October's Reading

Here goes..

See also Make Tea Not War.

Total this month: 9.5, which I'm going to round up to 10. Total this year: 130.

The Eagle's Conquest, When The Eagle Hunts, The Eagle and the Wolves and The Eagle's Prey by Simon Scarrow. The other four books are just as good as the first one. The plots get a bit more outlandish as they go - he's definitely after thrilling adventures more than historical accuracy.

Hello Laziness by Corinne Maier. Amusing book about why and how to slack off at work.

Newton's Wake by Ken McLeod. Excellent, fun space opera. Perhaps his best book since The Star Fraction.

The Terror by David Andress. A history of the French revolution. Didn't finish this due it needing to be returned to the library. Very interesting but really dense - needs a lot of time to read. If I see another copy I would like to finish it someday.

The Algebraist by Iain M Banks. Initially this seems to have all of the things that I don't like about Banks (detailed descriptions of atrocities, in particular). However, once the story gets going it is exciting and fun. One of the things he seems to do best is alien societies, and the Dwellers who are the main focus in this one are just great. They're like the eccentric grand-uncles of the galaxy and quite hilarious. Probably one of his best (not quite as good as Excession or The Player of Games, though).

Thud! by Terry Pratchett. Very funny, very good. Pratchett at his best, aided by the fact he is writing about Vimes, dwarves and trolls.

Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman. A fun story about how difficult it is to be Anansi's son in the modern world.

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell. Second in the series about Alfred the Great. Excellent - I felt like the first book was just setting things up really and the second takes off. Uhtred, the narrator, is also interesting in that he absolutely hates Alfred. This leads to some good stuff in this book and I look forward to the rest of this series.