..



I'm not, although perhaps I should be.


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## CotV (Jul 8, 2011)

I am most defiantly waiting for A Dance with Dragons but until then Tai-Pan by James Clavell is holding me over.


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## Mark CMG (Jul 8, 2011)

[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Art-Ray-Harryhausen/dp/0823084000]The Art of Ray Harryhausen[/ame]


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## delericho (Jul 8, 2011)

"Watcher of the Dead", by J.V. Jones, part four of "Sword of Shadows". It's considerably better than part three, but nowhere near the quality of the first two.

"Dungeon Master's Guide", by Gary Gygax.

Next up is "War and Peace". Seriously.


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## megamania (Jul 8, 2011)

Deadly Sin II  Nearly over.


I've come to appereciate the main character but I still think he is a jerk.


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## Starman (Jul 9, 2011)

I'm still working on my _Wheel of Time_ reread. I'm on _Crossroads of Twilight_ now; I'm anxious to get to the Sanderson books since I haven't read them, yet.

I'm also anxiously awaiting _A Dance With Dragons_.


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## Pentius (Jul 9, 2011)

Just finished up _Beowulf_.  Now I'm out of stuff to read.  I'll probably be making a trip to the bookstore soon.


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## Mark CMG (Jul 9, 2011)

Pentius said:


> Just finished up _Beowulf_.





Which version?


You could tackle a couple of the other trnaslations while this one is fresh in your mind then maybe read some essays on it.


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## JoeGKushner (Jul 9, 2011)

I've been blogging about the various Bernard Conrwell books I've been keeping up on. This dude writes fast and I've enjoyed most of his books. The Saxon Tales and the retelling of Arthur were good and I've even read a few of the Sharpe books.


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## delericho (Jul 11, 2011)

JoeGKushner said:


> I've been blogging about the various Bernard Conrwell books I've been keeping up on. This dude writes fast and I've enjoyed most of his books. The Saxon Tales and the retelling of Arthur were good and I've even read a few of the Sharpe books.




Definitely one of my favourites. I recently read "The Fort", which I rather enjoyed despite some mixed reviews. (It definitely has much less action than the norm.)

I did find the few Sharpe books I read a bit unsatisfying - the Sean Bean adaptations do a really good job of capturing the books that coming back to the source really didn't seem to add much. But everything else of his that I've read, and especially the Arthur trilogy, has ranged from very good to excellent.


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## Steel_Wind (Jul 11, 2011)

Finally, in about 15 hours, I'll be able to read _A Dance with Dragons_, which is the only book I am at all concerned with right now.


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## Shade (Jul 11, 2011)

Finishing up the last few chapters of _Gardens of the Moon_ today, in hopes of starting A _Dance with Dragons_ tomorrow.


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## jonesy (Jul 11, 2011)

Amazon just sent me an email saying my copy of Dance is on its way. Finally!


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## Starman (Jul 12, 2011)

jonesy said:


> Amazon just sent me an email saying my copy of Dance is on its way. Finally!




Me, too. I think "finally" was also my very first thought.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Jul 12, 2011)

On the strength of Gary Taubes' NY Times article, "Is Sugar Toxic?" I went and bought both of his books.

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Good-Calories-Bad-Controversial-Science/dp/1400033462/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1310435185&sr=8-3"]Good Calories, Bad Calories: Fats, Carbs, and the Controversial Science of Diet and Health[/ame] (2007)
[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Why-We-Get-Fat-About/dp/0307272702/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1310435247&sr=8-1"]Why We Get Fat: And What to Do About It[/ame] (2011)

Reading them both right now. I've never lost such faith in a medical/scientific establishment than his article and two books have caused me to loose faith in most of the past 50 years of nutrition scientists.


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## Pinotage (Jul 12, 2011)

In a turn from my normal reading I've been reading several fascinating accounts of events on Mount Everest in the past decades:

Into Thin Air - Jon Kraukauer (the 1996 disaster)
Dark Summer - Nick Heil (the 2006 expedition)
The Wildest Dream - Can't remember the author now (2007 free climb of the second step to see if Mallory and Irvine could've done it in 1924)

Even if you're not into climbing, and I'm not, these make for fascinating and riviting reading.

A high-altitude RPG adventure might be fun.

Pinotage


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## Alaxk Knight of Galt (Jul 12, 2011)

As of 6am this morning - A Dance with Dragons.  Our long national nightmare is over


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## NewJeffCT (Jul 12, 2011)

I re-read *A Game of Thrones* and *A Clash of King*s over the past few months, and now I'm starting on re-reading *A Storm of Swords*.  I gave up on A Feast for Crows because I had forgotten so much of books 1-3.  So, I'm hoping now that book 5 is here, I can finish up book 3 this month, read A Feast for Crows after that, and then I'll be ready to settle down with A Dance with Dragons on a more timely basis.

Then, when book 6 comes out some time around 2017, I'll restart them from the beginning again before that to again refresh my memory, as I'll be in my 50s then and I'll have a teenage daughter... so, my memory will need refreshing again.


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## EricNoah (Jul 12, 2011)

_Saturn _by Ben Bova, in print.

_A Dance with Dragons_ in audiobook (49 hours; and they brought back Roy Dotrice!)


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## Mallus (Jul 12, 2011)

I just finished the latest book in Mark Charan Newton's Legends of the Red Sun series. Wonderful Dying Earth stuff written by a person who proudly wears his influences --Vance, Wolfe, Mieville, Zelazny-- at the same time he brings a fresh new voice to genre fiction. 

Next up: a 1st draft of my friends novel, a science fantasy conflation of the Ramayana and... well... the Beatles (sort of).


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## Tamlyn (Jul 12, 2011)

_Leviathan Wakes_ by James S. A. Corey. Thoroughly digging it. I love the feel of it and it really captures the feeling of what Lucas called the "used future".

_Tales of H. P. Lovecraft_ I'm ashamed to say it's taking me much too long to work my way through this.

Once these are done it'll probably time to dig back through _LOTR_.


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## Mallus (Jul 12, 2011)

Tamlyn said:


> _Leviathan Wakes_ by James S. A. Corey. Thoroughly digging it. I love the feel of it and it really captures the feeling of what Lucas called the "used future".



I finished it on vacation last month and enjoyed the hell out of it. For me, it had all the best parts of an old-school Niven/Pournelle team-up. 

I'd also recommend the 1st book in the new fantasy series by Daniel Abraham (one of two guys who write as Corey), The Dagger's Dragon's Path, 1st book in the Dagger and Coin series. Though the genre's different, the quality of the writing and storytelling are just as high.


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## beldar1215 (Jul 12, 2011)

I bet people will never be able guess what I'm reading. Oh, okay, I'll tell you. Dance With Dragons!!!!!

Beldar


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## Ahzad (Jul 13, 2011)

Just finished What to do when you meet Cthulhu 
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/What-When-You-Meet-Cthulhu/dp/1934501182]Amazon.com: What to Do When You Meet Cthulhu: A Guide to Surviving the Cthulhu Mythos (9781934501184): Rachel Gray, William Jones: Books[/ame]

great funny book i would recommend it to all fans of the cthulhu mythos.

Started Sword Woman and other Historical Adventures by Robert E Howard
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Sword-Woman-Other-Historical-Adventures/dp/0345505468/ref=cm_lmf__11]Amazon.com: Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures (9780345505460): Robert E. Howard, John Watkiss: Books[/ame]

Agatha H and the airship city a Girl Genius novel by Kaja and Phil Foglio.
[ame=http://www.amazon.com/Agatha-Airship-City-Girl-Genius/dp/1597802115]Amazon.com: Agatha H. and the Airship City (Girl Genius) (9781597802116): Phil Foglio, Kaja Foglio: Books[/ame]


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## Shade (Jul 13, 2011)

Alaxk Knight of Galt said:


> As of 6am this morning - A Dance with Dragons.  Our long national nightmare is over




Mine arrived yesterday from Amazon, but the first few pages 40 pages or so are all still connected at the top.  It appears that the machine in charge of separating the perforations misfired.   The good news is that I had already read those pages in the online preview, and I have 30 days to finish the book before exchaning it for a better copy.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 13, 2011)

NewJeffCT said:


> Then, when book 6 comes out some time around 2017, I'll restart them from the beginning again before that to again refresh my memory, as I'll be in my 50s then and I'll have a teenage daughter... so, my memory will need refreshing again.



Which is why I'm waiting for the mass market version of book 5. I see no reason to spend an extra $15 or so AND prolong the agony of waiting for the next book. I figure I've got a grip on my desire to read book 5. Better the devil you know.

I am reading Brandon Sanderson's _Mistborn_. It's not bad so far.


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## coyote6 (Jul 13, 2011)

_A Dance with Dragons_. Woke up yesterday, turned on my Kindle's wireless, and it was there before I was really awake. So far, so good.

Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## NewJeffCT (Jul 13, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> Which is why I'm waiting for the mass market version of book 5. I see no reason to spend an extra $15 or so AND prolong the agony of waiting for the next book. I figure I've got a grip on my desire to read book 5. Better the devil you know.
> 
> I am reading Brandon Sanderson's _Mistborn_. It's not bad so far.




I might be tempted to do that, but I'm about 1/3 of the way through Storm of Swords now, so I'll just move right on to Feast for Crows and then Dance with Dragons after that while it's all fresh in my memory.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Jul 14, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> I am reading Brandon Sanderson's _Mistborn_. It's not bad so far.



Really really good stuff. I did not see the ending coming. Rereading it, knowing the ending ahead of times, changes much. But I have it on my reread pile now.


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## MerricB (Jul 14, 2011)

Finished Dance with Dragons this morning (ah, the joy of getting it by the internet to my kindle). Sadly, whilst the writing is still entertaining, _not enough happens_.

Urgh. For a book it took him 10 years to write, GRRM really loses track of little things like advancing the plot. Way too much of the book is setting up false expectations that get dashed - journeys to somewhere which never actually reach their destinations. 

This could be forgiven if the book had come out in 2002. It's a lot harder now, especially as GRRM now has form for not writing quickly. Anyone want to wager on when book 6 will come out? Later than 2013 will be deadly for the series.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Jul 14, 2011)

MerricB said:


> Anyone want to wager on when book 6 will come out? Later than 2013 will be deadly for the series.



It will be delayed long enough that Brandon Sanderson will author it, as it happened with Wheel of Time. With similar fan response.


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## Krug (Jul 14, 2011)

Hopefully now that he's married, his wife can chide him into working on the next few books. I think Crows and Dragons is kind of setting up the third act, and bringing the elements of political intrigue with the world-destroying threat together. Well only 10% done with Dragons so a lot more to go..


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## MerricB (Jul 14, 2011)

Eric Anondson said:


> It will be delayed long enough that Brandon Sanderson will author it, as it happened with Wheel of Time. With similar fan response.




Unfortunately, Brandon Sanderson is busy with his own 10 volume series. We could get Kevin J Anderson to finish it?


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## jonesy (Jul 14, 2011)

MerricB said:


> Anyone want to wager on when book 6 will come out? Later than 2013 will be deadly for the series.



How'd you get that year?

2012: Clash of Kings.
2013: Storm of Swords, part 1. (since there's talk of splitting it into two seasons)
2014: Storm of Swords, part 2.
2015-16> Feast+Dance chronologically.

So the next book should be ready sometime before 2016-17 for the tv series to continue.


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## MerricB (Jul 14, 2011)

Not the TV series; the ongoing book series. 

George R R Martin is 62. Robert Jordan was 58 when he died. Terry Pratchett is 63 and struggling with Alzheimer's. 

GRRM doesn't really have a lot of time left. He took 10 years to write one book (yes, it was split into two but it was meant to be one book). What makes things even worse is that I can't see how he can finish the series in two books.

If you consider the structure of the Wheel of Time, the ending of the series was very clear from the beginning, and it has just become clearer as it goes on: Rand must meet the Dark One on the slopes of Shayol Ghul. Jordan was a master of using prophecy and foreshadowing, so that you knew what was to come, but not exactly how. 

Do you have any idea of what the end of A Song of Ice and Fire will be? There's been the strong suggestion that the Others will rise and provide the foe uniting the remaining forces (and Dany + dragons must drive them back), but it seems difficult to see where that could come in the final two books. (And if it's "Others rise, Dragons drive them back" in two chapters, how disappointing!) 

If GRRM can do it, I'll be very happy, but AFFC and ADWD have been disappointing from a structual viewpoint, to put it mildly.

Cheers!


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## jonesy (Jul 14, 2011)

Ah, I misunderstood.

GRRM has said on his blog that the knot he got into in Dance was the hard part, and that he has the rest of the story plotted out. In his head.

The quote about "My book is complete! Now I just need to write it!" comes to mind. Hoping for the best.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 14, 2011)

MerricB said:


> Do you have any idea of what the end of A Song of Ice and Fire will be?



Sure, after reading the first four books and reading articles on the Tower of the Hand wiki, I'm expecting 



Spoiler



Daenerys Targaryen and Jon "Snow" Targaryen to marry and drive the Others back behind the wall, or perhaps destroy them forever.


 The clues are there. The devil is in how 



Spoiler



Jon discovers his heritage when just about everyone aware of it (Rhaegar, Lyanna, Ned, et.al.) is dead.


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## jonesy (Jul 14, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> The clues are there. The devil is in how
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Are you sure of one of those?


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## Stumblewyk (Jul 14, 2011)

Finishing _Changes_, then it'll be on to _A Dance with Dragons_ (which arrives today).  After that, I'll probably pick up _Ghost Story_ and fight my wife for the right to read it first.

And as for the Brandon Sanderson mini-discussion going on upthread - I'm a much bigger fan of his continuation of the Wheel of Time than I am of his own work.  I find his style sloppy and amateurish for some reason that I can't quite put my finger on.  It seems like he tries *too* hard to be novel and a unique snowflake in his storytelling that it just puts me off.  But when he's confined to the restrictions of writing in Jordan's footprint, he's a more than capable author.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 14, 2011)

jonesy said:


> Are you sure of one of those?



I don't take your meaning. I'm sure 



Spoiler



the three people I listed are dead. Are you saying one could still live? Nigh impossible. The wet nurse Wilya(?) and a few characters who have never appeared in the books AND have not been named dead still exist among those who might know the "truth" of Jon's birth. And Ned wrote a note to Varys to be given to Jon...


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## jonesy (Jul 14, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> I don't take your meaning.





Spoiler



One of my favourite left field theories is that Lyanna isn't actually dead, and her tomb in Winterfell is empty.


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## AdmundfortGeographer (Jul 14, 2011)

MerricB said:


> Unfortunately, Brandon Sanderson is busy with his own 10 volume series.?



I know. I just read the first book, can't wait for the next. I trust him to get it out on schedule. I expect Brandon Sanderson to finish his series before GRRM finishes the next book. You asked how long might we need to wait? It will be delayed this long. 

I'm that cynical.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 15, 2011)

jonesy said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> One of my favourite left field theories is that Lyanna isn't actually dead, and her tomb in Winterfell is empty.





Spoiler



That's farther out than just left field.


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## Starman (Jul 15, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> The devil is in how
> 
> 
> 
> ...




[sblock]Howland Reed also knows.[/sblock]


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## drothgery (Jul 15, 2011)

Eric Anondson said:


> I know. I just read the first book, can't wait for the next. I trust him to get it out on schedule. I expect Brandon Sanderson to finish his series before GRRM finishes the next book. You asked how long might we need to wait? It will be delayed this long.
> 
> I'm that cynical.




I'm trying not to start any more extended novel style series (I'm not sure what a good generic term for this is -- a series where each book isn't a complete story and/or end with major unresolved plot elements; the Wheel of Time or A Song of Ice and Fire are extended novels, while Bujold's Vorkosigan books or Brust's Vlad Taltos books are not) where the concluding volume doesn't at least have a scheduled release date (or the cover text doesn't make it explicit that this is a trilogy -- not anything longer than that).


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## Jhaelen (Jul 15, 2011)

After finishing James Joyce's Ulysses (which took me over a month to read and still left me puzzled about large sections) I've now started reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem which will probably be more to my liking. I already immensely enjoyed reading the Glossary and 'Calca' - very promising indeed!


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## Crothian (Jul 15, 2011)

Jhaelen said:


> After finishing James Joyce's Ulysses (which took me over a month to read and still left me puzzled about large sections)




I finished that about a week ago.  It was a chore and a tough read.


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## JoeGKushner (Jul 15, 2011)

People talking about Dancing With Dragons, if you were afraid of the wait time, why did you buy the book? Don't reward bad behavior with cash.

George will get my money when the series is done, not before.


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## Zelda Themelin (Jul 15, 2011)

Adventure paths by paizo and comics mostly.

I recently read nice comic series the Techno Priests by Humanoids (reprint often stuff first appeared, at least partially in Heavy Metal magazine). Yes, I have read lot of comics. But books, not so much. Have to do this really tiresome studing to do this summer.

I have been long starting to start reading some Jim Butcher. Borrowed those books to my sister last year and she liked them, still looking at me from shelf unread by me.


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## jonesy (Jul 15, 2011)

JoeGKushner said:


> People talking about Dancing With Dragons, if you were afraid of the wait time, why did you buy the book?



I don't know about others, but I bought it because even incomplete I think it's better than 99% of the genre.


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## Crothian (Jul 17, 2011)

I read _Water Wars_ this morning, a teen  novel about the world after water gets contaminated and rare.  It was mediocre at best.


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## Gilladian (Jul 17, 2011)

I just read Tamora Pierce's "Tortall and Other Lands" collection of short stories. Fabulous!

She really has a very complex, well-thought-out world, and when she hits a character that I really like, her stories just SHINE. I think the best one in the collection was "The Dragon's Tale". Very fun!

Anyone who has NOT read her Becka Cooper series (Terrier and Bloodhound), I'd strongly suggest them. They're about the early formation of a "police force" in a medieval fantasy city/country.


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## Crothian (Jul 18, 2011)

I also read The Line today a book about immigration with a Dystopian America which was kind of cool.  But then they went and the character got [sblock] Superpowers [/sblock] which came out of left field and didn't make a lot of sense.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 18, 2011)

Starman said:


> [sblock]Howland Reed also knows.[/sblock]





Spoiler



But Howland Reed has not appeared in any of the books. The question is whether he told his children





JoeGKushner said:


> People talking about Dancing With Dragons, if you were afraid of the wait time, why did you buy the book? Don't reward bad behavior with cash.
> 
> George will get my money when the series is done, not before.




That's part of why I'm waiting for the mass market paperback.


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## Starman (Jul 18, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> Spoiler
> 
> 
> 
> But Howland Reed has not appeared in any of the books. The question is whether he told his children




[sblock]Either he will show up or he told his children. I can't think of any other reveal that wouldn't feel like something out of left field.[/sblock]


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## Crothian (Jul 18, 2011)

Today I read_ Skinned_. It is a pretty good young adult novel about a girl who has her brain downloaded into an andriod after her normal body gets into a horrible accident.  I think the author might have gone a little overboard with how it seems everyone treats her badly now.  There is a lot of hate directed towards the main character and it doesn't let up.  Maybe the rest of the trilogy will have something else happening.


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## Olgar Shiverstone (Jul 19, 2011)

Starman said:


> [sblock]Either he will show up or he told his children. I can't think of any other reveal that wouldn't feel like something out of left field.[/sblock]




[Sblock] With Bran now a greenseer under the tutelage of Bryndyn Stark, we now have the means to show almost any secret at the author's will.

I follow the speculation that Jon Snow is a lost Targaryen heir -- the "mummer's dragon" reference to Young Griff in ADwD certainly reinforces the possibility -- but has this been confirmed as fact?  It certainly makes for a good story, but ASoIaF can certainly be resolved successfully with Jon being exactly what he is portrayed to be.[/sblock]


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## delericho (Jul 19, 2011)

drothgery said:


> I'm trying not to start any more extended novel style series (I'm not sure what a good generic term for this is -- a series where each book isn't a complete story and/or end with major unresolved plot elements; the Wheel of Time or A Song of Ice and Fire are extended novels, while Bujold's Vorkosigan books or Brust's Vlad Taltos books are not) where the concluding volume doesn't at least have a scheduled release date (or the cover text doesn't make it explicit that this is a trilogy -- not anything longer than that).




Yeah, essentially the same for me. Except that I'm not going to start any new ones until the _last_ volume is out. "Wheel of Time" and "Song of Ice and Fire" have cured me of _that_.

In fact, I'm becoming increasingly unsure whether I'll bother with _any_ epic fantasy series in future. They tend to start really well, and then the story inevitably gets away from the author and we have a flood of characters and plotlines, or the quality fails, or the releases slow to a near stop leading to near-Lost rates of plot advancement...

Write me a good _story_, and I'll buy. Write a trilogy, and I'll consider it. But if your fantasy story requires more words to tell than "Lord of the Rings", I really have to question whether it's actually worth the telling. In my experience, the answer is usually "no".


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## jonesy (Jul 19, 2011)

Agamon said:


> Yeah, if everyone waited, nothing would come out, right?



That's an excellent point. If nobody had bought the second book there never would have been a third, and so on. Not buying because it's a series that doesn't yet have an ending creates a situation where there won't be one.


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## Starman (Jul 19, 2011)

Olgar Shiverstone said:


> [Sblock] With Bran now a greenseer under the tutelage of Bryndyn Stark, we now have the means to show almost any secret at the author's will.
> 
> I follow the speculation that Jon Snow is a lost Targaryen heir -- the "mummer's dragon" reference to Young Griff in ADwD certainly reinforces the possibility -- but has this been confirmed as fact?  It certainly makes for a good story, but ASoIaF can certainly be resolved successfully with Jon being exactly what he is portrayed to be.[/sblock]




[sblock]It has not been confirmed, but the circumstantial evidence is pretty strong. Maybe Martin is throwing all of his readers, many well-versed in the usual fantasy fare, a curveball and Jon will turn out to be an ordinary bastard; but at this point I think that's highly unlikely.[/sblock]


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## Croesus (Jul 19, 2011)

jonesy said:


> That's an excellent point. If nobody had bought the second book there never would have been a third, and so on. Not buying because it's a series that doesn't yet have an ending creates a situation where there won't be one.




Highly unlikely.

When a book comes out, potential buyers fall into various groups:
-Those who want the book so badly they pre-order, are waiting at the door of their local bookstore, etc.
-Those who are interested and will buy the book soon after release
-Those who are on the fence, waiting for good reviews or a friend's recommendation
-Those who check it out from the library or borrow a copy. Some portion of these will like it enough to buy a copy.
-Those who do not buy immediately, instead waiting to see if the series has legs, if it ever gets completed, etc.

So long as a book has a sufficient number of customers who fall into the first few categories, then those in the last couple can maximize their personal spending by waiting. And if there aren't enough in the first few categories? It's a good bet the series is lousy and isn't worth getting anyway.

BTW, this works for many items that we pay for. Whether we're talking new tech, software, movies, shows, music, whatever - those who are willing to pay to get it right away subsidize those of us who don't. It's the free market at its finest.


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## coyote6 (Jul 20, 2011)

Finished Dance with Dragons. What a rat bastard way to end a book. 



Sent from my MB860 using Tapatalk


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## Jack7 (Jul 20, 2011)

The Consultants Guide to Proposal Writing
The Forbes/CFA Institute Investment Course
The Elements of Chemistry, by Lavoisier (I was originally gonna read Faraday but read this instead and haven't regretted it)
The Contemplative Life, Julianus Pomerius
A Coven of Witches: The Last Apprentice (best series of books I've read since Harry Potter)

And I'm listening to a lecture on Nanotech by Prof. Deborah Sauder


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## Blastin (Jul 20, 2011)

coyote6 said:


> Finished Dance with Dragons. What a rat bastard way to end a book.




My thought exactly.... There's like, what, four different cliffhangers?!?!
  I'm actually kinda mad about it. It was a good read, but to end it the way he did and the prospect of another 4-6 years before the next book......


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## jmucchiello (Jul 20, 2011)

Blastin said:


> My thought exactly.... There's like,
> 
> 
> 
> ...




Please don't talk about the book in this thread. Even that little piece of information is a spoiler since now someone who hasn't finished the book 



Spoiler



will be expecting a 3rd and then a 4th cliffhanger


.

He claims it won't be 4-6 years the next time since he won't make the mistake of dividing the story in half like he did with AFoC.


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## Tamlyn (Jul 20, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> He claims it won't be 4-6 years the next time since he won't make the mistake of dividing the story in half like he did with AFoC.




I'll believe it when I see it.


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## Crothian (Jul 20, 2011)

jmucchiello said:


> He claims it won't be 4-6 years the next time since he won't make the mistake of dividing the story in half like he did with AFoC.




So since he is not dividing the next book up it will take even longer to come out.


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## Blastin (Jul 20, 2011)

lol...the statement was a bit of an exaggeration....hardly a spoiler...


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## Croesus (Jul 20, 2011)

Jack7 said:


> A Coven of Witches: The Last Apprentice (best series of books I've read since Harry Potter)




I'm willing to give this a shot. Can you list the books in the series in order? (Gotta know where to start and all that...)

Thanks.


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## Jack7 (Jul 20, 2011)

They're young adult books now. Keep that in mind Croes. Nevertheless they're not written like young adult books and since I read Harry Potter I've discovered I like a lot of young adult books better than adult ones. (I liked a Song of Ice and Fire for instance, and Martin is a very good writer, but I liked the subject matter of the Last Apprentice better.)

And the Last Apprentice actually surprised me as to who Tom Ward's real mother was. It's very hard to surprise me, especially in literature, but I would have never know who his mother really was til I actually got there in the story. That alone was very impressive to me. By the way, don't read about who his mom is on the internet. It will spoil the surprise. And it probably will surprise ya. 

As far as I know, in the States at least, the first book is  The Spook's Apprentice. In Great Britain they're called the Wardstone Chronicles. He's also written a couple of stand alone books that tie in and actually tell stories of before Tom ward became a Spook. Those books are good too but I'd pout them off til later so as not to spoil anything. Try em, I think you'll really like em. The concept is very original I think, and best of all, I like the fact that Tom and the Spook work alone. I like books where the main character works alone or with only one partner or so in very, very dangerous situations, with no chance of rescue or extraction. That really appeals to me.

I just finished one of the stand alone books, and now I'm reading Rise of the Huntress. Got it today. Looking forwards to it. Anyway your local library will probably carry the series in the young adult section. 

There's talk of a film too. I hope so. If they do it right it should be spooky as hell. Literally.


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## Jack7 (Jul 21, 2011)

By the way, today when I went to the library to get Rise of the Huntress I picked up a new detective/mystery novel. By someone called Simon Beaufort. Actually Simon Beaufort is the pen-name of two former Cambridge academics, one an historian, the other a crime writer. Anyway the books follow the career of Sir Geoffrey Mappestone, who is a former Crusader Knight now working for King Henry.

Apparently Geoffrey acts as a detective in the novels. Being a former PI myself, and occasionally teaching on crime or helping on cold cases, and liking history a lot (and that period), these books look really interesting to me. (Sometimes I like historical detective works a lot. Not always, but very much sometimes. Just depends on the Dick and how he operates and where and when.) I hear the Mappestone books are well received too. This is the first one I'm reading and I start it tonight, so I can't recommend them yet. But maybe once I get into it. It's called A Dead Man's Secret.

Well, I'm on vacation this week and so I'm gonna go eat a sub and watch a Jesse Stone film.


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## Banshee16 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'm reading "The Last Cavalier", by Alexandre Dumas.  Written while ailing, right before his death, it's his last novel.  It's a swashbuckler, during the Age of Napoleon.  The novel itself was lost for 125 years, and was only found and recompiled and translated a few years ago.

Banshee


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## fanboy2000 (Jul 21, 2011)

Currently, I'm making my way through the Sherlock Holmes cannon. No new stories coming in that series! I'm currently reading the short story _The Adventure of the Devi's Foot_ from the collection _His Law Bow_. So far, the series is awesome. And it's broken up into bite-size bits!


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## Jhaelen (Jul 21, 2011)

Jack7 said:


> They're young adult books now. Keep that in mind Croes. Nevertheless they're not written like young adult books and since I read Harry Potter I've discovered I like a lot of young adult books better than adult ones.



Yup, it happens. About a year ago I was seriously impressed after reading the Annals of the Western Shore books by Ursula K. Le Guin.

I found it hard to believe that these are supposed to be children's books. They're a lot 'deeper' than 95% of the other fantasy novels I've read. Also the setting is very well developed considering the shortness of the novels.

Highly recommended!


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## Jack7 (Jul 21, 2011)

I'll look in to it. Thanks.


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## jmucchiello (Jul 21, 2011)

Finished _Mistborn_, now I'm reading L.E.Modesitt Jr's _Imager's Intrigue_.


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## Banshee16 (Jul 23, 2011)

Has anyone read The Sword of Albion by Mark Chadbourn?

It's about spies, Elizabethan England, and the Unseelie Fae, from what I understand.  I keep seeing it at Chapters, but there are very few reviews of it.

Banshee


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