Brownie
Player Valuation: £70m
Thanks. I've read most of the Vespasian ones and burned out a bit on them. The Conn Iggulden series looks cool though, might give that a go.
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The GOT Book Club
- Thread starter chicoazul
- Start date
Thanks. I've read most of the Vespasian ones and burned out a bit on them. The Conn Iggulden series looks cool though, might give that a go.
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
I read this at the weekend - exceptional book, loved it. Will read Jonathan Strange now.
Was a tiny bit disappointed that such a fantastic, mysterious setting ended up playing out in a conventional story-telling way, but I guess it shows discipline as a writer to wrap things up like that.
Bishop Thumpety-Thump
Player Valuation: £15m
His Warlord trilogy is a work of art imho. Mrs Thumpety-Thump loves the Last Kingdom series more, but I reckon his Arthur books are better than anything else he's written.
I love the Sharpe novels too, spent a month in India years ago visiting some of the battlefields mentioned in the early books.
Currently around half-way through this.
Haven't read a great deal of fiction lately, but fancied something a little less taxing to read on my workday breaks.
The story begins with a man waking from a coma on a spacecraft with no memory of who he is, where he is or why he's there and soon finds that the rest of the crew are dead.
I'll say no more as it's one of those books that's built around intrigue and mystery and you find out snippets of the story throughout as the character has flashbacks to the events leading up to his current predicament. It's had me hooked from the first chapter.
It's written by the same guy behind 'The Martian' and has a fair few similarities. Hard-Sci-fi outer space hi-jinks with plenty of wisecrack humour, although it does a few sudden twists and turns more than The Martian does.
Enjoying it so far any way
Anything by Conn Iggulden is good
Jack Whyte also has a couple of good historical series. There's a post-Rome Britain Arthur series, Robert The Bruce, The Templars, The War of The Roses.
Not a series, but a great read: "An instance at the Finger Post" (Iain Pears). About a murder in 17th Century Oxford told from 4 different perspectives.
Also, my former colleague is now a writer (Jenny White) and has written a series of mysteries during the last days of the Ottoman Empire (Kamir Pasha series). The first one is called "A Sultan's Seal." They might interest you.
Neither are medieval though.
random
Player Valuation: £15m
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch
Blurb
They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.
Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves.
Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.
But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.
Not a genre I am normally interested in, however a lot of youtube reviewers crossover between sci-fi and fantasy, so after a bit of poking around and looking at recommendations I decided to give this one a go. I believe it is a debut novel and if so the author has certainly started out well, both the writing and story are very good. The first half of the book alternates between the present story arc and how the hero became the crook/con man he turned into. I am not a big fan of flashbacks but in this book, it works well and helps out with the character development. The final half of the book is building up and concluding the main tale. I would say the first 60% of this book is superb, albeit a little slow. Unfortunately, I think it went downhill after that where violence became more of a thing rather than the sly skullduggery that was a feature at the beginning. However, even with the deterioration of the story, it was still a book I wanted to finish, which for a genre that is not my thing says a lot, as I am not afraid to bin a book off if it doesn't hold my interest. I overlooked some obvious plot holes (to my mind anyway).
Be aware that it is 600 pages long so it will take some time to get through, but I cannot see how it could be edited down any further without spoiling things, in fact, it could have easily had another 100 pages or so to develop other interesting characters.
Reviews
1. A book I couldn’t quite abandon, despite several times feeling the urge. The setup, probably a full quarter of the book, feels smug and contrived and takes forever to actually get anywhere. When, finally, the mysterious Grey King starts to make his presence felt in the (admittedly fascinating) city of Camorr there is a welcome injection of peril that begins to move things along at pace, and almost makes the insufferable setup worthwhile. The final quarter of the book seems to slow down just as it should be charging onwards, but scores are settled, daring escapes made, and intrigues resolved. None of this displeased me, but it’s too long by far, and finishing it was ultimately a chore.
2. I really wanted to like this. But it's just so boring and some of the metaphors/similes used to describe the world just sounded so silly or pretentious and idiotic... The characters are boring, the storyline is boring. What is even happening. It's not what I was expecting seeing as I picked it because it was top-rated in the fantasy genre... I didn't even finish it. I tried so hard to keep picking it up and make an effort but it's just not for me. Absolutely nothing about it made me want to keep reading.
3. The story is about a gang of 5 thieves who go on a heist and with multiple twists and turns as the story unfolds. The protagonist - Locke Lamora is not made thief but he was born to be a thief, he's not interested in the riches or any benefit of it, just the whole charade entices him and his friends. This book personifies friendship like no other book. It's just so wonderfully done and it's almost envious. The characters are developed so beautifully - they aren't perfect, they learn from their mistakes, they become masters at what they do and they are interdependent... You become invested in them and you'll root for them. The story goes on in two ways, one is the present and the other one - it's quite interesting as it's a flashback of sorts which becomes the foundation for the coming chapter, thereby we see character development and understand why a character behaves as he does in the unfolding chapter. It's hard to realize this at first and you might hesitate, as it suddenly goes back to history, but eventually, you'll realize how much these past experiences are useful in the present.
4. The first time I read this book, I wasn't used to fantasy or the kind of complexities that this story and plot tackles. I'm honestly just in awe of the execution of this story. It's a slow start, and it has some jarring moments as far as the pacing goes, but Scott Lynch did something really unique with the storytelling of this book and it's just a brilliant story, with brilliant characters, and I can't wait to continue on in the series.
Agree with some parts of those reviews, but cannot find one that exactly matches what I think about the book
Price
ebook £5 paperback £8.32
Worth a fiver if the story and the above piques your interest. Not sure its worth £8 though.
Number 1 in a series that looks like it will work up to 7 books, the author is churning one out every 5 years so it might be a while before the complete set is out.
I usually make a decision on carrying on a series wholly depending on what I thought about book one without looking at reviews for the next in the series, however in this case I have read reviews on number two and I will be looking out for that book for a future read as it looks fairly decent as well.
It hasn't converted me to be a big fan of the fantasy genre, I am sticking with the series as I like conman/heist stories.
Blurb
They say that the Thorn of Camorr can beat anyone in a fight. They say he steals from the rich and gives to the poor. They say he's part man, part myth, and mostly street-corner rumor. And they are wrong on every count.
Only averagely tall, slender, and god-awful with a sword, Locke Lamora is the fabled Thorn, and the greatest weapons at his disposal are his wit and cunning. He steals from the rich - they're the only ones worth stealing from - but the poor can go steal for themselves. What Locke cons, wheedles and tricks into his possession is strictly for him and his band of fellow con-artists and thieves.
Together their domain is the city of Camorr. Built of Elderglass by a race no-one remembers, it's a city of shifting revels, filthy canals, baroque palaces and crowded cemeteries. Home to Dons, merchants, soldiers, beggars, cripples, and feral children. And to Capa Barsavi, the criminal mastermind who runs the city.
But there are whispers of a challenge to the Capa's power. A challenge from a man no one has ever seen, a man no blade can touch. The Grey King is coming.
Not a genre I am normally interested in, however a lot of youtube reviewers crossover between sci-fi and fantasy, so after a bit of poking around and looking at recommendations I decided to give this one a go. I believe it is a debut novel and if so the author has certainly started out well, both the writing and story are very good. The first half of the book alternates between the present story arc and how the hero became the crook/con man he turned into. I am not a big fan of flashbacks but in this book, it works well and helps out with the character development. The final half of the book is building up and concluding the main tale. I would say the first 60% of this book is superb, albeit a little slow. Unfortunately, I think it went downhill after that where violence became more of a thing rather than the sly skullduggery that was a feature at the beginning. However, even with the deterioration of the story, it was still a book I wanted to finish, which for a genre that is not my thing says a lot, as I am not afraid to bin a book off if it doesn't hold my interest. I overlooked some obvious plot holes (to my mind anyway).
Be aware that it is 600 pages long so it will take some time to get through, but I cannot see how it could be edited down any further without spoiling things, in fact, it could have easily had another 100 pages or so to develop other interesting characters.
Reviews
1. A book I couldn’t quite abandon, despite several times feeling the urge. The setup, probably a full quarter of the book, feels smug and contrived and takes forever to actually get anywhere. When, finally, the mysterious Grey King starts to make his presence felt in the (admittedly fascinating) city of Camorr there is a welcome injection of peril that begins to move things along at pace, and almost makes the insufferable setup worthwhile. The final quarter of the book seems to slow down just as it should be charging onwards, but scores are settled, daring escapes made, and intrigues resolved. None of this displeased me, but it’s too long by far, and finishing it was ultimately a chore.
2. I really wanted to like this. But it's just so boring and some of the metaphors/similes used to describe the world just sounded so silly or pretentious and idiotic... The characters are boring, the storyline is boring. What is even happening. It's not what I was expecting seeing as I picked it because it was top-rated in the fantasy genre... I didn't even finish it. I tried so hard to keep picking it up and make an effort but it's just not for me. Absolutely nothing about it made me want to keep reading.
3. The story is about a gang of 5 thieves who go on a heist and with multiple twists and turns as the story unfolds. The protagonist - Locke Lamora is not made thief but he was born to be a thief, he's not interested in the riches or any benefit of it, just the whole charade entices him and his friends. This book personifies friendship like no other book. It's just so wonderfully done and it's almost envious. The characters are developed so beautifully - they aren't perfect, they learn from their mistakes, they become masters at what they do and they are interdependent... You become invested in them and you'll root for them. The story goes on in two ways, one is the present and the other one - it's quite interesting as it's a flashback of sorts which becomes the foundation for the coming chapter, thereby we see character development and understand why a character behaves as he does in the unfolding chapter. It's hard to realize this at first and you might hesitate, as it suddenly goes back to history, but eventually, you'll realize how much these past experiences are useful in the present.
4. The first time I read this book, I wasn't used to fantasy or the kind of complexities that this story and plot tackles. I'm honestly just in awe of the execution of this story. It's a slow start, and it has some jarring moments as far as the pacing goes, but Scott Lynch did something really unique with the storytelling of this book and it's just a brilliant story, with brilliant characters, and I can't wait to continue on in the series.
Agree with some parts of those reviews, but cannot find one that exactly matches what I think about the book
Price
ebook £5 paperback £8.32
Worth a fiver if the story and the above piques your interest. Not sure its worth £8 though.
Number 1 in a series that looks like it will work up to 7 books, the author is churning one out every 5 years so it might be a while before the complete set is out.
I usually make a decision on carrying on a series wholly depending on what I thought about book one without looking at reviews for the next in the series, however in this case I have read reviews on number two and I will be looking out for that book for a future read as it looks fairly decent as well.
It hasn't converted me to be a big fan of the fantasy genre, I am sticking with the series as I like conman/heist stories.
scratchnsurf
Player Valuation: £40m
A great read but sadly Scott Lynch has had some issues in his personal life and the other books he has managed to complete never quite reach the heights of this one. To be honest, I thought the third one was pretty poor and the series seems to have ground to a halt.
The hearts invisible furies , people name it as their favourite book so I gave it a go. Highly rated in the book club reviews, think I missed it somehow. Well worth a read nevertheless but for me anyway not the earth shattering experience I was led to believe.
700 pages long, it is a very good account of sexuality and the church in Ireland, however the way the author has his main character,an orphan,meeting up with people from his life, or his unknown mother's life ( he must meet her five times not knowing who she is ) just got a little bit tiresome. My opinion anyway. It's critically acclaimed, so don't take my word for it
700 pages long, it is a very good account of sexuality and the church in Ireland, however the way the author has his main character,an orphan,meeting up with people from his life, or his unknown mother's life ( he must meet her five times not knowing who she is ) just got a little bit tiresome. My opinion anyway. It's critically acclaimed, so don't take my word for it
Attachments
random
Player Valuation: £15m
Enders Game by Orson Scott Card
Blurb
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.
This is not a new book to me, I read it a couple of years after it was published in the late 80's. About 6-7 years ago I watched the film adaptation (Harrison Ford). Couldn't remember the book that well at the time, so I couldn't really compare the film to it, the zero G battle training was the main thing I remembered from the film. So as this book is on so many modern top ten Sci-Fi lists I decided to grab the ebook and give it a re-read.
Considering it was written in the mid 80's the story stands up a lot better than the majority of 30-year-old sci-Fi. I think the writing is good and it's an interesting story, especially with the inclusion of his siblings. However, the story arc involving those two gets silly imo and does nothing for the story except make the book longer.
There are parts in it that nowadays would be deemed unacceptable by society's standards. The author has been involved in some controversies, (he is a bit scummy) over the years which I discovered grabbing reviews for this post.
That said, on a 2nd reading, albeit with a gap of 30 years, the book is a lot better than I remembered, I still don't class it as a top book, certainly good but not a top 10, unlike on a lot of peoples lists.
I was a tad worried that I would find it to be more a young adult book, but to be fair it's still a decent read. I would say that if you do read it then do not watch the film adaptation, the book has a lot more substance and you will come away from the film thinking about all the stuff that was left out.
If you haven't read it then it's worth a go, some suspension of belief is required due to some plot holes, and also some parts of it could be construed as offensive (certainly in the edition I read)
Reviews
1. On its surface, it is a great story about a young boy who goes through tremendous struggles. On another level, it is a brilliant psychological character study and an observation of group dynamics. On still another level it was an intelligent allegory for violence and bellicosity in ourselves and our society. There is a listopia list that calls this the best science fiction novel. Mmmmm, maybe. I can see why someone would say so. I have heard where military organizations have assigned this for cadet reading.
2. This has to be, hands down, one of the best science fiction books written. Ender's Game is set in a disarmingly straight forward sci-fi setting: a near-future earth threatened by a hostile alien species with superior technology that seems determined to destroy the human race. The story centers on a young boy who is drafted into an all-consuming military training program at the age of 6. The program he's inducted into seeks to forge a new generation of military commanders out of gifted children
3. 225 pages about a boy playing video games, battling in zero gravity, and learning about how the military works? I can work up some interest for these things, but there has to be some characters I care about. However, how exactly am I supposed to find compassion for a boy who goes from one task to another never failing and always being the best at EVERYTHING, and not because he works hard to achieve his greatness, but because he was genetically engineered to be the best? Where is the conflict and character growth here I wonder?
4. I was shocked when I learned that my English teacher was going to include Ender's Game in the class curriculum. In an Honors level class, it seemed like the predetermined focus were the works of Shakespeare and Homer - not a story about little boys fighting aliens in space. After reading the novel I realized that the book contained some deep themes about society, such as a man's ability to protect himself and individual rights versus social welfare. While it wasn't my favorite book read in school this year, Ender's Game provided an interesting look at an alternate future.
It's not as brilliant as a lot of reviews/lists make out.
Price
ebook £5 paperback £7 - worth it if you haven't read it
This is book one of a series, I will probably swerve the others, this one is enough for me.
Blurb
Andrew "Ender" Wiggin thinks he is playing computer simulated war games; he is, in fact, engaged in something far more desperate. The result of genetic experimentation, Ender may be the military genius Earth desperately needs in a war against an alien enemy seeking to destroy all human life. The only way to find out is to throw Ender into ever harsher training, to chip away and find the diamond inside, or destroy him utterly. Ender Wiggin is six years old when it begins. He will grow up fast.
This is not a new book to me, I read it a couple of years after it was published in the late 80's. About 6-7 years ago I watched the film adaptation (Harrison Ford). Couldn't remember the book that well at the time, so I couldn't really compare the film to it, the zero G battle training was the main thing I remembered from the film. So as this book is on so many modern top ten Sci-Fi lists I decided to grab the ebook and give it a re-read.
Considering it was written in the mid 80's the story stands up a lot better than the majority of 30-year-old sci-Fi. I think the writing is good and it's an interesting story, especially with the inclusion of his siblings. However, the story arc involving those two gets silly imo and does nothing for the story except make the book longer.
There are parts in it that nowadays would be deemed unacceptable by society's standards. The author has been involved in some controversies, (he is a bit scummy) over the years which I discovered grabbing reviews for this post.
That said, on a 2nd reading, albeit with a gap of 30 years, the book is a lot better than I remembered, I still don't class it as a top book, certainly good but not a top 10, unlike on a lot of peoples lists.
I was a tad worried that I would find it to be more a young adult book, but to be fair it's still a decent read. I would say that if you do read it then do not watch the film adaptation, the book has a lot more substance and you will come away from the film thinking about all the stuff that was left out.
If you haven't read it then it's worth a go, some suspension of belief is required due to some plot holes, and also some parts of it could be construed as offensive (certainly in the edition I read)
Reviews
1. On its surface, it is a great story about a young boy who goes through tremendous struggles. On another level, it is a brilliant psychological character study and an observation of group dynamics. On still another level it was an intelligent allegory for violence and bellicosity in ourselves and our society. There is a listopia list that calls this the best science fiction novel. Mmmmm, maybe. I can see why someone would say so. I have heard where military organizations have assigned this for cadet reading.
2. This has to be, hands down, one of the best science fiction books written. Ender's Game is set in a disarmingly straight forward sci-fi setting: a near-future earth threatened by a hostile alien species with superior technology that seems determined to destroy the human race. The story centers on a young boy who is drafted into an all-consuming military training program at the age of 6. The program he's inducted into seeks to forge a new generation of military commanders out of gifted children
3. 225 pages about a boy playing video games, battling in zero gravity, and learning about how the military works? I can work up some interest for these things, but there has to be some characters I care about. However, how exactly am I supposed to find compassion for a boy who goes from one task to another never failing and always being the best at EVERYTHING, and not because he works hard to achieve his greatness, but because he was genetically engineered to be the best? Where is the conflict and character growth here I wonder?
4. I was shocked when I learned that my English teacher was going to include Ender's Game in the class curriculum. In an Honors level class, it seemed like the predetermined focus were the works of Shakespeare and Homer - not a story about little boys fighting aliens in space. After reading the novel I realized that the book contained some deep themes about society, such as a man's ability to protect himself and individual rights versus social welfare. While it wasn't my favorite book read in school this year, Ender's Game provided an interesting look at an alternate future.
It's not as brilliant as a lot of reviews/lists make out.
Price
ebook £5 paperback £7 - worth it if you haven't read it
This is book one of a series, I will probably swerve the others, this one is enough for me.
Black Belt Jones
Player Valuation: £25m
Anyone read Under the Volcano by Malcolm Lowry? An absolute classic by all accounts - like Bukowski but written at a different tier. Think I'll give it a read.
I mention it because I randomly learnt that he was born in New Brighton.
I mention it because I randomly learnt that he was born in New Brighton.
wandyr79
Player Valuation: £25m
Was meaning to go through the Sharpe novels at some time, never read them.
Taking my girlfriend through the TV series though, such a great show.
I agree, loved the Last Kingdom series but the Arthur books are amazing reads.