Support NeoGAF

[Eklesp]

I am 40% through this.
Heard many good things about. The mass is a little overwhelming but the story is moving really quickly.
I am waiting for some big event to connect all of the characters together. Really excited to hear more about the

Spoiler

Truthless character that was the assassin in the beginning.

 

[mu cephei]

What an absolutely mind-blowing trilogy. A superbly crafted universe that feels sufficient futuristic and alien, while at the same time being completely accessible as you need it to be if you are willing to work at it. It delves deep into so many high-level concepts including mathematics, theoretical physics, the nature of the self and community, while telling a beautiful, thought-provoking story that is entirely wrapped up by the end. I cannot sing this trilogy's praises enough. It's almost absurd that this represents the author's first 3 novels. I can't wait to see more from him.

I'm a bit at a loss of what to read next.

Rajaniemi has a collection of short stories out, if you weren't aware and are interested. Unfortunately it's currently only available in hardback for silly money, I'm hoping it'll have a paperback release in the summer. The collection is supposed to be fantastic.

 

[ngower]

Still reading A Little Life. As much as I love this book, I need to just power through the ending because it's time to get something new (and less bleak) in my hands.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

Still reading A Little Life. As much as I love this book, I need to just power through the ending because it's time to get something new (and less bleak) in my hands.

How much more do you have to go? I thought the last 10-15% was unputdownable and some of the best parts of the book as much as it broke me.

 

[besada]

(There's also this "Second Foundation Trilogy" or some such, that isn't written by Asimov. It is apparently a Dune-situation.)

Sort of. Janet Asimov and the Asimov estate approached Gregory Benford to write a new Foundation book, because Asimov thought highly of him, and he was, in a sense, the heir to Asimov's style of science-fiction. Benford turned them down at first, but was eventually convinced, and planned a trilogy, asking two other writers in the same fold -- David Brin and Greg Bear -- to join him. So, rather than getting Bob Asimov and a hack writer to continue the series, as Dune did, they got three of the best hard science-fiction writers -- part of the Killer Bs -- in the game to run with the ball.

What you think of them depends largely on your tastes, I guess. I thought they were interesting, but felt out of time, because they were. I think they're good books within themselves, but aren't necessary for Foundation fans. The first one -- Foundation's Fear -- is basically the adventures of young Hari Seldon. Foundation and Chaos takes place around the same time as "The Psychohistorians" but focuses more on Daneel Olivaw than Seldon. Foundation's Triumph wraps up the entire series, as Seldon reflects on his success. It brings together all of the various plot threads, from all the books and spin-offs, and tries to set them in an understandable order. It includes a timeline, too, which is pretty handy if one wanted to do a huge Asimov Foundation and robots read through chronologically.

So, very different in both intent and execution than the Dune atrocities, but not necessary unless you're a Foundation/Robots superfan.

 

[RetrospectiveLamb]

I'm about 80 pages in The Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle and it's fantastic. It's unlike any book I've read, and it's pretty compelling in how the plot fluctuates across past and present describing the awful incident that's left the protoganist disfigured.

Another book I read last month was the Cartel by Don Winslow, and it's a very well told story about the war on drugs

 

[NemesisHunter]

Not sure if this belongs in this thread, but I've been reading the Fables graphic novels (recently concluded): it's been a while since I last read a graphic novel (my last 2 reads were Preacher, and Sandman).

I greatly enjoyed Telltales Games' "The Wolf Among Us", which is what pointed me to this series of graphic novels (the game is a prequel to the series).

 

[ngower]

How much more do you have to go? I thought the last 10-15% was unputdownable and some of the best parts of the book as much as it broke me.

I'm currently in the longest chapter in human history at like 85 pages. The most recent event was

Spoiler

Jude and Willem's Thanksgiving trip to Harold and Julia's, Jude is now recounting his path to Philly

.

Believe me, I love the hell out of this book but I'm reading it during lunch breaks and I need to just change that scheduling and plow through it in the next few days. I think I've got a little under 200/little over 150 pages to go.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

I'm currently in the longest chapter in human history at like 85 pages. The most recent event was

Spoiler

Jude and Willem's Thanksgiving trip to Harold and Julia's, Jude is now recounting his path to Philly

.

Believe me, I love the hell out of this book but I'm reading it during lunch breaks and I need to just change that scheduling and plow through it in the next few days. I think I've got a little under 200/little over 150 pages to go.

Oh yeah. Oh yeah.
If you can find the time, power through.

 

[Glass Shark]

Trying to read a bunch of the new Star Wars canon to get prepared for The Force Awakens. Currently into Lost Stars and Heir to the Jedi.

 

[sparky2112]

S*** is going DOWN. Plotwise, I mean. I think. It's hard to tell. I'm in for Vol. 3,, due 'Summer' '16.

Also started this:

Just made it through the opening trial, which was amusing. The setting is more modern than I was expecting....then again, the antennas on the cover should have been a clue, had I noticed them before 15 seconds ago...

 

[besada]

I'm about 80 pages in The Wolf in White Van by John Darnielle and it's fantastic. It's unlike any book I've read, and it's pretty compelling in how the plot fluctuates across past and present describing the awful incident that's left the protoganist disfigured.

Woo! Great book is great!

 

[whatevermort]

S*** is going DOWN. Plotwise, I mean. I think. It's hard to tell. I'm in for Vol. 3,, due 'Summer' '16.

.

But is it good though? I read Only Revolutions and that was fucking nonsense. Still read the whole thing.

 

[Androidsleeps]

I'm about 70 pages into Station Eleven and I'm still not really hooked, I hope it gets better.

 

[ngower]

I'm about 70 pages into Station Eleven and I'm still not really hooked, I hope it gets better.

It never really got better for me. I think it's really well written and it's enjoyable to be in those set-pieces, but plot-wise it never hooked me.

[EDIT]

...parts of it were incredibly imaginative and unique and some characters were super cool but most of it was nonsense and/or super weird/disturbing sex shit for no reason.
Still haven't gone back and read any other Murakami.

That's basically the most succinct summary of a Murakami book I've ever read...throw some cats in there for good measure.

 

[Cade]

Almost finished the first book of 1Q84, tbh it's really become a slog and cba finishing the trilogy. 400 pages and little has really happened.

This remains one of the most frustrating books I've ever read as parts of it were incredibly imaginative and unique and some characters were super cool but most of it was nonsense and/or super weird/disturbing sex shit for no reason.
Still haven't gone back and read any other Murakami.

This is available right now as part of the latest StoryBundle: https://storybundle.com/fiction

Shoot, that looks good. I guess I have 24 days to figure out if I want to read Crandolin or not, as the other low-tier stuff doesn't look up my alley, but The Narrator looks cool.

 

[SolKane]

One of a few books to win both the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction and the National Book Award.

 

[AHA-Lambda]

This remains one of the most frustrating books I've ever read as parts of it were incredibly imaginative and unique and some characters were super cool but most of it was nonsense and/or super weird/disturbing sex shit for no reason.
Still haven't gone back and read any other Murakami.

I'm glad that wasn't just me that felt this. It's incredibly off putting as it serves no real purpose but consistently keeps cropping up.
The worst is of course the chapter where the young school girl stays over at the older man's apartment. Alarm bells immediately started ringing.

It's a shame, as I read Murakami before, Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki, and I loved it.

 

[Cade]

I'm glad that wasn't just me that felt this. It's incredibly off putting as it serves no real purpose but consistently keeps cropping up.
The worst is of course the chapter where the young school girl stays over at the older man's apartment. Alarm bells immediately started ringing.

It's a shame, as I read Murakami before, Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki, and I loved it.

Those alarm bells only turn into foghorns by book's end. Based on your similar feelings, I should read Colourless and see if I like it, then.

 

[Woorloog]

Sort of. Janet Asimov and the Asimov estate approached Gregory Benford to write a new Foundation book, because Asimov thought highly of him, and he was, in a sense, the heir to Asimov's style of science-fiction. Benford turned them down at first, but was eventually convinced, and planned a trilogy, asking two other writers in the same fold -- David Brin and Greg Bear -- to join him. So, rather than getting Bob Asimov and a hack writer to continue the series, as Dune did, they got three of the best hard science-fiction writers -- part of the Killer Bs -- in the game to run with the ball.

What you think of them depends largely on your tastes, I guess. I thought they were interesting, but felt out of time, because they were. I think they're good books within themselves, but aren't necessary for Foundation fans. The first one -- Foundation's Fear -- is basically the adventures of young Hari Seldon. Foundation and Chaos takes place around the same time as "The Psychohistorians" but focuses more on Daneel Olivaw than Seldon. Foundation's Triumph wraps up the entire series, as Seldon reflects on his success. It brings together all of the various plot threads, from all the books and spin-offs, and tries to set them in an understandable order. It includes a timeline, too, which is pretty handy if one wanted to do a huge Asimov Foundation and robots read through chronologically.

So, very different in both intent and execution than the Dune atrocities, but not necessary unless you're a Foundation/Robots superfan.

That doesn't sound like what i've heard... But you do seem to know what you're talking about, so i must have heard (err, read) utter BS about these (most likely by some bitter fan).
Unless there's more "Foundation" books and i'm mixing up what i know with this series...

EDIT What i've read sure made the trilogy sound "Dune-situation" in every way. But perhaps it is just matter of presenting things in the right way. Checking the plot summaries from Wikipedia, the situation sure doesn't seem that dire.

 

[Mumei]

This remains one of the most frustrating books I've ever read as parts of it were incredibly imaginative and unique and some characters were super cool but most of it was nonsense and/or super weird/disturbing sex shit for no reason.
Still haven't gone back and read any other Murakami.

I'm glad that wasn't just me that felt this. It's incredibly off putting as it serves no real purpose but consistently keeps cropping up.
The worst is of course the chapter where the young school girl stays over at the older man's apartment. Alarm bells immediately started ringing.

It's a shame, as I read Murakami before, Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki, and I loved it.

I felt the same way, but I read a book this year that helped make more sense of it for me called The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami. So now, I feel like it's still extremely squicky but it doesn't feel as shoehorned in, I guess.

Anyway, it's a great read once you've read more Murakami.

 

[Cade]

I felt the same way, but I read a book this year that helped make more sense of it for me called The Forbidden Worlds of Haruki Murakami. So now, I feel like it's still extremely squicky but it doesn't feel as shoehorned in, I guess.

Anyway, it's a great read once you've read more Murakami.

Yeah, I felt like maybe I needed more context for a lot of it.



but I can only read about mismatched breast sizes so many times mumei

 

[besada]

That doesn't sound like what i've heard... But you do seem to know what you're talking about, so i must have heard (err, read) utter BS about these (most likely by some bitter fan).
Unless there's more "Foundation" books and i'm mixing up what i know with this series...

EDIT What i've read sure made the trilogy sound "Dune-situation" in every way. But perhaps it is just matter of presenting things in the right way. Checking the plot summaries from Wikipedia, the situation sure doesn't seem that dire.

There was a later writer who did some Robot books, and they weren't very good. I suppose some angry purists might hate the Killer B books, but having read them, it's difficult for me to imagine them as bad as the Dune stuff. Stylisticly, I think all three writers are better than Asimov, or at least more comfortable for modern readers, who have different expectations regarding character complexity.

 

[Woorloog]

There was a later writer who did some Robot books, and they weren't very good. I suppose some angry purists might hate the Killer B books, but having read them, it's difficult for me to imagine them as bad as the Dune stuff. Stylisticly, I think all three writers are better than Asimov, or at least more comfortable for modern readers, who have different expectations regarding character complexity.

Ah, it seems i've mixed the Second Foundation with those robot books. Something about them going around killing aliens and having odd additional Laws of Robotics, no?


I like Asimov's prose. Always liked. It is dry and laconic but it is fast and easy to read. His handling of characters... well. A friend noted that his protagonists tend to be intellectuals of sort, or very smart and effective. And Asimov's awful at writing female characters, though he was well aware of this.
Asimov was most certainly an idea-man. Complex concepts, large scales.
(He made the Galactic Imperium sound way bigger than any other galactic empire in other scifi, IMO.)

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Finished up


The Child Thief by Dan Smith

Really great.

Then read this in a couple of sittings.


The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Ogawa

Quick and fun read.

 

[Moonkid]

You'll get lots of people saying about other Mitchell novels to read, so here's the first - read Slade House, his newest. It's heavily related to The Bone Clocks, while also being totally standalone, and it's really quite about storytelling, so I suspect it'll be right up your alley.

Awesome, thanks for the rec! I'm also planning on re-reading Cloud Atlas sometime.

 

[fakefaker]

Really enjoyed Against the Fall of Night by Arthur C. Clarke and jumping into The Space Frontiers by Roger Lee Vernon.

 

[Afrocious]

I'm reading A Handmaid's Tale. I needed to read something because damn it had been a few months since I last touched a book lol.

 

[SamPaaji]

My friend lent me this book. I have mixed feelings about Brooks. I sometimes agree with his opinions in NYT; I am shaking my head at other times. I am interested to read his work though. This seems like a particularly interesting subject.

He keeps away from in political views. You should read it

 

[besada]

Ah, it seems i've mixed the Second Foundation with those robot books. Something about them going around killing aliens and having odd additional Laws of Robotics, no?


I like Asimov's prose. Always liked. It is dry and laconic but it is fast and easy to read. His handling of characters... well. A friend noted that his protagonists tend to be intellectuals of sort, or very smart and effective. And Asimov's awful at writing female characters, though he was well aware of this.
Asimov was most certainly an idea-man. Complex concepts, large scales.
(He made the Galactic Imperium sound way bigger than any other galactic empire in other scifi, IMO.)

And he wrote at the time when that clean, spare style was common. A lot,of it was John Campbell putting his imprimatur on the stories. He was notorious for demanding the prose be clean and clear. And none of the three mentioned are exactly avant-garde stylists, just a little more flair than Asimov generally put in.

And if you want to take a gander at a big idea, may I suggest Gregory Benford's magnum opus, the Great Sky River books? Some of my absolutely favorie stuff, spanning ages and galaxies. It's almost certainly why Janet Asimov felt he was suited for Asimov's works. They both tackle big cosmic subjects, and Benford himself is a plasma physicist, so he's not afraid to bring the science.

 

[TTG]

I really need to catch up on some reading and, more importantly, this thread. In the meantime:

What an absolutely mind-blowing trilogy. A superbly crafted universe that feels sufficient futuristic and alien, while at the same time being completely accessible as you need it to be if you are willing to work at it. It delves deep into so many high-level concepts including mathematics, theoretical physics, the nature of the self and community, while telling a beautiful, thought-provoking story that is entirely wrapped up by the end. I cannot sing this trilogy's praises enough. It's almost absurd that this represents the author's first 3 novels. I can't wait to see more from him.

This trilogy needs more love. Not to put some darlings on blast, but go ahead and read the first book. It will make Ancillary Leviathans seem relatively brain dead. The second isn't as successful, but the third makes for a strong, if less spectacular, conclusion.

 

[Imp the Dimp]

I am 40% through this.
Heard many good things about. The mass is a little overwhelming but the story is moving really quickly.
I am waiting for some big event to connect all of the characters together. Really excited to hear more about the

Reading Way of Kings as well and I'm literally exactly as far as you are and it's been fantastic so far. Couldn't have envision reading through such a huge book in so short a time. I'll finish it in no time. Sanderson's writing is insanely gripping.

 

[Peru]

BBC have polled 81 NON-UK critics about the greatest british books of all time.

#1 is a solid consensus choice coincidentally discussed on the last page of this very thread,

and personally I'm THRILLED that the critical consensus has developed to the point where
my personal GOAT Villette is in the top 30.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/bo...ime-international-critics-top-100-middlemarch

100. The Code of the Woosters (PG Wodehouse, 1938)
99. There but for the (Ali Smith, 2011)
98. Under the Volcano (Malcolm Lowry,1947)
97. The Chronicles of Narnia (CS Lewis, 1949-1954)
96. Memoirs of a Survivor (Doris Lessing, 1974)
95. The Buddha of Suburbia (Hanif Kureishi, 1990)
94. The Private Memoirs and Confessions of a Justified Sinner (James Hogg, 1824)
93. Lord of the Flies (William Golding, 1954)
92. Cold Comfort Farm (Stella Gibbons, 1932)
91. The Forsyte Saga (John Galsworthy, 1922)
90. The Woman in White (Wilkie Collins, 1859)
89. The Horse’s Mouth (Joyce Cary, 1944)
88. The Death of the Heart (Elizabeth Bowen, 1938)
87. The Old Wives’ Tale (Arnold Bennett,1908)
86. A Legacy (Sybille Bedford, 1956)
85. Regeneration Trilogy (Pat Barker, 1991-1995)
84. Scoop (Evelyn Waugh, 1938)
83. Barchester Towers (Anthony Trollope, 1857)
82. The Patrick Melrose Novels (Edward St Aubyn, 1992-2012)
81. The Jewel in the Crown (Paul Scott, 1966)
80. Excellent Women (Barbara Pym, 1952)
79. His Dark Materials (Philip Pullman, 1995-2000)
78. A House for Mr Biswas (VS Naipaul, 1961)
77. Of Human Bondage (W Somerset Maugham, 1915)
76. Small Island (Andrea Levy, 2004)
75. Women in Love (DH Lawrence, 1920)
74. The Mayor of Casterbridge (Thomas Hardy, 1886)
73. The Blue Flower (Penelope Fitzgerald, 1995)
72. The Heart of the Matter (Graham Greene, 1948)
71. Old Filth (Jane Gardam, 2004)
70. Daniel Deronda (George Eliot, 1876)
69. Nostromo (Joseph Conrad, 1904)
68. A Clockwork Orange (Anthony Burgess, 1962)
67. Crash (JG Ballard 1973)
66. Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen, 1811)
65. Orlando (Virginia Woolf, 1928)
64. The Way We Live Now (Anthony Trollope, 1875)
63. The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (Muriel Spark, 1961)
62. Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945)
61. The Sea, The Sea (Iris Murdoch, 1978)
60. Sons and Lovers (DH Lawrence, 1913)
59. The Line of Beauty (Alan Hollinghurst, 2004)
58. Loving (Henry Green, 1945)
57. Parade’s End (Ford Madox Ford, 1924-1928)
56. Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (Jeanette Winterson, 1985)
55. Gulliver’s Travels (Jonathan Swift, 1726)
54. NW (Zadie Smith, 2012)
53. Wide Sargasso Sea (Jean Rhys, 1966)
52. New Grub Street (George Gissing, 1891)
51. Tess of the d’Urbervilles (Thomas Hardy, 1891)
50. A Passage to India (EM Forster, 1924)
49. Possession (AS Byatt, 1990)
48. Lucky Jim (Kingsley Amis, 1954)
47. The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman (Laurence Sterne, 1759)
46. Midnight’s Children (Salman Rushdie, 1981)
45. The Little Stranger (Sarah Waters, 2009)
44. Wolf Hall (Hilary Mantel, 2009)
43. The Swimming Pool Library (Alan Hollinghurst, 1988)
42. Brighton Rock (Graham Greene, 1938)
41. Dombey and Son (Charles Dickens, 1848)
40. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)
39. The Sense of an Ending (Julian Barnes, 2011)
38. The Passion (Jeanette Winterson, 1987)
37. Decline and Fall (Evelyn Waugh, 1928)
36. A Dance to the Music of Time (Anthony Powell, 1951-1975)
35. Remainder (Tom McCarthy, 2005)
34. Never Let Me Go (Kazuo Ishiguro, 2005)
33. The Wind in the Willows (Kenneth Grahame, 1908)
32. A Room with a View (EM Forster, 1908)
31. The End of the Affair (Graham Greene, 1951)
30. Moll Flanders (Daniel Defoe, 1722)
29. Brick Lane (Monica Ali, 2003)
28. Villette (Charlotte Brontë, 1853)
27. Robinson Crusoe (Daniel Defoe, 1719)
26. The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, 1954)
25. White Teeth (Zadie Smith, 2000)
24. The Golden Notebook (Doris Lessing, 1962)
23. Jude the Obscure (Thomas Hardy, 1895)
22. The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling (Henry Fielding, 1749)
21. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad, 1899)
20. Persuasion (Jane Austen, 1817)
19. Emma (Jane Austen, 1815)
18. Remains of the Day (Kazuo Ishiguro, 1989)
17. Howards End (EM Forster, 1910)
16. The Waves (Virginia Woolf, 1931)
15. Atonement (Ian McEwan, 2001)
14. Clarissa (Samuel Richardson,1748)
13. The Good Soldier (Ford Madox Ford, 1915)
12. Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell, 1949)
11. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)
10. Vanity Fair (William Makepeace Thackeray, 1848)
9. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)
8. David Copperfield (Charles Dickens, 1850)
7. Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë, 1847)
6. Bleak House (Charles Dickens, 1853)
5. Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë, 1847)
4. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens, 1861)
3. Mrs. Dalloway (Virginia Woolf, 1925)
2. To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf, 1927)
1. Middlemarch (George Eliot, 1874)

 

[Number45]

Surprised (and a little proud) to say I've read more books on that list than I have watched films on most critic lists (despite considering myself more of a film person than a book person)! Also surprised to learn that a Heart of Darkness is a British book.

Going to save that list as inspiration for the future. I love me some old literature.

 

[TTG]

BBC have polled 81 NON-UK critics about the greatest british books of all time.

*ctrl f Harry Potter*

Phrase not found

WAT!!?!?!

 

[Number45]

*ctrl f Harry Potter*

Phrase not found

WAT!!?!?!

Got to admit, I expected one of them to be in there.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Out of that list I've read Never Let Me Go and Remains of the Day.

Only 98 to go!

 

[Number45]

I've only actually read 11 of them as it turns out. Not as pleased with myself as I was when I just skimmed through the list a while back!

EDIT: For the sake of lists:

93. Lord of the Flies (William Golding, 1954)
66. Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen, 1811)
62. Animal Farm (George Orwell, 1945)
40. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (Lewis Carroll, 1865)
26. The Lord of the Rings (JRR Tolkien, 1954)
21. Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad, 1899)
12. Nineteen Eighty-Four (George Orwell, 1949)
11. Pride and Prejudice (Jane Austen, 1813)
9. Frankenstein (Mary Shelley, 1818)
7. Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë, 1847)
4. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens, 1861)

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

(Cover artwork omitted because it's all unbelievably bad or spoilery - so are all the blurbs on the internet)

Wrapped up Childhood's End by Arther C Clarke in one sitting last night.

Aliens show up, place themselves above all major cities, and basically force humanity to enter an age of peace.

It's a great book; maybe my favorite sci-fi book of the 50's. Clarke doesn't feel stretched or too mass market here, he's at just the right level for his simple writing style and the amount of ideas he wants to fit into a 200-page novel. The story sweeps wide and far, moving on at just the right points when we don't need any more exposition. The themes are considered and debated a little, but not so much that I feel the book already chewed my food for me.

I read this in anticipation for SyFy's miniseries adaption. They've got a pretty big and ambitious thing on their plate, and I'm curious to see if they pull it off without feeling hokey. There's a few things that the book can get away with that a filmed adaption can't. Six hours for the miniseries seems about right to me - though funnily enough the book is probably quicker to read than the miniseries will be to watch.

Highly recommended. Great book.

 

[Cade]

Man none of my books I'm reading are doing it for me and I'm reading like five or six and I'm still reading blood meridian so I've just decided to start something sci-fi off my Kindle and the closest thing was Ghosts of Ophidian and it looks short so I'm gonna burn through it and reenergize. Onward!

 

[sparky2112]

But is it good though? I read Only Revolutions and that was fucking nonsense. Still read the whole thing.

Yes, but Danielewski is just one of those authors you kind of have to just 'go with'. Not everything is going to make sense, but even then, his writing is graceful. Everything he puts down (and it's A LOT) is a deliberate choice, even if some of it doesn't make sense. His use of voice (there are quite a few characters from very diverse backgrounds) is impressive, to say the least. The books are beautiful, and the typography, layout, and visual design is off the charts.

His ambition is for this to go 27 volumes, which is what sucked me in initially. And I've enjoyed it so far, but at 880 pages per volume, you just kind of have to bathe in it - it's not exactly tightly plotted. It's more of an experience.

Or something like that.

(also, I've not read Only Revolutions, but my general impression is that The Familiar hangs together waaaay more than OR based on other reader's feedback)

 

[Cade]

Oh, this is terrible

 

[Ratrat]

What an absolutely mind-blowing trilogy. A superbly crafted universe that feels sufficient futuristic and alien, while at the same time being completely accessible as you need it to be if you are willing to work at it. It delves deep into so many high-level concepts including mathematics, theoretical physics, the nature of the self and community, while telling a beautiful, thought-provoking story that is entirely wrapped up by the end. I cannot sing this trilogy's praises enough. It's almost absurd that this represents the author's first 3 novels. I can't wait to see more from him.

I'm a bit at a loss of what to read next.

If you haven't already, Ian M. Banks is the obvious choice. You can tell Rajaniemi is a big fan. I thought M. John Harrison's Light had a similar feel too and was very well-written.

I need to read Fractal Prince already.

 

[lt519]

The Expanse series. Really enjoyable but not on the level of Scalzi and the likes. I'll be interested to see what SyFy does with it.

 

[Maklershed]

6. Bleak House (Charles Dickens, 1853)
4. Great Expectations (Charles Dickens, 1861)

*thumbs up*

The Expanse series. Really enjoyable but not on the level of Scalzi and the likes. I'll be interested to see what SyFy does with it.

A lot of factory interiors and hallways with metal grid flooring and light shining up from underneath.

 

[Quote]

The Expanse series. Really enjoyable but not on the level of Scalzi and the likes. I'll be interested to see what SyFy does with it.

What book would you recommend to start at with Scalzi? I see him on Twitter a bunch and have been meaning to give his books a try.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

I think I've read 7 books on that list

Spoiler

and seen another six or seven in either movie or play format

 

[Kwixotik]

I'm looking for something to read over Christmas, but I can't decide. I started reading the second Earthsea book, then I stopped and read the very beginning of Blood Meridian, then I stopped and started American Gods.

I just can't seem to decide on anything.

I've read 10 books on the British list.

 

[aidan]

What book would you recommend to start at with Scalzi? I see him on Twitter a bunch and have been meaning to give his books a try.

Old Man's War is his most popular. It's a great, semi-satirical take on Starship Troopers.

 

[ShaneB]

Finished up


The Child Thief by Dan Smith

Really great.

Glad you enjoyed it man. Now I'll bug you to read Red Winter!