Wildfire Riders

She wrote Rise of the Horde (the only Draenei lore we have) and Lord of the Clans (Thrall is for PWN) - and both of those were fantastic. Not the best writing in the world, but stories that kept me interested and etc. This was... less so. I mean - it was good to see the fleshed out side of Terenas Menethil, and Muradin, and Uther Lightbringer, but yeah. Sure we all hate him already, so you can't really paint a /less/ sympathetic view, but she does manage.

I guess the point is that he was "destined" to be evil, even though he technically made all the choices all along - but I'm not sure if "destined" or "of questionable mental integrity" is proper, given his reactions to some things (like Invincible).

For what it's worth, Golden is also working on a book about Thrall's mother, and given her success at writing the other two orc books, I expect that one will be better. Part of me wonders how much of the annoying about this book was that it was 90% already written for her, because of WCIII, WoW, and previous books (Of Blood and Honor in particular).

Aelflaed wrote: (like Invincible)

Just marry the fucking horse already, Arthas.

/cough

Okay, I'm better now.

Dravir wrote:And I like his approach to Space Marines better than William King (OMG SPACE VIKINGS.)

Well, what do you expect when that's what the Space Wolf chapter is? They ARE Space Vikings, and King does well to capture that.

As for what I'm currently reading, I'm going back through the few Wing Commander books I have... Well really, it's more about Fleet Action, Heart of the Tiger and False Hope, where the authors deviate a bit from the games to add quite a bit of depth to the characters all around.

False Hope is my favorite of the series, set before the events in "Wing Commander: Price of Freedom" that follows Jason Bondarevsky as he joins the Free Republic of Landreich in their efforts to survive the post-war economic and political difficulties... Not to mention their Kilrathi neighbors who have no qualms about continuing the war.
What I like most about it is the showing of the 'peaceful' side of the Kilrathi, giving them a lot more depth than was shown by Hobbes in the games.

So, I continue to read more Warhammer 40,000 novels. On one of those kicks.

Finished Cain's Last Stand, which is epic. I seriously recommend reading the Ciaphas Cain books even to those otherwise disinterested in 40k (I know I also said that about Horus Heresy, but still), because they're just so damn entertaining.

Anyway, this book (possibly the last in the series, but who knows?) contains the final proof as to whether Cain is the simpering coward he claims to be, or the epic hero everyone else says. But, I won't spoil it.

It also contains a drinking, smoking, gambling, sex-having Sister of Battle, the return of the galaxy's bubbliest Techpriest, and Space Hitler.

So I moved on from that, the most optimistic series ever to take place in that setting, to the grimmiest darkiest one there I've read so far (yes, even worse than Fulgrim), that being Grey Knights. Got the omnibus edition. I read the first book, and I have to say I'm very satisfied with the read, but I'm going to take that one in small doses, given how dramatically grave it is. But, aside from the pervasive grimdark, it's got some of the most outrageously badass scenes ever. And Justicar Alaric, the hero, is oddly appealing and relatable, despite everything he's supposed to be. The Grey Knights I would probably count as one of the most "difficult" pieces of 40k lore to work with out there, but Ben Counter gets the job done pretty damn well.

I'll read the next one in that series, Dark Adeptus, later. Right now I've cracked open another from that universe, Brothers of the Snake, by Dan Abnett, whom I've yet to read a novel by that isn't pure excellence. It's another Space Marine one, told in an interestingly episodic fashion rather than being one big story, and it's a neat change of pace. Got through the first two parts so far; the first is your classic Backwater-planet-living-Girl-and-her-Dog-meets-big-badass-interstellar-Supersoldier-and-together-they-kick-Dark-Eldar-ass tale (Yes, I'm serious. Bet you thought there'd never be a published Space Marine story that could be described as "cute"), and the second is a more traditional action sequence, with our Emprah-loving dudes fighting some of their Chaos counterparts and showing how they make the best of disappointing situations. A highly noteworthy aspect of that second part is that it's told in present-tense, which is very...interesting. I'm not sure I can see a whole novel-length story working like that, but it made me kind of feel like I was playing a video game or something as I read. It worked pretty damn well for what it was.

So far, I am righteously entertained.

Apparently, my brain is at hyper-speed and not doing well with too much lengthy (even if well written) exposition, so The Lies of Locke Lamora is going slowly and I've been bouncing around.

I took a break to read Warren Fahy's Fragment, which I found to be a fascinating premise but was rather disappointed in the execution and writing there of.

Now, I'm jumping back and forth between The Lies of Locke Lamora and Sergei Lukyanenko's Twilight Watch.

I've stared at a few books lately. Stared ominously, in fact.

Finished Of Blood and Honor by Chris Metzen, Cycle of Hatred by Keith R.A. DeCandido, and Rise of the Horde by Christie Golden.

Next up is WarCraft: The Sunwell Trilogy (Ultimate Edition), written by Richard A. Knaak and illustrated by Jae-Hwan Kim.

Yeah, I'm on a bit of a WarCraft kick at the moment.