Overview of books I've recently read

I haven't done many posts recently and I don't feel like spending a lot of time in writing long reviews at the moment, but here are my thoughts on some books I've read recently:

Ringworld by Larry Niven

It's considered a classic, but for me it felt pretty bland. There were some interesting ideas in it, especially to do with the ringworld itself, and there were hints that the characters were more developed than what we saw, but that's all they were. The characters didn't serve much of a function beyond being a vehicle for exploring this ringworld and strangely enough, the puppeteer seemed the most human of all the characters. The central idea of breeding for luck I didn't like that much, as it meant that one of the main characters was pretty much invincible, because she was so lucky. The other thing I had a problem with in this novel was that it felt so directionless - they went to go and explore the ringworld for some barely plausible reasons, and then they wandered about on its surface for the rest of the book. The writing and worldbuilding were quite good, but even for a relatively slim volume, it felt padded out - it would have made a good novella, but I don't think there was enough content to fill out a full novel. I'd give it 6.5/10

To Your Scattered Bodies Go by Philip Jose Farmer

Another classic, and one that I was lucky enough to find in the villa I was staying in on holiday. This had a very original premise - the whole of humanity reborn on the banks of a huge river on a new world, each with nothing but a "grail", an item which when they went near a stone would fill with food enough for the day. The main character is Richard Burton, a 19th century translator, and he joins a group including Alice Hargreaves (inspiration for Alice in Wonderland), a prehistoric human, the alien responsible for destroying almost all of the human race and a 20th century man. And later on, perhaps most interestingly, Hermann Goering keeps meeting Burton. To Your Scattered Bodies Go only gives very brief glimpses of the world around, including the various societies that emerge, but they are more than sufficient and creates a surprisingly complex and realistic world, filled with interesting characters - and Burton is almost an anti-hero at times. There are a lot of good ideas in this, and it's often quite amusing and it deserves its status as a speculative fiction classic. I'd give it 8 out of 10.

The Thousandfold Thought by R Scott Bakker

An excellent conclusion to the best completed epic fantasy series there is. It concludes the Holy War story, and the story about one of the best fantasy creations of recent times, Anasurimbor Kellhus, while it is clear the Second Apocalypse is only just beginning. It also contains a nicely detailed 100 page glossary at the end of the book. I'll come back to this at another time, but meanwhile, I'm very much looking forward to the Aspect Emperor and to Neuropath - R Scott Bakker is one of the most talented living fantasy authors. 9 out of 10.

The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

You've probably already read this. If you haven't, you should go and read it now. The Lies of Locke Lamora is currently my favourite 2006 release - it's intelligent, witty, cunning, but most of all, damn fun. There aren't many good fantasy books about thieves, conmen and deception, but here's one of the best. Sometimes it's hilarious, othertimes it's almost heartbreaking - Scott Lynch can kill off main characters when it's appropriate - and I find it really hard to fault. It's a book that all fantasy fans should enjoy. There've been a lot of reviews about it already, so if you want more detail, look at them (I advise Jay's at http://www.fantasybookspot.com/node/1197 - though keep away from the Strange Horizons review, which seems as if the reviewer was reading a completely different book from everyone else, and managed to anger just about everyone else by claiming that people who said differently were "bribed" to tell such "lies"). Anyway, a rating - 9 out of 10, and if I'm in a generous mood, 9.5 out of 10 (though this latter I hesitate because I reserve it for masterpieces, which this isn't quite).

The Stormcaller by Tom Lloyd

A few words to describe this book: Mediocre. Bland. Uninspired. It wasn't a bad book and Tom Lloyd is a competent author. But it wasn't a good book either. There was pretty much nothing original in it, nothing remotely surprising, nothing interesting. There were a couple of ideas that, if they were developed well, would have been worthwhile. But they weren't. The worldbuilding had the idea of splitting humanity in various warring tribes. And then they just acted like generic countries, and all united against the elves and trolls. A seemingly interesting anti-hero. Who turns out to be just another adolescent boy who's the heir to the throne and the saviour of prophecy. With almost everything that was good with this book there was a qualifying factor. The good didn't outweigh the bad so much as there was pretty much nothing of either. There was one interesting character, Lesarl. Safe to say that he was actually a pretty minor character who we hear very little about. Any character we saw a lot of became stereotypical and simplistic. There are a lot of good books out there, and a lot of good releases this year. This isn't one of them. It isn't awful in the way Eragon or the Elder Gods or Crossroads of Twilight are - but there's no reason you should waste your time reading it when there are so many superior alternatives. I'd give it 5 out of 10 - absolutely average. If you haven't read much fantasy at all, you might enjoy it. But if you've read pretty much any epic fantasy, you'll be disappointed.