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[aidan]

It's been years since I've read a Robin Hobb novel, and I'd forgotten how *much* she packs into each chapter, paragraph, and sentence. It's like she's using the same dictionary as the rest of us, but the words in her's have more weight and meaning, a longer history.You sink in, and the novel just wraps you up tight, and the outside world disappears, lost to the presence of Hobb's imagination.

So, yeah. Fool's Errand is really good. I've fallen back in with Fitz, Chade, Starling, and co. as though I'd never left.

 

[Kawl_USC]

First the Booker Prize and now the National Book Awards have snubbed A Little Life. Are you okay, Mumei?

 

[Necrovex]

First the Booker Prize and now the National Book Awards have snubbed A Little Life. Are you okay, Mumei?

This is a sham of the highest proportion. Pulitzer better not mess up too.

 

[mu cephei]

Next up will be the new Robin Hobb Farseer book

It's been years since I've read a Robin Hobb novel, and I'd forgotten how *much* she packs into each chapter, paragraph, and sentence. It's like she's using the same dictionary as the rest of us, but the words in her's have more weight and meaning, a longer history.You sink in, and the novel just wraps you up tight, and the outside world disappears, lost to the presence of Hobb's imagination.

So, yeah. Fool's Errand is really good. I've fallen back in with Fitz, Chade, Starling, and co. as though I'd never left.

<3

Totally agree @ bolded. And if you're only up to Fool's Errand, you've got lots of great stuff to come

 

[hythloday]

It's been years since I've read a Robin Hobb novel, and I'd forgotten how *much* she packs into each chapter, paragraph, and sentence. It's like she's using the same dictionary as the rest of us, but the words in her's have more weight and meaning, a longer history.You sink in, and the novel just wraps you up tight, and the outside world disappears, lost to the presence of Hobb's imagination.

So, yeah. Fool's Errand is really good. I've fallen back in with Fitz, Chade, Starling, and co. as though I'd never left.

I'm right with you on that opinion. I loved the first Fitz trilogy, but I haven't been quite so emotional about a book's characters before Fool's Errand. It was amazing.

 

[besada]

I've begun reading C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner universe, and have become quite taken with it. The first book, Foreigner, sets up the story by abandoning a bunch of humans so far away from where they meant to be that they can't even figure out where they are, and leaves them with little choice but to move onto an already inhabited planet, full of intelligent, but less sophisticated aliens.

I'm on the third book, now, and what I like about them are that they're largely about character, the alien world, and the ability of reasonable people to communicate and solve problems without wrecking everything. Tons of political intrigue, assassination (which is a legal part of the alien culture), and discussions of the differences between humans and the aliens.

In particular, it continually reinforces how alien we'd find aliens, and how our assumptions about emotion, bonding, and friendship might not have any meaning to another sentient species.

Honestly, there's not a ton of science in it, which is unusual for me, since I tend to like my science fiction crammed full of pulsars, cosmic strings, terraformed worlds, and crazy synthetic sentients, but much like the Barrayar books from Bujold, the story is less to do with the technology and more to do with the characters and how they manage to skirt between high technology and ancient cultures.

The antagonist shares similarities to another book I've enjoyed, Goblin Emperor, because the protagonist is technically immensely powerful, but so restrained by the culture he inhabits, and the history of his position, that big changes are difficult and dangerous, he spends most of his time convincing other people, rather than running roughshod over them.

So far I'm really enjoying the series, as I get close to finishing the first trilogy arc of a series that runs 15 or so books. I described it to Cyan and Mumei as being Goblin Emperor on Barrayar, and I still feel that rings true, at least for the feel of the work. I think Miles is certainly more dynamic than the protagonist in Foreigner, and there are only occasional gun fights and violence, but there are so many similarities between the Barrayar culture and the alien Atevi culture, that you get a very similar feel to it. If you like the Barrayaran politics, I suspect you'll enjoy this.

 

[kswiston]

This is a sham of the highest proportion. Pulitzer better not mess up too.

Does Pulitzer typically go for that sort of book?

 

[SolKane]

I started this last night, I don't normally read a lot of Sci-Fi but I've been branching out lately.

 

[H.Protagonist]

I've begun reading C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner universe, and have become quite taken with it. The first book, Foreigner, sets up the story by abandoning a bunch of humans so far away from where they meant to be that they can't even figure out where they are, and leaves them with little choice but to move onto an already inhabited planet, full of intelligent, but less sophisticated aliens.

I'm on the third book, now, and what I like about them are that they're largely about character, the alien world, and the ability of reasonable people to communicate and solve problems without wrecking everything. Tons of political intrigue, assassination (which is a legal part of the alien culture), and discussions of the differences between humans and the aliens.

In particular, it continually reinforces how alien we'd find aliens, and how our assumptions about emotion, bonding, and friendship might not have any meaning to another sentient species.

Honestly, there's not a ton of science in it, which is unusual for me, since I tend to like my science fiction crammed full of pulsars, cosmic strings, terraformed worlds, and crazy synthetic sentients, but much like the Barrayar books from Bujold, the story is less to do with the technology and more to do with the characters and how they manage to skirt between high technology and ancient cultures.

The antagonist shares similarities to another book I've enjoyed, Goblin Emperor, because the protagonist is technically immensely powerful, but so restrained by the culture he inhabits, and the history of his position, that big changes are difficult and dangerous, he spends most of his time convincing other people, rather than running roughshod over them.

So far I'm really enjoying the series, as I get close to finishing the first trilogy arc of a series that runs 15 or so books. I described it to Cyan and Mumei as being Goblin Emperor on Barrayar, and I still feel that rings true, at least for the feel of the work. I think Miles is certainly more dynamic than the protagonist in Foreigner, and there are only occasional gun fights and violence, but there are so many similarities between the Barrayar culture and the alien Atevi culture, that you get a very similar feel to it. If you like the Barrayaran politics, I suspect you'll enjoy this.

Yessssssssssssssssssssss! I love these books, and I've never met another person who has even heard of them. ;_; Please read Rider at the Gate and Cloud's Rider next when you're done!

 

[besada]

Yessssssssssssssssssssss! I love these books, and I've never met another person who has even heard of them. ;_; Please read Rider at the Gate and Cloud's Rider next when you're done!

I've known about them forever and just never gotten around to reading them. I'd read Downbelow Station and Cyteen, and one of the Chanur books, but never dipped into Foreigner. I looked at those you mentioned and they look good. I'll give them a try.

 

[aidan]

I've begun reading C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner universe, and have become quite taken with it. The first book, Foreigner, sets up the story by abandoning a bunch of humans so far away from where they meant to be that they can't even figure out where they are, and leaves them with little choice but to move onto an already inhabited planet, full of intelligent, but less sophisticated aliens.

I bought Foreigner a few months ago, and then sort of forgot about it. I think I need to bump it up the reading pile. Sounds great.

 

[Mumei]

Edit: Oh, I'm fine. I do want to read the winner, though.

Yessssssssssssssssssssss! I love these books, and I've never met another person who has even heard of them. ;_; Please read Rider at the Gate and Cloud's Rider next when you're done!

And yet you neglected to ever suggest them to me. For shame!

 

[H.Protagonist]

I've known about them forever and just never gotten around to reading them. I'd read Downbelow Station and Cyteen, and one of the Chanur books, but never dipped into Foreigner. I looked at those you mentioned and they look good. I'll give them a try.

I bought Rider at the Gate on a total this-cover-looks-neat whim and it turned out to be exacted what I wanted at the time. Really wish she would write more in that little sub-series. Do check them out if you get a chance.

I bought Foreigner a few months ago, and then sort of forgot about it. I think I need to bump it up the reading pile. Sounds great.

The whole series is a real treat. To find more like this fare would be a dream. There are so many too!

Edit: Oh, I'm fine. I do want to read the winner, though.



And yet you neglected to ever suggest them to me. For shame!

I had already pushed Diamond Age on you, and honestly, I kind of forgot about them. It's been 10+ years, and the baby is stealing what brainpower I have currently. ;_;

I do think you would appreciate the main character a lot, though. To have an intelligent, human (just a diplomat/translator dealing with complicated shit) protagonist in a sci-fi was a real treat. The world and set-up is also quite fascinating.

 

[Mumei]

I had already pushed Diamond Age on you

Which I still haven't read. *cough*

 

[kswiston]

Which I still haven't read. *cough*

I am reading the Diamond Age right now and it is fantastic. I'm about half way though, but I'd say I am enjoying it more than Snow Crash (which I also really enjoyed).

and the baby is stealing what brainpower I have currently. ;_;

I'm almost two years into the parenthood thing, and that aspect hasn't improved much.

A couple of weeks back, I went to go get a big 30lb bag of cat litter out of my car and it wasn't there. I had my daughter with me when I bought the litter. She's always throwing a fit when we leave Petsmart, because she wants to see more puppies. I figured that I probably left it at the bottom of the cart while trying to maneuver her into the car seat and was pissed at myself throwing $20 down the drain because I can't remember things when my kid is screaming.

A half hour later, I am walking by the place where we keep the litter and the bag's sitting there. I must have brought it in and completely wiped the event from my memory 2 minutes later.

 

[H.Protagonist]

Which I still haven't read. *cough*

I... I'm still working on the Girl Who Did Something to A Bunch of Fairies...

 

[Mumei]

I... I'm still working on the Girl Who Did Something to A Bunch of Fairies...

Close enough.

Spoiler

I'm still ahead in this quid pro quo relationship, though.

 

[BlanketFort]

I am loving it. Couldn't recommend it enough. The characters, action, pacing and creativity... all incredible.

I feel like any Dresden fan or fan of Butcher's will absolutely devour this.

 

[H.Protagonist]

I am reading the Diamond Age right now and it is fantastic. I'm about half way though, but I'd say I am enjoying it more than Snow Crash (which I also really enjoyed).


I'm almost two years into the parenthood thing, and that aspect hasn't improved much.

A couple of weeks back, I went to go get a big 30lb bag of cat litter out of my car and it wasn't there. I had my daughter with me when I bought the litter. She's always throwing a fit when we leave Petsmart, because she wants to see more puppies. I figured that I probably left it at the bottom of the cart while trying to maneuver her into the car seat and was pissed at myself throwing $20 down the drain because I can't remember things when my kid is screaming.

A half hour later, I am walking by the place where we keep the litter and the bag's sitting there. I must have brought it in and completely wiped the event from my memory 2 minutes later.

Wow. A total blip, huh? That IS scary. I could so see myself doing that...and mine's not even out yet. My fear grows daily... And then I forget. And then it grows... And then I forget.

Also, yay Diamond Age!

Close enough.

Spoiler

I'm still ahead in this quid pro quo relationship, though.

I read the Goblin Emperor!

Spoiler

That doesn't count, I know.

But, yes, you are totally, undeniably, very far ahead in this relationship. <_< >_> Hit me with some other suggestions! If any happen to be black humor/bloody adventures of the protagonist gets the tar kicked out of him variety, I'm especially game.

 

[Hanzou]

I am loving it. Couldn't recommend it enough. The characters, action, pacing and creativity... all incredible.

I feel like any Dresden fan or fan of Butcher's will absolutely devour this.

I just got this from my library. Have never read anything by butcher it thought this looked interesting.

 

[Lucumo]

Finished today:

Pretty good book. I had 2-3 minor issues with it and the ending is kind of botched. Reading the appendix makes the reason for that clear though.
(Also, damn Oxford and their spelling mistakes. I had higher expectations.)


Next up:

 

[Unbound By Death]

I am loving it. Couldn't recommend it enough. The characters, action, pacing and creativity... all incredible.

I feel like any Dresden fan or fan of Butcher's will absolutely devour this.

Great book, if only I could picture the airships the way he describes them.

 

[Selner]

How is the series? I have never really gotten into the universe except for playing Suttle bit of a couple of the video games. I have heard good things about this series though.

When you say series, do you mean 40k or 30k? The First Heretic is book 14 in the 30k Horus Heresy series.

According to wikipedia, there are 31 Horus Heresy books, goodness, I didn't realize that many were out. I remember reading #15 (Prospero Burns), but I'm not sure if I got any further than that.

30k is a very different setting from 40k, but they are both interesting. And both can be very hit or miss depending on the author.

As for me right this minute, I am listening to Sanderson's Warbreaker book.
Last month I finished my listen of the entire Wheel of Time series. Only took me 10 months to listen to all of those .

On something of a Sanderson kick after that, as I listened to Firefight as well.

Sort of bummed that Black Library (Warhammer) books are not on Audible.
With three small children, I have no time to actually read books. But I do sit in a car for at least two hours every day, so listening is much easier.

 

[Diatribe1974]

How is the series? I have never really gotten into the universe except for playing Suttle bit of a couple of the video games. I have heard good things about this series though.

For the most part, its been a good ride. I read all things 30k and 40k as well as Fantasy as well.

 

[Hanzou]

When you say series, do you mean 40k or 30k? The First Heretic is book 14 in the 30k Horus Heresy series.

According to wikipedia, there are 31 Horus Heresy books, goodness, I didn't realize that many were out. I remember reading #15 (Prospero Burns), but I'm not sure if I got any further than that.

30k is a very different setting from 40k, but they are both interesting. And both can be very hit or miss depending on the author.

As for me right this minute, I am listening to Sanderson's Warbreaker book.
Last month I finished my listen of the entire Wheel of Time series. Only took me 10 months to listen to all of those .

On something of a Sanderson kick after that, as I listened to Firefight as well.

Sort of bummed that Black Library (Warhammer) books are not on Audible.
With three small children, I have no time to actually read books. But I do sit in a car for at least two hours every day, so listening is much easier.

You just turned my world upside down. I thought there was only Warhammer 40k, and the medieval Warhammer, I never knew there was a 30k.

In this case I was specifically talking about the horus heresy books, I had heard they were a good starting place getting into the 40k(and I guess now 30k) universe.

 

[W1SSY]

I have not had a ton of time to read recently and sadly I picked Seveneves to read. I am 25% through the book and just have not been finding it that interesting. With the little amount of time I do get to read I should probably just put this away and find something a little more interesting.

 

[Woorloog]

The Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch.

It is wonderful, just the kind of fantasy i like. Indeed, the whole Locke Lamora series is wonderful.
The only problem: my stomach and lungs can't take it, i keep laughing at things too much. The humor in the books is the kind that appeals to me (no comment on whether it is clever or not).

Too bad i've got only a third or so left. The wait for the next one will be difficult.

 

[Hanzou]

The Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch.

It is wonderful, just the kind of fantasy i like. Indeed, the whole Locke Lamora series is wonderful.
The only problem: my stomach and lungs can't take it, i keep laughing at things too much. The humor in the books is the kind that appeals to me (no comment on whether it is clever or not).

Too bad i've got only a third or so left. The wait for the next one will be difficult.

There are going to be more. I still want to read book 3 but for some reason thought it's done after 3.

 

[Woorloog]

There are going to be more. I still want to read book 3 but for some reason thought it's done after 3.

TV Tropes says something about 7 books. And then another set of 7.
Suits me, i like long series... provided they don't have a terrible dip in quality like The Wheel of Time had. Or like ASOIAF seems to have...

 

[fakefaker]

That's it, no more big books for this year! Finally finished Taiko by Eiji Yoshikawa today and wow...epic isn't a big enough word. Mammoth is probably a better word since the hard cover is mammothly heavy. Yes mammothly isn't a word, thank you Google word corrector. Now onto Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis which won the Giller prize this year.

 

[Cade]

Man, The Stress of Her Regard is fantastic. I just love it. Tim Powers is great.

The other two books I'm reading I'm struggling with (The Traitor Baru Cormorant and Splinter of The Mind's Eye [The Star Wars tie-in novel released after the first movie (I don't know why I'm reading this at all)]), but TSOHR is so good. Unfortunately, I can't keep my attention on reading at all and I'm ten books away from finishing my book section of my 50/50/50.

 

[Mumei]

I finished The Magicians trilogy today. I really enjoyed it. It's a nice mix of pulpy and literary, and it's nice having a main character who isn't the specialest person who ever specialed. I had some misgivings about some plot elements, and I'm not entirely happy with how it ended (I preferred the endings to the previous two books), but it's something I could see myself rereading many years from now.

I also finished Superintelligence: Paths, Dangers, Strategies. Kabbles suggested it sometime last year, and it's very interesting / dense. I don't read much philosophy so there were some things where I was rather out of my depth (e.g. that box with the formalism, some of the jargon) but more or less muddled through / used a dictionary for words I wasn't certain about. Anyway, great read.

I am still reading Ties that Bind, about halfway through. It's a really fascinating multicultural history through the perspective of a particular Afro-Cherokee family. I also started The Complete Stories by Clarice Lispector. Only two stories in, and I love the writing. It pulls you in immediately.

 

[pa22word]

So the SO told me for christmas to just add 200 or so to an amazon cart and hit ship. I've landed on this, book gaf. Look good, or should I diversify a bit?

Nerva and the Roman Succession Crisis of AD 96-99 (Roman Imperial Biographies)
by John D Grainger
$40.60

Leviathan (Penguin Classics)
by Thomas Hobbes
$7.75

The Byzantine Art of War
by Michael J. Decker
$23.96

The Grand Strategy of the Roman Empire: From the First Century A.D. to the Third (Johns Hopkins Paperbacks)
by Edward N. Luttwak
$11.50

The End of the Cold War: 1985-1991
by Robert Service
$25.82

Hubris: The Tragedy of War in the Twentieth Century
by Alistair Horne
$15.94

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome
by Mary Beard
$23.37

The German War: A Nation Under Arms, 1939–1945
by Nicholas Stargardt
$25.98

The Age of Justinian: The Circumstances of Imperial Power (Roman Imperial Biographies)
by J. A. S. Evans
$26.78

Order total:$205.69

I picked out a few newer release history stuff that looked interesting on the new release section of amazon, then added a few things off my wishlist that I'd been meaning to get to for a while. I know it's Rome heavy, but I've been hooked on the subject this year pretty hard. Any suggestions or recommendations of better books on the subjects that I have picked?

 

[SolKane]

Finished today:

Pretty good book. I had 2-3 minor issues with it and the ending is kind of botched. Reading the appendix makes the reason for that clear though.
(Also, damn Oxford and their spelling mistakes. I had higher expectations.)


Next up:

Neat coincidence, I just read a Wilkie Collins novel and am now reading a Philip K Dick novel afterwards.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

On the subject of Cherryh and the series that starts with Foreigner.... I've read a few of Cherryh's other works, a while back. Fortress of Eagles was one. I can't remember if I started the Foreigner series (maybe?) or whether it was Cyteen or maybe Downbelow Station... hmmm....

When I say "a while back" I mean, like "a loooooong while back."

Anyway, I had the impression that she writes with such urgency, or that the plot moves with such urgency. Long sentences driven by action that really amp up the stress factor. One of the books simply left me exhausted in the reading of it, because she just kept ratcheting up the tension. Both really great and... well, exhausting, as I said.

So, after the bit of discussion here I added Foreigner to my Kindle wish list. I am surprised--shocked really--that it's a $10 book on Kindle. I mean, c'mon, folks. This book was published in 1994 and I could likely walk into any used bookstore in the area and pick up a hard copy for a $1. I'd be okay if the Kindle version was $2.99 or something, but this is really somewhat ridiculous. I feel the same about Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy. My younger son wanted to read those and he prefers hardcopy, so I picked up all three volumes for less than $5 at a used bookstore. But the Kindle versions are $8 apiece.

Just sort of pisses me off that I would love to round out a digital library of stuff that I'd like to read or re-read that's a bit older and the prices are so out of sync. (And yes, I realize a new copy of these books in a bookstore would still cost me roughly the same as the Kindle version.) Anyway, don't mean to de-rail the thread.

Cherryh's stuff will sit on my wish list with 80+ other books until it goes on sale at some point.


I'm now more than a 1/3 of the way through Bujold's "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" and I'm absolutely loving it. Her writing style is simply amazing, refreshing... and as an author myself, somehow depressing. I usually read her stuff and think, "Damn, how could I ever do something this incredible."

 

[Ratrat]

How about something that takes place on a comet that's been turned into a space station?
Heart of the Comet, by David Brin and Gergory Bear(two of the most highly regarded hard science-fiction writers in the genre) not only has your enclosed in a space station vibe, it's got a fascinating mystery that impinges on what it is to be human. Recommended without reservation. Also, an AI named JonVon.

Just wanted to thank you for the recommendation. Very close to finishing it and I've been enjoying it tremendously.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

Just finished this last night.

Really quite bad.

Just read this synopsis! Look at the title! It sounded so good that I had to read it but the synopsis was better than the book itself.

Close Your Eyes, Hold Hands is the story of Emily Shepard, a homeless teen living in an igloo made of ice and trash bags filled with frozen leaves. Half a year earlier, a nuclear plant in Vermont's Northeast Kingdom had experienced a cataclysmic meltdown, and both of Emily's parents were killed. Devastatingly, her father was in charge of the plant, and the meltdown may have been his fault. Was he drunk when it happened? Thousands of people are forced to flee their homes in the Kingdom; rivers and forests are destroyed; and Emily feels certain that as the daughter of the most hated man in America, she is in danger. So instead of following the social workers and her classmates after the meltdown, Emily takes off on her own for Burlington, where she survives by stealing, sleeping on the floor of a drug dealer's apartment, and inventing a new identity for herself — an identity inspired by her favorite poet, Emily Dickinson. When Emily befriends a young homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn't know she had. But she still can't outrun her past, can't escape her grief, can't hide forever — and so she comes up with the only plan that she can.

In the end, I feel like this would make for a really great movie with the right director. Slap Shailene Woodley in it and you've got yourself some Oscar bait.
Too many references to time-specific stuff like Tumblr or the Newtown Shooting that made the writing already feel dated and like it was striving for emotional resonance but not really achieving it.

 

[Cyan]

Cherryh's stuff will sit on my wish list with 80+ other books until it goes on sale at some point.

Libraries, bro! I'm reading Foreigner right now and it didn't cost me a dime.

 

[Jimothy]

And planning on starting soon, the second book in a trilogy of novels about the Haitian revolution. The first book is called All Souls Rising and it's brutal as fuck but good. This one is supposed to be even better...

Yeah I'm sort of in a slavery phase right now.

 

[Lucumo]

Neat coincidence, I just read a Wilkie Collins novel and am now reading a Philip K Dick novel afterwards.

I read one not too long ago. In chronological order:

[...]
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (Dick, Philip K)
Strangers On A Train (Highsmith, Patricia)
The Stars My Destination (Bester, Alfred)
The Woman in White (Collins, Wilkie)
The Demolished Man (Bester, Alfred)

Not yet sure what to pick afterwards. I'm interested in The Count of Monte Cristo but my ride to work is only around 20 minutes, so I can't read much. It would probably take too long.

 

[Switch Back 9]

TV Tropes says something about 7 books. And then another set of 7.
Suits me, i like long series... provided they don't have a terrible dip in quality like The Wheel of Time had. Or like ASOIAF seems to have...

Hahahaha. You're in for a treat then. I've never read a fantasy series that fell so far in quality in three books. I actually liked the second book, but many people didn't, and the third book was unbearably boring and terrible. Throws all the fun, charm and unique atmosphere out the window for generic and cliche fantasy themes. Plus half the book is an unnecessary and tedious flashback.

 

[Mumei]

Libraries, bro! I'm reading Foreigner right now and it didn't cost me a dime.

Libraries are the best. The best.

 

[Johndoey]

I'm trying to finish "the Catcher in the Rye" I think I kinda get the character of Holden better now so the reading experience is a bit smoother.

 

[User 479360]

I'm a few pages into this, which I just borrowed from the library.

Also hoping to finish this, but I haven't been reading much as of late and have had it out for months:

I also borrowed this from the library, because I saw scissors on the cover, read it's about a hairdresser and have a hair fetish, and thought it could be good porn...but I haven't started it and likely won't bother since it's a romance novel:

]

 

[H.Protagonist]

I am loving it. Couldn't recommend it enough. The characters, action, pacing and creativity... all incredible.

I feel like any Dresden fan or fan of Butcher's will absolutely devour this.

Hmm... I'll look into this one. I've both enjoyed and cringed at Butcher's work. I liked the Codex Alera stuff (

Spoiler

annoyed that he went the cliche route in the end, though

), but as much as Dresden fairly fits the junk food fiction I keep looking for, there's no way to wash the bad self-insert taste out of my mouth from that series. I even gave him another shot when I saw two of the later books at a charity shop and bought them, but...nope.

On the subject of Cherryh and the series that starts with Foreigner.... I've read a few of Cherryh's other works, a while back. Fortress of Eagles was one. I can't remember if I started the Foreigner series (maybe?) or whether it was Cyteen or maybe Downbelow Station... hmmm....

When I say "a while back" I mean, like "a loooooong while back."

Anyway, I had the impression that she writes with such urgency, or that the plot moves with such urgency. Long sentences driven by action that really amp up the stress factor. One of the books simply left me exhausted in the reading of it, because she just kept ratcheting up the tension. Both really great and... well, exhausting, as I said.

So, after the bit of discussion here I added Foreigner to my Kindle wish list. I am surprised--shocked really--that it's a $10 book on Kindle. I mean, c'mon, folks. This book was published in 1994 and I could likely walk into any used bookstore in the area and pick up a hard copy for a $1. I'd be okay if the Kindle version was $2.99 or something, but this is really somewhat ridiculous. I feel the same about Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy. My younger son wanted to read those and he prefers hardcopy, so I picked up all three volumes for less than $5 at a used bookstore. But the Kindle versions are $8 apiece.

Just sort of pisses me off that I would love to round out a digital library of stuff that I'd like to read or re-read that's a bit older and the prices are so out of sync. (And yes, I realize a new copy of these books in a bookstore would still cost me roughly the same as the Kindle version.) Anyway, don't mean to de-rail the thread.

Cherryh's stuff will sit on my wish list with 80+ other books until it goes on sale at some point.


I'm now more than a 1/3 of the way through Bujold's "Captain Vorpatril's Alliance" and I'm absolutely loving it. Her writing style is simply amazing, refreshing... and as an author myself, somehow depressing. I usually read her stuff and think, "Damn, how could I ever do something this incredible."

Huzzah for more people checking out the Foreigner series(!), but I can see how the price tag might be a bit off-putting. I think $2.99 is way too low for such a book, but I do find it weird that it's not $7.99 like a lot of the newer ones. I got such enjoyment out of the series as a whole that I believe it still worth getting even at $10, but for a new reader it's too much of a gamble, probably. Try Cyan's route for book 1 and see what you think, then splurge on a great series!

Libraries, bro! I'm reading Foreigner right now and it didn't cost me a dime.

The Foreigner bandwagon is growing!

Libraries are the best. The best.

There is no better place. Unless it's a hybrid library-bakery-wine bar.

 

[Woorloog]

Hahahaha. You're in for a treat then. I've never read a fantasy series that fell so far in quality in three books. I actually liked the second book, but many people didn't, and the third book was unbearably boring and terrible. Throws all the fun, charm and unique atmosphere out the window for generic and cliche fantasy themes. Plus half the book is an unnecessary and tedious flashback.

I'm at very near the end, i've liked it all. It is a bit slow at times, sure, but both books one and two had slow moments as well.
Flashbacks? I like them. More about the past of the Gentlemen Bastards, something i got very curious about during book one.

The book does feel like it is setting up things for the next book though, more so than being a "stand-alone adventure" like the book two felt like.

 

[kswiston]

Does Amazon typically do a Black Friday sale on their Kindle ebook store?

 

[TTG]

So the SO told me for christmas to just add 200 or so to an amazon cart and hit ship. I've landed on this, book gaf. Look good, or should I diversify a bit?



I picked out a few newer release history stuff that looked interesting on the new release section of amazon, then added a few things off my wishlist that I'd been meaning to get to for a while. I know it's Rome heavy, but I've been hooked on the subject this year pretty hard. Any suggestions or recommendations of better books on the subjects that I have picked?

That's a gift for someone, or yourself? If you're really asking, it looks lame. I checked on Leviathan(the only name I recognize). First page:

NATURE (the art whereby God hath made and governs the world) is by the art of man, as in many other things, so in this also imitated, that it can make an artificial animal. For seeing life is but a motion of limbs, the beginning whereof is in some principal part within, why may we not say that all automata (engines that move themselves by springs and wheels as doth a watch) have an artificial life? For what is the heart, but a spring; and the nerves, but so many strings; and the joints, but so many wheels, giving motion to the whole body, such as was intended by the Artificer? Art goes yet further, imitating that rational and most excellent work of Nature, man. For by art is created that great LEVIATHAN called a COMMONWEALTH, or STATE (in Latin, CIVITAS), which is but an artificial man, though of greater stature and strength than the natural, for whose protection and defence it was intended; and in which the sovereignty is an artificial soul, as giving life and motion to the whole body; the magistrates and other officers of judicature and execution, artificial joints; reward and punishment (by which fastened to the seat of the sovereignty, every joint and member is moved to perform his duty) are the nerves, that do the same in the body natural; the wealth and riches of all the particular members are the strength; salus populi (the people's safety) its business; counsellors, by whom all things needful for it to know are suggested unto it, are the memory; equity and laws, an artificial reason and will; concord, health; sedition, sickness; and civil war, death. Lastly, the pacts and covenants, by which the parts of this body politic were at first made, set together, and united, resemble that fiat, or the Let us make man, pronounced by God in the Creation.

Oh yea, give me 500 more pages of that ASAP.

 

[shaowebb]

Been reading some Steampunk.

Highly recommend this book series. Very fun characterization of both the world and the players in this story. If you took Men in Black and made it set in a steampunk victorian setting and then created some folks who while working for said organization manning the warehouse from the end of Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark ran into dead end cases like X-files then you would have this series. Its wonderful and each book builds from the last. Plus they kickstarted successfully the final two books to be made.

next up though is one I'm not too keen on

Very hit or miss. I picked it up because DAMN what a cover and the back of it read like it'd be pretty wild. Well the world is good and rich in history. However it doesn't really spend much time talking about it nor does it fill it with many props at all. Mainly it focuses on the cast who aren't really told that intimately as its mainly not going all too deep into any one character's thoughts or feelings. I'm halfway through it and it seems like it might be hitting its stride soon, but mainly it just sort of thrusts as many historical references "with twists" in as it can per chapter. Dinosaurs, The American Revolution, Texan historical places, Godzilla...you name it.

Sounds neat but it just sort of throws stuff out and doesn't let it build. Sad too considering that the story has great props and characters it should focus heavily on including

• A brass dragon unearthed from egypt powered by ancient relics
• A clockwork woman created by einstein the main character is in love with
• A plucky female airship pilot who wishes to win the main character's heart
• An evil texas warlord who considers himself the king of steamtown who seeks to replace his body little by little with machines to become immortal

^ all that and it focuses more on history twist dropping than character centered thoughts and chapters. I know I said it focuses on the characters but its weird how it does it...you only ever learn the mind of the airship pilot and the warlord. Mostly it reads like a description of a show...very little inner workings and mainly just descriptions of the cast doing stuff. Very stale in other words. Honestly I feel I hardly know the main character at all.

I'll pass on more of this one.

TLDR:
Gideon Smith is not so much focused on using what its created in its own world as referencing other things with a twist. Fails to build on its own characters to mainly spend time using a non omniscient stale narrative. When you advertise "steamtown" and you never focus on anything in it you fail. Next to no time spent on any descriptive visuals at all on this concept. Very sad.

 

[99hertz]

I finished reading Mother of Learning yesterday and now I kinda like spiders.