I really liked Sullivan's stuff. It was kind of a happy balance between epic and dark fantasy. I'm not sure what he is up to at the moment, but he was asking people on goodreads and polls on forum etc what they want him to do next. Most people want more prequel type things. Hope we get 'em.
Funny I was just about to post this, just started reading this and really impressed so far as I have had the trilogy sitting on my shelf gathering dust whilst I was reading through the fire and ice saga.
You made me look on Wiki as I was only aware of the three books in my collection i.e. Theft of Swords, Rise of Empire and Heir of Novron and I was not aware of the Chronicles Cheers, I will be going on a Amazon splurge soon I think... Think I might of hit gold with this series..
As you now know, eight books. The six original ones that are now compiled into three books and two prequels. In case you don't know and are interested, there is also a short Riyria story (The Jester) in an anthology and available for free from his site and another free short (The Viscount and the Witch) also on his site. I haven't read the jester, think I'll get it now. One of the more popular ideas on some forums and what not about what should come next was to have separate duologies or trilogies for each character telling about their lives before their first meeting and job! I liked that idea...mostly 'cause it was one of mine as well!
I saw that on his Wiki page, really suprised as Michael Sullivan as an author completely skipped beneath my radar and he has written alot of material. I will have a look at his site tonight as I working shift so have some time on my hands
I became interested after I read the short story in the Unfettered anthology. I got The Crown Tower for peanuts in The Works ( still had copies last time I was in one Dan) then saw that you're supposed to read Revelations first. Fortunately my nearest library has the full set.
Cheers Ben, Theres a store five minutes from me so will have a look tomorrow. Won't be reading it for a while as the first three books should last a while.
Started Dan Brown's "Deception Point." A few years back I read The DaVinci Code, Angels & Demons, and Digital Fortress -- three books that are really one book. They're exact xerox copies except for the names of the characters, and the stories really weren't interesting. Uninspired pulp fiction. This one, though, is different. He's following a similar pattern, but it's not the same cookie-cutter. There are far more characters this time, and even after crossing page 190 I still don't know what's really going on. There *something* going on, and it's a huge, huge deception (to reference the book title), but as the reader I still have no idea what it is. Props to Dan Brown for stringing me along so far, and so well.
Finished reading Wings on my Sleeve, Eric Brown's autobiography, yesterday. Most people wont have heard of Brown and indeed I hadn't until I chanced upon a program last month on the BBC about his exploits as a test pilot. The guy holds the records for most career deck landings (nearly 2500, including first British jet deck landing, landing a Mosquito on a deck, most deck trials for various aircraft and coming up with the design of carrier flight deck used today) and for most different aircraft flown at 487 (types, not marks, so the various marks of Spitfire are counted together). On top of that, he is one of two survivors of an aircraft carrier sinking, interrogated Hermann Goerring and took the surrender of a German airbase. How he goes about his story is what you'd expect from a typical British WW2 pilot - no fuss, just proud to serve his country. There's an article on the BBC site here but the book is well worth a read.
I took a short break and read Deadline by John Sandford, and am now just finishing Heir of Novron. I've really enjoyed the Ryria Revelations, looking forward to the ending.
My current book about the Kata Ananko (Annanko/Ananku) by Lee Taylor. Very little has been written about this Kata that's mainly practiced by ****o-ryu and Shukokai students and it's great to finally find a book that covers it, it's also my favorite Kata. The book covers what is know about the history of the Kata, it shows pictures of how to perform the Kata but the real meat of the book is the bunkai within, Lee's interpretation clearly shows the modern self protection principles that Lee has and it's refreshing to see this instead of the old fashioned being attacked by 4 people from 4 different directions at different times kind of bunkai. http://www.lulu.com/shop/lee-taylor/ananko-kata-form-function/paperback/product-21882184.html
Finished Heir of Novron. Really satisfying. I especially liked that even though I knew roughly what was going to happen it was still engrossing to see how. Viewed in it's entirety I'd say the series it most reminded me of was Memory, Sorrow and Thorn, which is odd as they start so differently. Now reading A Hard Day's Knight by Simon Green for a pulpy urban fantasy fix. Loving the English charm already.
Also muddling through Dell'Arte di Scrima Libri Tre ("Three Books on the Art of Defense") by Giovanni dall'Agocchie.
Revival by Stephen King Just finished it actually. It's pretty good, held my interest all the way through. It's kind of a crazy story, definitely full on horror, with lots of Lovecraftian elements (even mentions De Vermis Mysteriis). If you like Lovecraft or similar, you will love parts of this. Big chunks of the book have no horror element at all, which is fine, because they are very engaging. To me this is a much better book than Mr Mercedes (which I thought was all around weak). I also read Rama and am in the middle of Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke and Gentry Lee. Good stuff. Amazon Kindle Unlimited FTW. Also recently I read Lilith's Brood: Dawn, Adulthood Rites, and Imago by Octavia E. Butler. This is good stuff, one of the better Alien/Human interaction series I've read. To me it takes a pretty original tack - the Aliens aren't invaders, they aren't hostile - not exactly, but they aren't benevolent either - not exactly. They are sometimes annoying and creepy, and actually kind of cool. That being said, a lot happens - but it is totally different than the usual Alien vs Human war type stuff.
The Original Argument. A watered down version of the Federalist Papers. Having had to read all the original federalist arguments while in college I wanted something a bit more modern.
As did I way back in 1983. Now, I have an appreciation for what the Federalist Papers actually are; an informative argument as to why the U.S. should be federalist republic, anchored to a constitution, and not a loose collection of independent states. Surprisingly, many of the stupid arguments going on today were actually argued and explained back then.