Tag: Books

The Dresden Files: Ghost Story…

Ghost Story is the latest book in The Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.

Spoiler Alert. Don’t read on if you are currently reading the series and haven’t got to this book yet.Ā It’s hard to talk about the book without doing a bit of a spoiler.

 

At the end of the last book Harry Dresden died. At the start of this book he comes back as a ghost and is sent back to Chicago to help his friends. The fact that there is another book planned makes you think one of two things are going to happen.

  1. He will be so successful as a ghost version of himself he will be able to carry on in that capacity.
  2. He will somehow be ressurected.

This book is more predictable than any of the other books in the series, but that’s not a bad point. The outcomes of certain situations are predictable, but the journeys to those outcomes are far from predictable, which is half the fun. You are sitting there thinking, I know how this is meant to pan out, but how the hell is he going to get there? šŸ™‚

It was a great story, and well deserving of its place in the series. I’ve now got a really long wait for the next book (Cold Days) to be released. šŸ™

Cheers

Tim…

The Dresden Files: Side Jobs

Side Jobs is a collection of short stories about characters from The Dresden Files series. Many of the stories have been published previously on the internet or in anthologies, so it’s not really new.

It’s kinda hard to describe the book because it contains a mix of stories of varying length and quality. Some are very weak and could be removed from the book at no loss. A couple are very good and show the characters they reference in a new light. One of the things with The Dresden Files series is it is all from the perspective of Harry, so you only know as much about other characters as Harry does. Some of these stories are told from other characters perspectives, so that quite literally changes your view point considerably.

If you are a Dresden fan I’m sure you’ll love it. If not, you will probably do well to avoid it.

BTW. The last story in the book takes place between the end of the ChangesĀ and the soon to be releasedĀ Ghost Story. It kind of revved me up and got me exited about the new release again.

Cheers

Tim…

First Lord’s Fury…

First Lord’s Fury is the sixth (and final) book in theĀ Codex Alera series byĀ Jim Butcher. The book follows on from where theĀ Princepā€™s Fury ended.

This book returns to the juggernautĀ pace of Captains Fury. I mentioned previously that some parts of the series were quite predictable, but that didn’t detract from the enjoyment and expectation. That is also true of this final book. You are pretty sure where you would like things to end up. The question is, how are you going to get there?

Part of me is very sad it’s over and part of me is relieved as I don’t think I could cope if it carried on. It’s an awesome series, but I quite draining because it is so intense. If this were a 38+ series like Discworld, I think I would have to retire on medical grounds… šŸ™‚

It’s about 4 months until the next Dresden Files book is released, so I think I will have a rest and maybe look at the Earth’s Children series, suggested by @Boneist.

Cheers

Tim…

Princep’s Fury…

Princep’s Fury is the fifth book in theĀ Codex Alera series byĀ Jim Butcher. The book starts a few months on from where theĀ Captainā€™s Fury ended.

This book seems a little calmer in comparison, mostly because I was still recovering from the onslaught of the previous book I guess. Each book in the six part series only tells a fraction of the whole story, but the previous four books were written in such a way that they also felt reasonably self contained. Princep’s Fury in comparison feels like the author was planning for the last book more than concentrating on this one. That sounds kinda damning, but even though it drifts a little at times, it was still cool.

Cheers

Tim…

Captain’s Fury…

Captain’s Fury is the fourth book in theĀ Codex Alera series byĀ Jim Butcher. The book starts two years on from where theĀ Cursorā€™s Fury ended.

I mentioned in my previous post that the last 100 pages of Cursorā€™s Fury was exiting.Ā Captain’s Fury makes the previous book seem tame in comparison. It’s like a juggernaut ramming into your head for 600 pages. I felt physically drained by the end of it. Totally cool.

Cheers

Tim…

Cursor’s Fury…

Cursorā€™s Fury is the third book in theĀ Codex Alera series byĀ Jim Butcher. The book starts two years on from where theĀ Academā€™s Fury ended.

I can’t even begin to tell you how exciting the last hundred pages of this book were. I was totally freaking out. I finished the last page at about 02:00 in the morning, got out of bed with an exited giggle and ran into the next room to grab the next book in the series. I read that for a couple of hours more before I finally gave up and went to sleep.

If you are thinking about reading this series, please don’t read any spoilers. Jim Butcher has done an brilliant job of mixing predictability and complete surprise. The predictability of the plot works really well because you have a good idea what is going to happen, but you are desperate to see if it does because there are enough surprises to keep you guessing, or questioning what you think is coming round the corner.

Love it.

Tim…

Furies of Calderon…

I was getting a bit of Dresden Files withdrawal, so I decided to give Jim Butcher‘s other series (Codex Alera) a go, starting with Furies of Calderon.

It’s very different to the Dresden Files style. For a start, it’s not in first-person, so you don’t feel like you are in the head of any specific character, but you get a more rounded view of the other characters. Second, there is no magic, although I guess you could call the furies a type of magic. Third, the books are big. Speaking as a born-again-reader, I’m still a bit daunted by large books.

DespiteĀ the obvious differences, I really enjoyed it. I will no doubt start on the second book in the series some time today.

Cheers

Tim…

REWORK…

A recent thread on the OakTable mailing list about company policies got me a little fired up. In reply to my extended rant Cary Millsap suggested I read REWORK.

Let me start by saying I’m not a fan of self-help books and I don’t consider myself a business person, so a book that looks like self-help for businesses just didn’t seem like a good fit. I have little-to-no ambition in terms of the business world or money. Having said that, I play in a world where ambition and money are central, so I figured I’d give it a go.

REWORK distills and debunks many of the myths associated with modern business. For anyone who has worked in the IT industry for a few years, the central messages are not new. You will have thought about a lot of these issues many times, probably while you were in a 3 hour meeting to discuss why you missed a deadline…

I guess I’m in agreement with about 95% of the suggestions in the book and even those I disagree with, I can see the point. If you are running a business, want to run a business, or just trying to understand why the company you work for is so messed up, you should read this book.Ā It’s a bit like group therapy. It’s good to know you are not alone… šŸ™‚

Big thanks to Cary for the suggestion. I have a couple of mates (who still have some ambition left) who will benefit from it more than me. I’ll be sure to pass it on.

Cheers

Tim…

Saturday Night Peter…

“Saturday Night Peter” is the second part of the autobiography of the comedian Peter Kay. The first book, “The Sound of Laughter”, finishes just as Peter gets his first break into comedy. The second book picks up from that point, documenting his Saturday gigs while he progresses up the ladder into the big time.

The first book was just plain funny. It had me laughing out loud a lot. The second book was not full of belly laughs. It was more amusing than full on funny. Still worth a look if you like the guy.

Cheers

Tim…