[July] What are you reading?

[Hopping Vampire]

Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, and Great Expectations ( the non condensed version)

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Re-reading Game of Thrones and the rest of the books for Songs of Fire and Ice in preparation for the new book later this year.

Don't hold you breath. It won't be out this year. The publishers have pulled their previous date of April 2004. GRRM hasn't even finished wrting the book. From his website:

STILL SORRY. STILL NOT DONE YET.

I continue to make progress on A FEAST FOR CROWS, but more slowly than I would like. In recognition of the fact that the book has not yet been completed or delivered, my publishers both in the US and UK have finally changed the April pubdate to something more realistic... but until such time as I actually deliver the book, any publication date is pure guesswork.

I am still writing as fast as I can. The moment the book is done I will announce it here. The instant. The second. So if you visit my website, and this notice is still in place, it means I'm still writing.

I have been receiving a great many emails from my readers since I posted the first version of this announcement, the vast majority of them telling me to take my time, that the quality of the book is what matters most to them. That is what matters most to me as well. "We will still be here when you are done," one reader says. I do appreciate that, more than I can say. I wish I could promise that the novel will be done tomorrow, but it won't be. It is a very long book, and a very complex one. I can only write one page at a time, and trust that in the end my readers will agree that A FEAST FOR CROWS was worth the wait. Meanwhile, I thank you once again for your patience.


--George R.R. Martin


I'm waiting for this like no other book, but having worked in publishing, I'd rather he take his time to deliver a great book than rush and deliver a mediocre one.

 

[KnowTheToe]

Ooo, I'll second the call for a good pirate book recomendation????

The Sea Hawks

can't remember the author, it is an older book.

 

[Gregor]

Just finished The Sorcerer: Metamorphasis by Jack Whyte and now I am reading Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden.

Cheers,

 

[KnowTheToe]

Dispite the cover this is a great pirate book and a good movie to boot, but besides the name the two have little in common.

I can't get the image to attach, so here is a review from Amazon

For those who love adventure in exotic and far off times and places, Rafael Sabatini was a godsend. And this one is certainly up there among his successes! Here is a tale about an English gentleman of Cornwall, Sir Oliver Tressilian, who is betrayed into ignominy and bondage by a dastardly kinsman who covets Sir Oliver's wealth and, incidentally, safety for himself. Sir Oliver ends up finding a new and successful life in another culture but cannot forgive what has been done to him so that, when the time comes, he cannot but throw all he has won away in a search for vengeance against those who have wronged him. How this all works out (and it's not that hard to predict though fun to follow as it unfolds), is the subject of this tight little tale of Barbary pirates on the Mediterranean. The Arab world is convincingly, if romantically, portrayed as far as it goes but I felt a decided lack in the development of the Muslim characters. They seemed overly simplistic and one-dimensional to me. On the other hand, the English characters weren't much more richly drawn except for brother Lionel, perhaps, as he wrestles with his private demons in seeking a way to resolve the quandary he has got himself into. The lovely Rosamund was just a paper doll, I fear, while Sir Oliver was, himself, little more than the typical tall, handsome, English gentleman with the touch of the rogue in him. Sir John seemed a bit more human in his dull and plodding way. But, in the end, this tale wasn't about characters as much as about action and there's enough of that, along with betrayals and suspense, to keep lovers of historical adventures glued to the pages until the final denouement. Worth a read and then some but not likley to remain with you afterwards. -- SWM

 

[drnuncheon]

Of course, Powers is very good; I'd recommend his work in general, especially things like Expiration Date.

Really? I didn't like Experation Date nearly as much as Last Call. I think my favorite Powers book so far is The Anubis Gates, although Drawing of the Dark was a lot of fun as well.

J

 

[Gizzard]

Really? I didn't like Experation Date nearly as much as Last Call.

The two are jumbled together in my mind (and I can't find my copies right now as the paperback bookshelf is spread out around the house and double-stacked in several places while I repaint) so I may have liked one better than the other. I remember them being pretty much equal though.

Of his books, Declare was the one that didn't work for me. I see it in On Stranger Tides, a trick of stitching together historical research and magic to form something very interesting. He does the same thing in Declare, but somehow Kim Philby doesn't have the same resonance as Blackbeard. Its easy to buy voodoo and pirates mixed together, but spies and efreeti? Hmmm.

 

[Anavel Gato]

reading not as much as I should be, but as of right now
47 Ronin.

Also, a few pages of Return of the King.
As well as, Treachery's Wake (D&D novel) and Wind of War (L5R novel)--both of which I am having problems getting into.

 

[JoeGKushner]

Just finished Lord of the Clans, a Warcraft novel.

Read it in the store in two different settings, a quick, fluff read but enjoyable for the background and little details on the setting.

 

[demiurge1138]

Well, I recently re-read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and have alternated between reading The Illuminatus! Trilogy and trying to find excuses not to read it. I can't decide whether it's brilliantly surreal or just goofy.

Demiurge out.