|
Post by Aedh on Jan 9, 2011 12:35:43 GMT -5
Have been reading the "Word And Void" books by Terry Brooks, starting with "Running With The Demon" and moving on to "A Knight Of The Word." Good reads generally, and thoughtfully plotted and written with good emotional insight, though Mr Brooks, like most modern writers, tends to be unnecessarily verbose at times. Still, I like them enough to be moving on to "Angel Fire East" after I finish my current project.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Jan 11, 2011 20:51:47 GMT -5
My current project, mentioned above, is "Shadowplay" by John Milne. A very good, very gritty, hard-hitting London-set PI mystery that stands up to any of the classic American products in the genre, and surpasses many of them, I think.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Feb 15, 2011 14:09:39 GMT -5
Am now reading "The Dream Wall" by Graham Dunstan Martin. Published in 1987 but envisioning a future set in the year 2116 (the year of "Queen City, oddly enough). Britain has fallen to a Communist/Irish revolution in which the oppressed working classes have to wear cardboard shoes and queue in line for hours for a few miserable sausages made out of sawdust while the Party lords it over them, led by men with names like Boris Clegg-Molotov and Lenin O'Toole, who spend all their time intriguing, boozing, and whoring, while preaching the gospel of workers' progress. A piece of high literature it is not, but a quirky, cranky, and entertaining little read it is.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Feb 20, 2011 12:10:15 GMT -5
PS to the above: I highly commend "The Dream Wall" to the attention of comrade Cleric invisiblescientist.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Apr 9, 2011 8:03:34 GMT -5
Had a go at reading a British bestseller of some years ago, "Credo" by Melvyn Bragg. Not bad, but not really my kind a' read ... though fans of Robert Jordan and/or Diana Gabaldon might like it. Instead, against the day when I feel like another fix of Ancient British Isles, I have acquired a copy of "Storm Over Ulster" by Kenneth Flint, a novelistic retelling of the ancient "Tain bo Culainge," the earlist and best of the medieval Irish sagas.
Instead, at Mira's urging, I have begun "The Many Coloured-Land," by Julian May, the first book in the "Saga Of Pliocene Exile" tetralogy. Very good, very creative and well-done so far, though the books can be hard to obtain ... like anything old and good.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Apr 17, 2011 19:16:56 GMT -5
Driving on with Julian May's "The Many-Coloured Land," and plan to continue the series. Very well-imagined and vivid, and--a most unlikely expectation, but true--combining a prehistoric setting with science-fiction AND doing it well, with vivid, well-imagined characters to boot. A solid recommend.
|
|
|
Post by clericjay on Dec 29, 2011 16:07:07 GMT -5
After I spent a month of this years summer in an internship with another company in Wales I started to get interested in the history and culture of this small (often forgotten from the rest of the world) country and people, who are indeed something worth to be discovered. So I had to stumble over the very moving and thrilling biography of Wales mightiest and maybe most honorable ruler Llewelyn II, the Last prince of Wales (1223-1282) and his struggle for recognition and independence from the English and sometimes with and sometimes against his most loved brother David. The German Wikipedia article is somehow better, but the English also provides a short overview: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Llywelyn_the_LastAnyway his biography seemed very unusual, interesting and dramatic to me, so I asked and got a collection of the four volumed novel about his life from Ellis Peters for my birthday. It's called "Brothers of Gwynedd". I got the English version, which is surprisingly readable even though the expression used match the time it plays pretty much. I'm half way through and gained a larger knowledge on English vocabulary and the best insight into medieval relationships, morals and politics possible. It really draw me into the time and I'm very much into medieval topics these days, discovering the era for me for pretty much the first time, as our history courses in school jumped over this topic almost completely, going from Charles the great (8/9th century) directly to Luther and the reformation (16th century). As if nothing interesting happened during these 700 years... However I can deeply recommend the title to everyone not scared of longer stories, because it's entertaining as well as informative by providing interested insights into that time. It can be ordered at Amazon, if someone's interested: www.amazon.com/Brothers-Gwynedd-Quartet-Edith-Pargeter/dp/0747232679/ref=sr_1_sc_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1325191922&sr=8-3-spell
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Apr 3, 2012 19:44:57 GMT -5
Have once again started "The Glass Books Of The Dream Eaters" by Gordon Dahlquist. I tried reading it several years ago and gave up, defeated. Now that I have some idea of what it's about it is not quite so baffling, but it is not much less tiring to read. Still, I shall stick with it for a while.
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Jul 6, 2012 14:29:49 GMT -5
Have been reading "Mercy" by Jussi Adler-Olsen, not a murder mystery but about a cold missing-persons case which lands in the lap of Carl Moerck, a depressed Danish detective with a bullet hole in his head, and Assad, his Syrian sidekick. Fascinating! Highly recommended!
|
|
|
Post by Aedh on Aug 7, 2012 11:15:42 GMT -5
Reading "The Long Ships" by Frans Bengtsson, a saga of the Viking age. Very good, recommended for all Vikings and Vikingellas!
|
|