General Fantasy & SF Thread - 2023 releases & recommends

Let's talk Aguachile Alley

Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Tue Jan 05, 2010 3:19 pm

Now reading:

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Surprisingly enjoyable.


Just finished:

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Never really heard of the War With the Mein series before, but I thought this was excellent. Started off a little slow, but I really got into the stories of the 4 children.
Last edited by Smiling Penner-Lite on Tue May 02, 2023 12:08 pm, edited 9 times in total.
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:02 pm

Here's Pat from Pat's Fantasy Hotlist's Best of 2009:

http://fantasyhotlist.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2009-12-30T19%3A19%3A00-05%3A00

TOP 10 SPECULATIVE FICTION TITLES OF 2009

1- Dust of Dreams by Steven Erikson (Tor Books/Bantam Press)
2- The Judging Eye by R. Scott Bakker (The Overlook Press/Orbit)
3- The Angel's Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (Doubleday/Weidenfeld & Nicolson)
4- Wings of Wrath by C. S. Friedman (Daw Books/Orbit)
5- Fall of Thanes by Brian Ruckley (Orbit)
6- Twelve by Jasper Kent (Pyr/Bantam Press)
7- Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie (Orbit/Gollancz)
8- Cyberabad Days by Ian McDonald (Pyr/Gollancz)
9- A Magic of Nightfall by S. L. Farrell (Daw Books)
10- The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade Books)
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11- Thousandth Night & Minla's Flowers by Alastair Reynolds (Subterranean Press)
12- The City & the City by China Miéville (Del Rey/Pan MacMillan)
13- City Without End by Kay Kenyon (Pyr)
14- The Burning Skies by David J. Williams (Bantam Spectra)
15- The Eternal Prison by Jeff Somers (Orbit)
16- The Gathering Storm by Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson (Tor Books/Orbit)
17- Imager by L. E. Modesitt, jr. (Tor Books)
18- Suicide Kings edited by George R. R. Martin (Tor Books)
19- Patient Zero by Jonathan Maberry (St. Martin's Griffin/Gollancz)
20- Muse of Fire by Dan Simmons (Subterranean Press)
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Postby TRASHBOY » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:11 pm

Just started reading the first Foundation book by Asimov on my iTouch Kindle. I've been avoiding this series my whole life (which is shame given the fact that he's my dad's favorite author). I started reading Prelude to Foundation a few years ago because my dad was looking for my opinion as someone reading the books in chronological order as opposed to their released order (you know, like if someone sat down to watch Star Wars for the first time and started with Phantom Menace) but I just couldn't get into it after multiple tries. I'm enjoying Foundation much more.
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Postby joe » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:14 pm

Just finished Anathema by Stephenson. Interesting concept and story, but a bit anti-climactic and really really didn't need to be 1000 pages (as a mass market)

edit: I really dug those First Law books in the OP. Really fun even if they are a bit on the pulp side
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:51 pm

yeah, the First Law seems like some cross between Conan and David Eddings, if that makes sense. Nice light read.

Joe - I totally agree with you on Anathem - really thought it was building up into something awesome and I felt a little letdown by the end. The book is weird, it's almost 2 books in one. Not my favorite Stephenson, but probably worth reading overall I guess.


Trashboy - y'know, I only finally read the Foundation series about 3 years ago I think. Found the concept very interesting, but I found the series itself pretty boring, to be honest. Obviously it's not an "adventure" story, but it doesn't seem like "hard" SF either.
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Postby Lampwick » Tue Jan 05, 2010 6:59 pm

Just finished The White Dragon by Anne McCaffrey. I've read almost all the Pern books and really enjoyed them in the past. Re-reading I still enjoy them though there are a lot of little flaws in writing and continuation that I ignore (also that it has a slight "for girls" bent) just because I enjoy the series.

About to read Neuromancer for the first time.

Edit: I read the first couple Sword of Truth books and then heard from a lot of people that they all get worse and worse so I just sort of stopped.
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:00 pm

God I wish I was about to read Neuromancer for the first time. Although I suppose it might not seem as awesome in 2010.
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Postby worrywort » Tue Jan 05, 2010 7:53 pm

i just finished the first mistborn book. it was pretty good, basically v for vendetta in a fantasy world. it sometimes feels like an instruction manual because of the magic system, but the mentor/protege relationship helps it go down easier.
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Postby TRASHBOY » Wed Jan 06, 2010 10:39 am

Smiling Penner-Lite wrote:God I wish I was about to read Neuromancer for the first time. Although I suppose it might not seem as awesome in 2010.


Poison Cookie just read that last year. If he sees this, maybe he'll give us his thoughts on it.
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Postby Merciel » Wed Jan 06, 2010 11:46 am

I've been mostly rereading old stuff lately and haven't made much progress in my TBR stack of new books, but I did finish Cherie Priest's Boneshaker a while ago and it was pretty damn good.
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:21 pm

when does your nerdbook come out again?
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Postby deadwolfbones » Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:41 pm

I have the sample of Boneshaker on my Kindle... should get around to reading it sometime.
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Postby Poison Cookie » Wed Jan 06, 2010 12:48 pm

TRASHBOY wrote:
Smiling Penner-Lite wrote:God I wish I was about to read Neuromancer for the first time. Although I suppose it might not seem as awesome in 2010.


Poison Cookie just read that last year. If he sees this, maybe he'll give us his thoughts on it.


Neuromancer is still incredibly cool in this day and age. William Gibson is turning into one of my favorite authors, even though his style is drastically different from his earlier books. I like both styles, but he's so much more refined these days. It's like he's actually writing novels instead of comic books.
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Wed Jan 06, 2010 1:03 pm

Comic books to novels is a great comparision. :D

He's probably my favorite author.

Pattern Recognition is one of the best novels I've read in recent years, and might even be his best overall.
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Postby hypocrisy » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:26 pm

Has anyone read The Lies of Locke Lamora? Saw it in Barnes and Noble and wondered if it was worth checking out.
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Postby Merciel » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:27 pm

Yes, it's a great book. Definitely worth a read if you're into wiseass caper stories. The follow-up, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is also quite good.
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Postby hypocrisy » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:34 pm

Merciel wrote:Yes, it's a great book. Definitely worth a read if you're into wiseass caper stories. The follow-up, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is also quite good.


Thanks. I'm coming off an attempt to plow through the wordiness of Tad Williams so I'm looking for something a bit faster paced.
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Postby Spoilt Victorian Child » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:36 pm

Smiling Penner-Lite wrote:when does your nerdbook come out again?

March 9th.

And, despite her freakout over the one negative review, the others have been very positive.
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Postby Merciel » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:37 pm

It certainly qualifies as faster-paced (of course, that's not saying much...).

Excerpts here: http://www.scottlynch.us/excerpts.html

Some people have said that it took a while for the story to grab them because of the interlaced flashback/present structure of the book's first half. I think that's a little weird -- the book had me practically as soon as it started -- but if you have a different reaction, it's not altogether unusual.
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Postby joe » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:40 pm

Merciel wrote:Yes, it's a great book. Definitely worth a read if you're into wiseass caper stories. The follow-up, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is also quite good.


I enjoyed the first one, didn't get nearly as into the second
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Postby hypocrisy » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:41 pm

Merciel wrote:It certainly qualifies as faster-paced (of course, that's not saying much...)

Very true. And thank you for the link.
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Postby Merciel » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:44 pm

joe wrote:
Merciel wrote:Yes, it's a great book. Definitely worth a read if you're into wiseass caper stories. The follow-up, Red Seas Under Red Skies, is also quite good.


I enjoyed the first one, didn't get nearly as into the second


Yeah, I kinda felt the same way but I think that's just because I'm not big on pirate stories. If I liked pirates I'd probably have loved RSURS. As is, it was a good book and I had fun reading it, although I did like TLOLL more.
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Postby kettle » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:48 pm

Just finished Dune for the first time and the end pissed me off ever more than Anathem. Shit just rushed to a wonky conclusion.
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Postby hypocrisy » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:53 pm

Also I've recently finished the third book from Book of the New Sun. I'm not sure what it is but the first two books really grabbed me but I just couldn't get into the third. I don't know if I'm too concerned or not concerned enough with the allusions Wolfe is trying to make.
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Wed Jan 13, 2010 3:55 pm

Spoilt Victorian Child wrote:
Smiling Penner-Lite wrote:when does your nerdbook come out again?

March 9th.

And, despite her freakout over the one negative review, the others have been very positive.


not surprising. :D
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Postby Riverchrist » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:03 pm

RC's spell fizzled
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Postby Merciel » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:14 pm

I have a better idea which is let's not look at that and avoid melting down my two or three remaining scraps of sanity.
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Postby rap and country » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:15 pm

have you given up on grrm yet?

football season is almost over so maybe he can spare some time on sundays
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Postby Smiling Penner-Lite » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:17 pm

recommendation from L.E. Modesitt?!?!? Awesome.

recommendation from me? It's way better than merciel will let on.
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Postby deadwolfbones » Wed Jan 13, 2010 4:53 pm

Merciel send me an advance copy of your novel
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