Plugs!

[sleigh]

I want to plug two books... No, I haven't read either one yet, but both are in my To Read pile and I'm looking forward to sinking into both of them in the very near future.

First up is Melinda Snodgrass' sequel to last year's THE EDGE OF REASON (which was a wonderful, fast-paced book, and one which thematically resonated deeply with me): THE EDGE OF RUIN, which continues the tale -- and since REASON is now out in paperback, you can get the first one cheap if you haven't already read it, and once you do read it, you're going to have to get the second one!

The second book is Ian Tregillis' BITTER SEEDS. Ian (like Melinda) is one of the WILD CARDS crew, and I just love his writing. It was my extreme pleasure to collaborate closely with Ian as we wrote SUICIDE KINGS, the most recent Wild Cards novel, and I'm telling you -- he's a writer to watch. BITTER SEEDS is Ian's first novel, and it's garnering some nice reviews; I'm looking forward to reading this one, and I suspect you'll love it as well.

So: two novel suggestions for you! Do you have any for me?

Comments

[minxlaurel.livejournal.com]

Gee thanks. lol I so did not need more books on my tbr pile, but now I'll be adding both of these.

Question - Since I haven't read any of the WILD CARD books can you tell me where I need to start?

As for recommendations: The Mercedes Lackey / James Mallory collaborations. "The Obsidian Trilogy" and the Phoenix Unchained Trilogy". Also, if you can find them, M K Wren's "The Phoenix Legacy" 1. Sword of the Lamb, 2. Shadow of the Swan, 3. House of the Wolf. I didn't like her books enough to recommend them, but these draw me back every couple of years.

Thanks for the recommendations!

Laurel N

Current Music - French Perfume by Great Big Sea

[sleigh.livejournal.com]

Laurel --

With the Wild Cards, you could conceivably start with the trilogy of INSIDE STRAIGHT, BUSTED FLUSH, and SUICIDE KINGS, since the majority of the characters in those novels are new, and (especially with INSIDE STRAIGHT) we tried to write something that a new reader could pick up and understand without having read the 17 books that preceded it.

OTOH, TOR Books will be re-releasing the first volume of the series, WILDS CARDS (with some entirely new stories), later this year (according to amazon, anyway).

And thanks for your recs also; I can't say I've read any of those.

I went from computer to bookstore and back again

[minxlaurel.livejournal.com]

I managed to get to Powell's (the most wonderful brick and mortar as well as online bookstore) and bought EDGE OF REASON . They didn't have the second one on the shelf so I have time to read this one first. I saw BITTER SEEDS but my book budget is shot for the month so it will have to hold its position on my 'Most Wanted" list for now.
Reading any of the Wild Cards (and the 17 that precede them) will have to be on hold until I get my current MS finished. *g*

[lexcade.livejournal.com]

'the name of the wind' by patrick rothfuss (if you haven't already). currently a favorite. i fell in love with kvothe.

if you read YA, i definitely recommend suzanne collins' "the hunger games" and "catching fire." both a really easy reads *read "catching fire" in a day*

thanks for the recommendations! will definitely check them out.

haven't been able to buy copies

[parrismcb.livejournal.com]

of Melinda's or Ian's books locally, which really ticks me off. But I did find Ian's book at the iBooks store! So it will be the first book I read on the iPad.

If you haven't read the Joe Abercrombie books yet, give 'em a go. The first 3 were great good fun. The fourth, BEST SERVED COLD, was so damn good, I found myself reading it like it was a GRRM book - I read it at turn-page speed to find out what happened next, then went back and read it again for pleasure.
Right now I have an incredible tower of books waiting for me - BLACKOUT, an ARC of Sam Syke's first novel, and the hc of a new novel by some sl farrell guy. Maybe I should sprain an ankle, that always gives me a week or two leave from housekeeping and other obligations and finally free up enough time to get some serious reading done.

[mrbankies.livejournal.com]

I'll have to check the Snodgrass books. Already had Bitter Seeds on my list. As for recommendations:

NK Jemisin's The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms was fantastic. I also enjoyed Cherie Priest's Boneshaker - it started out a little slow for me, but picked up as it went along. I'm currently reading China Mieville's The City & The City, which I'm enjoying so far.

If you enjoyed the Harry Potter books, Rick Riordan's Percy Jackson series was enjoyable if you don't mind reading YA.

John Scalzi's Old Man's War series is very good if you want some Heinleinesque mil-sf. Scalzi also runs a series of entries on his blog "Whatever" called The Big Idea (http://whatever.scalzi.com/category/big-idea/) where he profiles upcoming novels. It's where I found out about Bitter Seeds, The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms, The City & The City and Boneshaker.