Pat's Fantasy Hotlist: On the Horizon. . .

On the Horizon. . .

Now that I'm almost done with Melanie Rawn's Fire Raiser (Canada, USA, Europe), here are the five titles I'm more likely to read in the near future.

In no particular order:

- Carlos Ruiz Zafón's The Angel's Game (Canada, USA, Europe)

- Steven Erikson's Dust of Dreams (Canada, USA, Europe)

- Robin Hobb's The Dragon Keeper (Canada, USA, Europe)

- Brian Ruckley's Fall of Thanes (Canada, USA, Europe)

- Ian McDonald's Desolation Road (Canada, USA, Europe)

15 commentaires:

Unknown said...: do you already have a copy of 'Dust of Dreams'?; 10:06 PM
Anonymous said...: Don't read The Angels Game if you can help it. I loved Shadow of the Wind, and was hanging out for Angels, but Zafon's follow up is deeply dissappointing. It felt rushed to me and the ending is so convoluted (in a bad way) you'll shake your head in embarrassment for the author.
Can't wait for Hobb's latest though. She's yet to let any of us down!; 1:01 AM
Icarium said...: If you have a copy of Dust of Dreams plz read it first, i really want to know what you think about it!; 3:47 AM
Larry Nolen said...: Interesting reaction to the Zafón, Anon. I read it 13 months ago (and again back in January) and I thought on the whole it was a better-structured book, one whose concluding chapters ties in so neatly with its first paragraph. But I guess different people have different takes on things, as I didn't get that sense of things being "rushed" or "convoluted."

As for the other books listed, I have a few of these and the Erikson can wait a few months at least before I'd even want to read it, most likely.; 4:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Larry, the parts that I felt were rushed generally were the characterizations. So many come and go, especially in Part 3, I didn't have enough time to care for any of them.
Question: Did you not feel everything surrounding Sempere and his son kinda pointless? As well as the Isabella character?
I did like the first part of the novel with Vidal and Cristina, but their build-up wasn't paid off for me.
"Different people have different takes on things" is one of the reasons I love stories so much.; 7:20 AM
Jennifer Yaros said...: Oohh, The Dragon Keeper. You don't have to review that one. We all know Robin Hobb's books are always excellent.; 8:13 AM
Anonymous said...: I hadn't heard that Hobb's manuscript was finished yet... That'd be cool if so!; 11:40 AM
KP said...: Tough choice but I don't think you will go wrong with any of these.
I have not yet read any of Zafón's books yet though they are on my list.
Dust of Dreams - I will get this when it comes out but I may wait until the Crippled God comes out and then re-read the whole series in one shot.
Dragon Keeper - yet to read Robin Hobb though I have all of her books, need to get these moved up on the TBR list
Fall of Thanes - I liked this series quite a bit but a grim story.
Desolation Road looks intriguing but another author that I have not sampled yet. I like the cover - Pyr is doing a better job with US covers than many of the publishers.; 11:52 AM
Anonymous said...: You have Dust of Dreams? Tell you what, read something else and send me Dust of Dreams - I'll read it and let you know how I like it!; 12:15 PM
Larry Nolen said...: Actually, I thought the Isaac/Sempere/Isabella scenes added quite a bit to the backstory, but I could see where some would find it to be extraneous. Didn't have the same sense of characters in, characters out that you seemed to have had. Which language did you read it in, if I may ask? I haven't read it in translation, so I don't know if the Spanish prose might have captured my attention so much that I might have overlooked those elements that you pointed out.

Agreed on how the different takes makes for fun and excitement in reading.; 4:59 PM
Anonymous said...: I read the English translation and that probably did have something to do with it. Little things like the use of the word 'reckon' in the prose halted my flow. I don't think that would be the Spanish word he wrote.
There is also a scene in which David is watching Isabella looking at herself in a mirror and a sentence ends: "...and going over the cuts she had made on the inside of her arms and thighs." Huh? What? When did this happen? So she's a cutter? It never gets mentioned except that one line, as far as I remember, and her story seems to be nothing more than the cute secretary which leads to sexual tension. I get that David's life begins to 'merge', for lack of a better word, with his writing but it was all meh to me.; 12:07 AM
Ryan said...: I would like to hear more about Desolation Road. Everybody who likes Steven Erikson is going to read Dust of Dreams whether or not the reviews are good.

Actually, if I got a second vote it would go to the Robin Hobb book, because I really did not like the last trilogy she worked on and it would be interesting to know what the new one is like.; 9:55 AM
Asshat said...: IIRC you were the first person to review Toll the Hounds and Reaper's Gale, and I can't wait to see what you think about DoD.; 12:10 PM
ediFanoB said...: Except Desolation Road all books you mentioned are either on my list (Zafon, Hoobs, Erikson) or on my shelf (Ruckley)

Some information about Desolation Road. this was the first book by Ian McDonald. Originally released in 1988.
I found a Desolation Road by Ian McDonald review from 2006.

This is definitley a book for me.; 12:21 PM
Anonymous said...: Please read Dust of Dreams first. I always value your opinion about the Malazan series. :)

But yes, it's true that I'll probably buy and read it even if it'll received a bad review. ;)

So second choice would have to be Robin Hobb's. Her Soldier trilogy was a tad disappointing and I want to know if The Dragon Keeper's will be up to par with her Liveship Traders.; 12:28 AM