If you do go with Discworld I don't recommend starting with The Colour of Magic. I tried starting there and made it through about 3/4 of the book and put it down. With that said if you were/ are a D&D guy or high fantasy guy you may get the satire in it but being neither of those I appreciated it but didn't find it as funny as I should. There are multiple entrances into Discworld and really all you need from Colour is the prologue that lays out the world for you.
This is one of my top favorites! McCammon is unfortunately underrated. He does have a King like quality to his prose. I know the two and some of the stories have been compared quite a bit. Like you said, the 'flow' of it is great, very natural. His dialogue is real and not choppy and he creates a hypnotic interiority, as though you are seeing what is going on through dialogue versus reading it. Something that is very VERY tough to pull off. King is the Master at it and I'd say McCammon is right around there with him when it comes to that. Enjoy the read!
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win." - SK
WTB:
- S/L 'Storm Front' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
- S/L 'Fool Moon' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
I won't be surprised if it ends up being one of my favorites just going off my feelings toward it by page 30.
Yes, it has a very comfortable feeling to it like King's style. It's not often you come across a story that feels so easy to sink into. I like when a story begins with a brief, yet effective set-up for the world I'm about to explore, then says "now let's go on this journey". I can see that McCammon is very good at pulling that off.
It's because of 'Boy's Life' that I started collecting McCammon. It also was what jolted me back into writing. That short introduction and how he talked about being young and exploring the world. Basically setting your imagination free of the adult walls of which we've built as we age. It's something, we start to lose that explorative imagination, maybe not all, but some. That is what is so incredible about reading and writing! This book, in particular, made me smile so much and miss being a kid.
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win." - SK
WTB:
- S/L 'Storm Front' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
- S/L 'Fool Moon' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
Yes! That introduction about being young was amazing. I had actually written something very similar recently, touching on how the magic slips through our fingers, so reading that in someone else's words was awesome. It's a hard truth that we don't always stop and think on.
I can finally focus on finishing The Best of Gene Wolfe now that I'm done with The Best of Gregory Benford. This seems to be the year of Best Of books for me and they're all door stoppers.
Damnit, I just finished Boy's Life and I want to crawl into a hole to process all my emotions. What a fantastic book.
Recently finished I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes. Although Hayes is a veteran of film and TV writing, this was his first novel. Basically, this is a "thriller," with all of what that implies - pretty good action, kept things moving, with interesting characters, situations and events. If you think you smell a "but" coming, you're right, but it's not one I blame on Hayes - I think it's just me.
As was the case with Tom Clancy's Executive Orders (another "thriller," which I read around 2 years ago), the action and characters were interesting enough to keep me reading and entertain me (I did enjoy them), but ultimately they were shallow reading experiences for me which left me feeling that I'd like to read more by the author, but I felt no real hurry about doing so.
I think, to me, this type of book always goes one way - no matter how horrible the problem, it will be resolved; what's done is always undone. Which is not to say there aren't permanent consequences (and I admit this is a real oversimplification and generalization of what these books do), but one problem with large-scope plots is that there's only so much about the world most authors will change (unless we're talking apocalyptic works, a different beast altogether).
Anyway - if you like thrillers, you should give this a shot, and if I've discouraged anyone from reading this, that was not my intent (please immediately read a positive review of the book to wash this one out of your mind, and reset!).
Eastasia has always taught college students to feel pride or shame according to their race.
Recently started The Routledge Atlas Of The Second World War by Martin Gilbert (now on p 36 and going well).
Yes, it is an atlas, but one you can just pick up and read (if you are so inclined) as the maps contain explanatory text, and there are an introduction and epilogue. For those who are read up on WWII, this makes a fine reference companion to have on hand.
I'm reading it now in preparation of what I will read next: Churchill's 6-volume The Second World War. My copy is the delicious Folio Society edition - "lust" is a strong word, but man, let's just say I'm really ready for these babies (take a gander: http://www.churchillbooks.com/detail...mNumber=200911 and https://www.amazon.com/Second-World-.../dp/B000NK98XW).
A few words about who is behind this:
Routledge is a publisher of many reference works (some visible at www.routledgehandbooks.com); I have my eye on The Routledge Atlas Of The First World War, The Routledge Atlas Of The Arab-Israeli Conflict, and The Routledge Atlas Of Russian History.
Martin Gilbert was a respected historian, among whose most notable works were the last 6 volumes of an 8-volume biography of Winston Churchill that had been begun by Randolph Churchill (the Prime Minister's son); details and info at http://www.martingilbert.com.
Eastasia has always taught college students to feel pride or shame according to their race.
"Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes they win." - SK
WTB:
- S/L 'Storm Front' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
- S/L 'Fool Moon' Jim Butcher (Subterranean Press)
I really do want to read Swan Song. Everything I read about it reminds me of The Stand and being someone who really wasn't all that swept away by The Stand (I know, a real shame considering I'm such a huge King fan), I'm really curious to see how McCammon handles that type of huge, sprawling epic novel.
As far as the two books I picked up - one of them was The Wolf's Hour, but I can't recall what the other one was.
*Oh my gosh, I just looked up Swan Song and see that its page count is pretty much doble what Boy's Life is. I can't wait to get to it when the time is right!
I am putting Boys Life on my to read list this year. Anyone wanna mail me a reader????
I have to say I was not happy with Swan Song... OR better... not as happy as I wanted to be. It was good... but I think it could have been so much better. I give it a solid 6.5/10
HELP ME FIND
Insomnia #459
ANY S/L #459
Boys Life has been on my too-read list for quite awhile now. But I already have a series of books lined up
Currently reading Haven by Tom Deady, and then I'm going to start my re-read of It any day for our upcoming book club. And then I had planned to re-read Summer of Night after since it's in the same vein as these too. Maybe I'll add it on after that
Only the gentle are ever really strong.
This forum......
You don't know my kind.....You don't my mind.....Dark necessities are part of my design.....
I felt the same way. I enjoyed it, but I don't really remember it really grabbing me.
I read that one a few years back for my dystopian lit. class. It's an interesting idea to have each chapter about different people (all revolving around Mars), but I remember being disappointed that we wouldn't be following the same group for the whole book. It didn't give me that "gotta read the next chapter now!" feeling.
Me too, and I'm not sure if it's overwhelming or exciting.
A NEW GAME BEGINS
I do the same thing. Plus our library just had a huge sale and I walked away with 8 books. Not sure if or when I'll ever get to them I joined a local Stephen King bookclub so I've been re-reading a ton of King lately, but I've been trying to squeeze in another book in between those.
Only the gentle are ever really strong.