What are you currently reading?

Just to be the pill of the group, I proofed the whole PASSAGE trilogy for CD, and I absolutely hated every book, lol. He had me until the book 1 time-jump; After that it was all downhill.

Me too. I thought they were very good although did taper off a little in the last book. Still a very good story which goes in a number of directions. It could have really went of the rails but J.C. kept it on the tracks. 

Posted by: @brlesh

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I know that a lot of people kind of bash the later books in the trilogy, but for my money, I thought all three were great.

Started a short collection of three novellas. Enter Softly by Tyler Jones. 

I'm 50 pages in and enjoying this so far. His writing never disappoints but I do think there are a few stumbling blocks in his stories. He is an author I try and keep up with though, as I think he has some really good writing chops, and eventually he will create something that will blow me away.  

Finished up my reread of William Meikle’s Professor Challenger: The Island of Terror, which was a blast.

Next up, starting my reread of Black House by King & Straub.

B

Last night I finished Winter Counts by David Heska Wanbli Weiden.

New author for me - I believe I learned about him from an independent site in Denver (Westword) when his newest book came out.

Reminded me of an indigenous Jack Reacher kind of story.

Fun escape for a few days.

Now trying to decide if I start that Talisman re-read or do a comic series or two before hand.

Posted by: @benstaad

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Me too. I thought they were very good although did taper off a little in the last book. Still a very good story which goes in a number of directions. It could have really went of the rails but J.C. kept it on the tracks. 

Book three was the only time, I won’t say I was bored, but was starting to get antsy, when Cronin was giving Zero’s back story.   

At the time it just seemed out of place, and I was wondering why he was spending so much time on this particular backstory.

And then he finished the backstory, and it’s like, ‘Holy shit, that 100 page backstory just explained the entire trilogy’.

Just great story telling from Cronin.

B

Posted by: @benstaad

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Started a short collection of three novellas. Enter Softly by Tyler Jones. 

I'm 50 pages in and enjoying this so far. His writing never disappoints but I do think there are a few stumbling blocks in his stories. He is an author I try and keep up with though, as I think he has some really good writing chops, and eventually he will create something that will blow me away.  

I’ve got a bunch of Tyler Jones on my TBR.

I read Heavy Oceans about a year ago, and while it was an interesting story, the ending ultimately fell flat for me.

Now, the two chapbooks he’s done for Rapture Publishing, Carved in Salt and Axum, were both, IMO, very good stories.

Jones definitely has some chops.

B

Yep. I'm actively trying to keep up with his work for sure. There aren't many authors I actively follow these days but he is one of the few.

Posted by: @brlesh

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Jones definitely has some chops.

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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Just to be the pill of the group, I proofed the whole PASSAGE trilogy for CD, and I absolutely hated every book, lol. He had me until the book 1 time-jump; After that it was all downhill.

This is a common comment I've read in negative reviews of the series. I think the initially setup, especially with Wolgast and Amy, are so strong that when the book veers it can be hard to go with it. Fortunately, I knew about the time jump prior to my first reading so that helped out a bit. I won't lie, though, I was so invested in Wolgast and Amy that I didn't know if Cronin could win me back. The more I read on, though, the more I was in it. Over the course of my multiple re-reads I've come to appreciate the playing with timelines more. I'm curious to see where it lands when I get to the third book.

I've been reading a non-fiction graphic novel for most of the week- MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY. Very well-written and illustrated, by Ben Wickey. My only complaint is that the book becomes wordier and wordier as it goes on (For nearly 600 pages), and the massive amounts of footnotes (Around 50 pages) REALLY slow down the reading pace. All in all, it's a fascinating look at the Salem witch hysteria, and Salem in general.

 On the other hand, I'm about halfway through Daniel Kraus' Hard Case Crime novel, BLOOD SUGAR. As with most Kraus stories, it's not what I expected. The story, about a group of out-of-control teens who plan to tamper with Halloween candy, is told in maddening six-line-long chapters, and narrated by a kid who speaks in what a rich middle-aged white guy thinks is urban slang. The story is holding my interest, but the narrator's voice and the miniature chapters are maddening.

Haven't read that one, but I think I'm familiar with it because a podcast I was listening to was talking about it and it sounded interesting.

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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I've been reading a non-fiction graphic novel for most of the week- MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY. Very well-written and illustrated, by Ben Wickey. My only complaint is that the book becomes wordier and wordier as it goes on (For nearly 600 pages), and the massive amounts of footnotes (Around 50 pages) REALLY slow down the reading pace. All in all, it's a fascinating look at the Salem witch hysteria, and Salem in general.

Posted by: @tacomadiver

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Haven't read that one, but I think I'm familiar with it because a podcast I was listening to was talking about it and it sounded interesting.

Posted by: @dannyboy121070

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I've been reading a non-fiction graphic novel for most of the week- MORE WEIGHT: A SALEM STORY. Very well-written and illustrated, by Ben Wickey. My only complaint is that the book becomes wordier and wordier as it goes on (For nearly 600 pages), and the massive amounts of footnotes (Around 50 pages) REALLY slow down the reading pace. All in all, it's a fascinating look at the Salem witch hysteria, and Salem in general.

 

 It was REALLY good. Very well written and illustrated, and meticulously researched. The author/artist had been working on it for ten years. Highly recommended for anyone interested in the Salem witch hysteria.

I finished up Daniel Kraus' BLOOD SUGAR, which was, like almost all of his stuff that I've read, devastating and depressing. It was published by Hard Case crime, but I wouldn't really classify it as crime, more of a sad exploration of lost, hopeless youth. 

I started up ANNO DRACULA: THE BLOODY RED BARON the other night. I loved ANNO DRACULA so much that I wanted to read the whole series consecutively...two years + later, here I am, lol, starting the second book. Great so far, just need to keep my phone nearby to look up all of the references.

Posted by: @ronclinton

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Posted by: @ronclinton

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Reading THE BOOK OF THE BEAST trilogy by Robert Stallman. Centipede announced a month or so ago that they were reprinting it, and so since I’d never heard of it, I thought I’d give it a read. I’m about halfway through the first volume and am enjoying it very much.

I finished the first volume of the trilogy and enjoyed it...there are a few issues, mostly to do with POV and segmented/fractured storylines, but they could also be written off as deliberate choices rather than debut-author weaknesses, and I could see that argument being made. I'd give it a 7.5/10, and am looking forward to the next/second volume. Interestingly, it's not SF as originally marketed, and it's barely horror (though it has a few scenes that would qualify), even though its protagonist is a monster/creature...it's almost more of a literary coming-of-age saga with a strong theme of what-does-it-mean-to-be-human with all genre flourishes being largely secondary. Reminds me a bit of BLIND VOICES by Tom Reamy in its quasi-literary approach to the fantastic...interesting that that book, too, was a debut work by an author who died before (or shortly after) publication.

I'll report back on the second volume...we'll see if it remains a strong narrative, or like too many series, tends to trail off as the story wears on.

 

Finished the second volume, and while it was still entertaining and I'm digging the overall arc of the story, I didn't find it quite as engaging as the first book...it felt a bit too plot-heavy, too pulpish. I'm on to the third novel, which one review I read decries it as embracing the Jonathan Livingston Seagull ethos a bit too closely...guess we'll see.