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Any fiction readers on here?

Atomicfear

Atomicfear

Member
I need some good novels to read, preferably about something interesting. For instance, I just finished Children of the Neon Bamboo, and it's exactly what I'm looking for: nostalgic without being too on the nose. It's historically accurate set in 1990; the characters are watching Predator and playing revenge of Shinobi; there's that late 80s/early 90s heavy japanese influence on the culture. And all that the backdrop for a decent story and interesting characters. Anyway, anyone got any good recs that might have some pop culture and adventure?

Thanks!
 
Dungeon Crawler Carl

Recently stated it, still on book 1 but very fun

Dungeon Crawler Carl follows Carl, an ordinary man who is thrown into a deadly underground competition after Earth is suddenly transformed into a massive intergalactic game show. Forced to survive increasingly dangerous dungeon levels alongside Princess Donut, a pampered show cat who gains intelligence and a larger-than-life personality, Carl must navigate monsters, shifting alliances, and the bizarre rules of a system designed for entertainment. Blending action, humor, and surprisingly emotional character moments, the series combines the fast-paced progression of a role-playing game with the tension and unpredictability of survival fiction.

 
I collect VHS tapes said:
Dungeon Crawler Carl

Recently stated it, still on book 1 but very fun

Dungeon Crawler Carl follows Carl, an ordinary man who is thrown into a deadly underground competition after Earth is suddenly transformed into a massive intergalactic game show. Forced to survive increasingly dangerous dungeon levels alongside Princess Donut, a pampered show cat who gains intelligence and a larger-than-life personality, Carl must navigate monsters, shifting alliances, and the bizarre rules of a system designed for entertainment. Blending action, humor, and surprisingly emotional character moments, the series combines the fast-paced progression of a role-playing game with the tension and unpredictability of survival fiction.
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Thanks- I'll check it out. If it's what I think it is, it looked cool in the comic book store.
 
Currently reading the Gears of War books by Karen Travis. I've read them before but felt like going through them again, and started with book 5, The Slab, which takes place in the lead up to the first game, then book 1, Aspho Fields, which takes place just after the first game. There's some continuity problems going from 5 to 1, mainly Hoffman's views of Marcus. In the slab his inner monologue says he's gutted about Marcus and really wants him out, but his public voice doesn't treat Marcus any differently to the way he would treat any other gear, whereas in Aspho Fields his inner monologue essentially matches his public thoughts. There's also Tai Kaliso, in the slab he patrols with Dom and is willing to put his neck on the line to get Marcus out, but in Aspho Dom says he vaguely remembers him, mainly because of his distinct hair and tattoos.

Apart from those little things, the books are great and an easy recommend to anyone who's a fan of the games. They cover the gaps between the games but also cover the pre E-Day war with the UIR, including the aforementioned Aspho Fields where Dom and Marcus made their names and where Marcus first met Anya, and the siege of Anvil Gate where Hoffman made his name.

I've also recently finished yet another read of I am Legend and The Price of Salt, both fantastic books and way better than the films. The Price of Salt is, by the way, a semi autobiographical look at Patricia Highsmith's early life.
 
Book Of The New Sun - Gene Wolfe
Tales Of A Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Book Of The New Sun is probably one of the greatest and most surreal experiences you'll ever have while reading a book. And while none of the recommendations have pop culture reverences, you'll enjoy them.

While not fiction, it has a lot of pop culture references and takes place in the real world, the book is so absolutely insane that it's a masterpiece.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

For some reason people really hate this book, not readers as much, but a lot of women and liberals hate the book with a passion. I don't know why, book never had anything in to piss either off. Fantastic read.
 
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Signalis said:
If you want Berserk, read the Malazan Book Of The Fallen series. It's absolutely fantastic. (You only have to read the 10 main books, you don't have to worry about everything in between)
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Googled about it a little bit and while people it's a bit hard to get into it also seems really interesting. To the list it goes, many thanks man!
 
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TintoConCasera said:
Googled about it a little bit and while people it's a bit hard to get into it also seems really interesting. To the list it goes, many thanks man!
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You should definitely give it a read in the future. The world is very dark and the lore is amazing. Story is fantastic also. Stevem Erikson even said that Berserk was a huge influence on the books. It's as dark as dark fantasy can get.
 
Signalis said:
You should definitely give it a read in the future. The world is very dark and the lore is amazing. Story is fantastic also. Stevem Erikson even said that Berserk was a huge influence on the books. It's as dark as dark fantasy can get.
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Will have to give it a lot of priority then! I still want to go through The Dark Tower first since so far I'm really liking it, but I'll make sure to get into Malazan as soon as possible.

Just got into reading last year and damn, that list of mine is growing fast. :goog_relieved:
 
TintoConCasera said:
Googled about it a little bit and while people it's a bit hard to get into it also seems really interesting. To the list it goes, many thanks man!
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It's really good. A lot of people bounce off the first book, but it's worth sticking with it. By book two there's no turning back. Amazing worldbuilding and depth to the story.
 
Signalis said:
Book Of The New Sun - Gene Wolfe
Tales Of A Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Book Of The New Sun is probably one of the greatest and most surreal experiences you'll ever have while reading a book. And while none of the recommendations have pop culture reverences, you'll enjoy them.

While not fiction, it has a lot of pop culture references and takes place in the real world, the book is so absolutely insane that it's a masterpiece.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

For some reason people really hate this book, not readers as much, but a lot of women and liberals hate the book with a passion. I don't know why, book never had anything in to piss either off. Fantastic read.
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Anatham was so great! Definitely one to read twice, there was so much packed into that book.

I'm also very keen to read Gene Wolfe at some point. I sometimes mix up the Suneater and Books of the New Sun series, having read neither of them. I think I need to read both, but BotNS is higher priority, I have heard they are really amazing.
 
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Dioica said:
Anatham was so great! Definitely one to read twice, there was so much packed into that book.

I'm also very keen to read Gene Wolfe at some point. I sometimes mix up the Suneater and Books of the New Sun series, having read neither of them. I think I need to read both, but BotNS is higher priority, I have heard they are really amazing.
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I recommend getting Book Of The New Sun and Tales Of A Dying Earth. Without Tales of A Dying Earth, Gene Wolfe would never have written book of the new sun.

Both are equally amazing. Very surreal and the best Science Fantasy you'll ever read. Sometimes I find it hard to recommend Anathem because I've recommended it in the past and people got back to me
telling me they don't know WTF they just read.

I am also an avid fan of of Fyodor Dostoevsky, I've read his books so many times. Devils (think it's called Demons in the USA) and The Idiot being my 2 favourites.

P.S. If you ever read Book Of The New Sun and Tales Of A Dying Earth and you want more, unfortunately there is nothing quite like any of the 2. Closest I can recommend(which is still an amazing book) is Cage Of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
 
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Signalis said:
Book Of The New Sun - Gene Wolfe
Tales Of A Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Book Of The New Sun is probably one of the greatest and most surreal experiences you'll ever have while reading a book. And while none of the recommendations have pop culture reverences, you'll enjoy them.

While not fiction, it has a lot of pop culture references and takes place in the real world, the book is so absolutely insane that it's a masterpiece.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

For some reason people really hate this book, not readers as much, but a lot of women and liberals hate the book with a passion. I don't know why, book never had anything in to piss either off. Fantastic read.
Click to expand...

I tried reading infinite heat over and over again. It's tough!
 
Signalis said:
If you want Berserk, read the Malazan Book Of The Fallen series. It's absolutely fantastic. (You only have to read the 10 main books, you don't have to worry about everything in between)
Click to expand...

I'm in the process of reading that series. I finished the third book a couple of months ago, I have to get on the fourth book this summer. So far I love it but I have to take massive breaks inbetween each book due to the mental workout those books tend to give me

I'm just focusing on the main series. So once I'm done with the main series, I'll be reading the spinoff books and the new books set in that universe that has been releasing

I didn't know that one of the inspirations for the book series is Berserk
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
I'm in the process of reading that series. I finished the third book a couple of months ago, I have to get on the fourth book this summer. So far I love it but I have to take massive breaks inbetween each book due to the mental workout those books tend to give me

I'm just focusing on the main series. So once I'm done with the main series, I'll be reading the spinoff books and the new books set in that universe that has been releasing

I didn't know that one of the inspirations for the book series is Berserk
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If you really want to read some dark shit you should read Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds. It's part of the Revelation Space series of books, but can be read completely independently. It's some dark shit man. It's science fiction though.
 
Signalis said:
If you really want to read some dark shit you should read Chasm City by Alastair Reynolds. It's part of the Revelation Space series of books, but can be read completely independently. It's some dark shit man. It's science fiction though.
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The Revelation Space series is part of my read list. I want to finish reading through The Expanse first before I even start another science fiction series

And my next science fiction series is most likely gonna to be The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton. But I'll consider reading Chasm City sooner since you said it's standalone
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
The Revelation Space series is part of my read list. I want to finish reading through The Expanse first before I even start another science fiction series

And my next science fiction series is most likely gonna to be The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton. But I'll consider reading Chasm City sooner since you said it's standalone
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Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained were really really good, you're not missing too much with the Void Trilogy, but the follow up 2 books(all in the same universe) called the Chronicles Of The Fallers was good. Nights Dawn Trilogy is still peak Peter F. Hamilton. But my favourite book is Fallen Dragon. I love that book so much. And while overlooked by many(it's a crime) his first 3 books called the Greg Mandel Series is also fantastic. More Cyberpunk. But the Nights Dawn Trilogy is some crazy shit. Binge read all 3 books in a row.

You should really read the Revelation Space books, it's good shit. I always say that Alastair Reynolds is a horror writer hiding behind science fiction.
 
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Signalis said:
Pandora's Star and Judas Unchained were really really good, you're not missing too much with the Void Trilogy, but the follow up 2 books(all in the same universe) called the Chronicles Of The Fallers was good. Nights Dawn Trilogy is still peak Peter F. Hamilton. But my favourite book is Fallen Dragon. I love that book so much. And while overlooked by many(it's a crime) his first 3 books called the Greg Mandel Series is also fantastic. More Cyberpunk. But the Nights Dawn Trilogy is some crazy shit. Binge read all 3 books in a row.

You should really read the Revelation Space books, it's good shit. I always say that Alastair Reynolds is a horror writer hiding behind science fiction.
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Well when it comes to big Science Fiction books series I'll be starting the next couple of years

The Commonwealth Saga- I'm starting with Misspent Youth. I have read Pandora Star but I forgot all of what happened in the book but that's because I read it why back in 2004. I didn't like the book back than but at the time, I wasn't in the mood to read it. As for Fallen Dragon. That's the only other book I read from him which was back in highschool. I loved it. This time with The Commonwealth Saga, I'll be reading every book in order. Or I might just start reading The Nightdawn Trilogy. I heard the author gets especially weird and crazy with that Trilogy. I love when fiction gets weird. Great North Road is another one I want to read by him, I know that's one is a standalone and is more of a detective story set in the future. I also have both books that he wrote for the Exodus Videogame IP

Revelation Space

The Culture

Those are the big three series that I was thinking of when it comes to Science Fiction Operas. I was looking into Stephen Baxter Xeelee Sequence but from what I heard that's more Hard Sci Fi than Space Opera. I don't mind Hard Sci Fi but I'm looking for something more Sci Fi Opera at the moment

As for the other Science Fiction books I'll be reading this year

The Expanse - I'm gonna to read Books 2 and 3 this year

The Last Contract of Isako

Chasm City (due to your reccomandations)

Embassytown
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
Well when it comes to big Science Fiction books series I'll be starting the next couple of years

The Commonwealth Saga- I'm starting with Misspent Youth. I have read Pandora Star but I forgot all of what happened in the book but that's because I read it why back in 2004. I didn't like the book back than but at the time, I wasn't in the mood to read it. As for Fallen Dragon. That's the only other book I read from him which was back in highschool. I loved it. This time with The Commonwealth Saga, I'll be reading every book in order. Or I might just start reading The Nightdawn Trilogy. I heard the author gets especially weird and crazy with that Trilogy. I love when fiction gets weird. Great North Road is another one I want to read by him, I know that's one is a standalone and is more of a detective story set in the future. I also have both books that he wrote for the Exodus Videogame IP

Revelation Space

The Culture

Those are the big three series that I was thinking of when it comes to Science Fiction Operas. I was looking into Stephen Baxter Xeelee Sequence but from what I heard that's more Hard Sci Fi than Space Opera. I don't mind Hard Sci Fi but I'm looking for something more Sci Fi Opera at the moment

As for the other Science Fiction books I'll be reading this year

The Expanse - I'm gonna to read Books 2 and 3 this year

The Last Contract of Isako

Chasm City (due to your reccomandations)

Embassytown
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I'd start the Night's Dawn Trilogy before doing the void. Night's Dawn Trilogy is insanely good. Weird as fuck also, but only Peter F. Hamilton could pull it off. It's crazy shit happening in the 3 books. It's some really good stuff. I've read them a few times.
 
I can't think of anything about the 90s off the top of my head, but I do have some good recommendations :]

I recommend the Aubrey Maturin books, starting with Master and Commander, starring Captain Jack Aubrey and doctor Stephen Maturin. They're set during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and they're very well written. You'd almost think they were written by a contemporary of Jane Austen. The second book, Post Captain, is even better.

I also recommend Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre. Again, very well written book. John Le Carre was involved in British Intelligence himself, and his books feel very authentic to that. The protagonist, George Smiley, spends most of his time thinking and directing younger men, trying to solve the problem of a mole, similar to the historical Cambridge Five.
 
Signalis said:
I'd start the Night's Dawn Trilogy before doing the void. Night's Dawn Trilogy is insanely good. Weird as fuck also, but only Peter F. Hamilton could pull it off. It's crazy shit happening in the 3 books. It's some really good stuff. I've read them a few times.
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I'm considering it

But my next read after I'm done with the current book I'm on is gonna to be Chasm City
 
Signalis said:
Let me know, what you think of Chasm City. I'm excited for your part.
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I never read any of his other stuff so it'll be my first book I read by him. All I know if it's anything like Beyond The Aquila Rift which I watched that episode and loved it especially the dark ending. I'm pretty sure I'm in for something pretty dark when I do read through it. I'm only mentioning that Love, Death and Robot episode since I know that adapts one of Alastair short stories. Watching that episode is what got me interested in reading his stuff
 
NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
I never read any of his other stuff so it'll be my first book I read by him. All I know if it's anything like Beyond The Aquila Rift which I watched that episode and loved it especially the dark ending. I'm pretty sure I'm in for something pretty dark when I do read through it. I'm only mentioning that Love, Death and Robot episode since I know that adapts one of Alastair short stories. Watching that episode is what got me interested in reading his stuff
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Beyond The Aquila Rift is tame compared to Chasm City and Revelation Space. Pushing Ice is also another book I'm very fond of. Alastair has a lot of amazing books, just avoid the Poseidon's Children, that is hot shit to be honest. Doesn't even seem like he wrote those 3 books
and Reynolds also likes to pretend they don't exist either:messenger_grinning:

Another strange book of his, which I actually really enjoyed was Terminal City, I can highly recommend it and also not recommend it at all. But I thought it was great.
 
Signalis said:
Book Of The New Sun - Gene Wolfe
Tales Of A Dying Earth - Jack Vance
Anathem - Neal Stephenson

Book Of The New Sun is probably one of the greatest and most surreal experiences you'll ever have while reading a book. And while none of the recommendations have pop culture reverences, you'll enjoy them.

While not fiction, it has a lot of pop culture references and takes place in the real world, the book is so absolutely insane that it's a masterpiece.

Infinite Jest - David Foster Wallace

For some reason people really hate this book, not readers as much, but a lot of women and liberals hate the book with a passion. I don't know why, book never had anything in to piss either off. Fantastic read.
Click to expand...

Gene Wolf- I'll have to check that out. I've always heard Wolfe was a writer's writer, but I was a little underwhelmed by Soldier of the mist (not bad though).
Jack Vance- Huge fan. Just finished the Demon Princes series. Planet of Adventure is one of the great reading experiences of my life ( I was like 16).
Stephenson- Loved Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon is one of my all-time favorite books. So, I'll add anathem to my list.

Infinite jest- It's on my night stand now, been fighting through it slowly for a year. I won't hate on it, but it has some dense, hard-to-read parts that just seem to drag on without conveying anything meaningful. At other points, he flashes as an absolute genius of verbal ability. IMO, if the book were cut in half and only included the best stuff, it would be much better. But I'm sure someone said that to him and the length is part of it. I'll be proud to finish it, but I wouldn't read it again.

If you like stephenson and wallace, you really should check this out:

 
uncreativename said:
I can't think of anything about the 90s off the top of my head, but I do have some good recommendations :]

I recommend the Aubrey Maturin books, starting with Master and Commander, starring Captain Jack Aubrey and doctor Stephen Maturin. They're set during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, and they're very well written. You'd almost think they were written by a contemporary of Jane Austen. The second book, Post Captain, is even better.

I also recommend Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy by John Le Carre. Again, very well written book. John Le Carre was involved in British Intelligence himself, and his books feel very authentic to that. The protagonist, George Smiley, spends most of his time thinking and directing younger men, trying to solve the problem of a mole, similar to the historical Cambridge Five.
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yeah, I need to get to Le Carre. Sounds like some smart, classy, well-written stuff.
 
For pop culture fun, Dungeon Crawler Carl hooked me. Now waiting for Book 8. I don't know what it is, the combination of Hitchhiker's with D&D plus some battle royale elements got me.

For more grim stories:
I enjoyed Glen Cook's Black Company (about 5 books in) and more recently the First Law series by Joe Abercrombie. Been meaning to pick up the Age of Madness trilogy and get to his latest book The Devils.
 
Signalis said:
I recommend getting Book Of The New Sun and Tales Of A Dying Earth. Without Tales of A Dying Earth, Gene Wolfe would never have written book of the new sun.

Both are equally amazing. Very surreal and the best Science Fantasy you'll ever read. Sometimes I find it hard to recommend Anathem because I've recommended it in the past and people got back to me
telling me they don't know WTF they just read.

I am also an avid fan of of Fyodor Dostoevsky, I've read his books so many times. Devils (think it's called Demons in the USA) and The Idiot being my 2 favourites.

P.S. If you ever read Book Of The New Sun and Tales Of A Dying Earth and you want more, unfortunately there is nothing quite like any of the 2. Closest I can recommend(which is still an amazing book) is Cage Of Souls by Adrian Tchaikovsky
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Thanks for the recommendations! Haha yes I don't know if I'd recommend Anathem to anyone either, but it really was great, lame ending notwithstanding. Apparently Stephenson is well known for those. I've got cryptonomicon on my kindle, apparently it's a very different read.

Dostoevsky I've only read C&P. I thought it was ok, didn't love it but I enjoyed it. Everyone is always going on about the brothers karamazov so I may read that at some point, or the idiot.

Tchaikovsky I've got children of time, which sounds absolutely great and I'm looking forward to reading it.

NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
I never read any of his other stuff so it'll be my first book I read by him. All I know if it's anything like Beyond The Aquila Rift which I watched that episode and loved it especially the dark ending. I'm pretty sure I'm in for something pretty dark when I do read through it. I'm only mentioning that Love, Death and Robot episode since I know that adapts one of Alastair short stories. Watching that episode is what got me interested in reading his stuff
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I also loved the Aquila Rift! SO cool. One of my very favourite episodes of LaR, it really stuck with me. It's such a shame the latest season was rubbish.
 
Dioica said:
Thanks for the recommendations! Haha yes I don't know if I'd recommend Anathem to anyone either, but it really was great, lame ending notwithstanding. Apparently Stephenson is well known for those. I've got cryptonomicon on my kindle, apparently it's a very different read.

Dostoevsky I've only read C&P. I thought it was ok, didn't love it but I enjoyed it. Everyone is always going on about the brothers karamazov so I may read that at some point, or the idiot.

Tchaikovsky I've got children of time, which sounds absolutely great and I'm looking forward to reading it.


I also loved the Aquila Rift! SO cool. One of my very favourite episodes of LaR, it really stuck with me. It's such a shame the latest season was rubbish.
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Children of Time and Children Of Ruin are both amazing books, and extremely creative as well. I have Children Of Memory and Children Of Strife(just released) as well, I am ashamed to say,I haven't gotten around to reading it yet. But that is something I
might have to remedy. Maybe I'll start from Children Of Time again and read all 4 in a row. :messenger_beaming:
 
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NotMyProblemAnymoreCunt said:
Yeah the seasons past season one of Love, Death And Robot have been mostly bad. At least that episode got me interested in reading Alastair Reynolds
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I thought s3 was ok! I can't remember much about it though. I liked the alien one with the people swimming. Season 2 was bad, even the one about kids that everyone for some reason loved was poor in my opinion. I didn't know that episode was based on Reynolds's writing - I do have revelation space on my kindle, so I'm hoping now it has some dark stuff like Aquila Rift.
 
Dioica said:
I thought s3 was ok! I can't remember much about it though. I liked the alien one with the people swimming. Season 2 was bad, even the one about kids that everyone for some reason loved was poor in my opinion. I didn't know that episode was based on Reynolds's writing - I do have revelation space on my kindle, so I'm hoping now it has some dark stuff like Aquila Rift.
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Do you prefer eBooks or real books. I've tried eBooks before, but I just can't read them. I have to read the actual book, nothing beats the real thing. Plus I like looking at my books collection as well.
 
Signalis said:
Do you prefer eBooks or real books. I've tried eBooks before, but I just can't read them. I have to read the actual book, nothing beats the real thing. Plus I like looking at my books collection as well.
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I like both! I actually prefer ebooks now though because it's easier for me to read in bed with them, and if it's a huge one like Anathem or Count of Monte Cristo then ebook is much better.

I got addicted to browsing the kindle book deals every day and ended up buying a ridiculous number of books (99p each!), more than I could read. I've stopped doing that now and am slowly working through the backlog, a mix of about 75 ebooks and physical books. But yes, the smell of a real book is a delight. Where I live though (middle east), physical books are ridiculously expensive - a normal book is about 16 uk pounds, most are more, and the selection they have is pitiful - so when I go home in the summer I always buy a few physical books then. If I lived in my home country I'd buy a lot more.
 
Dioica said:
I like both! I actually prefer ebooks now though because it's easier for me to read in bed with them, and if it's a huge one like Anathem or Count of Monte Cristo then ebook is much better.

I got addicted to browsing the kindle book deals every day and ended up buying a ridiculous number of books (99p each!), more than I could read. I've stopped doing that now and am slowly working through the backlog, a mix of about 75 ebooks and physical books. But yes, the smell of a real book is a delight. Where I live though (middle east), physical books are ridiculously expensive - a normal book is about 16 uk pounds, most are more, and the selection they have is pitiful - so when I go home in the summer I always buy a few physical books then. If I lived in my home country I'd buy a lot more.
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That sucks man, we sometimes forget, the advantages we have living in English speaking countries across the world, where physical books are so easily and readily available.
 
Signalis said:
That sucks man, we sometimes forget, the advantages we have living in English speaking countries across the world, where physical books are so easily and readily available.
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Exactly! However few English language books there are here, there are even fewer arabic language books, which is ironic considering it's an Arabic-speaking country. That said, reading is not a very popular pastime among natives of the country I live in, and I'd venture to guess also in many other arab countries.
 
Dioica said:
That said, reading is not a very popular pastime among natives of the country I live in, and I'd venture to guess also in many other arab countries.
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That's a shame. I can't actually read it but I've always thought that Arabic script's probably the most beautiful in the world, especially in old fashioned calligraphy of course, but in regular printing as well.
der-koran-des-ibn-al-bawwab_005060_12-c3486fcd62.jpg
 
uncreativename said:
That's a shame. I can't actually read it but I've always thought that Arabic script's probably the most beautiful in the world, especially in old fashioned calligraphy of course, but in regular printing as well.
der-koran-des-ibn-al-bawwab_005060_12-c3486fcd62.jpg
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You're right! It is beautiful. And it's surprisingly easy to learn too (the script, not the language). They don't have unintuitive spelling like we do in English, so if you know a word you will be able to spell it, and if you read a word you'll know how it's pronounced (except the short vowels, which may or may not be written in as diacritics). I did have a stab at learning the language and I can read and write, have a basic conversation and conjugate verbs in past and present, but I gave up eventually. I wish my arabic was better!

I also think the language sounds beautiful, I love the harsh sounds of it. Strangely though it seems it is considered one of the least pleasant-sounding languages according to some youtube videos I have watched, though that's probably due at least partly to sterotypes about arabic speakers.
 
I mentioned this in another thread the other day but I recently started reading Between Two Fires. I'm probably around 3/4 of the way through it and really enjoying it.

61Nxq9EvcKL._SL1360_.jpg
 
Dioica said:
Exactly! However few English language books there are here, there are even fewer arabic language books, which is ironic considering it's an Arabic-speaking country. That said, reading is not a very popular pastime among natives of the country I live in, and I'd venture to guess also in many other arab countries.
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Best I can suggest then you do is meet a lady from an English speaking country, marry her and move to her country. Then you have all the English books you could ever want. :messenger_beaming:
 
I collect VHS tapes said:
Dungeon Crawler Carl

Recently stated it, still on book 1 but very fun

Dungeon Crawler Carl follows Carl, an ordinary man who is thrown into a deadly underground competition after Earth is suddenly transformed into a massive intergalactic game show. Forced to survive increasingly dangerous dungeon levels alongside Princess Donut, a pampered show cat who gains intelligence and a larger-than-life personality, Carl must navigate monsters, shifting alliances, and the bizarre rules of a system designed for entertainment. Blending action, humor, and surprisingly emotional character moments, the series combines the fast-paced progression of a role-playing game with the tension and unpredictability of survival fiction.
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Just coming to the end of book 2 but on audiobook. Really bonkers series, but hilarious. Narrator is fucking peak too.
 
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