Love my books. Three on the go at the mo.... Raven Blood Eye by Giles Kristian - The first part of the Raven Trilogy and a rip roaring visceral tale set in the dark ages when the Vikings were looting and plundering their way across these shores. Great dialogue and banter between the characters. This, and others in the genre, fills the gap nicely before Series 4b of Vikings airs. The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett - The first of the famed Discworld novels. Tried getting into this 20 years ago and failed. Giving it another shot as it seems, based on the amount of raving fans this guy has, wrong not too. Bit of a slow start though but will persist. King John: Treachery, Tyranny and the Road To Magna Carta by Marc Morris - Fascinating read about a dislikeable, unsuitable and unexpected king who managed to p**s off pretty much anyone he came into contact with. Morris casts a keen and critical eye on existing historical evidence.
Don't do it! I love Pilkies shows and enjoyed the series, but this book actually gave nothing above and beyond the series itself. I'm currently taking on the first book in the game of thrones series, only 100 odd pages in, so far it is OK but I haven't found myself thinking "Just one more chapter" Bah!
I gave Pratchett a go several years ago, TCoM and Mort. I have to say I think he must be a bit marmite. As you say he seems to have a really large and fervent fan base, but I for the life of me cannot understand why? Bah!
i really liked the first book. But gave up half way through book 3. Found it a laborious read and not fun or interesting at all. But, like Pratchett, some folks swear by 'ol RR..
I have a Kindle with several hundred books on it, some of which I will probably never read. I get "bookbub" book choice sent daily to my email, many of which are free Have spent a lot of time recently re-reading the books of my younger years, Desmond Bagley, Victor Canning, Denis Wheatley etc..
I totally agree with that. Each chapter has about 1 page worth of added extras, the rest is pretty much a written form of the episodes.
I really enjoyed the books, possibly with the same exception as Cornish below. If you've watched the TV series it'll probably lose something though, particularly before the plots diverge more later on. I think the way the books throw you in at the deep end and expect you to know 100+ characters instantly can make it quite a laborious read early on. Is that the one (trying to avoid spoilers) nearly entirely set in the South of the kingdom? I think that one took longer for me to read than the rest combined, but it picks up again afterwards.
From what I remember (it's been six months since I last trudged through it) it's set in the south and the north of Westeros. It's called A Storm Of Swords 1. Steel and Snow if that rings any bells?
I can't wait for the next Alan Partridge book, "Nomad"! Was really tempted to go to his Norwich Book signing, but I think the line to his table would take hours.
