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[Kirbypowered]

AND THUS BY THE POWER OF THE EYE I COMPLETED The Two Towers. And all was good. And it only took me a couple weeks? Wow, it felt as though a much longer time had passed. Awesome stuff.

Recently got to watch the first movie again with a bunch of people, cringing along the way to myself. I suppose it was fairly accurate as far as movie adaptations go, though. We'll actually be watching The Two Towers tomorrow, so the finishing of the book was quite timely.

Spoiler: 2/52 (click to show/hide)

J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring
J. R. R. Tolkien - The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

I think...I mean, I'm already two thirds of the way through it...Yes, I'm going to finish up this story now, before touching a single of my shiny new books. It is what must be done.

[Dutchling]

Spoiler: 11/52 (click to show/hide)

Revelation Space
Alastair Reynolds
4-Jan-14


Home of the Gentry
Ivan Turgenev
7-Jan-14


God's Philosophers
James Hannam
8-Jan-14


Wonderful Life
Stephen Jay Gould
14-Jan-14


The Golem and the Jinni
Helene Wecker
16-Jan-14


The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes
Arthur Conan Doyle
18-Jan-14


White Teeth
Zadie Smith
30-Jan-14


De Zoontjesfabriek
Ayaan Hirsi Ali
1-Feb-14


Meditations
Marcus Aurelius
6-Feb-14


Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela
15-Feb-14


Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
15-Feb-14

Long Walk to Freedom
Nelson Mandela
15-Feb-14


Alice in Wonderland
Lewis Carroll
15-Feb-14

[Vector]

Spoiler: 9/52 (click to show/hide)

Take Joy: A Book for Writers - Jane Yolen
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
The Last Enchantments - Charles Finch
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - Umberto Eco
Acknowledgement: Opening to the Grief of Unacceptable Loss - Peter Leech & Zeva Singer
Never Fight with a Pig: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - Peter Thomas
Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society - Peter Trudgill
Juniper, Rosemary, and Gentian - Pamela Dean

[Arx]

Spoiler: 21/52 (click to show/hide)

The Rivan Codex - David & Leigh Eddings
Across the Wall - Garth Nix
Asimov: The Complete Short Stories, Volume 2 - Isaac Asimov (duh)
Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Wishsong - Terry Brooks
Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss
Robot Visions - Isaac Asimov
First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Talon of the Silver Hawk - Raymond E. Feist
The Door Within - Wayne Thomas Batson
Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Beyond the Stars - Isaac Asimov (The Hugo Winners Anthology)
The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss
The Druid of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Elf Queen of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Talismans of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Winds of Change - Isaac Asimov
Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks
The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson
Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson

[lemon10]

No time to review all the books read right now, just recording all their names before I drop them off at the library.

Spoiler: 9/52 (click to show/hide)

#1 Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
#2 The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan
#3 Sabriel by Garth Nix
#4 Deep Sky by Patrick Lee
#5 The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan
#6 Blood Song by Cat Adams
#7 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
#8 The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
#9 Un Lun Dun by China Miéville

[Arx]

Spoiler: 23/52 (click to show/hide)

The Rivan Codex - David & Leigh Eddings
Across the Wall - Garth Nix
Asimov: The Complete Short Stories, Volume 2 - Isaac Asimov (duh)
Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Wishsong - Terry Brooks
Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss
Robot Visions - Isaac Asimov
First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Talon of the Silver Hawk - Raymond E. Feist
The Door Within - Wayne Thomas Batson
Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks
Beyond the Stars - Isaac Asimov (The Hugo Winners Anthology)
The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss
The Druid of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Elf Queen of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Talismans of Shannara - Terry Brooks
The Winds of Change - Isaac Asimov
Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks
The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson
Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson
The Elves of Cintra - Terry Brooks
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov/Robert Silverberg

[Arx]

Double post to drag this back to visibility!

Spoiler: 25/52 (click to show/hide)

The Rivan Codex - David & Leigh Eddings (Enlightening if you haven't read Belgarath the Sorceror
Across the Wall - Garth Nix (Good anthology)
Asimov: The Complete Short Stories, Volume 2 - Isaac Asimov (duh)
Sword of Shannara - Terry Brooks (Very LotR derivative)
Elfstones of Shannara - Terry Brooks (Better than the first one)
Wishsong - Terry Brooks (On a par with the second one)
Eats, Shoots and Leaves - Lynne Truss ("Why doesn't the Apostrophe Protection Society have a military wing?")
Robot Visions - Isaac Asimov
First King of Shannara - Terry Brooks (Too similar to the others to be very good)
Talon of the Silver Hawk - Raymond E. Feist (Good, if you like Feist's style)
The Door Within - Wayne Thomas Batson (Yikes. Never again.)
Scions of Shannara - Terry Brooks (See previous TB comment)
Beyond the Stars - Isaac Asimov (The Hugo Winners Anthology)
The Wise Man's Fear - Patrick Rothfuss (Very good. Read the first one first, obviously.)
The Druid of Shannara - Terry Brooks (See prev. TB comment)
The Elf Queen of Shannara - Terry Brooks (Ditto)
The Talismans of Shannara - Terry Brooks (Ditto)
The Winds of Change - Isaac Asimov
Armageddon's Children - Terry Brooks (Very different, very good)
The Edge of the World - Kevin J. Anderson (Interesting slightly political low fantasy)
Alloy of Law - Brandon Sanderson ("Fourth" book in the Mistborn series, quite western-style)
Warbreaker - Brandon Sanderson (Well written, good book)
The Elves of Cintra - Terry Brooks (Continued creativity. Not quite as good as Armageddon's Children)
Nightfall - Isaac Asimov/Robert Silverberg (Silverberg's style clashes horribly with Asimov's)
Dune - Frank Herbert (reread, but last read in ~2010) (Obviously, very good)
Hidden Empire - Kevin J. Anderson (Pretty good political sci-fi)

[Helgoland]

Spoiler: 8/52 (click to show/hide)

1) The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Part 4
2) Lore's Law
3) Gebrauchsanweisung für Japan
4) Going Postal
5) Making Money
6) The Fifth Elephant
7) Pyramids
Leben des Galilei
9) Equal Rites
10) Die Verwandlung (Kafka) (ongoing)
11) Sterntagebücher (Stanislaw Lem) (ongoing)

I might split up these two into two books each - they're compilations, and one could make a nice cut.

[Dutchling]

Lady Chatterly's Lover is truly amazing. If you aren't thinking of reading it right now, just let this quote convince you otherwise:

"Good-night Clifford! Do sleep well! The Racine gets to one like a dream. Good-night!"
She had drifted to the door. She was going without kissing him good-night! He watched her with sharp, cold eyes. So! She did not even kiss him good-night, after he had spent an evening reading to her. Such depths of callouses in her! Even if the kiss was but a formality, it was on such formalities that life depends. She was a bolshevik, really. Her instincts were bolshevistic! He gazed coldly and angry at the door whence she had gone. Anger!

[Vector]

Spoiler: 11/52 (click to show/hide)

Take Joy: A Book for Writers - Jane Yolen
Tao Te Ching - Lao Tzu
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - JK Rowling
The Last Enchantments - Charles Finch
The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana - Umberto Eco
Acknowledgement: Opening to the Grief of Unacceptable Loss - Peter Leech & Zeva Singer
Never Fight with a Pig: A Survival Guide for Entrepreneurs - Peter Thomas
Sociolinguistics: An Introduction to Language and Society - Peter Trudgill
Juniper, Rosemary, and Gentian - Pamela Dean
Du Fu: A life in poetry - David Young
20 Teachable Virtues - Barbara Unell and Jerry Wyckoff

Du Fu is actually pretty fucking amazing.

Lady Chatterly's Lover is truly amazing. If you aren't thinking of reading it right now, just let this quote convince you otherwise:

"Good-night Clifford! Do sleep well! The Racine gets to one like a dream. Good-night!"
She had drifted to the door. She was going without kissing him good-night! He watched her with sharp, cold eyes. So! She did not even kiss him good-night, after he had spent an evening reading to her. Such depths of callouses in her! Even if the kiss was but a formality, it was on such formalities that life depends. She was a bolshevik, really. Her instincts were bolshevistic! He gazed coldly and angry at the door whence she had gone. Anger!

Oh mannnn.  I have a copy right here staring me in the face.  That one can be next after this horrible change-of-millenium fantasy disaster porn.

[lemon10]

Ok, time for some reviews on all of this stuff (from the beginning).

I'm starting at #2, since I already reviewed Bridge of Birds a few posts ago (which was excellent).

The Crown Tower, Theft of Swords and Rise of Empire (all by Michael Sullivan). All pretty good fantasy books with the same main characters, the second two are part of a trilogy, while the first is a prequel. Solid and easily readable, but not spectacular.

Sabriel is a pretty good as well. A bit young adult, but good despite it. Outside of it being YA, I have no complaints about it.

The Breach and Deep Sky. Excellent science fiction. I heartily recommend the trilogy (which I read in the complete wrong order), my main reasons for liking it are how the universe works and the resolutions of both books of it that I did read only made me like it more.

The Way of Kings. Reread it for like the billionth time. Loved it. My favorite of Sanderson's works so far. If you like Sanderson, you will love it. My only complaint is that apparently its going to be a crazy long series, and the second book has only just came out, so if you start now you have a long time to go.

Blood Song, Siren Song, The Isis Collar. Standard urban fantasy with strong sexualized female main character. Fairly good. Not amazing, and it didn't really click with me either.

The Night Circus. I liked the book, and really liked the magic. For the most part it wasn't particularly distinct from other fantasy books. With one exception: The titular Night Circus just stayed in my imagination. The entire concept and its description was amazing and lasting. I would recommend it for the parts about the circus alone.

The Dragon's Path, The King's Blood. Good high fantasy. Written well, good story, good pacing, heavily developed characters. My main complaint is that so far I really don't like quite a few of the main (non-villain) characters. The complaint isn't really fair though because I don't think we are really meant to like all of them. My favorite part about it is the world, which is quite inventive and rather unique in a few respects.

Un Lun Dun. Like everything else China Miéville has done, this book is endlessly inventive. Unlike most everything he has done however it is easily read, and by far his simplest book with by far the simplest prose he has used. This does not detract from the story or the quality of the writing however. The story starts pretty simple and standard (the fated hero going to defeat the malevolent evil), but after a quick detour veers sharply from the more traditional path that many authors would use. 10/10

King Rat. Another work by China Miéville. Another amazing book. Far darker then Un Lun Dun, and despite both being fantasy, they feel like they are from completely different genres. It's prose is slightly more complex, but compared to some of his far more difficult books easy to read. I lack the skill to properly express how much I love Miéville's works, suffice it to say that I loved this book as well.

Spoiler: 16/52 (click to show/hide)

#1 Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
#2 The Crown Tower by Michael Sullivan
#3 Sabriel by Garth Nix
#4 Deep Sky by Patrick Lee
#5 The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson
#6 Blood Song by Cat Adams
#7 The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
#8 The Dragon's Path by Daniel Abraham
#9 Un Lun Dun by China Miéville
#10 Red Rising by Pierce Brown
#11 The King's Blood by Daniel Abraham
#12 Theft of Swords by Michael Sullivan
#13 Siren Song by Cat Adams
#14 The Isis Collar by Cat Adams
#15 King Rat by China Miéville
#16 The Breach by Patrick Lee
#17 Rise of Empire by Michael Sullivan

[Helgoland]

Spoiler: 12/52 (click to show/hide)

1) The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, Part 4
2) Lore's Law
3) Gebrauchsanweisung für Japan
4) Going Postal
5) Making Money
6) The Fifth Elephant
7) Pyramids
Leben des Galilei
9) Equal Rites
10) Sterntagebücher
11) Strafen (Kafka)
12) Ein Landarzt (Kafka) (ongoing)

11) and 12) are actually inside the same book, but 12) and parts of 11) were initially published seperately.

[Gentlefish]

I think I might try this.

Spoiler: 3/52 (click to show/hide)

Year Zero, Rob Reid.

At the Mountains of Madness and other horrific tales, HP Lovecraft.

Waking Up Screaming, HP Lovecraft.

This could be lots of fun.

[notquitethere]

Hey lemon10, Railsea and The City & The City were two of the best books I read last year. Which Miéville should I read next?

[lemon10]

I haven't actually read Railsea yet, although I have read everything else of his. And going from just one book, its pretty hard to recommend what you should read.

I personally loved all of his Bas-Lag novels (Perdido Street Station, The Scar and Iron Council). Order is pretty irrelevant for them since they only take place in the same universe, although unless their is a reason you can't I would start with Perdido Street Station. The worldbuilding in them is amazing, and is some of the best I have ever encountered.

Embassytown is good, but I personally found it the hardest thing that he's written to read. It might have just been me zoning out at the time or something, but personally I found the prose extremely dense and difficult.

Kraken was good as well, but I didn't really find it to be to my tastes as much as his other works.

As for King Rat and Un Lun Dun, those were covered in my previous post.

Completely unscientifically (and with almost no real basis) this is my suggestion order: Un Lun Dun (great work, and like Railsea is YA. Unlike most YA books, does not suffer for being YA, nor is it dumbed down), Bas-Lag (starting with Perdido, all great works in an inventive setting), King Rat, Kraken, Embassytown (You might find it easier to read then I did, in which case is should be moved up a few places).

EDIT: I am actually going to have to move Perdido up to first. It has been a long time since I read it, but it is an amazing book.