2226 replies to this topic

[Harmsway]

Fighting my way through The Amber Spyglass - the final part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

I'm sorry. That book's a real disaster. I don't know what Pullman was thinking. It's a very disappointing close to a very promising trilogy.

I vastly preferred The Subtle Knife to Northern Lights.

Why's that? I liked both books, but Northern Lights was more my thing than Subtle Knife, maybe because it felt more self-contained.

[Vauxhall]

Fighting my way through The Amber Spyglass - the final part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

I'm sorry. That book's a real disaster. I don't know what Pullman was thinking. It's a very disappointing close to a very promising trilogy.

I'm finding it disappointing too so far, hence the "fighting". Sorry to hear that it's unlikely to pick up in quality.

I vastly preferred The Subtle Knife to Northern Lights.

Why's that? I liked both books, but Northern Lights was more my thing than Subtle Knife, maybe because it felt more self-contained.

I'm not really big on fantasy as a genre anyway, but I had my arm twisted into reading the trilogy. Probably due to my apathy towards the more fantastical elements of Northern Lights, the manner in which The Subtle Knife elaborated more upon the parallel universe concept (and the subsequent philosophical elements involved) piqued my interest a bit more.

[Agent 76]

A STORM OF SWORDS

HIGH TIME TO KILL

[MkB]

Fighting my way through The Amber Spyglass - the final part of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy.

I'm sorry. That book's a real disaster. I don't know what Pullman was thinking. It's a very disappointing close to a very promising trilogy.

I'm finding it disappointing too so far, hence the "fighting". Sorry to hear that it's unlikely to pick up in quality.

I vastly preferred The Subtle Knife to Northern Lights.

Why's that? I liked both books, but Northern Lights was more my thing than Subtle Knife, maybe because it felt more self-contained.

I'm not really big on fantasy as a genre anyway, but I had my arm twisted into reading the trilogy. Probably due to my apathy towards the more fantastical elements of Northern Lights, the manner in which The Subtle Knife elaborated more upon the parallel universe concept (and the subsequent philosophical elements involved) piqued my interest a bit more.

I'm not big either on fantasy as a genre, but I decided to give Northern Lights a try (after Craig's Golden Compass, I have to confess... ), and actually stopped after this one. Too much on the Children litterature side for me (actually, I enjoyed some books of the Chronicles of Narnia better, and yet I'm philosophically more on Pullman's side than on C.S. Lewis'). From what you say, Vauxhall, I may be more intrested by The Subtle Knife. Maybe one day when I'm short of fiction...

[Santa]

The Clocks by Agatha Christie

This is the only Christie out of many I have now read to disappoint me. This is the first time I have found the plot to be so over-contrived it's actually distracting, and I don't like seeing Hercule Poirot as a lonely and rather pathetic old man. The ending, in particular, was not at all satisfying. It was quite interesting, however, for AC's depiction of a James Bond-style spy. This book seems to have first been published in 1963, so I wonder if the spy craze of the time had anything to do with this?

[dogmanstar]

The Clocks by Agatha Christie

This is the only Christie out of many I have now read to disappoint me. This is the first time I have found the plot to be so over-contrived it's actually distracting, and I don't like seeing Hercule Poirot as a lonely and rather pathetic old man. The ending, in particular, was not at all satisfying. It was quite interesting, however, for AC's depiction of a James Bond-style spy. This book seems to have first been published in 1963, so I wonder if the spy craze of the time had anything to do with this?

I don't remember the Clocks that well, so I'll have to go dig it out of the bookshelf. I will say that if it is an early 60's book poor Dame Agatha's writing had started to become, well, how does one say it--difficult? She was clearly losing some of her faculties. If I recall, A Passenger to Frankfurt has a similar espionage/Bondian kind of theme and is from the same time period.

There was also a short story of hers somewhere with a hero whose name was James Bond! Anyone remember that?

[Kilroy6644]

I've never read much Christie (only one, actually). While I enjoyed the book, her style didn't really suit me, so I'm not sure when I'll get to the other two that are on my shelf.

[Santa]

The Clocks by Agatha Christie

This is the only Christie out of many I have now read to disappoint me. This is the first time I have found the plot to be so over-contrived it's actually distracting, and I don't like seeing Hercule Poirot as a lonely and rather pathetic old man. The ending, in particular, was not at all satisfying. It was quite interesting, however, for AC's depiction of a James Bond-style spy. This book seems to have first been published in 1963, so I wonder if the spy craze of the time had anything to do with this?

I don't remember the Clocks that well, so I'll have to go dig it out of the bookshelf. I will say that if it is an early 60's book poor Dame Agatha's writing had started to become, well, how does one say it--difficult? She was clearly losing some of her faculties.

That's interesting. I had wondered if that was the case. Her next two books, Miss Marples, were both good ones, though. I think I've read that she'd grown tired of Poirot at that point, which would explain her rather bitchy treatment of him in this book but not the extremely poor plot. It starts off with great potential but finishes so badly.

If I recall, A Passenger to Frankfurt has a similar espionage/Bondian kind of theme and is from the same time period.

There was also a short story of hers somewhere with a hero whose name was James Bond! Anyone remember that?

I haven't come across that one but I tend to avoid short stories. Was her James Bond meant to be 'our' James Bond or was the name just a coincidence?

[Darth Prefect]

The Facts of Death by Raymond Benson.

Coincidentally, the current "Blades Library Book Club" selection. So I joined in order to pipe in when I'm finished.

[dogmanstar]

I haven't come across that one but I tend to avoid short stories. Was her James Bond meant to be 'our' James Bond or was the name just a coincidence?

No, this was early--I'm thinking in the 1930's, so just a coincidence.

[Jackanaples]

I read ICE STATION ZEBRA and WHEN EIGHT BELLS TOLL this past week, both by Alistair MacLean. I've been a big fan of movies based on his books since I was a kid, but never read him before.

ISZ was a cracking thriller, if a little dated. The action moves at a good pace, and the mystery unfolds well. I was surprised to discover that the plot and characters from the movie were vastly changed from what they are here. May read this one again at some point.

WEBT on the other hand, vacillated from being a pleasure to being an damned chore to read. I'd enjoyed the Anthony Hopkins movie from the 1970s and this has some of its charms but the story sandbagged repeatedly by MacLean's need to Over Explain Everything to his readers. Ugh. Too much telling, not enough showing here.

I want to read four more of MacLean's novels over the next couple months: H.M.S. ULYSSES, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS and WHERE EAGLES DARE. I'm looking forward to the experience tentatively after that last one though.

[AgentBentley]

Theft - Peter Carey.

Begins with a fallen artist in first person.
Then switches to his mad brother, also in first person.
There's also a mysterious woman, and the whole story is about an art heist. But then I'm only at page 24.

[Santa]

I've been reading The Pirate's Daughter by Margaret Cezair-Thompson and am surprised to find myself enjoying it very much. The Errol Flynn subplot is a bit of a red herring really, the book is really about Jamaica itself, in the 50s, 60s and 70s. The most interesting part of it for me is a certain character, Nigel Fletcher. Nigel is a former British Secret Service employee with a standoffish, rather snobbish wife who belittles his achievements. He has a sparse house in Oracabessa, is good friends with Noel Coward and snorkels daily. Nigel splits his time between England and Jamaica, where he comes to write a series of spy novels, full of glamour and excitement, with a main character named Jack Blaze...

[dodge]

The Message--a hip new version of the Bible praised by none other than Bono. It rocks, though I'm still not at all clear what went on in Gomorrah.

[Kilroy6644]

Adventure! Thrilling Tales of Discovery edited by John Richard Stephens. I picked it up in the bargain book section at Barnes & Noble. Just your standard fare of mummy's tombs and bandits and cannibal tribes in the Amazon, interspersed with a few shorts stories by Kipling and Haggard.

[Kilroy6644]

I want to read four more of MacLean's novels over the next couple months: H.M.S. ULYSSES, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS and WHERE EAGLES DARE. I'm looking forward to the experience tentatively after that last one though.

I've never read H.M.S. ULYSSES or The Golden Rendezvous, but I have read The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, and they're both great. The movie version of Guns differs significantly from the book. It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I seem to remember Eagles being quite faithful to the book.

[Matt_13]

Just finished the relatively boring DMC, so I have moved on to Double or Die.

[Jackanaples]

I want to read four more of MacLean's novels over the next couple months: H.M.S. ULYSSES, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS and WHERE EAGLES DARE. I'm looking forward to the experience tentatively after that last one though.

I've never read H.M.S. ULYSSES or The Golden Rendezvous, but I have read The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, and they're both great. The movie version of Guns differs significantly from the book. It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I seem to remember Eagles being quite faithful to the book.

Yes WED remains fairly loyal to the book but also retains the marvelous atmosphere too.

A thoroughly good read.

Thanks, both of you. I will get to the other MacLeans but for now have decided to read some books in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. I'm reading the books in chronological order as opposed to publication order. Last year I read the first two SAHARPE'S TIGER and SHARPE'S TRIUMPH. This past week I got through SHARPE'S FORTRESS which is the last of the India stories.

Now I'm on to SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR, to be followed by SHARPE'S PREY and SHARPE'S RIFLES. Cornwell writes such fantastic historical adventure that I may stick with this till I polish off all twenty-one books in the series!

I love the Richard Sharpe character. A swashbuckling rogue with a sense of duty and honor who's not averse to being a right bastard to the baddies. The best part is that by all accounts I have the best still to come in the series.

I may follow up the Sharpes with some of Cornwell's other books, like the Grail Quest trilogy or AZINCOURT. It seems likely, as I'm getting such a kick out of his writing at the moment.

[Johnboy007]

Smiley's People - John le Carre

[Qwerty]

The World is Flat - Thomas Friedman

[JackWade]

Watchmen.

[Jackanaples]

I want to read four more of MacLean's novels over the next couple months: H.M.S. ULYSSES, THE GUNS OF NAVARONE, THE GOLDEN RENDEZVOUS and WHERE EAGLES DARE. I'm looking forward to the experience tentatively after that last one though.

I've never read H.M.S. ULYSSES or The Golden Rendezvous, but I have read The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare, and they're both great. The movie version of Guns differs significantly from the book. It's been a while since I've seen the movie, but I seem to remember Eagles being quite faithful to the book.

Yes WED remains fairly loyal to the book but also retains the marvelous atmosphere too.

A thoroughly good read.

Thanks, both of you. I will get to the other MacLeans but for now have decided to read some books in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe series. I'm reading the books in chronological order as opposed to publication order. Last year I read the first two SAHARPE'S TIGER and SHARPE'S TRIUMPH. This past week I got through SHARPE'S FORTRESS which is the last of the India stories.

Now I'm on to SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR, to be followed by SHARPE'S PREY and SHARPE'S RIFLES. Cornwell writes such fantastic historical adventure that I may stick with this till I polish off all twenty-one books in the series!

I love the Richard Sharpe character. A swashbuckling rogue with a sense of duty and honor who's not averse to being a right bastard to the baddies. The best part is that by all accounts I have the best still to come in the series.

I may follow up the Sharpes with some of Cornwell's other books, like the Grail Quest trilogy or AZINCOURT. It seems likely, as I'm getting such a kick out of his writing at the moment.

I read Sharpe's Travalgar and Sharpes Rifles and thoroughly enjoyed them both, but haven't read any more. I might take a couple on my hols - I think these books are definately beach/airplane reading. I wouldn't exactly call them 'page turners' but they are thrilling and exciting. But for me, I wouldn't want to read one after the other though. It helps enormously if you have an understanding of the history and politics of the time. I read them shortly after studying Napoleon at University which obviously included British politics and Wellington.

I certainly don't have what you'd call a masterful grasp of English history at that time, but I find Cornwell's novels serve as a good primer. Indeed, I expect they're going to inspire me to read some real history on Wellington, Nelson, and the Napoleonic Wars in general.

As far as reading many books in a series goes, well, when I like something I tend to like it in great amounts. I'd been meaning to read these books for over a decade and I'm very keen to get past the prequels he wrote later and get to novels set during the Peninsular War SHARPE'S RIFLES is the first of those.

Having said that, I may take a short break from them soon. I just finished SHARPE'S TRAFALGAR today and immediately jumped into SHARPE'S PREY. It's very possible that I'll finish that one and RIFLES and then set the Cornwell aside for a bit and tackle SHANTARAM by Gregory David Roberts or maybe some sf or fantasy.

[Matt_13]

Stephen Colbert's I AM AMERICA(AND SO CAN YOU!)

[AgentBentley]

Child 44 - Tom Rob Smith.

Chilling. They're torturing the vet now, so I'm wondering what happened to the child murderer.

[Qwerty]

The Talisman by Stephen King and Peter Straub

[Jericho_One]

A Rumor of War, by Philip Caputo. It's a personal account of the early days of the Vietnam War by a Marine Lieutenant. Quite good, actually.

Adventure! Thrilling Tales of Discovery edited by John Richard Stephens. I picked it up in the bargain book section at Barnes & Noble. Just your standard fare of mummy's tombs and bandits and cannibal tribes in the Amazon, interspersed with a few shorts stories by Kipling and Haggard.

Actually, that so-called pulp fiction can be quite nice reading material
Are you enjoying it?

[Kilroy6644]

Actually, that so-called pulp fiction can be quite nice reading material
Are you enjoying it?

Yes. It's going fairly slow, however. I think that may be because I really only bought the book because it featured The Man Who Would Be King, which I hadn't been able to find anywhere else. Now that I've read that, it's just going slower.

[Jackanaples]

In the middle of SHARPE'S RIFLES by Bernard Cornwell right now. It will be the last book I read in the series for a little while at least. Unless, you know, I change my mind at the end of this one and decide to dive right into the next one.

Also started RATCATCHER by James McGee. This is first in a series set in Regency period England. The protagonist is ex-soldier, duelist and sometimes spy turned Bow Street Runner Matthew Hawkwood. Supposed to be some exciting blood and thunder reading. It's followed by two sequels, RESURRECTIONIST and RAPSCALLION.

In the pipeline as well are several spy novels. The first few Quiller novels by Adam Hall:

THE QUILLER MEMORANDUM
THE 9the DIRECTIVE
THE STRIKER PORTFOLIO
THE WARSAW DOCUMENT
THE TANGO BRIEFING

I've been meaning to read this series for years. Hope I like it as much as I think I will...

and the next three or four novels in the Charlie Muffin series by Brian Freemantle. Few Brits or Americans seem to know about this series, which is surprising. The first book CHARLIE MUFFIN is a classic espionage thriller. I'm up to book five:

MADRIGAL FOR CHARLIE MUFFIN
THE BLIND RUN
SEE CHARLIE RUN
THE RUN AROUND

[MkB]

I've just finished Shibumi by "Trevanian".

It's a very interesting read for anyone who's read Fleming, I must say. The writing is quite different of course, but the main character bears some uncanny resemblance both with a Fleming Villain (he'd even be the better written of the Fleming Villains, if you ask me) and with James Bond (in some way).
The writing is not without humour, and this book a surprising synthesis / spoof of various spy genres (among them is Fleming's Bond novels, no doubt). Only during the long central part that takes place during a cave exploration did I get a bit bored.

I'd recommend it!

[Greene Planet]

I recently finished "The Ghost War" by Alex Berenson. And before that I read "The Faithful Spy".