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September 2010: What Are You Reading?
I recently "discovered" Steven Saylor and the first of his books that I read was Roma. Now I'm about halfway through Roman Blood, book 1 of his sub-Roma series. However, before going on to the next in the series, I just have to read Ken Follett's brand new page-turner Fall of Giants, which has received amazing reviews.
Spotted a classy new Orion edition of an old favourite, which I just had to buy- Poul Anderson's "The Broken Sword". A dark tale which incorporates the spirit of Norse mythology, it stands the test of time well. Recently read a modern fantasy inspired by Norse myth, Wolfsangel by M D Lachlan, and it was interesting to reread Broken Sword and compare the two. There are some similarities - both have as the heart of the story a stolen child/doppelgänger. Although Wolfsangel is imaginative and full of dazzling imagery, compared to the spare and sinewy Broken Sword it seems rather overwrought, like a film relying on special effects for its impact. Sometimes the old masters can't be beaten
Last edited by annis on Thu September 30th, 2010, 6:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
- JoshuaKaitlyn
- Reader
- Posts: 85
- Joined: April 2010
- Location: Manchester UK
Finished up Spies of the Balkans by Alan Furst (my first one by him), and while it started off rather oddly, I was liking it very much by the end. Now onto the fourth Serge Storms novel, Triggerfish Twist, which is seriously demented but fun. And still working my way through Becoming Queen Victoria -- much better than Charlotte and Leopold!
Teylnor,
Spies of the Balkans was my first Furst novel, too. Ive read three others since then, and have enjoyed them all (SotB slightly lesser than the others, though). Night Soldiers has been my favorite so far. I have four more in the TBR, so I must like them!
Im still reading Quo Vadis. Im finding this far more overwrought and preachy than I did his novel, Knights of the Cross, though he does include some interesting bits about Rome during the time of Nero (e.g., in the wit of Petronius). I can only stand about 50 pages a day of Vinicius (the male lead) who behaves like a lovesick, spoiled child for most of this. I did finally get a copy of Henryk Sienkiewiczs The Teutonic Knights which does indeed continue the adventures he started in Knights of the Cross. KoC begins in 1399 and stops a year or two later (it was hard to tell how much time passes, but Im pretty sure it was two years). The Teutonic Knights culminates in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Im looking forward to reading the final adventure included in this one. Its too bad that here in the US he is better known for Quo Vadis and his other novels are hard to come by, not to mention the confusion of sorting through which translation might be best. I think his stories about the Teutonic Knights are much better.
Spies of the Balkans was my first Furst novel, too. Ive read three others since then, and have enjoyed them all (SotB slightly lesser than the others, though). Night Soldiers has been my favorite so far. I have four more in the TBR, so I must like them!
Im still reading Quo Vadis. Im finding this far more overwrought and preachy than I did his novel, Knights of the Cross, though he does include some interesting bits about Rome during the time of Nero (e.g., in the wit of Petronius). I can only stand about 50 pages a day of Vinicius (the male lead) who behaves like a lovesick, spoiled child for most of this. I did finally get a copy of Henryk Sienkiewiczs The Teutonic Knights which does indeed continue the adventures he started in Knights of the Cross. KoC begins in 1399 and stops a year or two later (it was hard to tell how much time passes, but Im pretty sure it was two years). The Teutonic Knights culminates in the Battle of Grunwald in 1410. Im looking forward to reading the final adventure included in this one. Its too bad that here in the US he is better known for Quo Vadis and his other novels are hard to come by, not to mention the confusion of sorting through which translation might be best. I think his stories about the Teutonic Knights are much better.