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What are you reading? (November 2012)

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M

Maklershed

Member
Jedeye Sniv said:
It's actually pretty good about recapping, to the point where I was thinking "Yeah, I KNOW" as I was reading it a few times. Or just read the original again. It's good enough
:D
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Ah good. The only one that sticks out in my mind is Saul just because
his story is so gut wrenching :(
 
Jedeye Sniv

Jedeye Sniv

Banned
Maklershed said:
Ah good. The only one that sticks out in my mind is Saul just because
his story is so gut wrenching :(
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Oh god yeah. So many commute-tears over that story! It pays off so well too. Actually, all the stories do, that's what's so impressive. Even the little elements all come into play at the end, it's a masterpiece of plotting.
 
B

Blatz

Member
Deified Data said:
Been seeing a lot of Abercrombie love lately. Good. Best Served Cold is my favorite of the sequel trilogy. Morveer is an amazing character.
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I really enjoy Abercrombie's books. But Best Served Cold was my least favorite. I liked The Heroes better.

Currently loving...
red-country.jpg
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Now that NaNoWriMo is nearly over I can finally go back to some books and audiobooks.

Since Perdido Street Station started to drag a little bit I put aside for now and started:

n165115.jpg


Not very far into it yet, but the setting seems intriguing. Though I'm a bit put of by how often the character is "striking a pose" of some kind or another. Not sure yet if that is a story element or lazy writing though, time will tell.

Also technically I'm still listening to:

944073.jpg


but then Dresden Files 14 came out, so I'm listening to that now. And am already loving it way more than I did Ghost Story. Had to really hold back as to not wake up the hubby with loud laughter at 3 o'clock in the morning (Listening with headphones in bed).
 
M

Mumei

Member
1241950.jpg


Lessons in the Fundamentals of Go by Toshiro Kageyama 7P

8264505.jpg


Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady

8146.jpg


The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov - I'm not sure who the author could be, but I love his prose
 
L

lightus

Member
Jedeye Sniv said:
Yes! Dude yes!! I've just come off having read Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion (beware, Hyperion ends on a cliffhanger!) and it's honestly one of the best things I've ever read.

Cliffhanger? Nooooo! I'm going to be reading A Storm of Swords next. It going to be a long wait for me to get to The Fall of Hyperion.

Much like you, I was initially not sure about the conceit. At the start of every story I would be nervous and would eventually love it. He touches on everything - the book is exciting, scary, funny, sweet, heartbreaking, mind blowing. What impressed me the most was the originality and the scope of the ideas Simmons presents. And yes, he writes about them as if he assumes you know what he means, something that is at first bewildering but soon becomes easy as you get a feel for the universe and the technology.

I think his descriptions are badass though, I love how he always describes the Shrike differently, and it's always overwrought and baroque. And the Tree Ship! Come on man, Templars flying a Yggdrasil? So cool. Just you wait, you've seen nothing yet.


Perhaps my sentence was poorly worded. When he describes things, he does so very well. It just happens that there are times where he neglects to describe certain things. Maybe this is intentional so that the reader can conjure up their own images.


So much fun. I'm having a break before getting into the Endymion books but I'm sure they'll rock too.
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Fjordson said:
lightus, I'm not quite sure what your mention of the tree ship meant. But if it was a "what the hell was that exactly?" type of comment, then I'm with you. There were definitely a few things in the book that I couldn't really visualize at all, didn't really understand what Simmons was trying to communicate.

But overall, Hyperion is one of my favourite sci-fi books. I still need to read the sequel.
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You are more or less correct on your assessment of my meaning. I don't find the tree ship too outlandish. I just didn't understand how I should visualize it. Is it up right? Does it have roots? What does it us as its propulsion system? If it uses rocket thrusters, are they mounted where the roots would be?

I don't really know much about the Templars, so I may be mission something.

Again, it isn't a big deal. Just something I noticed. The book as been great so far, and I can't wait to get back to reading.
 
F

Fjordson

Member
Yeah, totally. I got the basic premise of something like the tree ship, and it's really cool! Almost everything in the book is cool. But I just wanted more in a few instances so I could get a fully formed idea of what I was dealing with.

I don't know, maybe I was just having some comprehension failures on my end. Either way, not a huge deal like you mentioned. It's really a personal classic for me I think.
 
T

Tim the Wiz

Banned
Nezumi said:
http://img1.fantasticfiction.co.uk/images/n33/n165115.jpg[IMG]

Not very far into it yet, but the setting seems intriguing. [B]Though I'm a bit put of by how often the character is "striking a pose" of some kind or another. Not sure yet if that is a story element or lazy writing though, time will tell.[/B][/QUOTE]

?

It's a mode of communication in the culture of that world. He tends not to info-dump. One of Abraham's other strengths is his concision; generally, there's little extraneous or irrelevant to the story in his writing.
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N

Nymerio

Member
Nezumi said:
Now that NaNoWriMo is nearly over I can finally go back to some books and audiobooks.

Since Perdido Street Station started to drag a little bit I put aside for now and started:


Not very far into it yet, but the setting seems intriguing. Though I'm a bit put of by how often the character is "striking a pose" of some kind or another. Not sure yet if that is a story element or lazy writing though, time will tell.
...
Click to expand...

This weirded me the fuck out. Seems so strange to me and couldn't really make it work when I tried to imagine it. Seems a bit silly to me.
 
N

Nezumi

Member
Tim the Wiz said:
?

It's a mode of communication in the culture of that world. He tends not to info-dump. One of Abraham's other strengths is his concision; generally, there's little extraneous or irrelevant to the story in his writing.
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That is good to know. And kind of what I did suspect anyway, but stilll...

Nymerio said:
This weirded me the fuck out. Seems so strange to me and couldn't really make it work when I tried to imagine it. Seems a bit silly to me.
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This! It is just strange reading a phrase like this two or three times on every page without really knowing what to imagine. Is it more like plain body language or are there like distinctive gestures like signing language... maybe this will be explained but to this point if find it to be a little irritating.
 
Q

Quake1028

Member
I have been in immense pain from my neck/shoulder (slept wrong) and have been working long hours this week, so I have stalled in my read of The Hobbit at 74%. I love it, and just need an hour or so to finish. Hopefully tonight/tomorrow so I can move on.
 
F

fierrotlepou

Member
Gloomfire said:
I have been in immense pain from my neck/shoulder (slept wrong) and have been working long hours this week, so I have stalled in my read of The Hobbit at 74%. I love it, and just need an hour or so to finish. Hopefully tonight/tomorrow so I can move on.
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Just finished reading The Hobbit and it is indeed a wonderful book.
 
F

Fjordson

Member
Just read the final page of Before They Are Hanged. Wow. This series is fucking great (First Law Trilogy). Going to have to read the third book immediately.

Feels good to find a series that you really get sucked into. Haven't run into that sort of thing in a while.
 
M

Mumei

Member
Mackenzie 92 said:
Halfway into this and loving it.

Read that last year. Equally fascinating and sad. I went into not knowing much about Bobby, only that he was one of the greatest chess players ever.
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I know the basic story of his rise and decline from the public view, but less about various particulars (the 12 - 0 at the candidates tournament, how the Game of the Century took place, what made him great, what the World Championship was like, etc.). And it is sad - it has almost this element of Greek tragedy to it.
 
A

Ashes

Banned
Verdre said:
Amazon also has Barbara Hambly's novel Dragonsbane on sale, which is an absolute steal for one of my favorite books. She tells an absolutely wonderful story within the basic framework of a quest to kill a dragon, though the story is much more than that base premise. It also has, in my opinion, the absolute best portrayal of a dragon done in fantasy.

It's completely standalone. Although she wrote sequels she did so about 15 years later and she never again managed to capture what made Dragonsbane so special.



Almost all of her other books are on sale, too, but this is only one that's an absolute must buy if you like fantasy even the least little bit.
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I wonder when this Witch/wizard thing started?
 
H

HarryHengst

Member
Just finished two of Sanderson's short stories:

xszhY.jpg


and

WjCcQ.jpg



The last one was a pretty decent read, and i like the magic system in it. But then again Sanderson has never failed to entertain me with his magic systems, which he seems to make up by the dozen.

But the first one was really awesome, and i hope that it gets turned into a tv series (its already been optioned for it), because it is pretty much made for it. As it is, its a cool story which leaves just enough to the imagination to leave you both satisfied and wondering.
 
L

LProtag

Member
After I finish Endymion and Rise of Endymion I'm thinking about reading something by China Mieville. What's a good book of his to start with?
 
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