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I just finished Adrian Tchaikovsky's Seal Of The Worm, and with it the entire 10-book fantasy series it's part of. Quite an up-and-down series, there's a couple of books that I just basically didn't enjoy much and a couple that I absolutely love, it basically has 2 parallel plots- the "olde worlde magick" plot and the "supercharged industrial revolution/industrialised war" plot and basically I enjoyed the latter much more but I think Tchaikovsky enjoyed the former more.
Last novel is an odd thing at times, it felt very rushed at times, and almost like notes for a novel, lots of very short, disjointed chapters, sometimes I outright felt I'd missed a bit and went back to check but nope, it's just how it's written. Not at all convinced the timeline works, at some point there's about 5 connected character arcs/plots and I'm pretty sure some progress by days and others progress by weeks and then they just reunite. Very odd, especially since the middle is such an overstuffed armchair of a thing, this is epic fantasy that's very comfortable being fat and slow most of the time and then this one isn't. It's like his publisher went "You've got one book to finish it all, we're not releasing another". Or actually, it reminds me of Wheel Of Time, how Robert Jordan realised he was going to die before he could finish it so he made notes and sketched out the arc and wrote some key scenes then someone else finished the job. Except that Adrian Tchaikovsky is not dead of course and is still writing.
But still, there's something a bit special about the ending of a really fat series like this and I was really pretty emotional about the wrapping up of it all, the deaths and epilogues and more hopeful future.
Poor ol Totho though. I really enjoy when someone subverts the obvious plots and cliches but it'd be a hard thing, to be the character that the subversion lands on!
Interested in reading that Shadows of the Apt sequence as I've heard it recommended as a series that really holds together, something almost no multi-volume fantasy series do. I think AT writing like the rent is due must be significant - The only one I've read that truly succeeds (Malazan) was also written with furious industry, just makes the narrative very tight.
The blacktongue thief by Christopher Buehlman is really good, finished that this week. I maybe overrate him a bit, as he wrote a book called Between two fires that is basically Dark Souls, the novel, but I think he's one of the best writers atm in fantasy / horror. The book itself is kind of straightforward but he's got a very skilled, understated prose style, just elevates everything about it.
Stuck at home after knee replacement a fortnight ago so maybe 25% up on normal. Next to the bed are "Sahibs" by Richard Holmes, a row of CJ Sansom "Shardlake" novels with three on the go (paperbacks for the bath, hardbacks for bed. Miguel Indurain biog by Fotheringham, "Heavy Weather sailing" by K Adlard Coles , everyone of Nevil Shutes books in a pile, some re-read for the hundredth time and some awaiting that, "Rock Climbers in Action in Snowdonia", John Cleare and "The Hard Year, Joe Brown. In the summer house where I retreat to there is "Tommy " by Richard Holmes, "The British Sporting Gun and Rifle , by Donald Dallas, "Classic Rock" original and new version and "Hard Rock". Nevil Shutes might move there as I read one in a few hours and I like a change.
Just finished Place of the Tides my James Rebanks. Really good that was. A lovely book.
Have now started To Kill a Mockingbird. Enjoying it so far.
The Fraud by Paul Holden. McSweeney and his chums ****ing the country over.
The Fraud by Paul Holden. McSweeney and his chums ****ing the country over.
Fiction or non-fiction? Not sure from your summary.
I've been gradually working my way through the C J Samsom "Shardlake series. I'm now towards the end of the final book "Tomland".
I've enjoyed them although I feel they are a bit too dragged out and could be a bit more condensed. I've found them quite educational. Although fictional they are based, on a large extent, on real events and real people.
Yeah, Tombland is a bit of a slog. Carefully researched as always, but [kind of spoiler alert] the murder mystery is all but abandoned in the second half of the book for a sympathetic story telling of life in a workers' uprising camp. Which is very well meaning, but a bit of a change, especially since there is an essay at the back covering this.
Currently reading Shroud by Adrian Tchaikovsky.
I was a bit dubious about starting it, in case it was all a bit 'David T. does gruesome aliens' (again), but it's turning into a very decent first contact novel.
I finished Shroud last week - as above, plus a future human society that, depressingly, I feel is much more likely than, say, the more utopian, neo-liberal Culture-type vision of Iain Banks.
I recently finished Adrian Tchaikovsky’s ‘Shadows of the Apt’ series, all ten books, which have kept me quietly engaged for some time, and I’m now re-reading Neil Stephenson’s ‘Termination Shock’, and after that, I’ve got Clair North’s new book, a bit of a change from what she’s written previously, about Greek legends, before that a variety of different stories, and before that, writing as Kate Griffin a series of Urban Magic stories, this one’s a space opera type of thing!
Just started "Rubicon" by Tom Holland, it will be interesting to see where it all went wrong for the empire,and whether any parallels could be drawn for Trump's America.
I just wrapped up Adrian Tchaikovsky's Doors of Eden. It's very good; the third of his I've read (Children of Time and Children of whatsit being the others), and where it takes you, from the quite sensible, almost dull, beginning, is quite compelling.
But I don't think he knew how to finish it; the final third is quite drawn out, he has about 6 attempts at writing an ending, and then it's left open-ended. And in a way it's not dissimilar to the other two I've read in that. Still, it's very good; less serious than Alistair Reynolds, more serious and deeper than The Collapsing Empire, and if not as entertaining as the Ministry of Time, still gripping.
Now back to trying to get through The Naked and The Dead, which is a slog
Antarctica by Gabrielle Walker was brilliant - I grabbed it because she was fantastic on the Empire podcast's episode sbout Shakeleton and the Endurance, and the book built on that in a hundred different ways. Really easy to read but also quite (to me!) technical, she does the history stuff and the science stuff brilliantly and a warm and wonderful humour. Great book. 🙂
I devoured Quartered Safe Out Here - a great book, I loved the Cumbrian dialogue and that dude really knows how to portrait a character in words. Thank you for all the recommendations on here - First Light is also at home on the TBR pile. 🙂
Currently reading The Devil's Teeth, by Susan Casey, about the great whites of the Farallon islands - it's pretty good, with the sort of bouncy, preppy feel I've found quite often in books written by people with a background in outdoorsy journalism.
Love the Kobo - there is probably an element of "I've just bought it therefore it must be REALLY good", but the controls are much more intuitive and better thought-out than my Kindle Paperwhite (no clicking to bring up a laggy menu then driving a slider to change backlight here - just slide the lefthand side of the screen whilst you're reading, up for brighter, down for darker), you can pinch-scroll into images and it seems much quicker too (the only exception in Antarctica was turning from the last page of one chapter to the first page of the next, where there was an unexpected Kindle-like lag). Lots of 99p books, looking forward to getting hooked up to Birmingham Library for their e-lends and best of all, not a penny to Bezos. 🙂
I’m reading Atomic Habits right now. Really liking it so far.
Love the Kobo - there is probably an element of "I've just bought it therefore it must be REALLY good", but the controls are much more intuitive and better thought-out than my Kindle Paperwhite
Tbh, I don't think I could design a worse interface than my Kindle's if I tried.
Just read Enshitification and Polar Wars, the latter after listening to The Rest Is Politics podcast interview with the author.
Enshitification was a well researched, well written book (discussed elsewhere on STW) but Polar Wars was a bit disappointing. Good subject matter and quite well researched but (a) would benefit from a better editor (prose is all over the place IMO) and (b) missed a huge chunk of the subject as it didn't cover Canada or Russia in any great depth (Russia is sorta understandable due to lack of access but not researching/discussing Canada is kinda inexcusable)
Just finished A Year At The Circus by Jon Sopel,Trumps first term. The mad dysfunctional emporers house of lies
Just finished Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. There should be some sort of warning on emotional rollercoasters like these, "Don't let Beagy read the ending while on the bus home", would work.
Fabulous wee book though. Worth checking out if you haven't already.
I've now started Bernard Cornwell's latest 'Sharpe' novel. Old Sharpie giving the French a good kicking should cheer me up no end.
Finished Caledonian road by Andrew O'Hagan. 640 pages, took him ten years to write (he took a break to write Mayflies). Privilege, politics, corruption, organised crime and families are linked in a complex web that is brought crashing down. Very different to his other books (that I've read), it highlights our rotten society and the hubris that'll (maybe) be it's downfall. Loved it.
Just finished Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. There should be some sort of warning on emotional rollercoasters like these, "Don't let Beagy read the ending while on the bus home", would work.
I've read this maybe 5 or 6 times, every time I think "don't finish this in a public place" and every time I do, I'm on a bus, or a train, or in the office.
Just finished Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. There should be some sort of warning on emotional rollercoasters like these, "Don't let Beagy read the ending while on the bus home", would work.
I've read this maybe 5 or 6 times, every time I think "don't finish this in a public place" and every time I do, I'm on a bus, or a train, or in the office.
This shows that I have absolutely no empathy at all. I finished it and thought no more about it. (Although, maybe it needs a separate thread - I watched Boys From The Blackstuff last week and found some of that difficult to deal with.)
So still on a fantasy run, I'm about a quarter into the second book of KJ Parker's Two Of Swords. A fairly odd thing, not a huge amount has actually happened and all of the big "world events" stuff that fantasy's usually obsesssed with has happened offscreen while we were following around 2 different character pairs getting lost. The pacing is slow or maybe you could say erratic, like, the book starts with a huge introduction to two young characters going off to war and then they just... go away. One has returned as a main character, the other just as a bit part and it's all a bit weird. It was released as serialised novellas and now it's repackaged as a single gigantic "novel" but in 3 volumes rather than as a collection or as 3 novels, which just feels a little bit art project. I guess it's why it feels a little disjointed.
But it's beautifully written, this is another author I think could write an engaging shopping list.
(Also Telamon is wonderful, basically Fantasy Fleabag. In a genre with way too many thieves/assassins she's a standout. There's a huge section of this book which is basically just Tel and Oida Hang Out and I wish it'd never ended)
Strange thing, KJ Parker is Tom Holt. And I bloody hated Tom Holt. But I love KJ Parker.
This one
I'm only in the first 50 pages or so, but it's basically a potted history of the semi-permanent snow patches on the Scottish hills and the people who've dligently documented their survival (or otherwise) over the last few decades, mixed in with historical references to extensive snow cover throughout the years in past centuries. Dr Adam Watson is included in the list of people who have been involved with making it a popular scientific endeavour.
Theres a photo in the middle of the book of one of the coires on Braeraich, taken in the cold and snowy winter of 1951, when they reckon there was up to 70ft of snow depth in places. You dont see that nowadays.
Love the Kobo - there is probably an element of "I've just bought it therefore it must be REALLY good", but the controls are much more intuitive and better thought-out than my Kindle Paperwhite
Tbh, I don't think I could design a worse interface than my Kindle's if I tried.
A Kobo Clara colour arrived this morning from amazon as I’ve never used nor even held/seen an e-ink reader so thought I’d treat myself as I spend most of my life sat on my arse reading on my iPad/iphone/real books etc but………… it’s going back to Amazon tomorrow.
Doesn’t work with the “borrowbook” system Dumfries & Galloway library service use as the Kobo only works with “overdrive/libby” apps for borrowed books, I could download a book to my iMac then connect and drag/drop into the Kobo but that’s an utter faff. the overall interaction and controls were absolutely rubbish and the delay in their use was laughable.
The e-ink screen that everyone says is amazing?, personally i thought it was guff.
Its only saving grace was the weight (lack-off)
Guess I’ll stick to reading on my 11” iPad/iPhone, but an iPad mini for reading ?……….that'd be a better size/weight and you can pick up a mini for the same price as a Kobo Clara.
Reading this at the moment- tis’ good and a page turner
Never entirely sure how to reply to "I think that thing you love is shit" responses... 🙂 Mine's black and white, I didn't see the need for colour as I'm only ever going to use it for reading, I don't know if there's much of a difference between the two devices? And its compatability with the various library systems is definitely out there, which is why I knew it's compatible with our local one. The e-ink screen uses the same tech as Kindle, it's as good as there currently is on the market and in my opinion is massively easier on the eye to read from than the screen of a device. I spent a lot of time trying to see if there's a way to transfer my Kindle books to it, decided not to bother in the end - I still have the Kindle if I want to read one of them.
I'm sorry you didn't like yours but, for me, coming from Kindleland, my Kobo is a noticeable step forward. 🙂
Louis Theroux's "Theroux the Keyhole: The diaries of a Grounded Documentary maker" at the moment
And "Iran: A modern History" by Abbas Amanat just 'cos I really don't know much at all about Iran!
Read a lot over Easter - standouts were This Way Up, by the guys from The Map Men off of YouTube (funny and interesting, thought it would grate but it was mostly ace), Fifty Six by Michael Fletcher about the Bradford City Valley Parade stadium fire (horrifying and heartbreaking), Managing Expectations by Minnie Driver (autobio, unexpectedly good, I thought it was really well written), and Persians:Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (really good - gets a bit "namey" in places but an interesting read, gripping narrative and OMG those folks could be a bit bloodthirsty!). Still working through The Sleepwalkers (we've been through the political scene prior to Sarajevo and the assassination has now happened, so the pace has picked up a little! On Kindle, so only dipping in when there's nothing else to hand) and started First Light last night, which has instantly gripped me.
and Persians:Age of the Great Kings by Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones (really good - gets a bit "namey" in places but an interesting read, gripping narrative and OMG those folks could be a bit bloodthirsty!)
I'll +1 this one. I picked it up after he did a very good talk about the book at Waterstones, but would probably have bought it anyway as it's a part of ancient history which is criminally ignored in favour of yet more books on Romans or Greeks.
Currently on The Sacred Art of Stealing by Christopher Brookmyre, weirdly brilliant. Got into his books from the Jasmine Sharp trilogy.
Just started Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Bought it in a charity shop the the other day, mainly because of his association with motorbikes. Not sure how it stacks up today but I'll give it a try....
Just started Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Bought it in a charity shop the the other day, mainly because of his association with motorbikes. Not sure how it stacks up today but I'll give it a try...
Good luck with that. I found it pretty dull and didn't finish it.
Got a couple on the go just now, dipping in and out of them as I like.
Stunning the Punters by Robert Sproat. Starting to think this is a real bit of underrated genius. So many voices from one man.
Long Time No See by Dermot Healy. Well known in Ireland, much less so here. He's a master of the slow reveal and one of the things that comes across in all his books is the subtle differences between Ireland and the UK.
The Golden Apples of the Sun, short story collection by Ray Bradbury. Struggling a bit with this although it did lead me to the rather wonderful poem which the title comes from. I generally love his work but this is early stuff and I think he's not quite hit his stride although it does contain the classic The Pedestrian.
Bob Mortimer - Satuma complex. Really don't think this is very good, but anything in Bob's voice is massively entertaining.
I love Bob Mortimer but not in print.
I've been enjoying audiobooks for the last few months. Listened to both of Bob Mortimer's novels after reading his autobiography. They're probably not books i'd read, but somehow they work as audiobooks.
I've liked comedian's autobiographies since reading Spike Milligan's as a kid and somehow have found myself listening to these recently. I think it's the incredible unashamed honesty mixed with humour that I find compelling:
Adam Buxton - I Love you, Byeeee: Ramblebook
Lee Mack - Mack the Life
Louis Theroux - Gotta get Theroux this
Rich Hall - Nailing it
Nigel Planer - Young Once: A life less heavy
Michael Pennington - Becoming Johnny Vegas
Fern Brady - Strong Female Character
Alan Davies - White Male Stand-Up
Alan Davies - Just Ignore Him
I've enjoyed all of them. I'd probably pick out Alan Davies, Fern Brady and Michael Pennington as favourites - their life stories and the way they tell them are so confronting.
Book reading I have done with my own eyes recently
Ken Jennings Maphead - a bit dated but entertaining enough
Philip K Dick - Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep - I thought I was re-reading it but now I'm pretty sure I'd not read it before. I'm glad I have now.
Forty Years a Hermit - Ken Smith. There's a man who'll tell you Ben Alder cottage is definitely haunted.
Guess I’ll stick to reading on my 11” iPad/iPhone, but an iPad mini for reading ?……….that'd be a better size/weight and you can pick up a mini for the same price as a Kobo Clara.
The Kobo Clara is £149.99 and the cheapest new iPad Mini is £499.
You can pick up a second hand 5th generation Mini for about £140 but OS updates for that model are likely to cease within 12 months so you would maybe get a couple of years use out of it before not being able to install newer apps and security vulnerabilities make it difficult to use.
Google suggests the Clara is lighter, too. 🙂
Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia)
Is an excellent book, well worthy if you stick at it.
Top tip, print out the cast from the film and use as you go along.
PS My dad was in the film.
Still reading Dracula.
I'm finding it boring and hard work.
I liked the start, hate the dairy style. Common style of the time apparently.
Going to try Carmilla next.
I liked the start, hate the dairy style. Common style of the time apparently.
Is it a bit cheesy?
Just finished Mark Morris - The Anglo Saxons - fall of Roman Britain to 1066 -did a lot of this during my A' Level history in 1983/4 - its well written covers the heptarchy and the arrival of the Danes / Vikings. Good use of sources and supported with archaeology.
Martin Amis - Night Train. I started Quentin Tarantino's Cinema Speculation but it wasn't engaging me. May go back to it.
Dracula.
I'm finding it boring and hard work.
I did too. Don't think I even made it half way through.
I've got a hardcopy of Blood Red Snow on the go at home; good, but it's a weighty tome. I'm away on the bike next week so I'm going to re-read a couple of books on the Kindle:
The Last Light/Afterlight books by Alex Scarrow.
Pedaling Through the Ruins, by K Z Lambert.
Seem appropriate for some reason...
John le Carré: call for the dead.
Then on to smiley's people. Quite enjoyed tinker, tailor, soldier, spy.
Also going to try, the chronicles of a travelling cat, book club choice. Last one was slaughterhouse 5 which I really did not enjoy.