Currently Reading

[Stormbringer]

Lion of Macedon was brilliant, the second one was so shit I gave up half way. Never looked back.

Lion of Macedon was definitely the best book in that whole series. A proper novel with characters you actually cared about.

[Gibby]

FINALLY!

Finally I have finished Bloodstone by David Gemmell, and thus also finished the Jerusalem Man trilogy and the larger Stones of Power series that began (chronologically speaking, not in publication order) with Lion of Macedon.

Well, my goodness, but that was an incredibly boring, utterly tedious, poorly written trilogy with dull characters, dull events and a dull, overly convoluted, and ultimately unsatisfying plot. Based on these seven books I've read over the past few months, I honestly can't believe David Gemmell gets the praise he does. Then again, I've not read either the Drenai or Rigante series yet, which are usually the ones that he is praised for. I would like to read those, and I will eventually, but after "Jerusalem Man" I think I need to take a break from Gemmell. HONESTLY! I can't BELIEVE this drivel got published!

Yikes! I remember really liking the first two books, but I never did get the third. I really can't trust past-Gibby's tastes in books though so perhaps they were a bit shit. I did start re-reading a load of Gemmell earlier this year. I read Morningstar, Dark Moon and Winter Warriors in short order and I will concede that Gemmell's books are all very much the same. I still find them mostly compelling and full of energy but I've since read better works by better authors. The thing for me with Gemmell is he is the author who got me into reading books for leisure, and thus his works hold a special place in my heart.

[Gibby]

As for the topic of the thread, I finished The Cruel Sea the other day. What a magnificent book it was. Thanks to The Jackal for the recommendation!

[Snowy]

As for the topic of the thread, I finished The Cruel Seas the other day. What a magnificent book it was. Thanks to The Jackal for the recommendation!

Good enough for me - bought.

Incidentally the book I referenced a few pages back, Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft proved a brilliant read. Take a look at the link, if it tickles your fancy, I wholeheartedly recommend both the first and second books in the series (book 3 is a work in progress due next year).

[Gibby]

I hope you bought The Cruel Sea, and not as I wrote late last night "The Cruel Seas" (although I don't think that's a thing). I hope also you enjoy it as much as I did!

[The Jackal]

As for the topic of the thread, I finished The Cruel Seas the other day. What a magnificent book it was. Thanks to The Jackal for the recommendation!

Good enough for me - bought.

*waves*

You know it makes sense.

[Stormbringer]

As mentioned on the previous page, I am now reading the first book in Stephen R. Lawhead's Celtic Crusades trilogy, The Iron Lance.

I just started the third chapter and thus far it is really excellent. It is so nice to be back in a good book after reading three terribly dull ones.

Here is the synopsis:


In the year 1095, Pope Urban II declared war on the infidel. Kings, princes, and lords throughout Europe have joined the Crusade. To Murdo Ranulfson has fallen the duty of guarding his family's interests while his father and brothers fight to win Jerusalem. But when corrupt clergy prove enemies rather than protectors, Murdo must leave his native Scotland in search of his father. In the company of monks and warriors, he journeys far beyond the rolling fields of home, beyond the fabled Constantinople and the brooding walls of Antioch, to the Holy Land and the sword points of the Saracens. There, where blood, suffering, and human evil at its most horrifying are shot through with rays of the miraculous, he obtains the relic that will guide his life and the lives of his descendants for centuries. And there he grows from a callow youth to a man, trading cynicism for faith and selfishness for the heart of a leader. Steeped in heroism, treachery, and the clamor of battle, The Iron Lance begins a remarkable, masterfully woven epic trilogy of a Scottish noble family fighting for its existence and its faith during the age of the Great Crusades -- and of a secret society that will shape history for a thousand years.

Mighty good stuff!

[Maturin]

Time for more Lord of the Rings chatter. ¬_¬

Currently reading Return of the King. I had totally forgotten about Prince Imrahil.



He basically takes charge of the battle of the Pelennor Fields and is possibly the most bad-ass character in the book; he achieves so much.

He rescues Faramir from the Southrons, leads the rearguard against the overwhelming invasion and then carries him wounded into the city, then takes over as leader of the city while Gandalf is otherwise indisposed. He is the only one to notice Eowyn isn't completely dead, thus saving her life. He then rides out with his Swan Knights and lays waste to hordes of enemies until Aragorn arrives.

He's also the first to suggest Aragorn may have the healing ability to save Faramir, Eowyn and Meriadoc, forcing Aragorn to enter the city.

We don't have any great backstory to him (at least not in the main story) but he's probably my favourite character in the books. He just rolls up from Dol Amroth and gets shit sorted.

[Sly Boots]

I don't remember him at all

[Wrathbone]

Yeah, I'd forgotten about him until my recent re-read. The best thing about him is that he never gets pissy about being really, seriously useful and effective without getting any of the fawning attention that Aragorn and Gandalf get. He's ridiculously upbeat, literally laughing at the fact they're all going to die by marching on the Black Gate.

Top guy. Would have a beer with him.

[Maturin]

Also, I was taken aback at how emotional I felt reading those two chapters - 'Battle of the Pelennor Fields' and 'The Houses of Healing' - there's such an incredible sense of these events being the end times and these people throwing their lives away in a small hope to save the world they live in.

It's truly a work of genius. Endless fantasy books I read, even when well-written and having depth, rarely get anywhere close to involving me to this extent. Perhaps it's because I'm older now and it makes me think on things a bit more than it used to.

[Wrathbone]

Completely agreed. I enjoyed LOTR when I read it as a teenager, whereas I loved the films. I still love the films, but after this re-read I appreciate the book in a much deeper way. It's a true masterpiece. The thing that clicked with me most while reading it this time (and also The Hobbit) was the idea that Tolkien was the last in a long line of writers who, over the centuries, re-told and amended and added to the story first laid down in the Red Book of Westmarch by Bilbo, Frodo and Sam. The different narrative voices become more apparent when you think of it in those terms, and it shows that stories are not meant to be static. They're meant to be re-told.

[The Jackal]

I happened to be finishing the trilogy at the same time I was in some medical incarceration. I have a hard time re-reading ROTK as a result, and it's an emotional and heavy-tone volume on its own FFS.

Anyway, I finished Silmarillion and am now reading Day Of The Triffids, by John Wyndham. I'm only two chapters in so far (busy week - I'm moving on Saturday) but the opener is cleeeeaaaarrrrlllyyyyy what influenced 28 Days Later, and if anyone denied it I would sue in Wyndham's name.

[The Jackal]

Finished that, loved it, onto The Kraken Wakes now. Possibly enjoying it even more since I have no idea where it's meant to be going.

[Achtung Englander]

The first line of The Day Of The Triffids is an instant chiller: “When a day that you happen to know is Wednesday starts off by sounding like Sunday, there is something seriously wrong somewhere.”

The BBC adaptation scared the willies out of me. I was 9 when it aired and the opening credits still haunts me (not as much as the 1984 TV film Threads - holy shit that was scary as fuck. Still the only film that till this day scares the bejusus out of me)