The Man With The Getaway Face

Parker. That's the name. He is the anti-hero of Richard Stark's novels. I like the chilled out methodical approach of Parker in the two novels I've read so far. The Hunter and The Man With The Getaway Face. If not on the other side of the law, Parker would almost be another of my favorite characters Jack Reacher, created by Lee Child. Both of these dudes are cool, calm, collected, chilled out and they kill when they have to kill.

Something about the book The Man With The Getaway Face. It takes off with Parker having changed his face and him trying to pull off a new job. The story goes in a linear fashion. With things happening one after another, but if you read carefully, there is a lot of story construction going on behind the scenes. These are the kinds of things you realise when you have an "Ah Ha!" moment in reading a novel. I had a few such moment in reading this novel.

Next on list, I've started with The Outfit which is the third book in Parker series. I'm reading this as an ebook, in paper, i think i'll start with The Judas Strain by James Rollins. Also, trying to read few poems by Bukowski.

Yup, that's all for now.

Books I Am Really Looking Forward To

There is only a handful of authors I read with relish, the staple of Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Chuck Palahniuk and above all Sir Terry Pratchett. I also like to read Science Fiction, particularly Cyberpunk, and some Fantasy too. But not too much swords and sorcery for me, it gets suffocating.

With that out of the way, there are few fantasy books i am really looking forward to read.

1) Scott Lynch's The Republic of Thieves. Next instalment of Locke Lamora series. The previous two books The Lies of Locke Lamora (June 2006), and Red Seas Under Red Skies (July 2007) were completely kickass. I mean, fantasy where people swear like anything is total win in my book. One of the most memorable lines I remember from the first book is "Be fucked" proceeded by the sayer shooting the other dude in the head. Lynch writes awesomely. A must read.

2) Richard K. Morgan's The Dark Commands. After I read Ringil's adventures in The Steel Remains, i was blown away by the scale of violence and perversion in the book. I never knew swords and magic could be so amazingly cool. Though Morgan is an expert in cyberpunk, (I re-read all three of his Takeshi Kovacs novels once every year) but his foray in fantasy has been nothing but epic.

3) Patrick Rothfuss was a new find. I saw someone praising him a lot on some forum and decided to read Name Of The Wind. It was fantasy of a different kind for me. There was not so much of swords and magic, there was some magic, but the voice of the author and his main character was strong. The book was a delight to read and now, the second part A Wise Man's Fear will be released in March 2011. Oh well, long wait.

These are the three books, i am looking forward to read. What about you?

Reading Report :: Artemis Fowl's Atlantis Complex

Somehow, i felt that the book ended abruptly. Maybe it was the shorted Artemis book i've read, or maybe i read it too fast. There really is no way to tell unless i tally the word count of all the previous books and this. Which I won't. In all, i enjoyed reading this book. The alternate personality of Artemis was fun and indeed irritating after a while, as Eoin Colfer intended him to be.

The jokes were good and innovative.

In all, the book is good value for money. A must read for Artemis fans. New readers should probably start from Book 1 to garner the interest for reading this book.

Artemis Fowl :: The Atlantis Complex

Eoin Colfer spins a pretty tasty yarn. I read the 2nd Artemis fowl first, which was a pretty awesome book. I think all the Artemis Fowl books are much better than Harry Potter books because AF books do have certain message in them, they are more fun than HP books, there is more of a cool factor, more gadgets, and just more awesomeness.

Yup, so I am off to read Atlantis Complex

:)

Sandstorm by James Rollins

Sandstorm by James Rollins

Just  finished reading this book. A thoroughly researched book, there is a lot ancient history, lot of sciency mumbojumbo, lot of close escapes and the novel also acts as the introductory novel for Sigma Team. We get to meet the team leader Painter Crowe, who isn't much, frankly. I mean, when we are talking special agents, in my book, there is only Shane Sheofield by Matthew Reilly who comes off as someone i'd want to read about again and again.

The book, Sandstorm is a good read, but as with the last book by JR which i read, Excavation, it falls short on the rightful executions of the relationship angles in the book. Fine, there are relationships in every book, but when the reader is led of a merry chase among exploding helicopters, there is some kind of expectation on the reader's part to see the relationships culminate properly.

If you look at Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books, he does this job with aplomb. Every thread tied, every story loop accounted for, but in the two books i've read by James Rollins, something is missing. What that something is, i am going to find out when i pick up the third book by him The Judas Strain.

Yeah, i have my doubts with this writer, but for writing style and a steady pace which is not breakneck like Matthew Reilly books, or slow as a dead camel like the book The Unknown Soldier.

Pick Sandstorm up if you like books about deserts, ancient civilisations, incomplete love angles, and some exploding helicopters.

Yeah, helicopters do explode in this book, that's a WIN in my book! :)

Next read, The Judas Strain

The Secret Of Excalibur :: Andy McDermott

I was looking to pick any action adventure novel after finishing the last two slow books (read last post). And i found The Secret Of Excalibur in my bookshelf. I had bought this book some time back but it was just hiding under some other books. I started reading it and found it a fresh and enjoyable read. The chemistry between the two lead characters Dr. Nina Wilde and Eddie Chase is funny and charming in turns. The way the character of Eddie Chase goes through a transformation after accidental death of a a friend has been written well. The novel is about the hunt for legendary Excalibur, which is some kind of superconductor used to create a super energy source which can cause super havoc. Feel the drift? Heh.

Other than that, there is your usual fair of exploding helicopters, drowning submarines, race against time, and a Threat To Humanity. All Earth In Peril and it is up to our heroes to Save The Day. Which they always do by the end of the novel. A great read, lots of history, but i guess you need that to fill the book, between the action sequences. I kid.

It's a good book. I read it in less than a week. I had time on my hands.

After this book, i picked up James Rollins' Excavation.

That, in next blog post.

Reading Report :: June

I finished reading The Unknown Soldier by Gerard Seymour. It took me a long time to read. Some 68 days. Why? because I read another book in between, Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey (More about it in a bit).

So, The Unknown Soldier. The book is slow. The premise promises of action. But that's all it does. Promises of action. There is very little action. Couples of camels getting shot, a dude getting sunk in a quicksand, and then a stinger taking down an unmanned airplane. There is lot of character development, of the lead character Caleb and his co travelers who are crossing the desert on camels. What really irritated me was a blurb on the back of the book that said that "the action in the last 150 pages is intense and it won't let you leave your leave the book." For me, last 150 pages were boring. I kept expecting some action and kept reading the book, but none, zilch nada. Even in the end, the book ends as a damp squib. I was not entertained, not disappointed either, because it's not a badly written book, but there is very less good in it.

Now, to Sandman Slim by Richard Kadrey. This book is full of action. There is lot of action, there are lot of cool sequences, there are demons and angels and magic and violence, but, there is something missing. What is that missing thing? The basic idea. The basic premise that what the hell the book is about. The basic theme of revenge keeps the book afloat very thinly and frankly, the lack of justification for the title of the book is kinda intriguing. Why is the lead character called Sandman Slim? I never got it. Richard Kadrey's last book which I read was Butcher Bird, which was awesome in parts, some parts of that book blew my mind, on the whole it was ok too, and there WAS a justification for the book's title. This is the least a book can do, tell the reader why is it called what it is called. It gives the reader an idea how to approach the book.

This is what i felt about the books. In my opinion, no book is outrightly good or bad. It's the reader's perception which gives flavor to a book.

Currently reading  :: The Secret Of Excalibur by Andy McDermottt
Next planned read :: Johnny Gone Down