Sunday, December 25, 2011

The Prophecy by Chris Kuzneski

I started reading this book on 25th December, 2011 around 12 PM and I had the book finished by around 7ish in the evening.

So, is this a good book? Yes.

Is this a fast read? Yes.

Should you read this book? Definitely YES.

The story follows two ex-soldiers who were part of MANIACs which stands for Marines Army Navy Intelligence Air Force and Coast Guard.

Pretty cool.

I liked the pace of the book. The sense of mystery. The constant exchange between the two lead characters which was pretty funny. The jokes were good and the action was okay. This is no Matthew Reilly or James Rollins. The characters here have more personality than Scarecrow or Painter Crowe. Jonathan Payne and David Jones in The Prophecy keep the action rolling and there is not a dull moment in the book. What I really liked was the the author gave just enough information about the "historical mystery" in the book without it becoming a history lesson. And I learned lot many things from the book. Which is always good.

Yup, enjoyed reading this one. Will be looking forward to his next book "The Secret Crown" which will be released in January 2012.

Friday, December 23, 2011

Reading :: A Storm Of Swords

This is book 3 of A Song of Ice and Fire. The action heats up in this one more than the first two books, because, well, there are swords in the title and by now, the readers are well familiar with the characters and they WANT to know what happens with the titular characters.

I am not a very good reader of long series and that too when I'm reading them so close to each other. And that too, when I am in a little bit of a stressful environment while reading those (a story for another day). So, in my head, it's all kind of muddled up. There are too many characters to think about, but if I focus on the few 8-10 characters that are the main people, i think i have a pretty good handle on the story.

The length of the series and the scope are the things that kept me off this series for a very long time. I mean, I'd heard praise about a song of ice and fire from people all over, but it takes a great level of commitment from a reader to start reading, and when I start reading books, I do that with the idea of finishing them all. And this is a story that is not even complete yet. The sixth book is yet to be released and there are going to be seven books, as far as I know.

About the story, well, there is a lot of things happening here n' there in the book. People are dying, people are having sex, people are betraying, main characters are passing very close to each other and still not meeting, the wolves are howling and stuff. So, yeah, you know the deal. It's entertaining stuff, but I fail to understand, what message am i supposed to take back from all this.

If a book is a letter from a writer to a reader, then what is the inherit message in that? I don't see the message in A Song of Ice and Fire. It's like delicious fantasy, good to read, good to understand, but I am lacking there.

So, if any of you have got any meaning out of reading the books, please drop me a line. Comment or email, nothingman at in dot com.

Cheers!

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Tyrion and Glokta :: Similarities

Tyrion and Glokta

 

Tyrion and Glokta are two very interesting characters from A Song of Ice and Fire and The First Law trilogy written by George RR Martin and Joe Abercrombie, respectively. These are the two characters that stand out from the thousand extensive cast of ASOIAF and the still expansive vista painted in TFL. 


The benefit these two have is that they are the prime story movers in both the novels and there are so many common instances in both these characters that one cannot help but think of them on similar terms. The similarities start at both being broken individuals, while Tyrion has made his mocked name "The Imp" his own, Glokta has also come to terms with being called the cripple. Both have less power when it comes to weapons but in the weapons of the tongue and the mind, both are sharp as any sword-wielder. 


In ASOIAF, we see Tyrion taking charge of battle on a few occasions and he is a daft hand with an axe and can even ride a horse, while (spoiler ahead) Glokta wields a sword only once in The First Law books and By Jove if that's not the moment when the readers cheer for him.

 

Both have a patronizing and scary figure overshadowing them, in case of Tyrion it's his father Tywin Lannister and in case of Glokta it's his superior torturer. Both have hired help to do their dirty work, while they don't mind getting their own hands dirty when need be. We often see Glokta torturing his victims by hacking off their fingers, and there is Tyrion who deliberately poisons his sister so that she can't attend the court proceeding and mess with his "evil" plans. Glokta's hired help is his assistants, Severard and Frost while Tyrion has his own set of sellswords Bronn and Shagga who are killing in his name when needs come up.

 

And the best part of both the characters, both end up getting married to pretty girls who were incidentally about to be married to the king figure in the book. Who are these girls, better read the books to find out, I am not giving any more spoilers here. 


This is it for now, more when I feel like writing more.

Do you think there are any similarities between Glokta and Tyrion that I've missed? Drop a comment :) I'll add it to the post. Cheers!

Tuesday, December 6, 2011

Scarecrow and Army of Thieves :: A Rant

I read the book the day I got my hands on it. Suspended everything. Turned off the phone and for about a good 6-7 hours I was lost in the world of Scarecrow and the problems he was facing and how he was facing them and all the awesome shit he was doing to get out of trouble.

BUT

While I was reading the book, I felt cheated.

I felt cheated because Matthew had already used all these tropes before in his books.

The plot with missiles was already done in SCARECROW

The part about a team of soldiers on an island in HELL ISLAND

The part about a hero dying and coming back to life FIVE GREATEST WARRIORS

There were instances when "Scarecrow said nothing." was used in same tone as "Reacher said nothing."

There was an instance where Scarecrow is thrown out of the plane again and he escapes because of the maghook.

I mean, alright, Matthew Reilly is a big shot, big selling author and he is awesome at what he does and I am sure that Scarecrow and Island of Thieves sold a lot of copies, but for readers who've been waiting for a book for a long time, at least there should be something new, something novel, something awesome which is NEW too. Yup, I also realize that all stories are basically about good triumphing over evil, but come on. There are ways to do it, 1001 and more. And with Scarecrow, we expect high volume, mad and apocalyptic intensity.

But it was just not there in Army Of Thieves.

Call it high reader expectations or call it it anything else, there is a lot more Matthew can write than make something that has shadows of his previous works.

That's it. I wanted to rant a bit about it.

Monday, December 5, 2011

Reading :: A Song Of Ice And Fire :: Book 2 :: A Clash of Kings

The first book went by pretty fast and I started on the second one. Lot of commotion in this one. There were two new character chapters introduced, Cerscei and Theon. I don't think the queen was in the first book,  but I am not really sure.

Anyway, Tyrion in now in the kingdom and he is now involved in the kingdom's politics. This echoes too much of Inquisitor Glokta going to the besieged city in Joe Abercrombie Book 2 of First Law. (I need to do a future post on comparisons between Glokta and Tyrion.)

So, almost 65% done with the book. Going good so far.

The chapters I like most are of Jon and Tyrion. Sansa and Arya are okay-ish. The chapters of Bran are also interesting. I don't really like Catalyn's point of view, but hey, anything that moves the story forward.

Once I am done reading this book, I'll finish the two hanging books Plugged by Eoin Colfer and The Cold Commands by Richard K Morgan. I hope Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch releases soon. I really want to read that.

(Future post idea :: Why I didn't like Scarecrow and the Island of Thieves)

Two future post ideas in this one post. GREAT!

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Reading : A Song Of Ice and Fire :: Book 1

I really shouldn't have started reading A Song of Ice and Fire : A Game of Thrones in November. I really shouldn't have, but I did! So, I am hooked now! Reading through it on a rapid pace. And liking it more with every page turn. I had held myself from reading this series for such a long time because I knew that it was going to get addictive and then I'd not be able to get anything else done.

I like everything in the story so far, but I am not able to grasp why GRRM is so lazy in writing the fight scenes. When reading fight scenes written by Joe Abercrombie or Richard K Morgan, you can feel the sweat, the blood, the swords swishing and limbs getting hacked apart, but with GRRM, fight scenes are a very formal affair. Not once did i feel myself cringe or moving with the characters. But well, what the fuck do I know, the guy is a genius for just writing all this and keeping a sane head on his shoulders. Any praise given to the man is less.

Cheers!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Republic Of Thieves Release Date


http://www.amazon.com/Republic-Thieves-Gollancz-Scott-Lynch/dp/0575077018/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321985780&sr=8-1

^^ This went live on Amazon few hours ago. It shows release date for Scott Lynch's Republic Of Thieves as December 8th, 2011. I am excited!!

If you've the $$ and you live in the areas where Amazon provides it's services, make sure you place your pre-order for the book! :)

IN OTHER NEWS

Things have been silent on this blog, cuz well, i've been reading. I finished reading Scarecrow and Army of Thieves as soon as it was in my hands. I've many gripes with the book, next post will be about the issues I have with that book.

I also started reading Cold Commands, but that got left in mid because well, November started and I started writing for NaNoWriMo.

I don't think I will finish it in time this year, but we never know till 30 November. I am writing!

Cheers!

Thursday, September 29, 2011

Books I am Looking forward to...

2011 is a very good year. Because some of the most awaited books are releasing in the fourth quarter. Let's go through them one by one.

1) Scarecrow and Army of Thieves - Matthew Reilly  This is the fourth book in the Scarecrow, not counting Hell Island which was a novella. Expecting lot of action, mayhem and violence in this one. Reilly never disappoints with his books. Really looking forward to this one. Release date for hardcover - October 20! Fans of thriller, adventure, action should pick this one up.

2) The Cold Commands by Richard K. Morgan - I'm a big fan of sci-fi books by Morgan. Takeshi Kovacs series is my absolute favourite. The first book in the Land Fit for Heroes series "The Steel Remains" left lot of questions unanswered, which I am hoping this book will answer. Ringil is a great character. Complex, brave, troubled, funny, gay, and lot of other things. But he is not a boring lead. The book might be a complex read if you've not read Steel Remains before reading this one. That book is good for getting a feel of the world Morgan has built for his characters. Release date according to Amazon - 11 October! fans of dark fantasy, violent action, complex politics should give this one a go.

3) The Republic of Thieves - Scott Lynch - This books seems to be a classic case of being stuck in development hell. And I really want to read this one as soon as it comes out. But as earlier the release date was somewhere in November 2011, but now, the dates have been pushed back to 2012 at Amazon's website, so not really sure when this is releasing, but it will be released sometime in future. Scott Lynch has had some major problems in his life with depression and other stuff, but the dude is a talented writer. Hope he makes the best of his skills and gets out of the bad phase and writes kickass books for a long time. Will be waiting for this one!

That's pretty much it for today.

What books are you waiting for? Lemme know in comments! 

Just read :: '48 by James Herbert

I bought a double book which has Ghosts of Sleath and '48 by James Herbert. Two books for the price of one. Always a good deal. It's been a long time since I read Herbert and he was an entertaining writer the last time I read him. So, yeah, '48 was a good read. But somehow, i didn't connect with the lead character of Hoke because the book is too fast. Minor niggle, but if you're looking for a good read to pass the time, pick this book. James Herbert knows his disasters well and his other books like Rats and Domain are also good ones.

Now, I've started reading the other half of the book, Ghosts of Sleath. Going ok so far.

After this, I will buy some new book to read. Yes :)

What are you reading?

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Re-reading Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly, Plus info on Army of Thieves

There can really be no justification for re-reading a book other than that the book is really really good. And it varies from person to person how much you like a book. Scarecrow by Matthew Reilly is one of those books that I love to re-read. This is as quick a page turner as they come. The plot is not too complex, not too simple either, and it's a fun ride through and through.

There is a bounty on the head of 18 people in the world, all members of elite forces and our very own Shane Schofield aka The Scarecrow is one of them. So, its up to him to save the world from doom and global warfare and he does it in style. Reilly's writing might be over the top for some, but its very very entertaining. His novels are like Hollywood action flicks, where you don't have to spend a lot of brain, but you leave the hall refreshed, excited and happy. And if that doesn't make a book good, then I don't know what does.

I re-read this book to prepare myself for the onslaught that is going to be Scarecrow and Army of Thieves. In this book, an island that houses a destructive weapon is overtaken by a group of soldiers called "Army of Thieves" and it's up to Schofield and his team to stop them from unleashing destruction upon the world. As Matthew Reilly mentions on his website, its going to be a bloody book, it's going to be a fast book, and as I will add, its going to be a fun book too!

The release date for the book is October 12 and I will be waiting to get my grubby hands on it!

Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Reading these days...

Some time back, I made the mistake of buying The Strain by Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. The novel taught me how NOT to write novels. There were characters  strewn all over the story, character that didn't add to the flow of the story as they died very soon. Given the book is the first in the series, it takes TOO long to build up and even when it does pick up speed, there is too much hiding the candy from the kid who knows the brand of the candy. It's not even scary. And the font was tinny. So tough to read. 

Anyway, I finished the book. Then read "Six Sacred Stones" and "Five Greatest Warriors" in a week. I get some 3-4 hours of reading time, but the books were so interesting that I couldn't stop reading them. Matthew Reilly is one of my top favorite authors. The guy writes at break-neck speed. And his chase/accident/fight scenes are MASSIVE. He thinks big and that shows in his writing. 

On the iPhone's Stanza app, i am reading Ghost Story by Jim Butcher. I've been waiting for this book for some time and now that I am reading it, its fun to be in the weird world of Harry Dresden again. And now that he is a ghost, things are pretty much weird for him, and its a fun ride. Butcher's Dresden books have this kind of finality about them and you know that Harry will get pounded bad, but the bugger will come through. In some ways, Harry Dresden is much like Jack Reacher created by Lee Child. Both tough guys, no bullshit, always defending the weak, arch-typical stereotypes, but entertaining reads. 

Another paper book that I've started is '48 by James Herbert.

Also, looked for Plugged by Eoin Colfer. An ebook maybe. :)

Ta! Till next time!

Thursday, June 2, 2011

Finished Reading Last Argument of Kings

The saga comes to an end in book three of First Law. A fulfilling end. Joe ties all the threads pretty nicely and still leaves some yarn hanging for readers who have come to feel so close to the characters. I read the three books pretty fast, as I've mentioned in the last two posts. Because the books are meant to be read fast, you WANT to turn the pages and find out what happens next. 

The stories of all the characters wrap up nicely. I wanna talk about them, but that's for you to find out. You can find spoilers elsewhere on the net ;) Whatever happens to Logen Ninefingers, Black Dow, Dogman, Ferro, Jezel, Bayaz, and Glokta is unexpected and satisfying to a great degree. I've read few books which manager to induce such sense of gratification after the last page is turned.

I read some shitty books last year, that were a waste of my time, but this year seems to be shaping up nicely. I'm almost done with reading Heroes by Abercrombie and I really don't know what to pick up next.

If you have any suggestions, please do leave them in comments!

Thursday, May 26, 2011

Finished Reading Before They Are Hanged

I think this is the fastest I've ever read any book. Which says a lot about the quality of writing of the book and my interest in it. The motley crew of people from the last book are on a journey in this book. Bayaz, Logen Ninefingers, Jezal, Ferro, Quai, and Brother Longfoot. They are looking for something called "The Seed" which is located at the "End of the World", which is a place. So far so good. The character of Superior Glokta takes a strong boost in this book. He bribes, swindles, and cheats his way through a town under siege and of course, we get introduced to one of my favorite characters created by Joe Abercrombie, Nicomo Cosca. Cosca is a bastard, and he is my favorite bastard. His is one character that is developed fully in "Best Served Cold" and its a joy reading about him.

All said, the book is very fast, very fun and very recommended. Be sure to read "The Blade Itself" before starting this one and keep "The Argument Of Kings" handy once you finish this one.

Cheers!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Just Finished Reading The Blade Itself

Lot has been said about The First Law trilogy by Joe Abercrombie. I was bit late on the scene, but as they say, better late than never. I really enjoyed reading  The Blade Itself. The book is a fast read. It's violent. The characters are created with extreme attention to detail. There are backstories that will be explored in coming books and there is, in all, too much to handle. This is an amazing read and anyone who likes reading good books should check this out, whether you like epic fantasy or not. A good book is a good book and this book is one of those.

Logen Ninefingers, Inquisitor Glokta, Jezal dan Luthar and First of the Magi Bayaz. Great characters, great execution, superbly told.

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Book Review : Best Served Cold - Joe Abercrombie

Revenge is a dish best served cold. A good maxim to live by. And surely, Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold fits the maxim as best as it can.


Monza Murcatto is a mercenary, betrayed and broken by her employer and now she is on the path to revenge. She gathers a crew of killers, some new acquittance, some from her old mercenary life. The parts where the books shines are the characters. We have Caul Shivers, a northman in a new land, looking be a good man. We have Friendly, a character I liked most in the book, who is obsessed with numbers and counting things. He is also a murderer without remorse. Then, we have Nicomo Cosca, who probably deserves a book of his own. His character is colorful as colorful can be. He is witty, sharp and a complete asshole. Brilliantly written. And there is Morveer, master poisoner with his own brand of superiority complex.


The story has plenty of twists and turns. Its fast and there are no moments where you feel you can take a breather. I read the book on my iPhone and it was a brilliant read. It kept me awake, it made me wake up early and I read it in record time.


An amazing read.