What are you reading August 2009?

I'm in the midst of Waking the Moon by Elizabeth Hand, a wonderfully intense dark fantasy, courtesy of my public library.

I'm still working on Gloriana by Michael Moorcock. If I don't finish it this weekend . . . !
. . . surely I'll finish it soon.

I just finished Vicious Circle by Mike Carey. Urban Fantasy, about an exorcist in London. It was OK, but a bit too long. Now reading fiction, not sure what fantasy I will read next. I do have to read Howl's Moving Castle for a RL book group later this month.

I just finished Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson and it was fantastic. The characters really draw you into the story and the magical system is unique. There is also a lot of humor (I laughed out loud many times) and a satisfying ending. He really does an excellent job of synthesizing all the elements I love in storytelling into a great fantasy read. Just before this, I read his Mistborn trilogy and loved it as well. Elantris, his first novel, I am on a waiting list for at the library. I am really looking forward to his next one which according to his blog is titled The Way of Kings and should be out the beginning of next year.

The Good, the Bad and the Undead - Kim Harrison.

Iron Kissed - Patricia Briggs. "VW mechanic by day, were-coyote by night". The covers on the Patricia Briggs series crack me up as Mercy, main character, has an amazing collection of tat's on display, however in the stories, unless i've missed something, she has only one - a coyote paw print on her stomach.

Just started The Great Hunt after finishing The eye of the World

I have just finished reading Foxmask by Marillier and started Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

I've just finished the Otori series prequel, Heaven's Net is Wide by Lian Hearn. It was in my TBR pile for just about a year as I was a little apprehensive about picking this one up. Glad I did now though.

#4 leahsimone
I love love LOVE Brandon Sanderson!! He's my favorite.

I'm almost done reading Fragile Eternity, and then I'm going to dive back into The Wheel of Time with The Fires of Heaven.

>9 jenreidreads: goddessladyj
I am thinking of starting TWoT series. Would you recommend it? How does Jordan's writing compare with Sanderson's?

Now I am reading Naamah's Kiss by Jacqueline Carey. She is one of my favorite authors. I have read the entire Kushiel's Legacy Series.

>8 AHS-Wolfy: djay666
I've read the first three in the Otori series and really enjoyed them. Have you read them all? How does the prequel compare?

Leahsimone, I would recommend the Wheel of Time series to anyone interested in Fantasy. I think it is the richest series we have. I have been reading fantasy for over 30 years now, so I have some perspective. It certainly gives you bang for your buck.

@11 leahsimone
Yes, I've read the whole series now and I'll say that if, like me, you enjoyed the other books then it's an easy choice to recommend this one to you as well. It details the events directly leading up to Across the Nightingale Floor and describes how characters came to be in the situations they are at the start of the series. This book has less of the fantasy element to it than the others though as the tribe (or their abilities) do not come into the story much at all.

Also, if you want something along a similar vein to the Otori books can I suggest Cloud of Sparrows by Takashi Matsuoka along with its sequel Autumn Bridge.

I'm re-reading the Harry Potter series...currently on Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I am enjoying it even more this time, as I'm not in a hurry to devour each book like I did the first reading. I just purchased Corambis to read when I need a little break from the HP wizarding world.

>13 AHS-Wolfy: djay66
Thanks for the recommendations. Cloud of Sparrows looks good although LT doesn't think I will like it. I can't imagine why as I really enjoyed Lian Hearn's Otori series as well as James Clavell's Shogun series. I am going to give it a try anyway.

>12 DWWilkin: DWWilkin
Thanks, I have reserved the first novel at the library. What are some of your other favorites? Fantasy and Science Fiction are relatively new genres for me. What do you think of Brandon Sanderson finishing TWoT series?

I picked up elantris then later mistborn and think he will do a fine job. But when he felt the series needed three books to finish adding two other authors would have been nice. For other great classic reads or fun reads I think we all find it hard to make suggestions until we have some commonality with your reading tastes. I have rated most of what I have read, 3000+, so you can take a look. Or if you like Wheel, then I can recommend some more.

Just finished Dragonspell and proceeding smartly onto A Time of Exile and the rest of the second Deverry quartet.

- Not sure why my touchstones are a bit off...

Just finishing A Storm of Swords (wow! this series is something else, blood everywhere, but the length is a bit daunting for the otherwise busy reader!), and about to move on to Kushiel's Dart. I generally avoid the titilating books, but people seem to like this series a lot, so in I go ...

#18 I love, love, love the Kushiel series. So worth the effort. I found the titillating elements added rather than detracted from the story (although it got a bit hardcore in the third book of the trilogy, and by then you are totally invested in the story).

Reading Order In Chaos by Jack Whyte right now. I don't class it as fantasy, but the bookstore does. At the same time, I'm reading a non-fiction: Defenders of the Faith.

>14 Ui_Niall: I loved Corambis, it was certainly my favorite of the series.

I picked up Hidden Warrior by Lynn Flewelling at Borders today and have already started it. My apologies to all those books in my TBR pile :-)

#19: mostly I have issues when sex is stuffed in to add spice rather than further the story, or overwhelms the story needlessly. From the feedlback I've read so far, the Kushiel series walks the line between story and sexuality provocatively but interestingly.

After Kushiel's Dart I'll be reading Stephen R. Donaldson's Fatal Revenant. I loved the older books, but Runes of the Earth left me unimpressed. Any opinions?

When first reading Fantasy in the 70's and 80's, I really don't remember any sex unless it was the Gor series. There it was more about the idea that the man was going to have sex with the slave and no on screen sex occured... I think, if memory serves, sex was a lot less prevalent in Fantasy then even in Romance novels. Fantasy sex all being euphemisms and off screen so to speak.

I've started reading Magic's Promise by Mercedes Lackey. I saw all my Lackey books on my shelf and I had the sudden urge to relive my middle school years. I'm going to see if I can read the Vanyel series, the Oathbound books, Brightly Burning, the Alberich books, the Talia books, and By the Sword before school starts. Should be fun.

leahsimone - The Eye of the World is what got me into the fantasy genre (not counting YA fantasy like Harry Potter). So yes, I recommend it! Personally, I think I like Brandon Sanderson's stuff better, because his magic systems are so creative and unique, and he writes women so well. I think he'll do a great job finishing the WoT since he's a huge fan of the series, too.

#23 I will admit that I may be confusing SF with fantasy here. I read a lot of both. Nonetheless, with the explosion of vampire related work lately, the latent if not explicit sexual element is definitely on the rise, even in YA writing. I find it really interesting that there was a furor over magic in Harry Potter and nobody seems to have a problem with Twilight's appeal to adolescent girls given the obvious sexual nature of vampirism. Go figure ...

If we go back to Bram Stoker and Dracula do we find SEX so prevalent? There is an attraction implied and certainly the ladies he has already converted to his wives are sexually appealing, but Lucy and Mina I don't see as women you are going to read about being jumped.

I think that the rise of sex with vampirism is from the perspective of several authors who have crossed over from the blatant romance novel genre. There being two ways of romance dealing with sex, one implied the other on screen. I think that all this hullabaloo is because sex is selling and it is totally not needful to story. It is written to pander. Might as well just go and purchase Penthouse Letters. Why waste all the other pages with boring plot when you could just have porn?

Um... The act of vampirism is a metaphor for sex. It was the closest they could come in Bram Stoker's day to mentioning it publicly. Long predates the modern craze for vamps.

So then Dracula and vampirism does not exist. But what Stoker was writing was about affairs and infidelity, orgies? No, I don't see it as a metaphor, and I took a college science fiction course where we had to dissect this book. Victorian society had the Pearl, which probably outsold Dracula so if Stoker wanted to write about sex, he had the ability to do so.

Dracula and the Vlad stories were there for their own dark genre fascination. Sexual attraction was implied and handled off screen because it was not needful to the story. As I suspect that most of what is written in the current craze is not needful to tell a good story. A few lines about the allure of the first kiss and the desire to spend the rest of their lives together (very long lives) are a lot of pubescent love. As adults we know that the chase intensifies the feelings. What great writing can come out of that?

I believe Dracula was first a play. There is a big difference between reading in the privacy of your own home, and sitting in public next to your neighbors.

>26 BigJoel55: What I found highly confusing was that the church my sister-in-law belonged to said Harry Potter was the work of the devil, but Lord of the Rings was fine. Both dealt with magic and wizardry, why was one okay and not the other?

The metaphorical link between vampirism and sex is a commonplace, including Stoker's work. Here is a useful article with bibliography for those interested:

http://www.strangehorizons.com/2002/20020722/vampire.shtml

#31: Do we really expect consistency from people who think that way? Or was it more about politics and opportunism? hmmm.

>31 Jenson_AKA_DL: The main thing that makes a difference, IMO, is that Harry Potter is set in our world and Lord of the Rings in an imaginary world. I can't imagine any other reason for a church labelling one as the work of the devil, and the other fine.

The City at the End of Time by Greg Bear. Not at all what I expected really. Its far more involved and, I suppose, profound than many scifi books I've read. It really almost seems like scifi crossing over with fantasy. Not in a Void series way, far more directly interwined. Pretty good so far!

Dracula was apparently not a play first, but Stoker did work at a theater. The article referenced by BigJoel is great for after the fact type of literary commentary that often occurs. It is filled with academic vocabulary so you have to read it carefully. But that does not replace your own read of Dracula, which gave us Vampirism on a big scale. The previous publications of Vampirism were minuscule in comparison.

My initial point was that sex is now a great deal more prevalent in fantasy then it was twenty years ago. Add to this the current Vampirism novels, and my comment was that the original main novel did not use it to sell copies. Sex sells, but gratuitous sex is poor writing and those authors could do better by building on emotion rather then giving us the main course.

Sex has always been used to sell. The overt level had changed but there is no way to judge how people of the past felt about the level of sex that was used in their time. It might seem quite mild to us, and incredibly racy and vulgar to them.

Dracula used sex to sell, as has been mentioned vampirism is a metaphor for sex. It simply isn't overtly sexual to us, but that doesn't mean it isn't there.

You apparently don't like sex in books, fine, that doesn't mean others don't or that there wasn't any in them until recently.

I am now reading Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones for a RL book group.

I'm reading Wizards, Inc a compilation of short stories. Interestingly timely,considering the discussions that has been going on here, I needed a break from books that were selling themselves as fantasy but were really selling sex and I got disgusted!

I don't remember any sex in Howls, but I didn't say I didn't like sex. I was an adolescent boy and all those Gor novels were available. Porn was not as easy to get. Now as an adult Porn is easy to get. Sexually explicit novels are easy to get. The point was that poor storytelling relying on blatant sex doesn't change the fact that the author couldn't sell it without taking an easy way out.

In Howls if I remember correctly, there is the tension of romance, not sex that helps make it a good story. I know that I read Dracula twice and still don't see the Vampirism as a metaphor for sex. If that were the case, then the whole book is a metaphor about infidelity, breaking of weddings, Rakes, affairs. What would Van Helsing be a metaphor for, your Anglican Bishop trying to get Mina and JOnathan into counseling?

> 39 I should hope there is no sex in Howl's Moving Castle - it's written for a fairly young age! I think Ficus Fan was just posting this month's reading, since that's this thread's topic. ;)

(Although this discussion is interesting - maybe a new thread? I was talking about this very subject with a friend of mine the other day...)

Finally finished up Mad Ship. I've got book 3 on my to be read shelf, but I think I'm going to give the Liveship Traders a break for now. Heading over to Discworld for a bit with Pyramids.

> 40 Yes I was just posting my current reading.

> 41 I read Pyramids a while ago, but I think its one of my Discworld favorites.

I am currently reading the final book in a trilogy - The Amber Spyglass by Philip Pullman. This will be followed by Lords and Ladies by Terry Prachett which is for a 'fairy' book in a fantasy reading challenge I am doing :)

Just starting Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith.

#44 - Puddleshark - let me know how you like it, it's at the top of my "get it" list for this month!

I just finished Book 5 in the Ranger's Aprentice series - The Seige of Mackindaw -- which doesn't seem to want to touchstone for me. I found that, compared to a lot of what I have been reading this summer, it read really "young" to me. There was a lot of explaining what the characters were thinking that seemed unneccessary to me. I'll be donating it to my HS Media Center when I go back to work this fall. I know that I have eager students waiting for it.

Now I have started Treason's Shore by Sherwood Smith. I have been waiting for it but am finding it a little hard going so far. It has been a long time since I read book 3 and I'm feeling a little lost. Of course, I'm only on page 69 of 669.

Now i'm reading The Chronicles of Narnia by C. S. Lewis. I'm enjoying a lot this book... I'm currently reading the book 4 Prince Caspian.

Started Ship Of Magic a couple of days ago, and I already love it. The Farseer trilogy is one of my favourites and this could be another...

I was so taken with Waking the Moon that I've just started reading Hand's Mortal Love.

I'm reading Orcales Of Delphie Keep By Victoria Laurie. It's a really good book that is sort of related to greek mytholigy

I've just started The Color of Magic by Terry Pratchett. Pratchett's Discworld series was recommended to me for its humor. I am a little apprehensive as everyone who reads Pratchett tells me that it is not good to start with the first book he wrote in the series. Of course, no one is in agreement exactly where to start. I wonder if it will be a bit esoteric for me.

I did a binge on books in Diana Wynne Jones Howliverse this weekend- from Howl's Moving Castle to Castle in the Air to House of Many Ways. After having to leave behind my friends Howl and Sophie, I picked up The Silver Blade, the second in a series of YA fantasy set during the French Revolution. The first book, The Red Necklace, was great. So I'm hoping for more of the same from this one!

I loved Howl's from so long ago, way before the Cartoonie/Movtoon was made. I picked that up because I had enjoyed Archer's Goon tremendously also.

I finished Howl's Moving Castle a while ago, I guess I successfully was able to block it from my mind. Not my cup of tea.

#51 leahsimone - I started Discworld with book 3, Equal Rites, and don't feel I missed out at all. There is more to his books than you may think at first though.

#52 - cool thanks for making me aware of House of Many Ways - didn't know there was a 3rd "Howls". Just placed a hold on it now via my local library.

#45 Just finished Treason's Shore after a mammoth late-night reading session! Really enjoyed it - loads of action and suspense and a great ending.

But it does move rapidly from scene to scene and from character to character, so I'd probably recommend re-reading the previous books in the series before starting it.

Currently reading a hard-boiled detective story with a supernatural element to it (though I've not got that far yet). Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg.

Moved onto A Time of War by Katherine Kerr. Still got about six or seven Deverry books to get through!

Over the last two weeks I've finished off Lynn Flewelling's Tamir trilogy. A very, very good dark fantasy story! I liked it almost as much as the Nightrunner books.

#57 - I didn't know, either, until a friend told me! I think Howl is great in the third book :-)

Now I'm reading The Thief, which has come highly recommended. I seem to be on a YA fantasy binge!

I picked up The Decoy Princess after I learned that Dawn Cook and Kim Harrison were the same person. I have been reading Kim Harrison for a while. This is my first Dawn Cook. I am just getting into it and haven't really formed an opinion yet. However, I was able to put it down to do some internet stuff. So it isn't overwhelmingly interesting yet.

I just read Epic and now I'm reading the sequel, Saga (all the touchstones come up Twilight, ugh), by Conor Kostik. It's a really interesting SF story about a world where an incredibly detailed virtual reality fantasy MMORPG is used for economy, government, conflict resolution, etc, but the real world is otherwise fairly low-tech.

Just finished Spin by Robert Charles Wilson. Have to say, one of my favorite science fiction novels to date. Of course, I haven't read that many yet. :o)

Edit: Starting The Color of Magic tonight.

#63- I have that book and its sequel Princess at Sea. I haven't read either of them yet. I didn't know Dawn Cook was Kim Harrison, either. Good to know!

I've been re-reading Traitor's Moon by Lynn Flewelling which I started a few weeks back. I've been reading other books along with it which is why it is taking so long. Since I finished the romance I was reading last night it got to accompany me to work today :-)

I'm reading Inkheart and with as slow as I read I'll probably be reading it in September, too. ;-)

>52 aarti: OMG! (Forgive the lamo abbreviation but I'm VERY excited and it slipped out) There's a sequel to the red necklace??!!!!! That book is that best book EVER! I am so happy right now!
So was it good?

I'm currently reading Fragile Eternity and although it took a while to remember all the details about Aisllin and her world once I did I loved it.

I've now started on Servant of the Empire. The middle book of the Empire trilogy by Raymond E. Feist and Janny Wurts.

I love the Tsurani books by Feist and Wurts... But now Feist has killed the entire world... Why, oh why... It is better then Midkemia....

I'd love him to kill off Midkemia as well and write something else for a change but I guess it's hard to leave a money spinner. He's shown what he can do elsewhere with Faerie Tale which I think ranks alongside Magician as my favourite of his books.

AHS-I agree, time for Midkemia and Pug to die. He doesn't even have to write about it. Just stop, even in the middle of the series he is on now. I read the first one for an Early Reviewer, and it is just like the last series. The worst evil that Midkemia and the Magicians ever have heard of, and that will do the worst (hey it destroyed the Tsurani world) is defeated by the end. So now that the worst ever is defeated can get any worse. Except once again (Like the fourth time, maybe the fifth time) the worst ever, even worse then the previous worst ever, is baaaaacccckkkk (I think Ray is channeling Jack Nicholson in the Shinning...)

I have finished The Elder Gods by David Eddings & Leigh Eddings this week, it was a good read. Last week I finished One good Knight by Mercedes Lackey absolutely enjoyed this book and now am looking for the rest of the series. I am now reading For the Love of Evil by Piers Anthony. Should be an interesting read Anthony has a weird spin on deities in this series. I’m also reading with my children Harpy Thyme another book by Piers Anthony (on an Anthony kick). I expect to be reading this one for quite awhile since I’m reading only till their attention span lasts. Then we go on to a picture book.

I just started My Soul to Take by Rachel Vincent. She is writing for the new Harlequin Teen line of books. I read her adult books and wonder how she will change when writing for young adults. I plan to donate the book to my HS Media Center after I finish it because I have a number of students who like paranormals. I'm hoping it will appeal to those kids who only read Twilight.

I'm now reading The Patriot Witch.

I read The Patriot Witch by C.C. Finlay. It's an interesting book about a young man who is a citizen volunteer in Massachusetts right at the start of the Revolutionary War. The twist is that the character is also a witch. I like how the book uses the idea of witches during the War, but without changing the events as they happen. The main downside of the book is that it's obviously a first novel which means the writing is not quite up to par. On the whole though, I'm interested enough to eventually read the other two books in the trilogy.

I just finished Silk by Caitlin R. Kiernan. My first Kiernan novel...very enjoyable, if a bit on the squeamish-making side. ((Giant spiders. BLECH! LOL!)

About to finish Medicine Road by Charles De Lint. I just love his books. :-)

>78 beniowa:

Two thirds in, I don't think I'm interested enough.

All of a sudden I see The Patriot Witch in a great many posts. Is anyone liking it enough to read the sequels?

Just reread The Last Unicorn, and agree with its status as a modern classic.

>81 DWWilkin:

Finishing it didn't change my mind.

Now I've got Strange Brew, but I think I'm just going to read the Jim Butcher story.

Finished up Pyramids last night and have moved on to Mort. I'm having fun in Discworld.

Just finished Never the Bride a light quirky read and am going to read Last of the Wilds this weekend.

>83 Unreachableshelf: I'm glad I'm not the only one who reads just one story out of an anthology. I picked up Mean Streets from the library yesterday just to read the Dresden story in that one. I'm totally unfamiliar with any of the other series featured.

>86 Jenson_AKA_DL:

I think I did the same thing with that one. Usually the only times I read more than one story out of an anthology these days are when Jim Butcher and Kelley Armstrong contribute to the same one.

I always read every story in an anthology the first time through. I've found some of my favourite authors that way! Not being familiar with something just means to me that this is a chance to discover something new. ^^

Just started The Lost years of Merlin by T. A. Barron - a YA fantasy

Last night, I started Sandman Slim. Enjoying it so far! I also recently finished Of Bees and Mist, which was a delightful kind of adult fairy tale.

Re-reading The element of fire by Martha Wells, as I find myself in the mood for some dry humour.

Just finished K. J. Parker's 'Shadow'; a darkly satirical mundane fantasy that might appeal to fans of Joe Abercrombie and Richard Morgan. Now reading Greg Keyes' The Charnel Prince; a standard high fantasy story given freshness by very lyrical writing and strong characters.

I just started Elemental Magic, a collection of four romantic fantasy stories.

Currently reading Severian of the Guild by Gene Wolfe. Fantasy with a sci-fi flavour.

Touchstone not working.

Message 88: I'm with you. I almost always read all the stories in anthologies. I have discovered some great new authors that way. Of course, if I don't like an author's style, I have also discovered some authors to avoid.

I am currently reading Obsidian Prey by Jayne Castle which is sort of a fantasy but is really a romance thinly disguised as a futuristic with paranormal stuff too. Just an all around fun read!

Re-reading The curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold for perhaps the fifth or sixth time. No surprises in the plot then, but I'm still enjoying the characters and setting.

Just finished rereading Wrapt in Crystal by Sharon Shinn, just started reading Green Rider by Kristen Britain, and awaiting on the desk are The Prize in the Game by Jo Walton.

Finished McKillip's Od Magic the other day and really enjoyed it. It can be hard trying to pick between her books, but this one seemed to be one of her very best.

I'm reading The Child Thief.