On Deck...

[quasigeostrophy]

Okay, I'm in the home stretch reading A Game of Thrones by George R. R. Martin. What next? The following are the top contenders from my immense "to read" pile, among all the series I've started or want to start (italicized entries I don't actually own at present, but that's never stopped me before). Decisions, decisions... :-)

• Moving Pictures by Terry Prachett


• The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley


• The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown


• Lost in a Good Book by Jasper Fforde


• Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey


• A Clash of Kings by George R. R. Martin


• Falling Free by Lois McMaster Bujold


• The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold


• The Laughing Corpse by Laurell K. Hamilton


• The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay


• Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson


• Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, Christ's Childhood Pal by Christopher Moore


• Smoke & Mirrors by Neil Gaiman

Comments

[rednikki.livejournal.com]

Either "Lost in a Good Book" or "Warrior's Apprentice". Don't read "Lost" if you haven't read "The Eyre Affair", though.

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

I have read The Eyre Affair. It was such an enjoyable, and quick, read, that I may want something else quick like Lost in a Good Book after Martin. :-)

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

You'll have to post your review of Martin.
I've got a total squick on an event that I think happens in those books, which was then used by a GM in a campaign immediately after he had read it. ((Ugh ugh ugh))

Interested in getting your reaction.
(not sure I have the right books, but I don't want to say any more until you've read it. If it is the right book, you will probably identify the scene when you get there...)

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to put this one on my own reading list -
Benjamin Franklin: An American Life by Walter Isaacson

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Hmmm... squick mileage varies widely, and I haven't been bothered yet, although the most potentially squicky things I've run across so far in the first book are some geneology related issues and a particular manner of death for one of the characters. I'm really loving the first book - it took a while to get into with all the names being thrown out (in various forms, even - nicknames and such being used interchangeably) but I'm at the point where all the sh*t is really starting to hit the fan - less than 200 pages from the end (out of 807).

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

Hm. My problem might have been in the first book - is this the series with a particular ritual that ties the knights to the king's service?

[quasigeostrophy.livejournal.com]

Not that I've noticed or remember.

[djinnthespazz.livejournal.com]

Then it's very likely I've got the wrong books, or the wrong author. Just ignore me, thank you!

Enjoy your reads!

[eternaleponine.livejournal.com]

My vote would be for Kushiel's Dart. A lot of that has to do with the fact that I haven't most of the others, but it's also a really, really good book. I'm currently finishing up Kushiel's Avatar, the third in the trilogy, and loving every minute, just as I did with the first two. They're such rich books, without being heavy.

The Mists of Avalon is the only other one I've read. It was interesting, but heavy reading. I didn't particularly like it -- too heavy-handed, I felt... much like Anne Rice. There was so much that just wasn't necessary. It took me something like 2 months to get through this book, because I just couldn't pick it up.

So those are my votes. :)

[hitchhiker.livejournal.com]

Chainread Martin, say I. Or if that isn't to your taste, read Moving Pictures and then go back to the next Martin book.