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About 30% into Nexus, and I gotta say I'm really enjoying this book. The characters are likeable and I'm surprised by the amount of humor in the story so far. I mean it's not a lot of course, but the humor is enough to ease out the tense situations and it helps to make the characters even more likeable. the lead female is totally Mokoto Kusanagi (Ghost in the Shell), I bet author was probably googling Kusanagi's pics when he came up with her.

I like how he handed the exposition in the story, no character comes up with a lame reason to hand out exposition to the reader instead the exposition is tucked away in chapters labeled as 'briefings' something I much prefer. handling exposition this way makes the dialog a lot more natural in the story. once the characters are talking the author assumes the reader has read each briefing between chapters, no need to make the characters hand all the exposition out in contrived ways during dialog.

also each 'briefing' is written in a diferent way, sometimes it's an interview with someone else, other times they are written like news report covering an important event that changed the world in which the story takes place etc... they give a sense of realness to the setting.

 

[RepairmanJack]

Just finished Black Wind. I thought it was pretty good. Not FPW's best, but definitely plotted and paced better than some of his recent Repairman Jack novels. The way it was weeved in and out of the events of WWII and how the characters are involved in it was easily the highlight of the book. The sympothy playing back and forth between the main characters also played out nicely. Some parts were just depressing though with what seemed like a lot of suicide. Overall it was a pretty good read.

 

[Professor Chaos]

With all the promotion around the film, I'm finally getting round to reading :

 

[survivor]

For Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, is there any preferred translation between the one done by Edwin McClellan and the other by Meredith McKinney?


Oh another note, I picked up The Road again. Maybe this time I won't be discouraged by the writing style and finish the book.

 

[FL4TW4V3]

Just finished reading Wool Omnibus which I found pretty great.

At the moment I'm about 1/3 into The Drowning Girl which is totally amazing

 

[Haly]

Just finished reading Wool Omnibus which I found pretty great.

I recommend Shift, the prequel series.

Hiiiiiiiiiiiighly recommend.

If you thought Wool was mindblowing...

 

[NekoFever]

It just turned midnight here and that means the real Witcher 3 popped up on my Kindle...

It's taken way too long for this to get released. Time to dive into it.

 

[Meteorain]

Finished Abaddon's Gate. That was really pretty damn disappointing. I felt most of the writing was average in every possible way. The pacing was weak, the new characters introduced mostly sucked, and the thematic core of the book was fairly weak. The decision to frame the book around the question of faith vs pragmatism with regards to looking at a cosmic mystery was a bad idea. The authors seem to lack the personal experience or research to deliver the argument on either side with any sort of finesse or in a compelling narrative. Many of the character motivations and plot points felt like strawmen to "make a point" which comes off as lame rather than entertaining.

The set pieces were also fairly boring, and lacked the flair and imagination the first two books had. The first half of the book was honestly quite a drag to read because it was mostly made up of filler meant to manoeuvre the characters into place for the second half of the book. When stuff actually started happening though, it was just so predictable that I couldn't find myself caring for anything at all. So many corridor gunfights, cover based combat, bullet sponge enemies... wow it sounds like I'm bitching about a bad FPS. Fair comparison though.

It's also pretty funny to see how many similarities there are between this series and the Mass Effect trilogy. Some of it was probably inspiration, and a lot of it is probably just due to the fact that both are rather generic scifi stories drawing from the same source of many better and older scifi stories.

Well that's depressing to hear.

I have only read the first book, and quite liked it. I thought it was really interesting and something different from the usual sci-fi. Especially with how the the human physique was developed and all that "real" grounded science.

 

[ShaneB]

Was debating what to read next (or at least trying to figure out what i'm in the mood for), and searching goodreads and amazon, and came across this new release, and decided to pick it up.

The Fort

Also Mak, I'm gonna start reading some Clive Cussler I think, those NUMA series books sound like a lot of fun.

 

[Maklershed]

Also Mak, I'm gonna start reading some Clive Cussler I think, those NUMA series books sound like a lot of fun.

If its not too late, may I recommend the Isaac Bell series first? Its like a bubblegum version of Sherlock Homes in the old west. Nothing deep but a lot of fun.

 

[ShaneB]

If its not too late, may I recommend the Isaac Bell series first? Its like a bubblegum version of Sherlock Homes in the old west. Nothing deep but a lot of fun.

But I like the underwater sounding aventures of NUMA

 

[Mackenzie 92]

But I like the underwater sounding aventures of NUMA

You might like this, Shane. It's nothing spectacular but has some cool set pieces and an interesting enough story.


Undersea by Geoffrey Morrison

 

[Jenga]

It just turned midnight here and that means the real Witcher 3 popped up on my Kindle...

It's taken way too long for this to get released. Time to dive into it.

...so why the hell does the amazon US page give an august date for the kindle version? Probably Amazon just being lazy.

 

[suzu]

Yeah, Abaddon's Gate was okay. I didn't really find the new characters that interesting either.

 

[TheKaeptain]

For Kokoro by Natsume Soseki, is there any preferred translation between the one done by Edwin McClellan and the other by Meredith McKinney?


Oh another note, I picked up The Road again. Maybe this time I won't be discouraged by the writing style and finish the book.

I believe it is the Edwin McClellan version that is considered better.

 

[ShaneB]

Clive Cussler is pretty shit, to be frank. Decent enough for a beachside paperback, but nothing worth going out of your way for.

"Beach"side reading is about all I expect from them, lol, so yeah, I'd just like to check one out sometime for a fun mindless adventure story.

You might like this, Shane. It's nothing spectacular but has some cool set pieces and an interesting enough story.

Undersea by Geoffrey Morrison

This does sound pretty cool, and it's cheap too. I'll put in on the 'to-read' list.

 

[Rug Monkey]

I love Excession so much. Probably my favorite Culture novel and definitely up there for all sci fi. I really enjoy how it focuses so much on the Minds.

Well I loved it. Fantastic book. Proper Sci Fi, not some-other-genre-in-space like so many others, but real genuine originality.

 

[duckroll]

Clive Cussler is pretty shit, to be frank. Decent enough for a beachside paperback, but nothing worth going out of your way for.

The older ones were pretty decent as far as dumb conspiracy thriller pulp goes, but at some point it all really went to shit. I can't remember the exact book, but there was one about Atlantis or something and it started putting more emphasis on getting the kid characters involved in the story too - it was all downhill from there. >_<

 

[The Artful Dodger]

Next two books:

Georges by Alexandre Dumas

Toilers of the Sea by Victor Hugo

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Book club for July is a go!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605481

Oh good choice. Might try a re-read since I'm sure a ton of it went over my head.



Started this tonight


Concrete Island by J.G. Ballard

 

[Rug Monkey]

The movie they turned I Am Legend into is criminal. The book was fantastic with a great message and it was all dumped in the trash.

There was a brilliant script around on the web for years that was much closer to the original novel. When they announced the movie I was hoping they had used it ... but no such luck....

 

[NekoFever]

...so why the hell does the amazon US page give an august date for the kindle version? Probably Amazon just being lazy.

It's published by Gollancz, which is a UK company.

It actually came out in paperback here last week and the ebook was only released today. I assume that's just the publisher trying to boost physical sales.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished Abaddon's Gate this morning. Really enjoyed it. Can't wait to see where the reste of the series will go and if

Spoiler

Melba/Clarissa will be joining the crew

. Has anyone read the spin-off books like Butcher of Anderson Gate? If so, how are they? Worth a read if you're in love with the Expanse universe?

Started reading These is My Words


These Is My Words by Nancy E. Turner

Although I might have to put this book on hold already due to this ....

Book club for July is a go!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605481

 

[Ventilaator]

Halfway-ish through the first Wheel of Time book. Hoping there's more to the plot than going to a location that's totally safe BUT THEN EVIL IS THERE so they quickly move to a new location that's totally safe OR IS IT?
Curious to see how they got 14 books out of this. So far they've set up a trilogy at best.

Also, Neil Gaiman. I want to read some of his books, where does one start?

 

[Mumei]

Also, Neil Gaiman. I want to read some of his books, where does one start?

Of Gaiman's prose work, I have only read The Graveyard Book, Coraline, Stardust, and American Gods. I also read Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, but that seems more like Pratchett to me. I honestly wasn't very impressed with American Gods, though it seems to be a real hit-and-miss novel. I just thought it was so relentlessly boring, man-eating vaginas aside.

But I think that his young adult and children's book writing is fantastic. So my personal recommendation would be to read the other three first - or just do the sensible thing and pick up the 1000 page Sandman Omnibus coming out in August.

 

[Zeliard]

I honestly wasn't very impressed with American Gods, though it seems to be a real hit-and-miss novel. I just thought it was so relentlessly boring, man-eating vaginas aside.

Don't forget about the monkey god singing about tiger balls

 

[Tim the Wiz]

I think the comparisons by critics to "blockbuster movies" for The Expanse series are really apt. That's what they are. Big loud blockbusters with cookie cutter characters, narratives which are made up of stringing together certain set pieces with inconsistent filler, weak character development, and really ridiculous/dumb villains. The escalation is also artificial and intended to excite in a superficial way.

I've had issues with how all three books have been written, but I think the series was strongest in the first 2/3 of Leviathan Wakes when it was still pretty aware of what it was and played to its own strengths. With Caliban's War and Abaddon's Gate, it became increasingly apparent to me that the writers had the intentional of wanting the story to be about more than just explosions, but they don't seem to have the capability to pull off a convincing narrative from those angles.

It's rather unfortunate I think. I wonder how much of this is a result of how fast the books come out. With the books coming out once a year, that doesn't seem like it's a lot of time for proper reiteration and editing. I really enjoy the setting in the books, but at this point, that's about all I still like. :/

I couldn't get past LW myself. The writing was decent, but the world-building and characters felt contrived, like it was all put together from pastiches of familiar genre tropes. I'm a bit surprised at how popular these books have gotten, given how much superior space opera is being published these days, but maybe they scratch an itch which is a little less British and unsentimental and hard-sf. If you're in the mood for something light-hearted, I'd recommend The Tales of the Ketty Jay series instead -


Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

This is depressing. Abraham should stop churning out four, five books a year.

I can't begrudge an author making a living in this market (and he only co-writes the Expanse series), but I am starting to worry that he'll never reach the heights of The Long Price Quartet again.

 

[Prez]

I'm going to start reading this now:

 

[SmokinDan]

I can't begrudge an author making a living in this market (and he only co-writes the Expanse series), but I am starting to worry that he'll never reach the heights of The Long Price Quartet again.

His Dagger & Coin quintet (3 released so far) has actually been pretty good so far.

Not as good as the end of book 3 of The Long Price but fairly solid all the way through.

 

[ShaneB]

Book club for July is a go!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=605481

Looks good to me, I'll never really thought of reading that book before, but I'd like the book club to be a regular thing, and I'd be a hypocrite if I never actually read the selections

Finished Abaddon's Gate this morning. Really enjoyed it. Can't wait to see where the reste of the series will go and if

Spoiler

Melba/Clarissa will be joining the crew

. Has anyone read the spin-off books like Butcher of Anderson Gate? If so, how are they? Worth a read if you're in love with the Expanse universe?

Glad I'm not the only one to like Abaddon's Gate! lol

Spoiler

I think Anna turned into a favourite character of mine, as duckroll mentioned I kinda rolled my eyes early on at the religious overtones being presented, but I figure that's exactly what humanity is like in trying to assocatiate the unknown (the Gate in this case), with an act of god. I wish Bull was able to stick around, and I would like to see more of Clarissa as well, since her redemption was really well done, which obviously sets up another twist if they go that route, maybe seeing her father again, etc etc. Holden/Miller interaction was great as well, as it was in LW.

I haven't read the short stories, but I will eventually, especially since there are going to more moving forward, and I imagine will be nice fillers while waiting for the main novels. EDIT: also calling dibs on a quote from the book for the next MMA thread title. "&#8220;Violence is what people do when they run out of good ideas.&#8221;

'The Fort' is off to a good start as well, so I think I'll enjoy it.

 

[Maklershed]

Looks good to me, I'll never really thought of reading that book before, but I'd like the book club to be a regular thing, and I'd be a hypocrite if I never actually read the selections



Glad I'm not the only one to like Abaddon's Gate! lol

Spoiler

I think Anna turned into a favourite character of mine, as duckroll mentioned I kinda rolled my eyes early on at the religious overtones being presented, but I figure that's exactly what humanity is like in trying to assocatiate the unknown (the Gate in this case), with an act of god. I wish Bull was able to stick around, and I would like to see more of Clarissa as well, since her redemption was really well done, which obviously sets up another twist if they go that route, maybe seeing her father again, etc etc. Holden/Miller interaction was great as well, as it was in LW.

I haven't read the short stories, but I will eventually, especially since there are going to more moving forward, and I imagine will be nice fillers while waiting for the main novels. EDIT: also calling dibs on a quote from the book for the next MMA thread title. "“Violence is what people do when they run out of good ideas.”

'The Fort' is off to a good start as well, so I think I'll enjoy it.

My favorite character that I wish would come back (actually I wish they'd have her join the crew although it would sorta detract from Amos) was

Spoiler

Bobbie

. And I didn't mind the religious aspect of the story since I assumed that would be a major consideration in real life. The only 'problem' I had with the story and its very nitpicky, is

Spoiler

how easily people were willing to risk their lives to go through the Ring and how their respective governments just let them take their billion dollar ships and random civilians with them.

 

[survivor]

I believe it is the Edwin McClellan version that is considered better.

Alright thanks, gonna get that one.

 

[Jag]

Has anyone read the spin-off books like Butcher of Anderson Gate? If so, how are they? Worth a read if you're in love with the Expanse universe?

Absolutely worth it. Gives you some great background on Johnson and the OPA. I didn't love Abbadon's Gate, but I do like the world and the characters in it.

 

[ShaneB]

My favorite character that I wish would come back (actually I wish they'd have her join the crew although it would sorta detract from Amos) was

Spoiler

Bobbie

. And I didn't mind the religious aspect of the story since I assumed that would be a major consideration in real life. The only 'problem' I had with the story and its very nitpicky, is

Spoiler

how easily people were willing to risk their lives to go through the Ring and how their respective governments just let them take their billion dollar ships and random civilians with them.

I reasoned with it by the simple fact that humans are curious creatures.

Spoiler

I believe the book quote is something like give humans a room full of open doors, and the only one we care about is the one that is closed? something like that. Also Bobbie and Avasarala were terrific characters, so I wanted to see them as well, which I hope we do moving forward. Amos is indeed badass so when he got the fakeout of being killed in CW I lost my shit. lol

 

[TheKaeptain]

I'm going to start reading this now:

Is any of his work good?

 

[Blitzzz]

I couldn't get past LW myself. The writing was decent, but the world-building and characters felt contrived, like it was all put together from pastiches of familiar genre tropes. I'm a bit surprised at how popular these books have gotten, given how much superior space opera is being published these days, but maybe they scratch an itch which is a little less British and unsentimental and hard-sf. If you're in the mood for something light-hearted, I'd recommend The Tales of the Ketty Jay series instead -


Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

I just finished this and start up the second book in the series. I've been trying out lots of authors and series' first books so it is rare for me to jump into a sequel right away.

The setting is a lot different than LW. Still revolves around a crew but it's more steampunkish/fantasy/sky pirates than a space opera or even sci-fi. Better developed characters with tighter motivations than LW cast imo. Action adventure with some humour mixed in.

Is anyone else active on goodreads? Gaf group is pretty dead

 

[Haly]

Also, Neil Gaiman. I want to read some of his books, where does one start?

Stardust is a short, light read that is exemplary of his writing style and plot structure. All his other "adult" books, Neverwhere, American Gods, Anansi Boys have more or less the same story. Good news is, if you like Stardust you'll probably like the rest. If not, I can wholeheartedly recommend The Sandman comics, assuming you haven't read them already.

I think you should read his latest book, The Ocean At the End of the Lane only after you've read some of his other stuff, but that's just me.

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Halfway-ish through the first Wheel of Time book. Hoping there's more to the plot than going to a location that's totally safe BUT THEN EVIL IS THERE so they quickly move to a new location that's totally safe OR IS IT?
Curious to see how they got 14 books out of this. So far they've set up a trilogy at best.

Do yourself a huge favour and stop now. They got 14 books because they dragged everything forever. Not worth it.

 

[ShaneB]

I just finished this and start up the second book in the series. I've been trying out lots of authors and series' first books so it is rare for me to jump into a sequel right away.

The setting is a lot different than LW. Still revolves around a crew but it's more steampunkish/fantasy/sky pirates than a space opera or even sci-fi. Better developed characters with tighter motivations than LW cast imo. Action adventure with some humour mixed in.

Is anyone else active on goodreads? Gaf group is pretty dead

This sounds like a mix I'd really love, so another book/series I'll have to check out asap.

I love goodreads, so feel free to add me. Profile page

 

[Mumei]

Ah, I just realized who this Shane person is that friend requested me a while back on Goodreads.

Your deductive powers astound.

 

[TheKaeptain]

If you guys want to add me on goodreads here is my profile. I barely started using it.

http://www.goodreads.com/user/show/17571020-jerry

 

[ShaneB]

Ah, I just realized who this Shane person is that friend requested me a while back on Goodreads.

I was confused at suddenly it saying you were my friend, because I'm sure I sent that ages ago. lol

 

[Lumiere]

Absolutely worth it. Gives you some great background on Johnson and the OPA. I didn't love Abbadon's Gate, but I do like the world and the characters in it.

I read Butcher of Anderson Station as well, thought it was good - I'm only just starting Caliban's War though, so I haven't looked at the other spin-offs yet. Have you read them/are they as good?

 

[Jag]

I read Butcher of Anderson Station as well, thought it was good - I'm only just starting Caliban's War though, so I haven't looked at the other spin-offs yet. Have you read them/are they as good?

I only read Butcher. I do like Abraham (Corey) as a writer and would recommend his fantasy series the Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin Quintet.

 

[Blitzzz]

I only read Butcher. I do like Abraham (Corey) as a writer and would recommend his fantasy series the Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin Quintet.

did anyone else picture Fred as Anderson from Mass Effect....?

 

[Pau]

Of Gaiman's prose work, I have only read The Graveyard Book, Coraline, Stardust, and American Gods. I also read Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, but that seems more like Pratchett to me. I honestly wasn't very impressed with American Gods, though it seems to be a real hit-and-miss novel. I just thought it was so relentlessly boring, man-eating vaginas aside.

But I think that his young adult and children's book writing is fantastic. So my personal recommendation would be to read the other three first - or just do the sensible thing and pick up the 1000 page Sandman Omnibus coming out in August.

Feel the same way about Neil Gaiman. His young adult/children's stuff is just better put together overall. I think the majority of the actual writing of Good Omens was done by Terry Pratchett. I'd say it gives you a better idea of Pratchett's style than Gaiman's.

Ventilaator, Stardust is probably the best starting point but the order you read his stuff doesn't really matter.

Oh, and we're putting up Goodreads profiles? Here's mine. Very few of my friends read.

 

[Lumiere]

I only read Butcher. I do like Abraham (Corey) as a writer and would recommend his fantasy series the Long Price Quartet and The Dagger and the Coin Quintet.

I picked up the first half of the Long Price Quartet recently, plan on reading it eventually Regarding the Expanse shorts, Butcher was the only one available at my local library, haha. I'll pick up the next one if I like Caliban's War.

Feel the same way about Neil Gaiman. His young adult/children's stuff is just better put together overall. I think the majority of the actual writing of Good Omens was done by Terry Pratchett. I'd say it gives you a better idea of Pratchett's style than Gaiman's.

Oh, and we're putting up Goodreads profiles? Here's mine. Very few of my friends read.

Added! I don't have many friends who read either, so linking my profile as well!

Regarding Gaiman, haven't read any of his YA/children stuff yet, but I feel his adult novels are just not as good as most of Sandman . That said, Ocean at the End of the Lane actually reminded me of some of his Sandman stuff - was also short enough to not drag like American Gods :]

 

[Haly]

If I recall correctly, Gaiman was responsible for most of the supernatural entities in Good Omens while Pratchett handled the kids/humans.

Of course, Death was Pratchett's through and through.

 

[lightus]

Finished up Fahrenheit 451 not too long ago. I really enjoyed it. It was much different that I was expecting. The prose was great. I have to admit that I rushed through the last quarter of the book however. Though it was a short book, the ending felt a bit obvious which made it less exciting to read.


Currently reading Wool. I'm loving it so far.


Also, hooray to posting goodreads accounts. The only person who ever updates on mine is Mumei. Here's mine.

 

[Narag]

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

It was ok. Thought the second book was better and thought the trilogy itself was alright rather than anything special. Some things just didn't work for me, I guess. For as much as I enjoyed the support cast, the general character interaction, and the pre-chapter text telling its own tale along side the main story, I found myself detesting the magic system and action. Entertaining enough but not something I'd revisit.

How's Alloy of Law though? More of the same?