The Book Thread

[Bedrockbrendan]

Reading Emperor Huizong by Patricia Ebrey. It is a fairly long biography of Emperor Huizong. Very well written, engaging, and informative. It is also based on primary sources and Ebrey's own research; she is one of the most respected Historians of the Song Dynasty (so it is still a serious historical analysis even though it is a biography). So far I really like it (but only 100 pages in). I've always felt that biographies are a good way to get a sense of a historical period. If you are curious at all about what life in the Imperial Palace was like, how the Song state was governed, etc then this is a good inside look. I don't know how her argument will change over the course of the book but Ebrey seems to be more positive toward Huizong than most writers.

EDIT: About half way through and it is quite good. I sometimes feel like her analysis is a bit on the subjective side, at least for my tastes (especially when she talks about the emperor constructing a persona). On the whole though this is a great book.

[rawma]

I read Lev Grossman's The Magicians for a book discussion group. I hated it: utterly whiny and uninteresting main character, very little happens, all the characters seem to regularly forget about what little they've done before.

I was told there were lots of fan friendly allusions, but Grossman is either surprisingly unfamiliar with fantasy literature for a book critic, or he couldn't be bothered to dig any deeper than Narnia, LOTR, Harry Potter and D&D.

And the D&D stuff featured

Spoiler

the most dismal dungeon crawl I can imagine near the end of the book.

[The Butcher]

Just bought Gardens of the Moon (Malazan Book of the Fallen #1) and Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1). What can I expect?

[Rincewind1]

Early Malazan books are awesome, as long as your anus will not clench so hard that blood will spew out of it because someone dared to use another word than drow for dark elves (who, to be fair, also have nothing to do with typical depiction of dark elves). Or about other 100 invented words. First few chapters will be overwhelming, then it's straight course for awesome.

[danbuter]

I'm still reading The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse. It's good, but it is a slow read, at least for me.

I'm also reading Mythbreaker by Stephen Blackmoore. It's an urban fantasy with gods and prophets in the modern world. So far, it's good.

[JeremyR]

I just read Karl Wagner's Bran Mak Morn novel. I don't think any author  came closer to Howard more than he did, and what's more, unlike some of the other pastiche authors, he clearly had a lot of respect for Howard's work.

[tuypo1]

im reading journeys of the great explorers by rosemary burton, richard cavendish and bernard stonehouse. isbn 0 74950501 x

lots of good inspiration in here

[rawma]

People are reading such serious books. I'm enjoying Ready Player One at the moment.

[tuypo1]

oh looks interesting

[danbuter]

I finished The Glass Bead Game by Hesse last night. I liked it, though it is not my favorite of his.

[Kiero]

I've positively raided Project Gutenburg for G.A Henty's historical adventure stories. Having avoided any non-European conflicts, I think I've side-stepped any of the potentially racist/anti-semitic stuff that he's accused of. They're blatant boys' own type stuff, no female characters of any depth, but entertaining enough.

Finished Lion of the North, which is about the Swedish-led phase of the Thirty Years' War, now reading Won By the Sword, about the French-led phase. I've got a good twenty-odd others in my Kindle.

[danbuter]

Finished Mythbreaker. It was pretty good. Not amazing, but if you like urban fantasy, it's worth a read.

[danbuter]

I'm now reading Night Broken by Patricia Briggs. It's part of the Mercy Thompson series, and odds are, I'll love it. This series is one of the best in urban fantasy, at least to me.

[danbuter]

I finished Night Broken today. Very good book. I really like the Mercy Thompson series, and this continues the great quality. Briggs has managed to become my favorite urban fantasy author (though I still love Charles de Lint, but he doesn't publish much anymore that I can find).

[danbuter]

Next up is Cold Days by Jim Butcher. It's part of the Harry Dresden series, and I suspect I will like it. The first couple chapters are certainly pretty good.