[July] What are you reading?

[Wyn A'rienh]

Right now I'm reading Stardust by Neil Gaiman for the second time. One of my favorite books ever, it is.

Before Stardust, I read the Song of Ice and Fire books. Um, wow. Those books are absolutely amazing.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Arg! how did that come out without me knowing? Now I have to make a trip to the book store. Timing isn't bad though since I just finished Shatterpoint.

It came out the first of July. I had to check online last week since I knew it would be out somtime soon...I have to say, its probably one of the best books in the series. Traitor is still my favorite though, but Reunion is right up there with that and Star by Star.

 

[Mark Chance]

Nothing is catching my attention for long. Currently wading through: The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis, Pact of the Fathers by Ramsey Campbell, Where Are the Children? by Mary Higgins Clark, Thousandstar by Piers Anthony, and I'm considering jumping back into my jump out points for both The Black Book of Communism by a whole bunch of people, and Don Quixote by Cervantes.

 

[Sirius_Black]

Jimmy the Hand: Legends of the Riftwar by Raymond Feist and Steve Stirling.

 

[Eternalknight]

Just started Talon Silver Hawk by Feist tonight.

Originally posted by Sirius_Black
Jimmy the Hand: Legends of the Riftwar by Raymond Feist and Steve Stirling.

Are both of these any good?

 

[Dagger75]

I have just started a few non-fiction books that deal with some presidents and politics that can't be discussed here.

 

[Sixchan]

Started Regime Change by Christopher Hitchens, which is a collection of essays about you-know-who doing you-know-what to you-know-who-else in the period leading up to and directly after you-know-which-war.
I'd recommend it.

Still reading The Science of Discworld II: The Globe, mainly because I'm reading it at nights before I go to bed.

Also reading Shattered World, and online timeline in which the Soviet Union invades Poland in 1937, leading to a worse world war.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Are both of these any good?

Talon Silver Hawk is enjoyable, it sets the stage and introduces characters, it moves quickly, plot and story are standard but Feist keeps things fresh. Reminds me of the Jimmy the Hand novel.

Jimmy the Hand is one of the best book of the all the Feist novels, I just liked it.

Feist is a fast read for me, I think he has control of his story and world and knows how to put it to ink. Plot and pace are always good, characters are thought out and while sometimes appear much the same, always have background and character.

 

[JoeGKushner]

How I love those books! Where did you find them?

The science fiction club amigo. I'd been looking for these for a while after reading one of his short stories in the Tales of the White Wolf book and enjoying the character. I'd done some research and found out about the novels but could never find them.

This has the three novels, Bloodstone, Dark Crusade and Darkness Weaves.

Apparently they have a regular bookstore version now:

http://www.pricefarmer.com/cgi-bin/farm?isbn=189238924X

They've also apparently collecte the Kane short stories.

http://www.pricefarmer.com/cgi-bin/farm?isbn=1892389517

 

[Sirius_Black]

Eternalknight asked:

Are both of these any good?

Talon of the Silverhawk I would highly recommend to anyone who enjoyed Feist's two previous series (The Riftwar and The SerpentWar) and to anyone in general who likes a good fantasy read. One note I would add on to any Feist fans. The Conclave of Shadows series so far (Talon is Book One) has less of a grand scale than the previous two series and focuses much more exclusively on the main character than the opening novels of Riftwar and the SerpentWar. That commentary is not meant as a complaint, simply a warning for anyone if needed.

I'll strongly echo Hand of Evil on his comments about Jimmy the Hand. I finished this novel last night and was smiling again especially at Jimmy's thoughts about his future activities. At the end of the novel there is an Afterword from Raymond Feist. Within this afterword he mentions how the collaberation with his co-author took place and comments that he could not have returned to Jimmy knowing what Feist knows about what awaits Jimmy in the Serpentwar saga. I'll echo those comments as in general Serpentwar shows the horrors of war to many characters. However, co-author Steve Stirling picked Jimmy to write about and found the young Jimmy's as Feist put it. I had forgotten how much I missed the young Jimmy the Hand until reading this latest novel.

The Legends of the Riftwar series in general (three books) was very well written by Feist and his three co-authors. I highly recommend thse books over the Krondor series that I felt never truly lived up to any of Feist's previous works.

Feist mentions at the end of the Afterword that, after he finishes the Conclave series, that he'd like to collaborate again in the future. I certainly hope that possibility becomes a reality.