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Just wonderin'. Myself:  Memories of Ice (3rd book of Malazan Saga)- BADASS. I can't get enough of this series, Erikson is an awesome storyteller. However if you have never read him, I think you will get confused very quickly about the sheer number of characters and multipart stories in one book. In each of his books there is a Cast page that describes each person and a blurb about them that is indispensable when reading. Use it, it makes reading him so much easier. I am only on the third book and it is huge, I usually read about 45min a day on the treadmill and I don't think I will finish this guy for awhile.  The Science of OrgasmThis is a fascinating read, but I have to admit a little bit over my head medically. If I had a more substantial background medically it would definitely read a little easier. I sat and read it at lunch next to my iphone and was constantly looking up terms to make sense of a lot of what the authors are trying to say. there are three authors with different specialties so I am hoping that as I progress through the book it will lose some of the medical terminology.  Two Billion CarsSlow read, I have been slowly making progress in this book for the past 3 months or so. Not that it is bad, just seems a little dry at the beginning. I hate getting decently into a book and not finishing it (esp if I bought it like this title) so I will probably finish it, just slowly over time.
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 Gardens of the MoonStill working on this beast
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I'm enjoying this one again having just completed the series (five of them written so far, although this book contains the first three).  Ciaphas Cain, Hero of the ImperiumIts sort of a mix of Sci-fi war and comedy, and yes the cover is supposed to be cheesy :) Very well done for light reading. Still working through this one, its hard going, actually because the figures seem to add up in a depressing way for me, still a good book though  The parties overWill have to check out Steven Erikson, its been a long time since I've found a good fantasy author.
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Speaking of Erikson - this is my amazon review years ago when I read the first book Quote:As with any recent epic fantasy series the inevitable comparisons with Jordan's Wheel of Time or George Martin's series will arise as these are without a doubt the most popular contemporary epics. Jordan is a master of character creation and you feel like you know them - this at the expense sometimes of plot development which has left many frustrated. Martin's characters arent developed to the same detail but are much more interesting with there being a fine line between good/evil. There are things to like and dislike about the good and bad guys and he is willing for anyone to die at any time - very refreshing. Now this book was a mixed bag for me. It kept me reading with its interesting world and pace but I was frustrated throughout the book. You never feel at home here. Never fully understand the different characters motivations or the background to the current conflict. In fact - there is no background at all. You constantly are trying to grasp the meaning of what is going on and while it seems that it is very important or very intriguing the impact is missing because there is never a full understanding for the reader. Despite these issues I read it quickly due to its pace and original story but it has not left me clamoring for more. Does this get better. The lack of background drove me crazy with my first read, the author seems to treat the reader as someone who should already understand everything, yet I felt like an outsider missing the inside story. Something profound takes place yet I would have no emotional attachment due to poor background and characterization.
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Theodoric wrote:
Does this get better. The lack of background drove me crazy with my first read, the author seems to treat the reader as someone who should already understand everything, yet I felt like an outsider missing the inside story. Something profound takes place yet I would have no emotional attachment due to poor background and characterization.
I think it does get better, and it doesn't. I am about to start the forth book in the series and I can say that there are still parts that I have to go look at the index to see who a character is, and have to recall "ok, what do I know about this character" and "what should I know about this character". That being said though, I am starting to have to refer back less and less because I AM starting to know all the characters, but only because I am almost done with the 3rd book and he has been pretty good about bringing characters back from previous books at this point, so I have a better understanding of them all.
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