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What are you reading? (November 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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The Eisenhorn omnibus is still my favorite sci-fi series I've ever read, it's incredible.
Finished:
Started:
As I said to duckroll, I enjoyed the ride, but man if Vandermeer didn't totally sell out here. If were to describe the Ambergris trilogy via movie metaphor, City of Saints and Madmen would be the indie reel at a film festival, Shriek: An Afterword would be the Oscar bait, and Finch would be the summer blockbuster. It's just sooooo much more pulpy than the first two books, and the last 25% of the book had enough exposition crammed in it to make Neuromancer look subtle. Almost everything was laid bare, as if Vandermeer couldn't send off Ambergris without making sure everyone got the "whole picture", as it were. I expected more from him, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.
Started:
Now I can be like the rest of the cool kids here.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
lol, I'm a dumbass. Mr. Mercedes.
AngmarsKing701
Member
For those who were waiting, like I was, the Kindle edition of Words of Radiance is currently $3.75
OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather
Member
Finished High Fidelity, really enjoyed it. Could anyone recommend anything similar to read?
Starting Blood Meridian tonight.
Starting Blood Meridian tonight.
Tore through Grave Peril (Dresden Files #3) over the last two days. Meh.
Things kinda just happen, Dresden snarks/monologues/regrets being such a knight in sour armour/ magic occurs that appears to have rules but also kinda doesn't, I don't know. Things happen that are kind of exciting but it doesn't really hold together so well.
I hear it gets better, so... I dunno. I'll probably read #4 sometime in my life.
Things kinda just happen, Dresden snarks/monologues/regrets being such a knight in sour armour/ magic occurs that appears to have rules but also kinda doesn't, I don't know. Things happen that are kind of exciting but it doesn't really hold together so well.
I hear it gets better, so... I dunno. I'll probably read #4 sometime in my life.
"God's Beard!"
Member
I'm a huge Haruki Murakami addict and I've just about read through his whole body of work at this point. Anybody know any other authors in that kind of style?
I also like Lovecraft and House of Leaves.
I also like Lovecraft and House of Leaves.
Fuck, I wish I hadn't seen this. I didn't even like the first book.
I just finished reading this:
Foxtrot Summer by Ben Aaronovich. It's the 5th book in the "Rivers of London" series, about an officer in the Metropolitan Police who, after an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural. The series as a whole is actually really good. A lot more technical detail on policing than you'd expect, but not so much that you'd get bored, and the main character has a fairly interesting viewpoint on the whole thing. He's trying to figure out how all this magic stuff works and actually does experiments and so on. You should check out the first book in the series (Rivers of London) if you haven't already. Anyway. Thoughts on this book (spoilered for people who haven't read the book/series yet):
Non-spoiler review: Entertaining, but felt like it was there to keep some wheels spinning and set up plot threads for future books.
Ha, I forgot that I'd talked about that here. it's a slog of a read. It's decent stuff, by which I mean the world building is interesting, but there just seems to be no direction to it, and then it ends. I couldn't tell you a single thing that happened in that book thinking back now.
Foxtrot Summer by Ben Aaronovich. It's the 5th book in the "Rivers of London" series, about an officer in the Metropolitan Police who, after an unexpected encounter with a ghost, is recruited into the small branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural. The series as a whole is actually really good. A lot more technical detail on policing than you'd expect, but not so much that you'd get bored, and the main character has a fairly interesting viewpoint on the whole thing. He's trying to figure out how all this magic stuff works and actually does experiments and so on. You should check out the first book in the series (Rivers of London) if you haven't already. Anyway. Thoughts on this book (spoilered for people who haven't read the book/series yet):
I enjoyed the book, although it felt a little like a filler episode of sorts. The story itself was interesting, however the resolution to the kidnapping plot felt pretty rushed and the ending of the book itself (the rescue) seemed to go by so quickly that I got the impression it was just there to set stuff up for future books. However, there's some interesting development and backstory(although the Lesley subplot from the last book is almost entirely set aside), Peter and Beverley's relationship is moved forward, and although there's little involvement of the rest of the characters from the series there's still enough there for it to be entertaining.
Non-spoiler review: Entertaining, but felt like it was there to keep some wheels spinning and set up plot threads for future books.
Ha, I forgot that I'd talked about that here. it's a slog of a read. It's decent stuff, by which I mean the world building is interesting, but there just seems to be no direction to it, and then it ends. I couldn't tell you a single thing that happened in that book thinking back now.
Really doesn't help that only a couple months back I'd read the fourth Expanse book that had similar frontier themes and did them a lot more quickly. Did you get around to reading the third Long Earth book? Trying to decide if I want to bother. Loved the first one so much but this one is killing me
Had the last few days off work so I managed to get a fair bit of reading done, Finished the Rain Wilds Chronicles in that time off.
Originally I was disappointed that the 2nd trilogy by the author was not based on the Farseer characters, after the Rain Wilds Chronicles I'm glad that they were not. While I still think the Farseer Trilogy is the best of the the various series the books based on the Bingtown people have grown on me and now I'm a little sad that if there is to be another book based on those characters it will not be for at least 3-4 years.
My main hope is that the Bingtown/Rain Wilds and Farseer stories converge for a final trilogy after the Fitz and the Fool books as that seems to me to be where things are heading with locations staring to cross over.
As for the Rain Wilds books themselves, books 1 and 2 were a little slow getting going but the final 2 books more than made up for that. This series was a little less frustrating to read than the Farseer and Liveship books, the characters didn't seem to get the wrong end of the stick all the time, It made them easier to read but because of that the story was a bit more predictable and I didn't find myself puzzling over how things might unfold.
Now I'm getting to work on this, I did want to hold out till the 2nd book was released but I have terrible self control, Need to know what going on in the Six Duchies.
I ended up getting the third book from the library and not finishing it. I just didn't really see where it was going. It's a shame as it's a good premise but it just doesn't seem to know what story it wants to tell. After the initial "let's go explore all these new worlds" there doesn't seem to be a real driving force through the books. There are these little nuggets of "this is the big thing that's happening" but they don't get developed quickly enough, the plot meanders and there's so much switching around between characters I wasn't interested in that I lost interest. I'd be interested in hearing from someone that finished it, because maybe it all ties together and pays off in an interesting way, but for as far as I got into it the really interesting parts were few and far between.
Damn, that's not making me go through this any faster, haha. Well if I ever get through this and Mars I'll let you know.
Apparently there are another two books planned in the series, too.
........
Oh. I fully thought it ended and that was the only thing keeping me going... hm.
hobblygobbly
Member
Pebble in the Sky By Isaac Asimov.
Just finished this
There are clear difference between how Chekhov wrote his short stories and novellas, and the end result seems that the former is definitely better than the latter. His novellas isn't bad, just not as memorable as his short stories does, like especially Black Monk and Ward No. 6.
Maklershed
Member
Finished Ham on Rye yesterday - fantastic. I'm not yet ready to finish my Fante/Bukowski kick so I'm going to read Wait Until Spring, Bandini next.
Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante
Wait Until Spring, Bandini by John Fante
Just finished (and LOVED):
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127455.The_Lies_of_Locke_Lamora
Just started and am about 100 pages into:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind
Pretty good so far, but it's really just starting to pick up. I've heard nothing but good things so I am excited to see where it takes me.
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/127455.The_Lies_of_Locke_Lamora
Just started and am about 100 pages into:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/186074.The_Name_of_the_Wind
Pretty good so far, but it's really just starting to pick up. I've heard nothing but good things so I am excited to see where it takes me.
[QUOTE="God's Beard!";140461477]I'm a huge Haruki Murakami addict and I've just about read through his whole body of work at this point. Anybody know any other authors in that kind of style?
I also like Lovecraft and House of Leaves.[/QUOTE]
If you like all three of those, Jeff VanderMeer is your next stop. One of the leading proponents of The New Weird, along with China Mieville, VanderMeer (and his wife as an editor) has done a lot to bring the strangeness back to speculative fiction.
I'd start with the Southern Reach Trilogy, which you'll see mentioned throughout this thread, or maybe some Mieville. For you, I'd start with The City and The City or Embassytown, rather than the Bas-Lag books, although you should get to those and VanderMeer's Ambergris books eventually.
I also like Lovecraft and House of Leaves.[/QUOTE]
If you like all three of those, Jeff VanderMeer is your next stop. One of the leading proponents of The New Weird, along with China Mieville, VanderMeer (and his wife as an editor) has done a lot to bring the strangeness back to speculative fiction.
I'd start with the Southern Reach Trilogy, which you'll see mentioned throughout this thread, or maybe some Mieville. For you, I'd start with The City and The City or Embassytown, rather than the Bas-Lag books, although you should get to those and VanderMeer's Ambergris books eventually.
Yeah it's a good, fun book in the steampunk/alternative history vein. I haven't read the rest of the series, but this one is worth reading.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
I love this thread for the recommendations but I hate this thread because I accrue recommendations faster than I can read them.
sparky2112
Member
Such is the lot of the curious reader. Personally, I wouldn't have it any other way.
Decided to read The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson since I haven't made any progress on the Cosmere in awhile.
I'm about 80 pages in and I'm not really pulled into the book like I normally am with his works.
I'm already getting annoyed with the character Wayne. Mate. mate mate, I reckon mate.
I'll keep working through it as it seems to be picking up, but I already have a feeling I won't enjoy it as much as his other books.
I'm about 80 pages in and I'm not really pulled into the book like I normally am with his works.
I'm already getting annoyed with the character Wayne. Mate. mate mate, I reckon mate.
I'll keep working through it as it seems to be picking up, but I already have a feeling I won't enjoy it as much as his other books.
sparky2112
Member
Dude, you ROCK for the heads up on The Martian.
It's smarter than it lets on. He basically culls from a large portion of the history of vampire and horror fiction and blends them together in a fun, interesting way. Almost League of Extraordinary style. Even characters like Hellboy and Blacula eventually show up. He also plays with some interesting concepts about how a full vampire-society would run. It's a really fun read.
Yeah, I'm a big fan of this series. Newman is a serious horror/pop culture fan, so the books are filled with allusions and cameos, but they're also well done novels in their own right. There's four main books as well as three short story collections about the Diogenes Club, the secret agency that the main character of the first couple books works for, as well, but those aren't part of the main saga.
Interfectum
Member
About half way through... this book is amazing so far.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Picked up Words of Radiance (book 2 of this series, which was $3.75 on Kindle yesterday). Gotta force myself through the final hundred pages of NOS4A2 to get there though.
Edit: I'm also gonna need an online summary of WoK because I read it when it first came out and I have no memory of what happened.
Finished:
Blazed through this today on the train, haven't been this engrossed in a book in a long time. Has all of the things I liked about Ambergris except the city itself. I see this as a very succinct return to form for him, after Finch, and I'm glad hear that this has been optioned. I, however, have no idea how anyone is going to direct it. 90% of the book takes place inside biologist's head. The theories she creates and conclusions she draws are non-obvious so there isn't really a way to convey them without resorting to narration (clunky) or visual metaphors (confusing). Either way, I'm looking forward to the cast being peniswashed with Brad Pitt playing psychologist or something.
Starting:
Blazed through this today on the train, haven't been this engrossed in a book in a long time. Has all of the things I liked about Ambergris except the city itself. I see this as a very succinct return to form for him, after Finch, and I'm glad hear that this has been optioned. I, however, have no idea how anyone is going to direct it. 90% of the book takes place inside biologist's head. The theories she creates and conclusions she draws are non-obvious so there isn't really a way to convey them without resorting to narration (clunky) or visual metaphors (confusing). Either way, I'm looking forward to the cast being peniswashed with Brad Pitt playing psychologist or something.
Starting:
I'm just over half way into Fool's Assassin.
Will report when finished.
Damn it, just got to the part where Bee is talking about her dream where it seems the fool died, cruel dagger in the heart. This is the first book and I'm only half way through but I'm now terrified that this is one of those tendrils of the plot that is not going to become fully clear until about 75% into the second book, which is probably still some time from release.
I love the relationship between Fitz and the Fool, of all the things in the books set in this particular world (Duchies and Cursed Shores) I think of everything in the series, what goes on between them and also things like not picking up on the visitors at the party at the start of the book that he couldn't detect with the Wit or Skill, and it eventually having probable terrible outcome, the low points leave you really fucking sad and the good a massive grin on your face. I'm just hoping the massive grin I'm left with at the end of the trilogy is the Fool alive
I love the relationship between Fitz and the Fool, of all the things in the books set in this particular world (Duchies and Cursed Shores) I think of everything in the series, what goes on between them and also things like not picking up on the visitors at the party at the start of the book that he couldn't detect with the Wit or Skill, and it eventually having probable terrible outcome, the low points leave you really fucking sad and the good a massive grin on your face. I'm just hoping the massive grin I'm left with at the end of the trilogy is the Fool alive
Will report when finished.
Just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. Loved it; clever, witty, and just geeky enough without being over the top. It helps that everything is founded by hard science and in actuality this is something that could realistically happen. I highly recommend it, especially to engineers.
I just read the first two chapters right now. Different than I expected, but seems fun.
"God's Beard!"
Member
Much appreciated.
If you every have a chance to meet Jeff, you should ask him what he thinks of New Weird.
About half way through... this book is amazing so far.
If you find it amazing now, just wait until the final two hundred pages.
Give it a shot, it's like a 5hr book so not a huge investment. That being said, if you don't like it after the first hour you won't like the rest of it.
T
Transhuman
Unconfirmed Member
I think I relate to Chinaski far too much to be healthy.
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