What are you reading (Feb 08)?

[Pozatronic]

Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell. The third (fourth is out now) in a series of historical novels set during 9th century England. It's ostensibly about Alfred the Great, but it focus's on a Saxon raised Danish warrior named Uhtred. A great series so far, reads like an adventure novel.

Has anybody heard anything about the novel Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott. It's published by Wizards of the Coast, which would normally make me run the opposite way (sorry, but I can't stand rpg based books, original Dragonlance trilogy exempted). One of my favorite writers, Jeff Vandermeer, has been talking about it on his blog . It's be getting great reviews here and here.

 

[Steve Jung]

I just finished Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Now I'm reading Glory Days: Bruce Springsteen in the 1980s by Dave Marsh. On deck, I have The Map that Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester.

 

[replicant2]

Lords of the North by Bernard Cornwell. The third (fourth is out now) in a series of historical novels set during 9th century England. It's ostensibly about Alfred the Great, but it focus's on a Saxon raised Danish warrior named Uhtred. A great series so far, reads like an adventure novel.

Post your thoughts about this after you've read it, if you wouldn't mind. I've read the first two books and thought they were excellent. The battles are worth it alone.

 

[Avarice]

I just finished the first two books of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files series, and am now kicking myself for not picking them up sooner. Compulsively page-turning stuff. Next up is Desolation Island, the fifth book in Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin series.

 

[BadMojo]

Has anybody heard anything about the novel Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott. It's published by Wizards of the Coast, which would normally make me run the opposite way (sorry, but I can't stand rpg based books, original Dragonlance trilogy exempted). One of my favorite writers, Jeff Vandermeer, has been talking about it on his blog .

Wow. I haven't heard of this book, but you just blew my mind, man. Didn't know Jeff Vandermeer had a blog, either. Cool.

 

[Pozatronic]

Post your thoughts about this after you've read it, if you wouldn't mind. I've read the first two books and thought they were excellent. The battles are worth it alone.

I enjoyed it, although not as much as the previous two. The ending seemed kind of rushed, with some victories being given to some very minor characters (although it made me love one of them just a little bit more). Some of the newer characters he introduces need to be a bit more fleshed out, but I still enjoyed them. I wouldn't call it anti-climactic, but it's not far from that territory. Still, it's worth the read, especially if you liked the other two. There aren't as many battles...in fact, there aren't ANY big battles, but there are several skirmishes that pull the plot along. If the first two were four stars, this one would be three. Far from bad.

Have you read Cornwells "Warlord" series? They're a more historically bent re-telling of the Arthurian myths and the "Saxon" series is reminding me a lot of that other one. It's better than this is, so far, and if you haven't read it yet, I recommend picking them up as soon as you can. Bernard himself thinks they're the best books he's written.

 

[BadMojo]

I think that The Scar was probably the best of the Bas-Lag books. Perdido Street Station was great, but there were parts that could drag and the deus-ex-machina ending was a slight let down. Iron Council was likewise excellent, but there were times it felt more like a political tract than a novel. I can't think of anything I didn't like about The Scar, though.

Bellis is becoming an oddly likable protagonist, which is pretty shocking. It's also nice not to be reminded, every third or fourth paragraph, how filthy and disgusting New Crobuzon is. Having read Perdido Street, it's weird to see a sentimental take on NC.

 

[Wombat]

And in a fit of nostalgia, I re-read Lord Valentine's Castle and Valentine Pontifex.

 

[Tetsubo]

Monitor: The Story of the Legendary Civil War Ironclad and The Man Whose Invention Changed the Course of History by James T. Dekay

 

[Andrew D. Gable]

Trials of Hex by J. Ross MacGinnis, a lawyer in York (Pa.). About the witchcraft-inspired murder of Nelson Rehmeyer in 1928 in southern York County.