Books I've read of late ...

[Nathan Caroland]

Well as most of you probably know, I'm a HUGE fan of books. Read them all the time, particularly on breaks at work as that's pretty much the only place I get time to devour one as otherwise, wife, kids, life and Wyrd get in the way.

I used to be a huge fantasy reader and that is all I would read. Then it got to the point where every story was practically the same and more to the point, I was getting tired of hobbits and the like, though never of magic. My tastes have also gotten a bit darker and a touch more sci-fi I think.

So, these are what I've been reading of late:

Touch the Dark by Karen Chance. A great book and one that I would recommend you pick up. Basically, the woman is able to see/speak/somewhat control spiirits and the Vampire Council wants her working for them as there is a large and very bloody secret war being touched off. Has a different take on a few things, is set in the modern world and overall was enjoyable and I'm looking forward to the next release in April of next year called 'Claimed by Shadow'.

Moon Called by Patricia Briggs. Okay, I admit it, I bought this one soley on the cover and really encourage companies out there to pay the right money to get good artwork on the covers that snatches a persons attention. Regardless, this was another fun read. Essentially about a Skinwalker (that's her) that can turn into a Coyote and she's caught right smack in the middle of Werewolf politics. I liked it, and again, a new take on an old topic and set in the modern world which appeals to me. Not sure if she will do another novel in this series, but I certainly hope so.

A Fistful of Charms by Kim Harrison. I CANNOT get enough of this series and really hope that it just keeps churning along at full steam. Essentially its following the adventures/misadventures of a spunky red haired Witch with a Vampire and a Pixie for a partner in a detective agency, with a Werewolf that she's signed on with to be part of his 'pack' for the insurance break and ... well, its just a damn good series. Read the first three of this one and then get into this fourth one. Good, good, good stuff and I expect there will be a follow up.

Web Mage by Kelly McCullough. I bought this one on a whim and I'm damn pleased I did. Takes the Fates, Furies, Order, Chaos and magic of the greek myths and brings it into todays 'modern' world where spells are done through webgoblins and trolls, coding viruses can trigger spells and I know I'm not doing it justice in the least bit, but simply to say, it really takes an old idea and twists the living hell out of it and that makes it all the much more enjoyable for me. Pick it up, read it. And please oh please more of this type of book.

Dead Beat by Jim Butcher. If you've never read any of the Dresden File series, you are seriously missing out and I would say run out and pick up all seven paperbacks right now - there is actually an eighth out and a ninth coming in April of next year, but I have a hard time paying for hardback books. Anyhow, damn good series, again, set in the modern world, and this one finds Dresden having to cope with a fallen demon mark, learning to cope with it and even use it to his peril, and fighting off a quartet of really nasty necromancers. Good, good, good stuff.

Operation Vampyr by David Bishop. Well, let me just say don't waste your money on this one. I almost picked up the whole series in one swoop when I saw it as I'm prone to do that, but I stopped at the last moment and I'm glad I did. If you want this one, give me postage and its yours. Very amatuer writting here. Don't get me wrong, way better than what I could do I expect, but everything was very predictable and in a way, slightly campy and it just didn't appeal to me. Basically its set in 1940ish something with Hitler attacking Russia and Vampires helping out. Really, not worth the trouble and can't say more about it.

Weather Warden Series by Rachel Caine. I actually have read all four of these books here, though I'm just showing the one picture of the last one out, though the latest, Firestorm, comes out next month. Fantastic series, once again set in the modern world (trend here?) where there are individuals that can control the weather, earth, air, fire ...come to think of it, I don't think there is a water witch of any type in there .. hrmm. Anyhow, a really good series that starts out just a touch confusing and aggrivating, but once you make it through half the book, you forget that, and even then, it might have just been me as I more or less 'knew' what happened, just wanted to hear it so to speak. Anyhow, four books, fifth coming out, follows the trail of a Weather Warden that seems to have all the cards against her and she usually manages to come out of it, though not in good ways at times. Book features Djinn heavily, and in a cool way.

I know there are a few more that I've read as I've got them laying about somewhere, but I can't quite find them right now. Needless to say, if your in the mood for some new books, have at and enjoy. Books that I've got in my Amazon shopping cart right now and am looking forward to getting are: Firestorm, Glass Houses: The Morganville Vampires, Bloodring, The Awakening: A Vampire Huntress Legend, Minion: A Vampire Huntress Legend, Staying Dead, Thunderbird Falls, Urban Shaman, Carpe Demon: The Adventures of a Demon Hunting Soccor Mom, My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, A Walk on the Nightside, Hell to Pay, Haunted, Industrial Magic: Women of the Otherworld.

[supervike]

I have Operation Vampyr as well....Although I've never made it past page four.

I am still muddling my way throught some HP Lovecraft, and now I am into a biography of Ghengis Khan....But I need to give those Dresden Files a try....Its not the first time I noticed them mentioned, and it sounds like something I would completly enjoy.

Did anyone ever read AMERICAN GODS by Niel Gaiman. I'd be interested in other opinions of it. Very interesting and strange read, unlike anything I have read in the past.

[Ritual]

Yep, I've read "American Gods"! Great book, but Neil Gaiman seldom disappoints... If you get the chance, pick up his latest book "Anansi Boys". I think I liked that one even more...

[supervike]

Yep, I got Anansi Boys staring right at me here....Just haven't had a time to read it yet....Maybe I should stay off these damn forums!! LOL

[Malebolgia]

I have almost finished the first part of the Lovecraft Omnibus (At the Mountains of Madness). At the moment I am reading one of the coolest books ever...the complete Chronicles of Conan the Cimerian...1000 pages of Conan coolness. Not much depth and character building, but the greatest pulp around and great stuff when travelling 2 hours by train

[Drake Farstrider]

I haven't read much of anything of late. I think I have gotten burned out on Fantasy. I picked up a HP Lovercraft novel about a mouth ago, started reading the Dream-quest of Unkown Kadath, but have not gotten very far. My biggest problem is that I am a slooooooooow reader.

My reading tastes mainly lie in the fantasy genre, but i am willing to branch out a little. Any suggestions?

[Ritual]

I've recently started re-reading Katherine Kerr's Deverry series, which is one of the few Fantasy soap operas (i.e. neverending book series) I've enjoyed. I think there's a total of 12 books released and I believe she has a copuple more coming before the series ends (or will it?). Pretty good stuff! I like her take on magic.

[Nathan Caroland]

Drake, take a look at the list of stuff above that I've mentioned, or in some of my other book threads. I was a fantasy only reader up until a year or so ago and when I branched out and looked for other books because I was getting bored I found a whole load of stuff that I really enjoyed. Pick up 'Web Mage' and I'm willing to bet you will like it quite a bit.

Anders ... why does that Deverry sound familiar? Refresher on the magic take on it please?

[Ritual]

Magic in her world is mostly about elements. The world consists of several planes where the elemental forces resides on a higher plane than the physical. Most magic is done either by having the aid of lesser elemental spirits that pop in and out of existance in the physical plane. Bigger magic is done with the aid of the elemental lords. The practitioners of the Light can get the aid of the elemental forces simply by asking, whereas evil magicians has to trap and mutilate elemental spirits to do their bidding. The evil magicians can draw power from a chaotic plane that otherwise have no impact on the physical.

[Nathan Caroland]

Alrighty - completely different from what I was thinking about and now written down on my 'look up' list to to give a try. Thanks Anders.

[Ritual]

It just ocurred to me that I should have mentioned that Wyrd is a very central theme in that series!

[Duende]

My all-time favorite is a combination sci-fi/fantasy titled Black Sun Rising by C.S. Friedman. It's the first novel in her Coldfire trilogy but the best one of all three.

Here's hodgepodge of editorial reviews which I think best sums up the book:

Over a millennium ago, Erna, a seismically active yet beautiful world was settled by colonists from far-distant Earth. But the seemingly habitable planet was fraught with perils no one could have foretold, and the colonists found themselves caught in a desperate battle for survival against the fae, this terrifying force, much like magic, has the power to prey upon the human mind, drawing forth a person's worst nightmare images or most treasured dreams and indiscriminately giving them life.

This is the story of two men: one, a warrior priest ready to sacrifice anything and everything for the cause of humanity's progress; the other, a sorcerer who has survived for countless centuries by a total submission to evil. They are absolute enemies who must unite to conquer an evil greater than anything their world has ever known.

Friedman has produced a splendid hybrid of sf and fantasy in this first volume of a trilogy. Hauntingly memorable protagonists, high drama, and vivid world-building mark the beginning of what promises to be a magnum opus of the imagination. A priority purchase for fantasy or sf collections.

What I really liked most about these books, not just only the well-developed characters and storyline, was the questioning within about what makes good and evil. There's a large gray area between the two, and how do you know when you've gone too far? The interaction between the two main character are really what make the novel in my opinion.