Last Book you Read?

Shadow of the Scorpion - Neal Asher

Raised to adulthood during the end of the war between the human Polity and the vicious arthropoid race, the Prador, Ian Cormac is haunted by childhood memories of a sinister scorpion-shaped war drone and the burden of losses he doesn't remember. In the years following the war, he signs up with Earth Central Security, and is sent out to help either restore or simply maintain order on worlds devastated by Prador bombardment. There he discovers that though the old enemy remains as murderous as ever, it is not anywhere near as perfidious or dangerous as some of his fellow humans, some of them closer to him than he would like. Amidst the ruins left by wartime genocides, he discovers in himself a cold capacity for violence, learns some horrible truths about his own past and, set upon a course of vengeance, tries merely to stay alive.

I'm a big fan of Neal Asher's work (I'm also a big sci-fi geek) so this is right up my street. Great to see the formative years of Cormac and the whole altered memory thing is quite a good twist in the tale. Lots of big action, war drones, scary aliens and cool technology. Highly recommended.

Plus I interviewed the man himself.

Dexter By Design by Jeff Lindsay

Dexter Morgan is back. After his surprisingly glorious honeymoon in Paris, life is almost normal for Dexter Morgan. Married life seems to agree with him: he's devoted to his bride, his stomach is full, and his homicidal hobbies seem nicely under control. But old habits die hard-and Dexter's work as a blood spatter analyst never fails to offer new temptations that appeal to his offbeat sense of justice...and his Dark Passenger still waits to hunt with him in the moonlight. Luckily for Dex, there's someone out there with particularly twisted tastes. Dexter may have never been a big fan of art - but the discovery of a corpse (artfully displayed as a sunbather relaxing on a beach chair) naturally piques his curiosity. Miami's finest soon realize they've got a terrifying new serial killer on the loose. And Dexter, of course, is back in business. From the most original voice in crime fiction, DEXTER BY DESIGN is an enthralling, macabre and gruesomely entertaining thriller.

After the excellent first two books in the Dexter series, I was let down by Dexter In The Dark. Luckily, ...By Design is a step back in the right direction, reveling in the delicious dark humor and dreaded suspense of the first two books. Lindsay's style of writing is very smooth, never over-compensating or over-explaining a situation; this helps as you are never pushed out of the story. This is definitely a step in the right direction, and overall, a brilliantly dark read. I recommend it.

Glory in Death by Nora Roberts writing as JD Robb

Book 2 in the In death Series starring Lt Eve Dallas in 2050 New York, Futuristic murder mystery books, re-reading tham and love them all.

I have less time to read when working on a project but the last one I read (I should have read ages ago when I bought it) was
Save The Cat by Blake Snyder.


I am looking forward to his new book Save the Cat Goes to The Movies

The Manchester Compendium: A Street-by-Street History of England's Greatest Industrial City.

A fascinating look at my home city. Jammed full of interesting titbits on archictecture, history and more. It did lack in photographs and maps though. It has inspired me to dig even deeper, so it's done it's job.

Really enjoyed this first part of the Dark Tower series. Still not sure what the hell is going on with it, but great imagery and different from many of the other King books that I have read.

Triplanetary by E.E. "Doc" Smith
Classic space opera. I've been an avid science fiction fan since I read Burroughs' The Land That Time Forgot in the early 60's, and this one just doesn't hold up very well. It was obviously written in an entirely different age and, unforunately, it shows. It was real work to complete.

Marsbound by Joe Haldeman

Good first contact story about an 18 year old who moves with her family to Mars. Haldeman keeps the story moving at a good pace, and does a good job of showing the main character's attitude maturing over several years time. Haldeman can be hit or miss with me, but this one, although not on par with his greats, is a good easy read.

Live for Films wrote:Really enjoyed this first part of the Dark Tower series. Still not sure what the hell is going on with it, but great imagery and different from many of the other King books that I have read.

I've read all seven books twice and would say stick with it awhile longer.I think in the first book the whole thing with the kid Jake seems a little confusing but it all becomes clearer in the second book-The Drawing of the Three.Also if you've read The Stand then you'll know who the Man in Black is,if not keep reading!

Last book I read was Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury-A bleak image of the future similar to George Orwell's 1984.The future is a world where books are banned and our main character is a fireman whose job it is not to put fires out but to start them in the homes of people who have been found in possession of books.
As the story starts we find our hero Guy Montag questioning the morality of his work.
A great read,very well written.

Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson

Actually, finished this about a week ago. Very interesting, easy read that, to me anyway, ended up going nowhere. I felt so let down. I just expected more after such an epic story.

Wizard's First Rule by Terry Goodkind

I just finished this one. It's a doorstop (850 pages), about the same length as Cryptonomicon, but much more satisfying. I felt that all the loose ends were wrapped up nicely, all the sub-plots were heading to a showdown, and that the final battle brought everything to a satisfying conclusion.

I know that this is the first in a whole series of doorstops set in this "Sword of Truth" world, but this one is a very good stand alone, and I probably won't go any further in the series. I used to reade a lot more fantasy than I do now. But began to notice that they were losing their sense of humor and fun, and taking themselves far too seriously. Then, somewhere around that same time, noticed that stories were being stretched into 3, 5, and even 10 different volumes. I think that may be why The Hobbit is still my all time favorite fantasy (even more than LOTR), because the whole story fits neatly into one book.

BTW, there is an Aussie TV show called "Legend of the Seeker" that is based on this series. I've heard that the first season follows this first book fairly closely. Anyone seen it? Is it worth tracking down?

Just finished the The First Law series by Joe Abercrombie - starts with The Blade Itself.

Great dark fantasy series. Brilliant fight scenes, fantastic characters. You're not sure who is good, bad or just plain evil and your view changes throughout the series. Logen Ninefingers is a brilliant creation.

Just superb and well worth a read.

It sounds interesting. Can it be read as a stand alone?

You could definitely read The Blade Itself and leave it at that, but you would be forever itching to see what happens next

British newcomer Abercrombie fills his muddled sword-and-sorcery series opener with black humor and reluctant heroes. Logen Ninefingers, a barbarian on the run from an ex-employer who's now king of the North, finds his loyalties complicated when he switches sides and becomes a valuable source of intel to the beleaguered Union. Glokta, a torture victim turned torturer, gets roped into securing the Union's position against both the invading Northmen and the incompetent Union king and council, and ruthlessly wields his skills in attempts to weed out traitors. Foppish Jezal, a preternaturally excellent swordsman, manages to win the contest to become the Union champion, thanks to a little help from Bayaz, a mage with his own agenda. The workmanlike plot, marred by repetitive writing and an excess of torture and pain, is given over to introducing the mostly unlikable characters, only to send them off on separate paths in preparation for the next volume's adventures.

I bought this for my wife on her birthday. She is a Sherlock Holmes fan and this story follows on from The Hound of the Baskervilles. The master detective goes up against a certain Count Dracula.

Extremely well written (you'd think it was by Conan Doyle). A great sense of time and place. Plus it's only 170 pages so you'll zip through it all in a sitting or two. Spooky, clever and very good.

The Heart of Veridon by Tim Akers

Ever since I read "Perdido Street Station" 5 or 6 years ago, I've tried to explore steampunk a little more, but haven't found anything that really grabbed me. "Heart of Veridon" by Tim Akers finally did the trick. It's alsmost like a steampunk detective story, with betrayals and double-crosses and a poor schmoe who gets caught up in something over which he has no control (or so he thinks). I'm actually looking forward to the next in the series.

Sick Puppy by Carl Hiaasen.

A great book, very funny and twisted with some great characters.

Florida's corrupt governor, Dick Artemus, pursues schemes to line his pockets and those of his rich entrepreneur backers at the expense of the environment of Florida. His schemes have always foundered in the past, but he has high hopes of a plan involving Toad Island, virtually uninhabited except for innumerable tiny toads. A former drug smuggler turned developer, Robert Clapley, plans to bulldoze the island and turn it into Shearwater Island, with high rise condominiums, a golf course and a massive new bridge to the mainland. He hires Palmer Stoat, a lobbyist, to expedite the project.

By random happenstance, Stoat incurs the wrath of Twilly Spree, an eccentric millionaire, when he dumps rubbish out of his car window onto the highway. Spree obsessively pursues a path of retribution for littering, tracking Stoat back to his Fort Lauderdale residence and later breaking into the home where he and his wife Desirata live to find information about him.

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Had a Peter Biskind double with the last books I read, Easy Riders, Raging Bulls and Down and Dirty Pictures, both great reads.

I read the Easy Rider one a few years back. Excellent book.

1001 Movies to See before you Die is a great resource book especially when adding movies to Love Film

Live for Films wrote:I read the Easy Rider one a few years back. Excellent book.

1001 Movies to See before you Die is a great resource book especially when adding movies to Love Film

Easy Riders is fantastic. I don't necessarily agree philsophically with Biskind about Spielberg and Lucas ruining everything, but it is a great celebration of that wonderful period of time when Coppola, Friedkin and Bogdonovich were given free reign to the Hollywood dream factory.

I also have the 1001 Movies book, an older edition though, mine has Janet Leigh in Psycho on the cover, one of those resource books that I always gets lost in whenever I read it.

The last book I read was The Road by Cormac Mccarthy.It's one of the most heart wrenching stories I've ever read,I couldn't put it down and finished it in a couple of days and was then gutted that it was over so quick.I loved his stripped down minimal style and found it quite a different experience from the film even though the film stays pretty faithful to the book.
Although it's a really bleak tale I found myself focusing more on the aspect of the love of the man for his son that drives him never to give up.

Totally agree with you about The Road. Brilliant book.

I've just finished Carter Beats the Devil which is superb. Based on the real life of a stage magician it is a cracker of a tale.
Highly recommended.

Live for Films wrote:
I've just finished Carter Beats the Devil which is superb. Based on the real life of a stage magician it is a cracker of a tale.
Highly recommended.

I am now reading Carter beats the devil,liked the sound of it and can't resist a good Victorian era magician story.I'm 200 pages in and totally hooked,savouring every moment of it,thanks for the recommendation!!

Nice one. Glad you are enjoying it.

I've just started Stephen King's Full Dark No Stars. 4 stories and so far the first one is pretty good but bleak