Saturday, January 26, 2013

Matriarch Isis

Yeah, yeah, I went and finally finished my tri-element sorceress. Still can't seem to make screenshots work now, so there isn't one. Go cry about it. Anyway, for those keeping track (that's just me), I've completed one druid, two paladins, two necromancers, and one sorceress. And there are a lot more on the way. Some of them are ones I might eventually finish. Or I might decide Median is better and stop playing regular Diablo II. I don't know.

Anyway, I'm mainly writing this because I've finished three more books since my last post, and I have apparently decided I'm obliged to note them here, mainly so that I can remember them later. The books that I read were Platinum Pohl (a collection of Frederik Pohl stories) and Beyond the Blue Event Horizon by Frederik Pohl and Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear. I guess I picked up Anvil of Stars in a hurry and didn't notice that it's a sequel. So now I have to read the first one. Well, that's it for now. 

Sunday, January 6, 2013

It's been a while and look, still no real content here...

But since it really has been over a month, I've read some books and I'll say what they were if I can remember all of them...

The Books of the South by Glen Cook
Another compilation of individual Black Company books. The title the publisher used is a bit misleading. The first two books in this compilation are direct sequels to the three books in the first compilation. At the beginning of the very first book (The Black Company), the Black Company had been in one region for some time, but went across a sea to a region in the far north, after which the events of the first three books took place. In this compilation, the first book (which would be the fourth in the series as a whole) opens with the Black Company leaving the northern region and taking a long trip to the south, where the events of the rest of that book and all of the next one take place. Good so far. Well, when the third book, which was the last "north" book, concluded, the remnants of the Black Company actually split in two, with most of the main characters going south. So the last book in the "Books of the South" compilation actually takes place in the north. Anyway, the first two books in this one (Shadow Games and Dreams of Steel) are quite good, actually the best of the series I've read so far. The spinoff book, The Silver Spike, is mostly inferior, but does have its moments (Old Man Fish, mostly). Unfortunately, the library system doesn't seem to have the next books in the series (or I haven't found them yet with the the KCLS search engine), so I have no idea whether I'll finish this series any time soon. It's good enough that I'd like to, but I'm not in a big rush or anything.

Why Evolution is True by Jerry Coyne
With the caveat that I don't care for the title (more because of the "why" than because of the "true" but whatever), this is a good read. I had things to say about it, but I've forgotten what they were.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
I grabbed this at the library while in a hurry because I couldn't find what I was looking for. I really liked it. It's a lot better than Stardust.

Legacy by Greg Bear
Technically, I'd decided I was on a break from Greg Bear, but I didn't get this from the library and I was out of library books, so I went ahead and read it between library trips. Technically, this is a prequel to Eon and Eternity. Since it takes place on its own world, it's almost a standalone story. Some of the background details don't make sense without Eon and some of them seem rather implausible even with Eon. If I'd written a post about this shortly after having read the book instead of a month later, I'd elaborate. Anyway, I love this series.

American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Gaiman did a good job with Anansi Boys and I wanted to give him another shot right away. American Gods is even better. No seriously, I'm impressed.

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin
I thought there was something else before this one, but it's probably the half of the Frederik Pohl anthology that I read before setting it aside in order to read this before it was due (I renewed the Frederik Pohl book, but there was a hold on this one). I'm actually still not even sure what to think, but overall my reaction is positive. This post really isn't very thoughtful. Well, you get what you pay for. Or something. I need to get some sleep. Instead of saving this and finishing it later, I'll just post it now, because I'm a gangster.