I will start the new thread for the month.

I am reading Jhegaala by Steven Brust, in the Vlad Taltos series.

The Mad Ship by Robin Hobb.
Just a query - is the new Robin Hobb book worth a look?

Just finished Whiskey and Water by Elizabeth Bear, now starting Låt den rätte komma in; hopefully I'll manage to finish The Mirador by Sarah Monette, 1610 by Mary Gentle and Sky of Swords by Dave Duncan too.

I've started Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater. I was really excited and rushed to get it when it came out because I thought the premise sounded interesting. But now I'm regretting not waiting for it to come out in paperback. It keeps jumping POV's between chapters, and the chapters in the beginning are mostly two pages long. I just can't seem to get into it.

Currently drowning in course reading. The Romance of the Rose at the moment.

Two fantasy books this month: Donaldson's Fatal Revenant and Lynch's The Lies of Locke Lamora. The first volume of Donaldson's "Last Chronicles of Thomas Covenant" left me a little dry, but I loved his earlier Covenant books so much I couldn't give up on them. The Lynch book comes so highly recommended that I'm very excited to read it.

Finished up Mort a couple days ago and have shifted away from Discworld to read Blood of Elves by Andrzej Sapkowski (though I have least one more Pratchett book in my TBR pile). I enjoyed the game and the first book, The Last Wish, so I'm looking forward to this book.

I'm reading Elizabeth Hand's first short story collection Last Summer at Mars Hill, and Michael Swanwick's novel The Iron Dragon's Daughter. The latter may turn out to be science fiction rather than fantasy, or maybe non-classifiable. Good stuff though!

I just finished the Warded Man (also called the Painted Man) and am I'm now working on getting through Acacia, by David Anthony Durham, which I started awhile ago but keep interrupting in order to read other books.

I have finished reading Soul Eater and Outcast, and decided to start Holes by Louis Sachar only to realize that I had already read that one but in Portuguese. That was the push I needed to start really putting all my books into LT.

Now I am reading Voices by Ursula K. Le Guin.

I'm about halfway through To Charles Fort, With Love by Caitlin R. Kiernan right now, and almost done with the third of Dean Koontz's Frankenstein books.

I finished reading Returning My Sister's Face, a collection of short stories by Eugie Foster. Her stories have very strong Far East flavors and are often retellings of Chinese and Japanese folktales. I really enjoyed it.

I caved & started A Game of Thrones by George R R Martin... I was gonna wait until the whole series is finished, but I couldn't decide what to read & there have been discussions (on annother forum I visit) about a TV series based on the books & I wanted to read the books before I watch the TV series. Enjoying it so far, tho it is complex allready, lots of characters to keep track of & remember who fits with who etc...

Seanie:

Oh gods, I love the series. And yes, they begin filming next month in Ireland. There's a great blog about it all, but I'd avoid it until I read at least some of the books, as there are a lot of spoilers especially for the beginnings.

OTOH, they are following the casting closely and doing some fabulous fan art based on them:
http://winter-is-coming.blogspot.com/

I'm a couple chapters into From Dream to Dream by Arlene Golds. Really different so far.

Just finished Firebirds Soaring, the latest in a cool short-story anthology series from the YA publisher, Firebird.

Kinda waffling over my next read. Either Midnight Tides (Erikson) or Forest Mage (Hobb).

I have just started Lamb by Christopher Moore, certainly an irreverent satire - but fantasy? Well it does come out of the fantastic mind of Christopher Moore:)

Coming up next is The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman.

fevre dream which for some reason I'd thought was short stories. It isn't. It's vampires on the Mississippi.

I finished The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau a couple of weeks ago and started Shadowmarch by Tad Williams last weekend.

Also (#6) finally getting around to reading The Lies of Locke Lamora. So far, it's living up to the hype.

Still working on Gormenghast from last month. Slow going. I love reading about Steerpike and Dr Prunesqallor (and Mr Flay, for that matter), but every time the narrative turns to Titus and/or "the Thing", I suddenly lose my motivation.

Also browsing through The New Space Opera 2 during lunch at work.

Message edited by its author, Sep 10, 2009, 6:02pm.

#20 -->

I agree with your evaluation of Gormenghast. I read the book based on rave reviews but found it ponderous. An interesting idea, but I'm not sure it stands up well as an entire book. Anyone out there read the other books?

#19> Well, I've been reading the trilogy omnibus. Titus Groan was enjoyable. It didn't seem to drag nearly as much as Gormenghast; basically the only character I dreaded reading about was Keda.

I love Peake's prose and his sense of humor, and his characters are very memorable. And the plot, when it's there, is enjoyable.

Just finished Catching Fire. It's good, but I still wish Suzanne Collins had wrapped it all up in the first volume, though I recognize the economics of the YA fantasy market today require a trilogy, series, or whatever. Frankly, I caught the twist in Catching Fire several pages before it actually happened (well, the main twist that starts everything rolling, but I don't want to say anything more to avoid SPOILER).

I'm reading Mark Chadbourn's World's End which I am enjoying more than I expected to.
Also have to decide what to take with me on a short break to Oxford next week - perhaps it should be Inspector Morse!

Just started in on The Curse of the Mistwraith by Janny Wurts. I loved her collaboration with Raymond E. Feist for the Empire trilogy so wanted to rectify the oversight of never having read any of her solo efforts.

You won't be disappointed, AHS-Wolfy. Her Wars of Light and Shadow is one of the best (and consistently so) series in fantasy I have read. I can't recommend it strong enough.

I just started A Game of Thrones . This is my second attempt to get into the series and George R. R. Martin. It ought to be prefect for me - fantasy, long books, and a long(ish) series. But I just can't seem to get into it. The first part is just as extraordinarily boring as I remember it, and I am worried that later on it will be just as weird as I remember (humans suddenly laying dragon eggs, etc).

I am really trying and I will get through the whole thing somehow (I got through The Path of Daggers, which is about as boring (but at least the ones before and after where better)), but I don't know if this will work out. We'll see.

Other than that, I just finished Witches Abroad. I think that leaves my Discworld reading list at Moving Pictures, the ancillary books (Science of Discworld, etc) and any more Mr. Pratchett get to write.

>23

I actually liked Catching Fire more than Hunger Games. To me it seemed like in the first book, until the very end, Katniss didn't need to make any hard choices (e.g., tributes who were her allies tended mostly to be killed off by other people before she had to think about killing them) and her acts of rebellion were largely symbolic. In Catching Fire the stakes get much higher and real rebellion is spreading the whole time.

#6 and #20 - I read Locke Lamora earlier this year and loved it - am currently reading the sequel Red Seas under Red Skies. So far, so great.

@29

I started Locke Lamora but promptly took it back to the library when the Thiefmaker used the word "savvy". I saw a non earth-based fantasy novel a few weeks ago that used the word "Armageddon" as a synonym for "apocalypse". That is just lazy writing.

Last night I started Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews. It sounds interesting and I'm hoping it is not another typical urban fantasy.

#30 - I know, they speak English throughout the entire book; it's just ridiculous!

I'm, reading both In the Company of Ogres by A. Lee Martinez and The Seems: The Glitch In Sleep by John Hulme. Both are very entertaining but I'm not sure the Seems counts as strictly fantasy.

Message edited by its author, Sep 14, 2009, 3:32pm.

Been busy reading the last couple of days - have now finished The Friday Night Knitting Club and The Graveyard Book (An 'A' read - was great) I am now reading Yon Ill Wind by Piers Anthony :)

Catching Fire is winging its way to me - due to arrive this week :)

Currently reading Jim Butcher's Fury's of Calderon. I'm enjoying it so far, but would have liked a bit more back history.

The Sookie Stackhouse Series by Charlene Harris

I was reading Bottomfeeder by B.H. Fingerman. Not traditional fantasy, it is set in modern day NYC, but the main character is a vampire. I enjoyed it.

> 29 Oooo, I'm glad to hear that! I had the same thoughts about Katniss and hard choices, so I'm happy to hear that stakes get raised.

I'm currently making my way through The Historian and eyeing my brand new just arrived it's so awesome I'm the librarian and have first crack at it An Echo in the Bone.

It's hard not to just put off one for the other (even though I'm enjoying The Historian greatly), but I am a completionist!

Message edited by its author, Sep 22, 2009, 8:42am.

I'm reading A Strong and Sudden Thaw by R.W. Day which is kind of a post-apocalyptic fantasy where something (they're not sure what) happened and the climate changed significantly, throwing the people who lived back to life as it was in the 1800s. The world building pretty interesting even though I don't usually do post-apocalyptic stories. There is also a lot of discussion on the value of literature. Certainly much more than what I expected from something catagorized as science fiction/romance/gay lit.

Message edited by its author, Sep 22, 2009, 9:25am.

> #27: I like to say that if you can get through the first 70-80 pages of AGoT, then you'll be hooked. If not, then it may not be for you. :)

Finished Wolfbreed by S.A. Swann. It's a fun, entertaining story about werewolves in 13th Century Prussia. The story is pretty character-driven, using only the historical and political/religious aspects as they're necessary to the plot. The writing is just a touch simplistic as well. Recommended for light fantasy readers and werewolf fans.

I resumed The Complete Chronicles of Conan the other day.
I read the first 9 stories some time ago, finished Shadows in the Moon Light the other day and now reading Queen of the Black Coast.

Just finished The Lies of Locke Lamora and loved it! Now I gotta get the next one.

It's not fantasy, but since the author writes mostly f/sf I will mention here that I was just amazed by Elizabeth Hand's psychological thriller Generation Loss.

I'm currently reading http://www.librarything.com/work/2156700...

I finally finished Blood of Elves. Good book, just been kept really busy at work this month. Next up, Wicked by Gregory Maguire.

#2 If you finish the Liveship series and want to enter the Rain Wilds again then I would certainly recommend The Dragon Keeper but in general the characters will be new.

I've just finished Captain's Fury by Jim Butcher, the fourth book in his Codex Alera series. Can't wait for the fifth book to be released in paperback (in December).

#46 Is The Dragon Keeper part of a series or just a one off?

I read Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier earlier in the month and now I'm reading A Book Dragon by Donn Kushner.

>48

Dragon Keeper is the first of two parts. I believe it was meant to be a stand alone, but it got long and was cut in half.

Just started the Deverry works again by Katherine Kerr, currently starting A Time of Omens. Love that series. Can't wait for the last book, The Silver Mage.

I'm finally continuing in Firethorn by Sarah Micklem. I'm not ten pages in yet, though. (It's my "Good Shanra! Here's your reward for doing your coursework reading!" book for October.)

#2 - I absolutely loved The Dragon Keeper, Robin Hobb is a genius IMHO & I'm so glad she returned to her six duchies world... There are a few familiar characters from the liveships books, Malta, Althea & Brashen all make appearances tho they are not main characters...

#48 & #50 - I'd heard it was the start of a new trilogy *goes off to hunt more info*

Hi, I'm Jim, new to LT & this group. I'm reading To Ride Hell's Chasm by Janny Wurts. Just finished The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi. I'm looking forward to reading more by both.

Hi Jim. Welcome to LT. Enjoy.

#53 Seanie, it's a stand alone novel that was split into two parts and we in Australia should be able to read Dragon Haven in March next year. Wish it could be sooner.

Finally finished Gormenghast last night. It wasn't bad, but it just did not hold my interest.

Started in on Dan Simmons' historical horror novel, The Terror, which is great so far.

I'm re-reading A Game of Thrones and this time I swear I will take my time and look up every part on Tower of the Hand.

I'm reading Frostbitten.

Just finished Darkest Hour. Have a detour now to my reading group book The Other Hand and then I can pick up the final part Always Forever from the library.