Terry Pratchett, Peter Straub and Eoin Colfer

Recent readings included Unseen Academicals by Terry Pratchett which I loved absolutely. If there is one writer whose every word deserves to be etched in gold, that's Terry Pratchett. An amazing book once again.

Next Terry Pratchett is writing "I Shall Wear Midnight" of Tiffny Aching series and after that, Raising Taxes with the super awesome Mr. Moist Von Lopwig who makes a return after Going Postal and Making Money.

I didn't buy any new books in November because there are some old ones that I need to finish. Actually, there is quite a backlog of books that I need to read.

Current books in Reading Limbo

The Malice Box by Martin Langfield. I don't know why I picked this one up. It seems that after the success of Dan Browne all these ancient mysteries getting solved novels are coming up like mushrooms. Though I wouldn't mind reading something like that by Matthew Reilly (his almost unbelievable scenerios are almost funny), but still.

Koko by Peter Straub. I bought this one cheap from a used book place. Just based on the cover art and the fact that once I read a book by Peter Straub, it was very slow and very boring, but I did finish it. Wanted to give the author a second chance, turns out Koko is slightly less boring. I'm waiting for the book to pick up pace as i read further into it.

Ah, and in other news, Eoin Colfer of Artemis Fowl fame has written the next installment of Douglas Adams' H2G2 series. It's called "And Another Thing". I like Colfer's writing style, it's fast paced, it's funny and his hooks in the story keep a reader gripped. I don't really care what hardcore H2G2 fans say, I like both Adams' work and Colfer's work, and I don't think any other writer here would have done justice to Adams' legacy.

That's what I've been reading, what have you been reading?

What is this blog all about?

This blog by no means is a book review blog. I like to read books and I just wanted a space to discuss all the books that I have read or will read in the coming times.

My recent trip to Delhi found me poorer by some 3K and richer by a lot of books, some of the books bought were

• Mammoth Book of Horror Fiction
• Mammoth Book of Extreme Science Fiction
• Poems of Pash
• More Poems of Pash
• Koko by Peter Straub
• One book by Oscar Wilde
• Collected Stories of Satyajit Ray
• Rain Fall by some random guy whose name I cannot recall
• And some small books

Right, and I have lot of books left in my laptop as ebooks to read. This is going to be fun.

I am eagerly awaiting some three books which will be released in the coming year or so.

1. Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss

2. The Cold Commands Richard K. Morgan

3. Book 3 of Gentlemen Bastards by Scott Lynch

Of course if Jim Butcher writes another one of Harry Dresden series, it will be awesomer. Tomorrow, I'm going to buy The Cather In the Rye. Yeah, I somehow missed reading this book and now I want to. 

There will be more book talk later on this blog till then, what books are you reading?

So Many Blogs Left to Visit:: Lord Likely :)

One of the blogs i always look forward to reading is Lord Likely. This blog tells of the Adventures of the Aristocratic Gentleman, Lord Likely. The language, the stories, and the confidence of Lord Likely in dealing with the shit around him and still bonking a few and more than a few "ladies" in the process is funny, awesome, and too fucking good to miss.

Go and check out Lord Likely Here

Grab his feed. :P

So Many Books Left to Read

Recently, I read the book Londonstani by Gautam Malkani. The books tells the story of Jas in London, a low confidence loser-ish type guys who looks up to punjabi Hard-Jit as a semi role model and then finds a dude by the name of Sanjay who is a big shot and thus the story goes. The wiki page of the book calls it a monumental failure. But i choose to digress from that point of view. It is a good book. As long as you can stomach sms-speak. Almost no punctuation for sentences in the whole course of the novel. Lengthy discourses about economics, supply and demand, and almost homo-erotic attempts of the novel's hero in seducing a girl, which make you feel pathetic for the poor fellow. But a good book, i must say, without a hint of sarcasm or something. I enjoyed reading it. Because that's what I do. I enjoy reading.

Give it a go, but only if you borrow it from a friend, or get is from a library. Not worth buying.

Currently Reading-Turn Coat By Jim Butcher

Turn Coat by Jim Butcher.

This is the 10th book in the Harry Dresden series and in style and substance, the book stands solid so far. The book follows the adventures and misadventures of Chicago wizard Harry Dresden. The book is going cool so far, bringing in old characters, with the signature Jim Butcher style of heavy politics, magical creatures, and the fucked up luck of a wizard in weird situations. I have read up to Chapter 5 and I am tempted to read further but there are other things to be done. A review will be posted when I am done reading the book. There were other book reviews promised, which might or might not see the light of the day, depending on the busy schedule. So, until next post, keep reading!

Reviews Coming Soon....

Books read recently and about to be reviewed. Well, I won't say recently about those by Jeffery Somers, Tobias S. Buckell, and Patrick Rothfuss, as these three I read last year, but there is a lot of writing reviews that remains to be done from my side. Well, this is new to be, but I hope to learn as I go about it. Some of these books I liked, and others I liked a lot, but overall, these books were fun to read. I hope you too will have fun reading them, as and when you do. Here are the books, in no particular order!

The Graveyard Book -- Neil Gaiman

Nation -- Terry Pratchett

The Time Paradox -- Eoin Colfer

Metrophage -- Richard Kadrey

Butcher Bird -- Richard Kadrey

Electric Monks -- Jeffery Somers

Digital Plague -- Jeffery Somers

Death's Head -- David Gunn

Crystal Rain -- Tobias S. Buckell

Names of the Wind -- Patrick Rothfuss

The Steel Remains -- Richard Morgan

Book Review:: Maximum Offense by David Gunn

Book Review-- Death's Head-Maximum Offense--David Gunn

Maximum Offense is the second book in the Death's Head series and brings back the fearsome Sven Tveskoeg with his Aux of soldiers who are now sent to the remote planet of Hekati to look for a missing person. Is this really the case? We do not get to know till the middle of the book and by then it is a mad pot purri of violence, bad ass attitude, a smattering of politics, ice cold humor and a level of maddening morals that make you wonder about what kind of person the author is. David Gunn is an ex-soldier in case you are wondering.

Lt. Sven Tveskoeg and his unit battle through the planet's hostile natives, the strange geography (Hekati is a manufactured planet and also one which is also alive and has a conscience), to a conclusion that none of them had known about except their commanding officer Vijay, who himself harbors a secret that carries it's manifestations to the end of the novel.

Maximum Offense sets a fast and gritty pace from the get go, with the no bullshit team of the Aux, the amazing technology like the intelligent gun SIG which has an attitude that would put a rock star to shame. The constant banter between the SIG and Tveskoeg makes for interesting read in the novel, providing comic relief as well as a healthy dosage of cynicism about the events in the novel.

The action in the novel is close quarters when it comes to hand to hand fights, and stellar scale when Sven Tveskoeg is blowing up enemy motherships.

Maximum Offense is a worthy follow up to Death's Head and a brilliant build up to the next novel in line, Day of the Damned. Day of the Damned is releasing on July 21, 2009.

We'll be waiting to read!