I have reading diary, it just a little book to keep track on the books I’ve read. I used to do that on LJ long before I got the book but after I got Goodreads I sometimes forget to record read books on LJ or the book. The reason; I’m lazy and Goodreads is easier. Recently I looked in my reading diary and noticed that I have thirteen entries left in the book. I would like to fill up those entries before the end of this year and I wonder if I could do it.

Books I have so that won’t be a problem; the problem would be reading. I’m not a fast reader, and how fast I actually read a book is depended on its length and how invested in it I am. On an average I could probably do three books a month, but that is on a good month. In hindsight I wished I had been a little smarter when I started with this book to actually add all the books I had read in 2012, which was when I started it, instead of starting in July. Had I done that I would only have to read eight now.

We’ll see how this goes.

Title: Stjärnklart
Author: Lars Wilderäng
Genre: dystopi

Back of the book:
Elektronik har inget immunförsvar.

Det är något som inte stämmer med de allt fler trasiga telefonerna som har lämnats in för reparation runtom i landet. De är stendöda. Samtidigt börjar en rad oförklarliga händelser i samhället avlösa varandra. Ett fabrikationsfel i bilarnas mikrochips förvandlar snabbt vägarna till bilkyrkogårdar. Tågen drabbas av elfel, hyllorna i affärerna gapar tomma, sommarförkylningarna blir allt segare och strömavbrotten blir en del av den nya vardagen. På Karlsborgs flygplats står elitsoldaten Gustaf Silverbane redo för utlandsinsats när något går fruktansvärt snett och ett eldsken fyller himlen. Survivalisten Filip Stenvik får se sin tidigare hånade hobby förvandlas till blodigt allvar. I den tilltagande ovissheten driver polisen Peter Ragnhell sina redan okonventionella metoder för brottsbekämpning till sin spets. Samtidigt gör programmeraren Anna Ljungberg en upptäckt som hotar att förändra förutsättningarna för allt mänskligt liv på jorden. Eller är det redan för sent? Efter ännu ett strömavbrott förändras allt.

Den mörka hösten går in i en stjärnklar vinter där kaos råder och få överlever.

---

Civilisationens fall börjar i Göteborg med en trasig mobiltelefon...

Title: The Last Wish
Author: Andrzej Sapkowski
Genre: fantasy

Back of the book: Geralt de Rivia is a witcher. A cunning sorcerer. A merciless assassin. And a cold-blooded killer. His sole purpose: to destroy the monsters that plague the world. But not everything monstrous-looking is evil and not everything fair is good...and in every fairy tale there is a grain of truth.

---

Good and solid fantasy.

I would like to say that I have read a lot of fantasy but it only seems a lot because of long series, but I do know what I like and I don’t like and this fall in the like category, however, it doesn’t seem to have much character to it. Now that can be because this is a translated version and not the original polish and that is why I don’t hold it against it.

I do want to read on because it was interesting and I do feel a need to read more fantasy, but I’m not sure how to proceed with this series. Do one have to read Sword of Destiny before reading Blood of Elves? Because I’m not really a fan of the short stories and I’m really hoping the whole series isn’t like that.

FYI, I haven’t played the game.

Title: The Fall
Author: Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Genre: horror, vampire

Back of the book: Humans have been displaced at the top of the food chain and now understand - to their outright horror - what it is to be not the consumer, but the consumed. Ephraim Goodweather is one of the few humans who understands what is really happening, and he soon discovers that mankind's fate could be even worse than annihilation. (From Goodreads)

---

Considering the event in this book I can't see how this could end in a good way. I use good instead of happy because there is no way this trilogi is going to have a happy ending. Even if they manage to get rid of all the vampries humanity is more or less screwed.

( Not because it contains spoilers, but just so no-one can complainCollapse )

This was a really good movie and it seems like they have broken the odd-numbered-Star-Trek-movies-being-crap curse.

Title: Star Wars: Aftermath
Author: Chuck Wendig
Genre: science fiction, Star Wars new canon
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 416

Back of the book: The second Death Star has been destroyed, the Emperor killed, and Darth Vader struck down. All major victories for the Rebel Alliance. But the battle for freedom is far from over.
Determined to preserve the Empire's Power after its defeat in the Battle of Endor, the surviving Imperial elite are converging for a secret summit to consolidate their forces and prepare for a counterstrike. Above the remote planet Akiva, as Star Destroyers gather like deadly birds of prey, rebel pilot Wedge Antilles finds himself the sole witness to the looming threat - only to be captured before he can alert the Alliance. Meanwhile, former rebel fighter Norra Wexley has returned to her home on Akiva, ready to leave the ravages of was behind. But when she intercepts Wedge's urgent distress call, she knows she must help, no matter the cost. What she doesn’t know is how close the enemy is - or how dangerous her new mission will be. Together with her technical-genius son, a Zabrak bounty hunter, and an Imperial defector, Norra prepares to take the fight to the resurgent Empire - and do whatever it takes to end its oppressive reign once and for all.

Having never read anything by Chuck Wendig before I wasn’t sure what to expect. But once I got used to the style I found that the story was quite enjoyable. I really didn’t get much feel for the characters but I didn’t dislike them either which is a plus. There are a lot of interlude chapters that I hope will develop in the second and conclude in the third. There is set-up for the second book in the form of Han Solo, apparently they are going to deliver Kashyyyk*.

I should mention that Wedge isn’t in the book as much, so don’t get into the book thinking that he is going to be in it all that much, but he is there.

(  The war is not over (cut for possible spoilers and ramblings)Collapse )

*Home planet of the Wookiees, if you didn’t already know.

Title: Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Author: Alan Dean Foster
Genre: science fiction, movie novelizations
Publisher: Del Rey
Pages: 301

Back of the book:
Set years after Return of the Jedi, this stunning action-packed adventure rockets us back into the world of Princess Leia, Han Solo, Chewbacca, C-3PO, R2-D2,and Luke Skywalker, while introducing a host of exciting new characters, including Rey, Finn, BB-8 and Kylo Ren.
Darth Vader may have been redeemed and the Emperor vanquished, but peace can be fleeting, and evil does not easily relent. Yet the simple belief in good can still empower ordinary individuals to rise and meet the greatest challenges.
So return to that galaxy far, far away, and prepare yourself for what happens when the Force awakens...

---

So why would I read the novelizations of a movie that I have already seen and own on DVD? Just curios.

Does the book add anything? Not really. There are a few extra scenes, more dialog and probably a bit more insight into the characters. There are a few things that are different from the movie but you can take it or leave it. However, I suggest seeing the movie first if you are planning on reading the novelization because the movie is more impactful than the novel.

( Beyond this point there will be spoilers, ye have been warned...Collapse )

Title: Dream London
Author: Tony Ballantyne
Genre: urban fantasy
Publisher: Solaris
Pages: 404

Back of the book:
Captain Jim Wedderburn has looks, style and courage by the bucketful. He’s adored by women, respected by men and feared by his enemies. He’s the man to find out who has twisted London into this strange new world, and he knows it.

But in Dream London the city changes a little every night and the people change a little every day. the towers are growing taller, the parks have hidden themselves away and the streets form themselves into strange new patterns. there are people sailing in from new lands down the river, new criminals emerging in the east end and a path spiralling down to another world.

Everyone is changing, no one is who they seem to be.

---

I did a review of the first book I read this year so it is only fitting that I review the last one. It is possible to read another one before the end, but I really don't feel like doing it.

I have read good books this year, sadly this one was not one of them. So this reading year pretty much end the way it started with a disgusted meh!

While the premise of this book is interesting the execution sucks and I wish it had been written by someone else, like Terry Pratchett (RIP) or Neil Gaiman. Mr. Pratchett and Mr. Gaiman does surreal very well and this book is probably meant to have a surreal feeling although it doesn’t. I haven't read anything else by this writer and if this is indicative of his writing I never will. Near the end I almost stopped reading because it became truly disgusting and though it is only suggested it is still not ok.

I gave this book two stars because I felt it would be vindictive to give it one. It doesn’t feel like a dream at all, more like a nightmare.

There is a sequel to this book called Dream Paris and follows Anna, a young woman from the first book and I’m not going to read it unless someone promises me that there is nothing disgusting in it.

Read books:
#06 Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (3 stars)
#07 Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch (3 stars)
#08 Pocket Apocalypse by Seanan McGuire (3 stars)
#09 Resistance by J.M. Dillard (2 stars)
#10 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (4 stars)
#11 The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick (2 stars)
#12 Det är så logiskt alla fattar utom du by Lisa Bjärbo (3 stars)
#13 Roadside Picnic by Arkady & Boris Strugatsky (2 stars)
#14 Evil Librarian by Michelle Knudsen (3 stars)

Currently Reading:
Gods of Night by David Mack
The Japanese Lover by Rani Manicka
The Dispossessed by Ursula Le Guin
The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins
The Fall by Guillermo del Toro & Chuck Hogan

Books I've read so far this year:
#1 Gene by Stel Pavlou (2 stars)
#2 Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt (3 stars)
#3 City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare (3 stars)
#4 Story of O by Pauline Réage (1 star)
#5 Fortune's Pawn by Rachel Bach (3 stars)

Books I'm currently reading:
Wyrd Sisters by Terry Pratchett (RIP) for the S&L book club
Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovitch

In other news I have been watching way too much Star Trek - TNG lately. Apparently my feelings for Data hasn’t changed over the years, still crushing on him. And I mean the character not the actor.