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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25255 is a reply to message #24970 ] |
Fri, 15 January 2010 13:16   |
 Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
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I liked Heir Apparent, too. I also enjoyed Vande Velde's A Hidden Magic. A sweet little story.
I'm currently making my way through Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, thanks to a recommendation on this thread, and they're great fun. Miles Vorkosigan is a wonderful character: sort of a cross between Ender and Horatio Hornblower. (For the record, I highly recommend Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and its sequels (the ones I've read: he keeps coming up with new ones)(and if Ender's Game isn't your cup of tea, I still suggest you try Speaker for the Dead, since it's very different))(And I also recommend all the C.S. Forester Horatio Hornblower books: well-written swashbuckling adventures. The mini-series with Ioan Gruffudd is good, too. (though I've been so disappointed with everything Ioan Gruffudd has done since!))
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25259 is a reply to message #25255 ] |
Fri, 15 January 2010 14:00 |
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L.R.K.
Messages: 1090
Registered: October 2008
Location: Sweden |
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| Kim A wrote on Fri, 15 January 2010 19:16 |
I liked Heir Apparent, too. I also enjoyed Vande Velde's A Hidden Magic. A sweet little story.
I'm currently making my way through Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series, thanks to a recommendation on this thread, and they're great fun. Miles Vorkosigan is a wonderful character: sort of a cross between Ender and Horatio Hornblower. (For the record, I highly recommend Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game and its sequels (the ones I've read: he keeps coming up with new ones)(and if Ender's Game isn't your cup of tea, I still suggest you try Speaker for the Dead, since it's very different))(And I also recommend all the C.S. Forester Horatio Hornblower books: well-written swashbuckling adventures. The mini-series with Ioan Gruffudd is good, too. (though I've been so disappointed with everything Ioan Gruffudd has done since!))
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Even Amazing Grace? I loved that. And yes, his Hornblower is wonderful.
I've a weakness for Napoleonic naval stories for some reason - I recommend the books by C Northcote Parkinson, the first of which is Devil to Pay.
Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean, like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25281 is a reply to message #25272 ] |
Sat, 16 January 2010 18:07 |
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| shalea wrote on Sat, 16 January 2010 16:27 |
| L.R.K. wrote on Fri, 15 January 2010 21:59 |
| Susan in Melbourne wrote on Sat, 16 January 2010 02:11 |
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I've a weakness for Napoleonic naval stories for some reason
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Have you read Naomi Novik's series about the dragon Temeraire? Napoleonic naval stories that are also Fantasy with dragons - what's not to like!
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No, not yet - I certainly intend to. You're right - it just sounds too good to resist! 
[/quote]
What I have read of it so far is QUITE good![/quote]
I have all of them available so far - the first one is excellent and while all the others are good, the amt of good varies. I quite liked the last one Victory of Eagles a lot but it got left on a real cliffhanger, which is always frustrating
http://www.temeraire.org/index.cgi?pagetype=news
I see book 6 is due out middle of this year!
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25320 is a reply to message #25259 ] |
Mon, 18 January 2010 01:25 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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| L.R.K. wrote on Fri, 15 January 2010 11:00 |
Even Amazing Grace? I loved that. And yes, his Hornblower is wonderful.
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Oo, oo, oo, Ioan Gryffudd fighting against slavery? Somehow I've missed this one: I can't wait! (He's so good at being noble and heroic--so long as he's not trying to be an American comic book character!)
And the Napoleonic Wars fought with dragons??? Six books of it?? I have got to stop following this thread: I'm not supposed to sit around all day reading, you know.
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25321 is a reply to message #25256 ] |
Mon, 18 January 2010 01:29 |
Kim A
Messages: 117
Registered: August 2009
Location: Vancouver, Canada |
Senior Member |
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| Beauty/Anna wrote on Fri, 15 January 2010 10:28 |
I love the illustrations—done by Trina Schart Hyman—for A Hidden Magic.
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Yes, I love Trina Schart Hyman. I have a beautiful version of St. George and the Dragon she illustrated.
It was the only lullaby she would ever sing, and it was sung in Hell. --Laini Taylor
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #25713 is a reply to message #24927 ] |
Sun, 31 January 2010 12:44 |
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L.R.K.
Messages: 1090
Registered: October 2008
Location: Sweden |
Senior Member |
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Isaac Asimov: "Foundation" - The first in the (original) trilogy
Berlie Doherty: "Street Child" - Set in 1860s London, based on the true story of Jim Jarvis, who inspired Doctor Barnardo to create his homes for destitute children.
Michael Morpurgo: "Why the Whales Came" - The Scilly Islands in 1914; ten-year-old Gracie and her inseperable friend Daniel become acquainted with the shunned Birdman, and realise that he isn't mad at all, as he is thought to be. He warns them from Samson Island - is it truly cursed? A terrible deed was once committed there - can reparation be made? and the curse lifted?
Lloyd Alexander: "The Rope Trick" - "Lidi was not easy to ignore, especially when flame shot out of her fingers. Also, she had an attractive smile. "Remember to smile a lot," Jericho once told her. "It shows people you know what you're doing. They like that." "
Georgette Heyer: "Bath Tangle" (Re-read) - Contains, quite possibly, two of Georgette Heyer's most quarrelsome characters.
[Updated on: Sun, 31 January 2010 12:46]
Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean, like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #26385 is a reply to message #24927 ] |
Fri, 19 February 2010 00:36 |
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Kathy_S
Messages: 314
Registered: October 2008
Location: Indiana |
Senior Member |
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I do not often say, "That book deserved the Newbery." (Obviously Robin is an exception, though in her case it was, "It's about time"). But, I've just finished this year's winner, When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead, and was impressed. I'm not sure how it will end up working for me as a long-term rereader, since the suspense (and I hate suspense  ) may have contributed to the book's impact, but I'll certainly add it to the list for the next cycle. It didn't hurt that the narrator seems to have admired A Wrinkle in Time as much as I did at her age.
[Updated on: Fri, 19 February 2010 00:37]
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| Re: Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread [message #27100 is a reply to message #24927 ] |
Sun, 07 March 2010 10:37 |
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AJLR
Messages: 2582
Registered: September 2008
Location: England, UK |
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EXCESSION, by Iain M Banks. This is 'hard' science fiction in most senses, set in the galaxy - nothing so small as a mere world view - he has (I gather) used for several of his books. The story is of the conflicts and machinations between the Culture (benign tech) civilisation in all its many strands, the Affronter worlds (another civilisation, not so benign), and a mysterious planet-type body the Excession - that suddenly appears and which has extraordinary powers. There are giant sentient space ships, wheel-worlds that have been created, humans, avatars, and a lot more.
The story is absorbing, although it's not one to read if you're feeling sleepy - it requires perseverance. The concepts that Banks brings into the story are, however, truly interesting. I enjoyed it a lot.
"Never let a computer know you're in a hurry."
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Jan.-Feb. 2010 recommendation thread
