10 replies to this topic

[Yrth]

...should be aware of this site: www.SFReviews.net.

Thomas M. Wagner runs the website and reviews the books. (He has a nice welcome page here). Books are rated on a 10 point scale, denoted by stars and half-stars - so, 1 star, 1.5 stars, -- up to 5. He covers both popular and obscure science fiction and fantasy - aka "speculative fiction" - and he's really good at it.

I have found books on this site that will stay with me forever. To name a few:
Spin (5 stars)
The Lies of Locke Lamora (5 stars)

It's also fun to read the reviews of books that you've already read. For me, to name a few keepers:
A Game of Thrones (4.5 stars)
The Golden Compass (5 stars)
Jonathon Strange and Mr. Norrel (5 stars)

Of course, vindication is also satisfying:
The Hunger Games (2.5 stars)
The Eye of the World (2 stars) <<<(a must for Jordan readers)

The fact that this is an awesome site is only part of the reason I'm posting about it. I want to ensure future books reviews, and the best way I can think of to support the site is to let more people know about it. So, you are hereby encouraged to check out the website. :]

Edited by pockets, 15 April 2012 - 11:50 AM.

[Akheia]

Thanks! I love sites like that--little quirky sites with good reviews on them. I'm still heartbroken that "The Brunching Shuttlecocks" went down years ago. At least I can get my Lore fix on Wired.com.

I notice he gave Asimov's Foundation series 5 stars--yay! I got into Asimov bigtime in college. And Peter S. Beagle got very high marks for several of his books, including "A Fine and Private Place," which I really liked too.

Funny about vindication -- I hated Jordan's work for exactly the reasons that the reviewer gave for disliking that series, but hey, to each their own. I have a fondness for David Eddings despite knowing that his work is fairly formulaic and predictable (I seriously think he drew from The Tough Guide to Fantasyland for most of it, and I'm not kidding); I just like that he writes like an SCA heavy fighter would. We all have these guilty pleasures. I won't hold yours against you! I tried EofW, and after 120 pages of "absolutely nothing happening" I finally gave up. Fans still tell me I only had to last a little longer to get to the good stuff, and they have no idea why that doesn't help at all! Isn't it nice that there are so many writers with so many styles, so impatient fuckers like me don't have to read authors who take their sweet time getting to their own plots?

Loving this site. It's booked my day.

[norton65ca]

John Crowley:
Little, Big.
a masterpiece.

Mervyn Peake:
Titus Groan
Gormenghast
Titus Alone

[Dhampir]

The website would have had no credibility if Lies of Locke Lamorra wasn't prominently mentioned.

Although, with the going on 3 years of delays of the latest novel in that series, I'm inclined to discontinue reading it in protest.

[Yrth]

The website would have had no credibility if Lies of Locke Lamorra wasn't prominently mentioned.

Although, with the going on 3 years of delays of the latest novel in that series, I'm inclined to discontinue reading it in protest.

Great book, I've re-read it and its sequel once already. On dragonmount, some folks were saying that he was suffering from a debilitating depression after getting divorced from his wife. If true, that's enough of an excuse for me to forgive him the delay.

Edited by pockets, 03 July 2012 - 12:37 PM.

[Dhampir]

The website would have had no credibility if Lies of Locke Lamorra wasn't prominently mentioned.

Although, with the going on 3 years of delays of the latest novel in that series, I'm inclined to discontinue reading it in protest.

Great book, I've re-read it and its sequel once already. On dragonmount, some folks were saying that he was suffering from a debilitating depression after getting divorced from his wife. If true, that's enough of an excuse for me to forgive him the delay.

I read an interview where he said as much. It's enough to forgive a delay. It's NOT an excuse for the constant release date announcements and subsequent push-backs.

[Onyx]

Hopefully he's a fan of Philip K Dick much like me!

I really don't think C. S Lewis' books are superior to JRR Tolkien's books, unlike his opinion though.

Edited by Onyx, 12 July 2012 - 09:21 PM.

[Yrth]

Hopefully he's a fan of Philip K Dick much like me!

I really don't think C. S Lewis' books are superior to JRR Tolkien's books, unlike his opinion though.

Hmm, I only see 1 review for Tolkein. But I see that he did review the entire Chronicles of Narnia. Am I missing something?

[Onyx]

No you did not haha. He should totally review the Silmarillion and LOTR

[Akheia]

This is just a guess, but I'm thinking he would if they didn't put him to sleep. I love JRRT's mythic prose as much as anyone, but wow, the Sil especially is not easy for me to claw through.

[Yrth]

This is just a guess, but I'm thinking he would if they didn't put him to sleep. I love JRRT's mythic prose as much as anyone, but wow, the Sil especially is not easy for me to claw through.

True. The first 1/3 of the fellowship is snooze city. Don't say that where my wife can hear you, though. xD