http://www.amazon.com/Ready-Player-One-Ernest-Cline/dp/030788743X <object width="560" height="315"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifXryyx4erU?version=3&hl=en_US"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/ifXryyx4erU?version=3&hl=en_US" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="560" height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object> Just finished this. My sister got it for me for Christmas. If you were a nerdy child in the 80's, its a bit of nice silly Sci-Fi heavily soaked in nostalgia written specifically for you. Somewhat reminiscent of Snow Crash, though not quite as "large". Apparently they are turning it into a movie. I imagine a significant cost will come from paying licensing fees to include all the 80's junk in the film.
We just have to disagree. I look at it as simply Cornwell's take on Alfred as seen through the eyes of a Saxon noble and warrior, who believes in the Norse gods, and yes, Uhtred thinks of himself as more Dane than Saxon, and he views Alfred with distain, but he's also manipulated by him, continues to be surprised by him throughout the series, and is used by Alfred for his own ends. It's a period that we don't know a tremendous amount about, aside from broad strokes, and minutia, in my opinion. Cornwell takes that huge middle ground and runs with it. I think it's entertaining. Cornwell is no Patrick O'Brian as far as his writing skills are concerned, but he's an excellent storyteller of historical fiction.
I ranked all of his books in this post. I almost mentioned him in my last post, but I had already listed quite a few books. Here are my top 5:
I'd avoid The Last Light of the Sun, which was by far his weakest novel and is the only one I'd definitely recommend skipping. A Song for Arbonne, the Fionavar trilogoy, and Ysabel were all good novels, but they lacked the polished feel and vivid characters that Kay's other novels had. I'd recommend them in the order I listed, but you really can't go wrong reading Lions or Under Heaven first. Under Heaven is based on 8th century Japan and Lions is based on medieval Spain. If one of those eras is more your cup of tea, start there.
Just finished The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo after reading almost 3 hours in a row. Great book and I have to say I didn't guess what was going to happen correctly. Quite a few plot twists. I would recommend it. Next on my list: lions of al-rassan or under heaven.
The other two books by Stieg Larsson are quite good as well. Just be sure you plan to read The Girls Who Played with Fire and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest back to back. They read like a sequel split in two.
I heard those two books weren't nearly as good as the first because the author died before publishing them or something like that. Are they worth reading? Even if I read them, it will be after I read some other books/authors.
Agreed. The next in the series, Death of Kings, comes out this month. I got it on pre-order :grin: Cornwell is the master of pace. One of the best I have ever read.
I've made my way down Scribo's Kay list through Tigana, all of which were great. I'm still questioning if I want to continue on through any of the others. I may pick up Ysabel at some point. Started this today:
The list starts going downhill after Tigana. I liked all of them, but the first five stand head and shoulders above the rest of Kay's novels. Glad you liked them.
I liked all three a lot. The author did die before the first three books were published, and he had originally intended to write a 10 book series. I was worried that the third would leave us hanging, but it actually wrapped up quite nicely. There was the feeling of a first season ending with hints of what might come in season 2, but all of the major plot holes were addressed.
I liked The Devil in the White City a lot. I was between starting In The Garden Of Beasts and Issac's Storm.
