Beyond Reality discussion

I am burned out. So, what am I reading in October? While I do plan to finish the library books I'm committed to....I am now moving to read "what I want to". I am re-reading Storm Front by Jim Butcher, the first Harry Dresden Book, and will probably (if possible) read through them all (the Dresden books)again stretching them out till next spring when the next Dresden book is due out. There are plenty of Repairman Jack books and Night Side books on my shelf along with a couple of Rob Thurmans and a few other urban fantasies to fill in between these. Plenty waiting not to mention SOOOOO MANY others I've been meaning to get to.

Ken wrote: "I agree. I still think God Emperor is one of the best. Of course I am still mightally disappointed with the failure that is Sandworms of Dune. I utterly hate that book. "

Is that one of the ones his son wrote with Kevin J. Anderson? I haven't read anything by the son, but I've heard some bad things, and I think Kevin J. Anderson is one of the great all-time hacks working in the genre, so I'm not surprised.

Yah, the sequel to Heretics. Basically, in my opinion invalidated most of what Frank wrote in favor of the the Son's idea. I don't believe for a minute that any of the sequels were given birth by fragments of a long lost scrap of an old manuscript.
Arrgg! I have never been so disappointed an angry at a book before.

I read Dune in high school and vaguely remember trying one of the sequels later - no idea which one - but lost interest as it wasn't good, wasn't the same.

I'm copying Jon and putting my month's reads on one shelf :: My October Shelf

Do you remember the article on And Kevin J Anderson from the Uncyclopedia, originally posted here by Sisimka? Here's the link:
http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Ke...
It parodies all his Dune sequels with Herbert the younger, with titles like Sauron of Dune, and Dunehiker's Guide, etc. Some pretty funny stuff there.

Oh, that's just awesome :) thanks for reposting.

I started and completed The Last Wish over the weekend. I ended up enjoying it a lot more than I thought I might. I'm definitely going to have to read Blood of Elves now. Pity the rest of the series hasn't been translated into English yet.

I'm not worried...I'll make it happen :)

I never got as far as God Emperor of Dune. I'll probably continue with the series one of these days, but I found Children of Dune so bizarre that I wasn't all that excited about continuing.

Dawn - And you have to have them close enough so they will be in highschool together. My brother was a senior when I was a freshman so he pretty much ignored me but my cousins were closer in age and had a great time together in highschool. I was always so jealous of that.

I finished Fragment and started Spook Country. However, I got the ARC of What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz today and the first two chapters are really good. Spook Country will just have to wait.

Anathem is picking up and I should be done with it pretty soon.

Felina wrote: "Dawn - And you have to have them close enough so they will be in highschool together. My brother was a senior when I was a freshman so he pretty much ignored me but my cousins were closer in age an..."

That's would mean I have to have another within a year or two. I'm not sure I'm ready for that! I'm still adjusting to this one! :)

Sandi wrote: "Anathem is picking up and I should be done with it pretty soon. ..."

You mean there's hope? :D

Dawn wrote: "Felina wrote: "Dawn - And you have to have them close enough so they will be in highschool together. My brother was a senior when I was a freshman so he pretty much ignored me but my cousins were c..."

Just do it and don't think about it. Woo hoo...baby Dawn is on the way!

How old is Munch?

Almost ten months. Give me a year or so more, then I'll think about it...

Just finished Judas Unchained
Can't say it was all the enjoyable. Loved the universe he created, loved the story but his writing...it feels like he is afraid to have a convenient way for a character to do something so he creates this elaborate back story to set up the characters actions. A good writer can do the subtly, Hamilton cannot.

Started in on some non fiction. Every Patient Tells a Story: Medical Mysteries and the Art of Diagnosis.
The writer is a Doctor who is a consultant on the TV show House. She has been writing a column for a newspaper about Doctors and Diagnosis.

Dawn wrote: "Almost ten months. Give me a year or so more, then I'll think about it..."

I'll give you 11 months to think about it. Then I'll start sending over pink baby blankets to get you 'in the mood'.

Done with Stories of Your Life: and Others by Ted Chiang, which was even better than I'd been led to believe. Five stars. Next up - something from the to-be-reviewed stack, probably the second book in Rachel Aaron's Eli Monpress trilogy - I enjoyed the first one very much and am looking forward to finding out how it continues.

After The Lies of Locke Lamora (which I thought was awesome, though a tad heavy on the info) I needed some lighter reading, so I read Scoundrel by Zoe Archer, which is a sort of historical adventure novel with steampunk and fantasy elements... It's a real genre blender, and it worked quite well.

The night I finished that I started The Iron Duke by Meljean Brook, and I finished it in the morning at 8.30. It's a Steampunk Romance novel, but boy what an interesting alternative history. I thought the whole slavery issue was really well handled, and the racism against the colonists (instead of against the slaves) was an interesting result of it. It's been a couple of days, and my mind is still whirling. Recommended to those of you who don't mind a little romance :)

Now I'm enjoying Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin, and so far I like it equally well as the other 2 in that trilogy.

After that I might finally try to tackle The Dark Tower Series, I've got them from the library, but I'm still not entirely convinced I will.

If I have a super productive month, I might be able to knock down two Wheel of Time books. I enjoyed the first one, but it took me for freaking ever. Two in a month should be doable, and even three isn't reaching too high, but it'll probably be two.

I just finished reading The Burning Wirewhich came in from the library. I'm also reading The Last Unicorn and Charmed Life. It's highly unusual for me to read two (or in this case three) books at the same time, but I just got back from a two week field competition in California and lost the USB cable for my eReader so when it died, I had to start a new book. I guess I'm still slogging through Judas Unchained as well

I finally finished Anathem which was certainly a weird experience, although enjoyable at times. My review. I also finished listening to The Last Light of the Sun, the most enjoyable Kay listen so far - my review.

I'm now 40% through the audio version of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, which I'm ambivalent about so far. I've started War for the Oaks, which I'm finding very predictable so far.

After Anathem, I thought I needed a romance as it was so bloodless and emotionless, so I started Flowers from the Storm on my Nook, and have also proceeded with Mordant's Need, an edition with both of Donaldson's books about Mordant included.

I don't know why I'm reading so many books at one time. Perhaps in frustration after reading a few that are merely 'meh'.

Two-thirds done with October and only one book officially read and reviewed! Sheesh, I must be getting lazy.

I finished Cryoburn (my review) yesterday. I almost wish it hadn't been such a quick read because there's no telling if another Miles Vorkosigan novel will get written or when.

I'm also almost finished with an anthology of Conan stories (see my status updates for mini-reviews of each one).

Late last night I started The Last Unicorn (my status updates), but only made it to page eight before nodding off (not because it wasn't riveting but more because I was up past my bed time). Since this is even shorter than Cryoburn, I anticipate finishing it before the weekend.

I still need to read Mansfield Park for a local book club gathering next week, so I may tackle that after The Last Unicorn.

Other online book club reads for this month and next can be found on my current-month book shelf.

I finished The Spirit Rebellion by Rachel Aaron yesterday, and enjoyed it about as much as the first book in the trilogy. Silly and light but still enjoyable.

Next up I'm starting on Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker, which turned out to be a detective novel rather than fantasy. Still, the first few chapters were very well done, so I'm going to keep reading.

And - I need to get to our current short story selection!

I finished listening to The Way of Kings today. It was excellent and I can't wait for the rest of the series. Anyone who knows me knows that I really loathe getting involved in really long, epic fantasy series. This is going to be my exception. Brandon Sanderson is now my go-to fantasy author.

My next audiobook is On Stranger Tides by Tim Powers. It's narrated by Bronson Pinchot who starred in an old sitcom, Perfect Strangers. He's really good with accents, so this should be a good audio experience. The prologue was great.

Still reading Anathem and the ARC of What the Night Knows by Dean Koontz.

I *love* On Stranger Tides. How can you not love a book that ties together voodoo and zombies and pirates? :)

Still working on Warhost of Vastmark, trying to find time to finish it!

I'm closing on the finish of Anathem, and listening to The Art of Racing in the Rain for a local book club, and will probably start straight into Little, Big for next month.

Shel wrote: "I *love* On Stranger Tides. How can you not love a book that ties together voodoo and zombies and pirates? :)"

The audio version is amazing.

I am reading Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh for my offline book club

Janny wrote: "Little, Big..."

that is such a wonderful book. unique.

Mark wrote: "Janny wrote: "Little, Big..."

that is such a wonderful book. unique."

Good to hear. I'm reading it next month, too.

Finished Disciple of the Dog by R. Scott Bakker, an excellent noir detective story. Very cynical protagonist, and great prose.

Next up: At the Queen's Command by Michael A. Stackpole, which seems to be a fantasy version of the American Revolutionary War. Not bad so far.

Sandra aka Sleo wrote: "Mark wrote: "Janny wrote: "Little, Big..."
that is such a wonderful book. unique."
Good to hear. I'm reading it next month, too."

it is a divisive book. many find it meandering, pointless, overlong, and hard to wade through. at least that has been the case with the folks i've recommended it to. much as some folks feel similarly to Gormenghast, sigh.

but for me, it is incredible. its one of my favorites (enough that just the mention of it here caused me to run over and write my own meandering, overlong review), and was the climax of a 4-book john crowley run. oddly enough, it almost made we want to stop reading crowley; the book was so personally affecting and evoked so much, so intensely, that i almost felt like i should end my relationship with the author on this high note. but one day i'll jump into his Aegypt cycle; i've already started buying them. but for now i'm still a little intimidated!

Finished Warhost of Vastmark and am reading The Native Star by M.K. Hobson just for a chance of pace before I dive into Fugitive Prince. I'm not very far into it, but so far it's enjoyable -- a new twist on urban fantasy, this one's set in a small frontier town in the 1870s, and the local Witch is losing business to the new mail-order witchcraft company from back East.

I just finished The Chronicles of Chrestomanci: Volume I and am back reading The Last Unicorn. I'll post to that list once I get a bit further into the book

Just finished my ARC copy of Typhoon by MCM, and I loved it. Action packed futuristic tale, with some very subtle underlying political and environmental issues.
The author still has some ARCs to spare, in case anyone here is interested.

Am now halfway in Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey, and I'm conflicted about it so far. Despite all the SM I really liked the first half, but now my favorite characters have died, and the plot seems to be moving away from the political intrigues, and I've sort of lost my reading mojo.

And I'm not a huge fan of Carey's writing style either. So... conflicted.

Jan, the political intrigues will return with a vengeance :)

However, if you're not enjoying her writing style, that's not going to change, so I see the conflict.

Recently I've been reading two detective psychologist series (Kellerman and White) and the Girl With the Dragon Tatoo series just as a change of pace. Started in the summer, just finished the last ones. I read a few fantasy/sf books in among them but didn't really take to any. Now I am reading Glenda Larke's The Aware and then the other two in that series. I am really liking them. I read Cryoburn, the new Bujold. I found it funny and Miles still entertaining, though I didn't enjoy it as much as Diplomatic Immunity. Next up Way of Kings by Sanderson.

OK< I just finished The Last Unicorn which I somewhat enjoyed but was put off by the lyrical language; I know many enjoy flowery writing, but it can really put me off. I just want a good story told in readable language (the convoluted language is what has kept me from reading more og Janny Wurts' books). I just picked up Song of the Beast andWarchild at the library and have Air: Or, Have Not Have and Daughter of the Forest sitting on my self. When I was at Half Price books buying some books for my granddaughter, I found The Last Stormlord and purchased it. Now I have to decide which one to read next.

In the mean time I'm finished with Kushiel's Dart and 200 pages into Kushiel's Chosen. Political intrigues did come back with a vengeance, and for some reason it's very hard to put down.
The writing style still feels pompous to me, but I'm starting to feel like it fits with the characters.

For some reason it's also the kind of books where I want to read the last chapter after reading 100 pages. I've even read the ending of book 3 already, but I'm not sure why I couldn't resist the urge.
So I'll probably finish the first trilogy in the series, and then switch to something else.

Working on Tome of the Undergates. I just wish I could find more time for reading.

Finished up Every Patient has a Story, it wasnt to bad, not quite what I was expecting. I was expecting more stories and less of the author selling me on her thoughts on Diagnostics

Started up Master and Commander, Its not bad. The Language is quite 1800's

Interesting, that book (Every Patient) is on its way to me now. I also am expectiang patient stories. Guess I'll find out!

I am currently reading the Isle of Glory trilogy by Glenda Larke. It's set in another world. It starts with The Aware, next is Gilfeather, last The Tainted. Very interesting world, and writing style is of two times, a narrative by various people as their reminisces of a time (fifty years ago)when magic existed, (sylv magic which was blue and could do illusions; dun which was red and used for evil) and current day as the chronicler of history tells about life now and we can see the changes wrought by the actions we have read about. Great characters, neat abilities (Gilfeather has such an acute sense of smell that he can tell a person's emotions).

Worth a read if you're looking for what's next.

Laura wrote: "I am currently reading the Isle of Glory trilogy by Glenda Larke. It's set in another world. It starts with The Aware, next is Gilfeather, last The Tainted. Very interesting world, and writing st..."

I read that series after seeing a review of it by someone in this group; great series!!

Jan wrote: "In the mean time I'm finished with Kushiel's Dart and 200 pages into Kushiel's Chosen. Political intrigues did come back with a vengeance, and for some reason it's very ..."

It is a somewhat difficult series, not exactly light reading, but it's absolutely worth sticking with. Personally, I think Carey's style fits both the story and the character of Phèdre.

She has written a few books outside the Kushiel series/world. It might be interesting to see how her style differs with those books (if at all).

Sally wrote: "She has written a few books outside the Kushiel series/world. It might be interesting to see how her style differs with those books (if at all)."

I've read them -- it does! Granted, in the Banewreaker/Godslayer duology it's still fairly ornate (but more distanced, Tolkien-ornate than personal, Kushiel-ornate, because the books are an inversion of LotR); but in Santa Olivia she uses a much more naturalistic style suitable to that setting (post-apocalyptic Texas border-town). And if you ignore the paranormal-esque cover Santa Olivia is really fabulous.

I had to see what I was on last time I posted. I finished listening to The Way of Kings and On Stranger Tides. Both were very good. The narration of On Stranger Tides was absolutely wonderful. It would be a perfect first audiobook for anyone. Considering it's by Tim Powers, that's saying something about Bronson Pinchot's narrative abilities. I'm now listening to Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. It's much better than Boneshaker, which I liked a lot.

I finished reading What the Night Knows and it really scared me. It wasn't terrible digusting, but it was psychologically frightening. It was a perfect Halloween read, but it won't be released until Dec. 28.

In dead-tree books, I'm almost done reading Dreamfever, the fourth book in a 5-book urban fantasy series. I'm so hooked. Next, I'll be reading Blackout by Connie Willis. I've had it since it came out, but I knew I had to wait until All Clear came out because Willis said that she had intended it to be one book, but the publisher split it into two volumes. Of course, All Clear will be next.

I got my replacement Nook today, so I'll be able to finish Anathem. It's taking me so long to get through it. Thank goodness I've been keeping track of my progress here on GoodReads because I lost my place when I got the new Nook. My next ebook will be Saturn's Children, but I probably won't get to it until November.

Finished The Maze Runner on audio, which was good but not nearly as good as the hype makes you think it is. Started The Way of Kings on audio (yay for free library download!), and reading The Belgariad, Vol. 1: Pawn of Prophecy, Queen of Sorcery, Magician's Gambit.

I finished At the Queen's Command by Michael A. Stackpole today. It started out well but fell apart towards the end. Next up, I'm about to start reading Steampunk, an anthology of (yes) steampunk stories, in anticipation of the second anthology, Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, due out next month.