Catch Up and Comment: RSS Feed Reading and Twiiter

I must admit that after two weeks at sea in early August with relaxation and lack of instant internet access I’ve not been that keen on checking on the actions of my fellow bloggers. This isn’t from any inherent dissatisfaction with any of them. But more that I realised that I’ve got quite enough books to be getting on with and that any more is going to give more of the feeling that I’m missing out on something. A feeling that I didn’t have at sea with my limited selection of books that I bought with me.

But saying that this blog shouldn’t be limited books that I actually have time to finish. It should be, and something that I’ve been guilty of not recording that well, a log on the web of books and book-related things that I’ve found. Like a ‘Dear Web, Today I found the most amazing things, let me list them for you.’

A part of it is that I’m spending quite a bit of time of Twitter, and I’m going to be sharing some of those finds in later post.

But here are some of finds from RSS feeds that I currently have (see earlier post and help em find some more). Enjoy:

Lets start with a new blog, though not a new reviewer, and a book that I think I’d like but would take a very long time to read:

Robinson is an author who is fascinated by science. Not just the knowledge it yields, but the entire process of observing, hypothesizing, testing and publishing. The many hours of hard work that is involved as well as the scarce moments of new insight. Many of his characters are scientists and their work as well as their impact on society is a frequent theme in his work. What better subject to pick than the man who is credited with major contributions to developing the scientific method?

link: Val’s Random Comments: Galileo’s Dream – Kim Stanley Robinson

Another blog is having a bit of an Autumn Clean. It’s also a great place to find out what’s going on in the Fantasyweb:

Another quick post to let everyone know (esp those reading this in a feed reader, like Google Reader) that I have updated my blog template. Hopefully it looks a little better (well, a lot better) than the old one.

link: Fantasy Book News & Reviews: Updated Blog Template

Next is a book that I’ve always been put off reading from the cover alone. A bad, to me, cover can make a real lot of difference no matter what sort of reviews it’s getting. But then I’m put off a story involving organised crime too…

This is a gritty Swedish mystery. It is also a love story, and about all kinds of love, and about relationships of all kinds. The best mysteries I find always involve the human heart. This book has heart, and plenty. It is also different because part of the story involves Mikael’s public humiliation when he is found guilty of slander in an article he wrote on a mafia-like financier, and how he comes to believe in himself again and redeem himself. Lisbeth is his key. They make a very unusual detective team, their skills balancing one another’s; they are good for one another.

link: You Can Never Have Too Many Books: Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

I got a mention on thedigitalist.net – how cool is that! There will be more mention of The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy soon as I look at the iPhone app in a little bit more depth and I’ve been challenged to get more excited by the new sticker covers buy coming up with my own version of the cover using said stickers:

links for 2009-09-04

link: thedigitalist.net » links for 2009-09-04

He has a point does Lev Grossman, author of the highly praised The Magicians:

A good story is a dirty secret that we all share. It’s what makes guilty pleasures so pleasurable, but it’s also what makes them so guilty. A juicy tale reeks of crass commercialism and cheap thrills. We crave such entertainments, but we despise them. Plot makes perverts of us all.

link: Good Novels Don’t Have to Be Hard Work – WSJ.com

And I really agree with this bit:

All of this is changing. The revolution is under way. The novel is getting entertaining again. Writers like Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Donna Tartt, Kelly Link, Audrey Niffenegger, Richard Price, Kate Atkinson, Neil Gaiman, and Susanna Clarke, to name just a few, are busily grafting the sophisticated, intensely aware literary language of Modernism onto the sturdy narrative roots of genre fiction: fantasy, science fiction, detective fiction, romance. They’re forging connections between literary spheres that have been hermetically sealed off from one another for a century.

Those are just the type of authors that we need more of!

Hmm, here is a book that I bought and I just can’t seem to find the right point to read. It’s more a what’s all the fuss about book rather than a book that I actually want to read. Gritty fantasy just isn’t me. But it makes for an interesting piece of cover p0rn:

Abercrombie gave a peek at the cover art for the upcoming (Winter 2009) paperback UK release (phew!) of The Blade Itself.

link: Cover Art | The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie (UK Paperback) | A Dribble of Ink

An interesting bit of news this one. Rebellion recently acquired my favourite sci-fi mag DeathRay so it’s going to be interesting to see how they handle the Solaris catalogue:

This week, Rebellion, Europe’s leading independent games developer and owner of the iconic comic 2000 AD and sci-fi and fantasy imprint Abaddon Books, completed the acquisition of the Solaris book publishing imprint from Games Workshop for an undisclosed sum.

link: Walker of Worlds: Press Release | Rebellion Acquires Solaris Imprint

Though it might dry up my review copies of Solaris books having failed miserably to get captivated by any of the review copies of Abaddon Books I’ve received. They just ain’t me.

This is an interesting deconstruction of a review. Maybe there is a few lessons to be learned?

Earlier in the day I happened to come across this review (cached version). It is not a very good review but, hey, there are a lot of bad reviews out there. However, when I first clicked through I thought it was just another blog, it was only after a while that I twigged that this was, in fact, the website of Fantasy Magazine. This is a respected magazine with multiple editors publishing a review which would be embarrassingly inept for someone’s blog. So I thought rather than moving on it was worth having a look at in more detail:

link: Xenopath « Everything Is Nice

Some more cover p0rn via Aidan:

Alright, so Hyperion is almost 20 years old… but this cover art, from the Polish version of the book was just too cool not to show off!

link: Cover Art | Hyperion by Dan Simmons | A Dribble of Ink

Anyone up for a challenge? Some interesting titles and something that sounds fun to try:

Carl’s RIP IV is here. I breathed a big sigh of relief when I saw his post here, and then I started piling books up. Up, up, and up. I ended up with over 20 books I wanted to read for this challenge! Now, I know that last year I read more than required, and I know this year I will, but even I think 20 is a huge pile. So I’ve been whittling away at the pile until it’s more manageable.

link: You Can Never Have Too Many Books: RIP IV – Ghost and horror stories challenge is here!!

Now this is a seriously good idea! I’m going to steal this!

I thought I would try something this month…listing the books I hope/plan to read. One, this will give you an idea about which book reviews should appear here this month, and second, if I have a plan in writing, maybe i won’t jump around between 4 books before deciding what to read. This isn’t set in stone of course, but below is the list of books I hope to read. Keep in mind it takes me around 5-7 days per book.

link: Fantasy Book News & Reviews: Reading Plan: September 2009

Ok, now I see what I could do with some of those stickers!!!!

Our guide to the galaxy finally arrived at the office having navigating the vagaries of space travel! Bearing a marked resemblance to the Sony Reader, it must be said…

link: thedigitalist.net » The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy

This is all that I’m reading from the following review. But if you ain’t read any of the Felix Castor series and you like Urban Fantasy series then you are mad! I’m waiting for my copy to arrive and I’m not happy with the postal strikes getting it delayed the system!

It’s a well known fact, around these parts, that any new adventures of Felix Castor will be bumped right up to the top of the reading pile as a matter of due course. Especially after the cliff-hanger ending in ‘Thicker than Water’… 2009 has turned out to be a good year for fans of Felix Castor (I’ll ‘fess up to being a fan if you hadn’t guessed already) with the forthcoming ‘The Naming of the Beasts’, look for it on September 3rd, following on from February’s ‘Thicker than Water’. I started reading this one almost as soon as I’d taken it out of the packaging. The next thing I knew, a day had passed (where did it go?) and I’d finished it. ‘The Naming of the Beasts’ is that good; fans of the series have got a real treat in store…

link: Graeme’s Fantasy Book Review: ‘The Naming of the Beasts’ – Mike Carey (Orbit)

I don’t think Soulless has a UK release yet, I could be wrong but from this review I wish it did.

Soulless is an absolutely delightful debut that combines “urbane” fantasy, romance, and a hint of steampunk. The world building is well done, and I expect it will be fleshed out even more in future books. Victorian era London houses vampires, ghosts, and werewolves, along with its high society.

link: The Road Not Taken · Soulless

I’ve found that I’ve really liked just over half of Stross’s novels that I’ve read, whilst the (just under) other half I feel remarkably indifferent about.

It seems that Wireless had the same effect on James as the novels. I’m a big Laundry series fan and I’m about halfway into Wireless. As collections go I’m enjoying it. Review when I’m done.

link: Wireless By Charles Stross – Big Dumb Object

Here is a new author that I want to check out and a very interesting way of reviewing!

Cath at Read-Warbler and I got together and decided to review a book that we were reading at the same time. This wouldn’t be so surprising except that we live an ocean apart! I love how books cross time and space to join people together.

link: You Can Never Have Too Many Books: Last Rituals – an intriguing new Icelandic mystery series

Another book that I keep reading great things about:

Retribution Falls is a thrilling read full of vibrant characters that Wooding brings to life with ease. According to Wooding’s website Retribution Falls is the first of a series, but that all books will be standalones, which sounds good to me. I, for one, will be looking forward to next book (and only grumbling slightly when I have to import it again).

link: Review: Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding « King of the Nerds!!!

Confession time I’ve had this trilogy in Hardback from when it first came out and it’s been gathering dust ever since. It’s just the size of them! But I might just get the ebooks – my Sony Reader is just soo much lighter:

The second volume of The Night’s Dawn Trilogy is the direct continuation of The Reality Dysfunction, pretty much picking up the story immediately. The book has a slightly different focus – Lalonde has been left behind and a couple of superfluous characters like Kelven Solanki have been rather abruptly jettisoned from the story – but it’s generally a continuation of the same writing style as the first book. Simply put, if you liked the first book, you’ll like this one too

link: The Wertzone: The Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F. Hamilton

One of those books that is probably going to miss an audience because you can only get it from a small, if world renowned publisher:

I stumbled across Song of Time by Ian R. MacLeod while browsing the website of its publisher, PS Publishing. There, I read a post stating that the book had won both the Arthur C. Clarke award and the John W. Campbell award. Sufficiently intrigued, I read a synopsis of the book and it sounded somewhat promising so I went ahead and purchased a copy. …..
… For me, the greatest thing about this book is the emotional state in which it leaves the reader. While it probably won’t be to everyone’s liking, I found it to be singular and nearly perfect in this respect. Inherent in Roushana’s recollection of the events of her life is a question about whether or not it makes sense to pursue the existence-beyond-death that technology has made possible.

link: Speculative Fiction Junkie: Review – Song of Time

There are plenty more that I could tell you about but I’ve run out of time for now. Hope there are a few things you like.