NOTES FROM UNDERGROUND

I wanted to start a book review thread. So here goes.

Titus Groan + Gormenghast - Mervyn Peake

Well, I found these too a bit hard to get through. they're quite long and sprawling. Yet, still interesting.
The books are rather like their setting. Huge and rambling with large areas forgotten and empty, but with some great characters.

Vellum - Hal Duncan

I read this a while ago. I have never been so aggravated by a book.
It is recognisably well-written with well-sketched characters but the structure! No flow, all fragmentary and non-linear stuff! I don't mind putting together the threads of a plot like a jigsaw, but not to this degree, Jesus!
The most satisfying part of the book was Reynard Carter's Odyssey through the Vellum. That part at least had a logical flow to it. But it was only interludes between everything else!
Also there was very little resolution of any kind. There is a sequel, Ink, but I doubt I'll read it.

Review a book that you really liked.

alright.

The Liveship Traders Trilogy - Robin Hobb
consists of:
- Ship of Magic
- The Mad Ship
- Ship of Destiny

I like dragons. Dragons are great. Particularly the ones in this trilogy. They have a very interesting life cycle.
I won't divulge any further, cos it's more fun to figure it out in the course of reading the books.

Anyway, Robin Hobb has written 3 related trilogies set in the same world. The first was the Farseer trilogy, also quite worthwhile. The seventh is this one. The third is The Tawny Man, which I am reading currently.

The Farseer books were very much the story of one man, the narrator, Fitz.

These books are much more multi-stranded.

Basically it's the story of the Vestrit family, or least that's how it starts off. (Well, actually, it begins with Kennit the Pirate, but howsoever...)
They're a Trader Family of Bingtown, with a family Liveship named Ophelia. Liveships are living ships, that awaken once 3 successive generations of a family have died aboard them. They are rare and precious.

To list the important characters would be a bit long, each of them has their own important threads running through the story.

I enjoyed these thoroughly though there were times in the third book where I disliked the way some of the characters were going but that shows investment, so yay!

do the living ships eat? what do they do when they wake up?

They don't eat. Generally they are a great help to their family in terms of navigation etc. Plus they can go places other ships can't.

That sounds like a really cool idea. You have to wonder how people stumble across these notions.

drugs.

Lots and Lots of drugs.

Take me on a trip upon your magic swirling ship
My senses have been stripped
My hands can't feel to grip
My toes too numb to step
Wait only for my boot-heels to be wandering
I'm ready to go anywhere, I'm ready for to fade
Into my own parade
Cast your dancing spell my way, I promise to go under it

*̡͌l̡*̡̡ ̴̡ı̴̴̡ ̡̡͡|̲̲̲͡͡͡ ̲▫̲͡ ̲̲̲͡͡π̲̲͡͡ ̲̲͡▫̲̲͡͡ ̲|̡̡̡ ̡ ̴̡ı̴̡̡

(`･ω･´)

I started reading Hyperion recently.

Science Fiction novel from a series of three or four. Its surprisingly good, i tend not to like a lot of pure fantasy or sci fi books coz they can just make anything up and thats that. His Dark Materials and the Abhorsen series are about as far as I go. (And LOTR, obviously, but thats just our world warped a bit =P)

Anyway, Hyperion. Its done like the Canterbury Tales. Several stories, told by different people, the priest being the first. I didn't like the seventh story, and its put me off reading further since I have other things to read, but the first story is epic. I'd recommend it to anyone.

Its about a priest who goes to track down a legendary race called the Bikura and what he discovers when he finds them.

I'd highly rate the book thus far even if I didn't like the seventh story. The seventh story, for all you men, is full of sex.

So yeah.

Naomi Novik's Temeraire series is very good. More Dragons! It's set in the early 1800's and it's the Napoleonic Wars - only with Dragons!

Alternate history fantasy.

The best alternative history fantasy ever is not in the form of a but but a games series - Shadow Hearts.

A god being 'born' caused the fire in Shanghai back in whatever year, just before 1900, and Rasputin was actually possessed. What more could you want?

did you say full of sex ??!! omg. i'm totally in.