The world is unique, unlike anything I have ever read before. I love it. Sounds intriguing - I am looking forward to reading the other two novels in the series.
My favorite is The City and the City. Perdido Street Station left me kind of cold, not sure if I want to follow up on it. He's very hit or miss for me; it's all home runs or strikeouts.
Stephen King's Revival; just like most of his stuff, Revival has been slow gaining momentum. I'm more than half way through and it's finally starting to get interesting.
I read 'Cell' a little while back - the first half was good the second half was weird and the ending was contradictory and ill thought out... not his best work
A sample may just confuse you, it's one of those books that can only really be appreciated in its totality.
This book makes me want to genuflect in a religious fashion whenever it is mentioned, uttering silent words of power. *imagines some arcane hand gesture invoking duality, and that which is seen vs. that which is unseen* PSS and The Scar where hypnotizing for me. Like sticking that needle into my arm and sinking into the floor.... The one that was a slog to finish for me was Iron Council. I always knew China was a political animal. It's obvious through all his books. But Iron Council was where he ripped off the disguise and strutted the stage, butt naked, politics all glistening and dangly bits a-quiver.
The thing that bugged me was how similar the... security apparatus were in PSS and City and the City. I don't want to drop any spoilers, but I'm sure you know the magic trick I'm thinking of.
Aye, I see what you mean. I was okay with that since the two books had such different focuses. And then, of course, there's Embassytown. That one's a strange vintage, even for Miéville fans. The politics is there too, but it takes a back seat to his dive into linguistics and the interconnectedness of language and sapience. For me, it was breathtaking. For someone not so keen on language, it might only be meh.
I thought the same thing but it does pick up after a bit. .... There are very few authors who I will stick with over an extended setup but I know that King will almost always pay off in the end.
I kind of like both of those. Admittedly, I don't have the context, but they feel like an interesting mechanism for describing unspoken and unsignaled feelings.
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It's taken me ages to get through it due to outside circumstances, but I'm loving every page.
Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen, by Mary Norris. Mary Norris has been a proofreader at The New Yorker since 1978. She's an expert in grammar and punctuation, and has a wonderful wit. This is a very entertaining book on grammar, written from the front lines.
The fairy tales of Hans Christian Anderson. Partly just because, and partly looking for inspiration for my next project.
Re-reading A song of Ice and Fire. Just started A Fest for Crows. Always a good time. I'm hoping to drag it out until Winds of Winter hits us, but I can only read so slowly. Also reading Anna Karenina, which is different from what I typically read but a fine book for all that. I just wish I could read the original, but even translated the writing is wonderful.
I'll soon make a start on Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut, which is the first of his works I'll have read. I've just read A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. I saw a BBC production of it, but it wasn't nearly as vibrant as the story that played out in my head when I read what Dickens wrote.
I've just finished today Contact by Carl Sagan which I was very happy with until the last couple of chapters. I felt the character did a couple of things that were out of character. I have my next book arriving Tuesday! Quite a different one! The Land of Stories: When Worlds Collide by Chris Colfer is a fantastic retelling of the Fairy Tale world! Anyone with kids I highly recomend this series, or just anyone who loves Fairy Tales. xxx
The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle. I downloaded a bunch of samples to my Kindle, but this was the only novel that gripped me and wouldn't let go.