Open Books Post
All right, time for a break from the intense blog posts. Let’s talk books! Last night I finished The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon] by N. K. Jemisin.
Wow. I’d heard a lot of buzz about this one, which always makes me nervous, because big book buzz doesn’t always translate to a book I’ll enjoy. But I have to say, this is the best book I’ve read so far this year, and as soon as I can remember how, I’ll be recommending it for the Nebula.
Was it a perfect book? No book is. But I loved the narrative style, I loved the worldbuilding, I loved the gods and most of the characters. It was a very well-written fantasy that sucked me in and kept me up late for the past two nights to finish it.
Jemisin has the first three chapters posted on her web site. Go forth and read.
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One of the nice perks of being an author is that you get the occasional ARC or review copy. This has been a good month. Sitting on my To Be Read pile are review copies of:
- In Ashes Lie [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
- A Star Shall Fall [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
- Hulk Hercules, Professional Wrestler [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon]
I love being a writer 🙂 I’ve also got a copy of Nnedi Okorafor‘s Zahrah the Windseeker [B&N | Mysterious Galaxy | Amazon], which I picked up at her signing in Lansing last week.
What about you? What have you read and enjoyed lately, and what are you looking forward to picking up next?
zollmaniac
June 7, 2010 @ 11:53 am
I’m not jealous, honest.
I’ve been reading David Weber’s Honor Harrington series for… a couple of years now. I don’t remember what number I’m on or how many I’ve read, but I’ve enjoyed them all.
Next up… I’m probably going to take a break from Weber and pick up one of your books 😉
Jim C. Hines
June 7, 2010 @ 11:59 am
Not jealous? Hm … did I mention that Brennan autographed them for me? 🙂 (Sorry. I just shamelessly love this part!)
I loved the Honor Harrington series, though at the end the books weren’t working quite as well for me. Still some fun, exciting reading, though!
zollmaniac
June 7, 2010 @ 1:48 pm
No, I’m just hiding behind a curtain of anti-jealousy imbued material of some sorts. It’s not working out too well though.
The last two books I read were difficult for me because the story arc was split between two books (In Enemy Hands & Echoes of Honor). The end of the first book was okay, but left me with too many questions… and a 900 page novel to read. Less than satisfactory and a bit discouraging for someone with limited reading time.
I finally finished it and enjoyed it, but even then, I had to read the first two chapters of the NEXT book (Ashes of Victory) to get the “welcome home” scene that I had been longing for since the end of In Enemy Hands!
I could probably talk at length about why I like/dislike aspects of his writing style, but I’ll leave that rant alone for now 😉
MichaelM
June 7, 2010 @ 3:56 pm
I recently read Col Buchanan’s “Farlander” (more details on my blog) but I wasn’t an overly huge fan of it. Finished Dark Tower earlier this year and loved it, as well as reading the first 2 Princess books (which I loved, Jim!).
But right now? Nothing. I just can’t get into anything, and it’s annoying me.
Big B
June 7, 2010 @ 4:28 pm
Slowly making my way through the Wheel of Time (had to reread the first book because I forgot everything after 16 years), and peppering in some Dresden Files, Percy Jackson, Stephen King, and A. Lee Martinez when I need a break. Looking forward to reading some of your books as well. I’ve purchased them all, but my book queue has grown much longer than I have time for. I love books with humor, especially fantasy and science fiction. But there’s something about long, epic novels that draws me to them, even though they can be tiresome.
Lynda
June 7, 2010 @ 5:22 pm
Christopher Moore’s Bite Me. He’s actually how I found your books, on amazon in the ‘hey you like Chirstopher Moore you might also like’ section ^_^
Jim C. Hines
June 7, 2010 @ 5:57 pm
Good to know that feature works! 🙂
Jim C. Hines
June 7, 2010 @ 5:59 pm
Thank you 🙂
And you’ll be happy to know there’s only one redhead in the fourth princess book 😉
Jim C. Hines
June 7, 2010 @ 6:00 pm
You know, I’ve never read the Wheel of Time books. It feels like one of those things I *should* do, if I’m going to claim to be a fantasy fan and author, but … given how much reading time I have these days, the idea just scares me right now.
Cy
June 7, 2010 @ 7:11 pm
JIM!! OMG, how could you send us off to read those 3 sample chapters WHEN THERE’S NO WAY FOR ME TO RUN OUT AND BUY THE WHOLE BOOK while I’m stuck at work?! That cliff-hanger…! I’m dying…!! Put a warning label for “freakish addictiveness” on recs like this from now on! XP
Lol, that being my wildly irrational immediate reaction when I reached the end of the sample chapters on NK’s page. But seriously, thank you for the rec! I agree that there were a few moments at the very beginning that were a little shaky/borderline-cliche, but one the momentum got rolling with Lord Arameri’s proclamation of Yeine as one of his heirs, the action and the gorgeous, almost tangibly sensuous descriptions of the palace, etc, absolutely took off. I’ll definitely be swinging by the bookstore to pick this up on the way home~~ Thx for the rec! 😀
As for stuff I’ve been wanting to read (that is, aside from Red Hood’s Revenge :D), I picked up “Incarceron” by Catherine Fisher and “Genesis” by Bernard Beckett a while back and have been waiting for a break in my work to read them. Sadly, having been ensnared by “Hundred Thousand Kingdoms,” they’re going to be pushed back just a tad again… ^^;;;
MichaelM
June 8, 2010 @ 4:11 am
I love red heads, Jim, but you can have too much of a good thing!
Farlander had a lot of promise, but I honestly just got a bit sick of every even numbered page having a red head and a description of her breasts, with the odd numbered pages having someone’s bowels loosening (probably at the breasts 😉 ). Well, that was an exaggeration, but for such a short book he mentioned it very often.