Whats everyone reading?

[strontium_dog_90]

Just finished Brian Keene's URBAN GOTHIC.

I reviewed it on my weblog, as I intend to do with everything I enjoy...

'After their car breaks down in inner-city Philadelphia, a young group of friends seek solace in an old, ruined house. When the teenagers don't emerge, a group of local kids seek the help of disillusioned old stalwart, Perry Watkins, to lead the rescue party. But deep inside the house are monstrosities that neither local nor outsider can fathom...

I've enjoyed several of Brian Keene's horror novels prior to reading URBAN GOTHIC, his tribute to horror veteran, Edward Lee (here seeing re-release through Deadite Press). Keene once described himself as a blue collar horror writer. I love to read about ordinary people in extraordinary situations and Keene writes 'working class' (for want of a better expression) characters that are believable, flawed and engaging...' 

READ MORE: http://waynesimmons.org/blog/?p=474

Up next, Guy N Smith's BLOODSHOW...

Yeah, Brian Keene is pretty awesome. You read his collection "Jack's Magic Beans?" Just read that and it's a great little book - the title novella and a couple of shorts, but better than full length novels from a lot of horror writers in my honest opinion.

[HOO-HAA]

Yeah, Brian Keene is pretty awesome. You read his collection "Jack's Magic Beans?" Just read that and it's a great little book - the title novella and a couple of shorts, but better than full length novels from a lot of horror writers in my honest opinion.

I haven't read Jack as yet, Stront, but I do agree with you: Keene writes to entertain. A lot of contemporary horror fiction, that I've read in recent years, seems to have lost sight of that.

Reading Guy N Smith's BLOODSHOW now and it's similarly entertaining.     

[TordelBack]

Just started A Game of Thrones, thanks to recommendations here.    Cor blimey, it's a bit good so far.  Talk about gripping you from the first page.

[Emperor]

Just finished The Company Man by Robert Jackson Bennett, a gripping mix of crime and science fiction set in an alternate 1919, where one company has rocketed to dominance with inventions well ahead of its time and built a vast city to match its ambition. However, it is being torn apart by the clash of capitalism and the unions, with the secret of the company's success hidden just below the surface with a detective and a company man getting dangerously close to the truth. I'm definitely going to check out his first book, Mr Shivers, a hunt for a mysterious killer across Depression hit America.

www.amazon.co.uk/Company-Man-Robert-Jackson-Bennett/dp/1841497924/

Quick review from the Guardian:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2011/apr/02/eric-brown-science-fiction-fantasy-reviews

[John Caliber]

I have been reading, for quite some time, the Fantagraphics reprints of EC Segar's Thimble Theatre Popeye series, and Volume one of the Ray Bradbury Stories, a mighty, two-volume collection of all his short stories.

[House of Usher]

Volume one of the Ray Bradbury Stories, a mighty, two-volume collection of all his short stories.

Nice! Volume Two is even better.

[HdE]

I've been slowly working through some of Joss Whedon's run on 'Astonishing X Men'.

I'm not generally a superhero kind of guy, but I was feeeling the need to try something different.

The first trade, 'Gifted' really dodn't do it for me. I got too much of a sense of Whedon sitting back and going 'Oooh! Lookit all the lovely toys I have to play with!!!' - but thankfully, by the second trade, 'Dangerous' things seem to have kicked into gear. There's more of Whedon's wit and style about it. I particularly like d Wolverine's line 'I really like beer.'

Overall, my stance remains unchanged. I'm really NOT a superhero fan, it seems. So I decided to try out the modern Red Sonja comics. And a nice glossy collected edition of Danger Girl.

[Keef Monkey]

Just read book 4 of The Boys and really enjoyed it. It's not something I devour hungrily, but my mate buys them now and then and passes them on and they're always a fun read. This was pretty dark in places, surprisingly so.

[radiator]

I've been slowly working through some of Joss Whedon's run on 'Astonishing X Men'.

I'm not generally a superhero kind of guy, but I was feeeling the need to try something different.

You should check out Grant Morrison's New X Men - which is the series that Astonishing X Men is a continuation of. It's really, really good.

Didn't get on with Astonishing myself - read the first two trades but no more after that.

[Spaceghost]

Just started A Game of Thrones, thanks to recommendations here.    Cor blimey, it's a bit good so far.  Talk about gripping you from the first page.

Me too. I wonder how much coin this new TV series has earnt George RR Martin with folks buying the book.

I want to read the book before I watch the program so I can imagine the characters for myself instead of a load of actors.

Just finished Hyperion and Fall of Hyperion in a great big, back-breaking omnibus edition. Carting that bugger to and from work every day didn't do my posture much good.

I loved the first book with it's short stories of each of the main characters but felt that it ended just as something was going to happen. The second book veeeeeery slooooooowly gets round to letting you know what does happen but takes it's sweet time getting there. Viewed as a whole, it's a very good story and the second book goes a long way in fleshing out the details of the world these characters inhabit.

I'll let my poor spine recover for a couple of months and then I'll get the Endymion omnibus to complete the series.

[SmallBlueThing]

'Can YOU Survive The Zombie Apocalypse?', by Max Brailler. An adult 'fighting fantasy' type thing, published by gallery books, an imprint of s&s. Good so far!

SBT

[Emperor]

I've been slowly working through some of Joss Whedon's run on 'Astonishing X Men'.

I'm not generally a superhero kind of guy, but I was feeeling the need to try something different.

You should check out Grant Morrison's New X Men - which is the series that Astonishing X Men is a continuation of. It's really, really good.

Didn't get on with Astonishing myself - read the first two trades but no more after that.

Agreed, its OK and got some of the Whedon fans into checking out AXM but I didn't really feel like there was much new in there, where Morrison had really thrown wild ideas in and pushed the envelope.

It probably isn't a good place for a non-superhero reading 2000AD fan to dip their tow into the world of capes. I suspect there is another thread on this but you'd want to start with The Authority is worth checking out, Morrison's All-Star Superman, perhaps the Green Lantern reboot that led into the Sinestro Corps War, the Marvel Cosmic reboot that started with Annihilation. Or rewind to the classics - Jack Kirby on... anything and there are great Essential collections of Fantastic Four, Thor and Avengers.

[Dounreay]

Count me in on the Games of Thrones thing. It's kind of neat reading and watching the same thing. Impressed with the book and the telly in equal measure so far.

Just read Zoo City by Lauren Beukes. Brilliant ideas, cracking writing but let down by a bit of a patchy plot. The Disappearing Spoon by James Kean, on the other hand, manages the well nigh impossible of making chemistry entertaining. Buy it, borrow it, nick it, read it.

[Paul faplad Finch]

Count me in on the Games of Thrones thing. It's kind of neat reading and watching the same thing. Impressed with the book and the telly in equal measure so far.

I've avoided all press for potential spoilers on this show, quite intentionally, so I don't know, but is this series a proper adap or 'based on' in the same way as the likes of Dexter, wildly diverging the longer it runs? Do we know what they are planning?

The only comment I have read (in an interview with Martin, cos I figured he would be savvy enough to not give anything away) was that they had done Game of Thrones in one season and could do Clash of Kings in one if they get the go ahead. This would seem to suggest a faithful adap.

All of which is just my really long winded way of saying, if it is faithful, people need to finish the book before they see the final episodes. Seriously. As endings go, it's an absolute cracker, and it deserves to be read cold. You won't see it coming.

[O Lucky Stevie!]

Just read Zoo City by Lauren Beukes.

Just won the Arthur C. Clarke awar. That's another onto the teetering space elevator of Stevie's To Read list.