Hmm, well, I will def check it out now. Will report back impressions after I finish Alas, Babylon.
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What are you reading? (November 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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Hmm, well, I will def check it out now. Will report back impressions after I finish Alas, Babylon.
Maklershed
Member
Unfortunately, I'm right there with you.
It took me more than a month to slog through Wheel of Time's Crossroads of Twilight little by little. I've made it halfway through Knife of Dreams in only four days. Shit's good!
It wasn't a very long scene, but Nynaeve getting the merchant to send messages to rally others to go ride for the Blight with Lan the Badass made me want to go ride to Tarmon Gai'don myself. She has her moments, but I really like her.
Kyleripman
Member
How funny, I'm just starting Knife of Dreams today.
Does anyone know whether there will be any black friday deals on Kindle books themselves? My searches are just turning up deals on the ereaders instead.
Does anyone know whether there will be any black friday deals on Kindle books themselves? My searches are just turning up deals on the ereaders instead.
I officially gave up on The Long War for now. I will wait until the whole series is done and buy it in print to read sometime, but for now I returned that shit to the (digital) library. Now I'm reading Regarding Ducks and Universes which is the kind of silly concept sci-fi I like, I think, so far.
Does he dislike the term?
WickedCobra03
Member
I read the first book like 5+ years ago already and it wasn't terrible from a curiosity sake, from there, I just had to finish the series. And there were a bunch of people who wanted to go, so I decided to go through it quick.
Sorry, now I am going through speaker for the dead (2nd enders game book).
I'm just over half way into Fool's Assassin.
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
Will report when finished.
I'm looking forward to finding out what you think of it. And at least Robin Hobb is extremely regular, and releases a book a year. So 'the end of the trilogy' is less than two years away
Haven't posted for awhile, some of these are from back in the summer.
The Stand was amazing and everytime I think back on it I remember another part that I loved. SO excited to see Mchonahay play Flagg. I found the first Dark Tower to be mostly disappointing, and don't see myself reading more of the series. Annihilation definitely lives up to the hype and made me want to dive into the second immediately. Authority honestly took me awhile to get into, and and some parts felt like a trudge. But about 70% in I was fully on board, and the payoff was worth it. Just finished Blood Meridian last night, and while I loved the langauge and imagrey I honestly don't think I understood its themes 100% and feel like I should read some essays on it to completely digest it.
I'm a couple chapters into Perdido Street Station based on the recommendations in here, seems pretty dense and I'm excited to read more over my break.
The Stand was amazing and everytime I think back on it I remember another part that I loved. SO excited to see Mchonahay play Flagg. I found the first Dark Tower to be mostly disappointing, and don't see myself reading more of the series. Annihilation definitely lives up to the hype and made me want to dive into the second immediately. Authority honestly took me awhile to get into, and and some parts felt like a trudge. But about 70% in I was fully on board, and the payoff was worth it. Just finished Blood Meridian last night, and while I loved the langauge and imagrey I honestly don't think I understood its themes 100% and feel like I should read some essays on it to completely digest it.
I'm a couple chapters into Perdido Street Station based on the recommendations in here, seems pretty dense and I'm excited to read more over my break.
Nappuccino
Member
I'm glad Annihilation is so short. I'm writing a craft paper for my creative writing class and I'm thinking of including it. It's actually better the 3rd time I'm dipping in.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I finished The Peripheral by William Gibson.
Aside from the plot, which feels like two bullet points connected by some very thin sinew, this is some good quality future sci-fi. As usual with Gibson, he attacks his subjects with social-political, brand and attitude oriented goggles. His writing is as good as ever, every sentence requiring a moment of unpacking to reveal understated themes, world building, and humor. Probably the funniest Gibson book I've read.
The antagonists could have used some more text-time and the first fourth of the book feels redundant once the exposition starts being useful, but the world that Gibson has created here shines through his characters' perceptions and slang. Some really great nuggets to chew on here. Gibson doesn't try to simplify the future; he leaves it as confusing and illogical as the present, with good fictional history behind it all.
Not sure what I'll read next. Throwing myself into Kindle Unlimited once the plate is sufficiently cleared, meaning a lot of sci-fi; Clarke, Dick, Howey, and Lem.
Aside from the plot, which feels like two bullet points connected by some very thin sinew, this is some good quality future sci-fi. As usual with Gibson, he attacks his subjects with social-political, brand and attitude oriented goggles. His writing is as good as ever, every sentence requiring a moment of unpacking to reveal understated themes, world building, and humor. Probably the funniest Gibson book I've read.
The antagonists could have used some more text-time and the first fourth of the book feels redundant once the exposition starts being useful, but the world that Gibson has created here shines through his characters' perceptions and slang. Some really great nuggets to chew on here. Gibson doesn't try to simplify the future; he leaves it as confusing and illogical as the present, with good fictional history behind it all.
Not sure what I'll read next. Throwing myself into Kindle Unlimited once the plate is sufficiently cleared, meaning a lot of sci-fi; Clarke, Dick, Howey, and Lem.
Yeah, agree with everything. At he end I kind of was wishing that he had channeled some Neal Stephenson and droned on and on for another 400 pages, just because I liked all the characters and it wasn't until the epilogue that their relationships were explored in any detail.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I was thinking about that myself. The Peripheral seemed the closest that Gibson had gotten to Stephenson. Probably the tone of the characters and how they were all generally likable. Gibson still kept the plot sharp and contained though, no diversions about Captain Crunch, and Gibson's writing is denser.
I wonder if Gibson will keep writing the universe. Probably not,
time travel
Just finished The Prague Cemetary by Umberto Eco. It's fascinating and curious, like all of his works are. It's really impressive in how it uses historic characters and events to tell a fictional story. I enjoyed it from start to finish. But as much as I liked it, and as much as I like Eco himself (one of my favorite authors, maybe THE favorite)... it's kinda disappointing compared to some of his earlier works. There is no suspense, like in The Name of the Rose, and no emotion as in The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana. It has a very detached feeling to it. All kinds of things happen to the main character, but he goes through it all unharmed, unruffled, uncaring. Still, it's a great book. And the detached feeling I complain about is broken once: in the best sex-scene I've ever read. Honestly didn't expect that from the old professor in semiotics!
Having a hard time deciding which book to read next. Maybe one of these:
- Burroughs: Naked Lunch
- Cain, Susan: Quiet - The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking
- Hesse: The Glass Bead Game
- Lagerlöf: G¨sta Berlings Saga (The Saga of Gösta Berling)
- Mangel: Wolf Hall
- Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife
- Pratchett/Baxter: The Long War
- Sacks: Musicophilia
- Updike: Rabbit Run
Having a hard time deciding which book to read next. Maybe one of these:
- Burroughs: Naked Lunch
- Cain, Susan: Quiet - The Power Of Introverts In A World That Can't Stop Talking
- Hesse: The Glass Bead Game
- Lagerlöf: G¨sta Berlings Saga (The Saga of Gösta Berling)
- Mangel: Wolf Hall
- Niffenegger: The Time Traveler's Wife
- Pratchett/Baxter: The Long War
- Sacks: Musicophilia
- Updike: Rabbit Run
Michael F. Assbender
Banned
And:
Best book I read last year.
I agree with all of that, it's a great William Gibson sci fi book. However, it was a letdown to find a focal part of it exploring some well trodden ground without having much of anything to add(operating peripherals by remote).
Speaking of Kindle, anyone else have a look at today's daily deals? There's a lot of popular stuff, I'd like some recommendations/impressions from fellow gaffers, here's the list:
list
I can vouch for Ubik and If on a winter's night a traveler, they're both very good. I've heard good things about The Man in The High Castle as well, anything else to look out for?
Quiet is excellent, and is an invaluable read for introverts and extroverts alike. It really has something for everyone since it defines what an introvert actually is, discusses the rise of the extrovert ideal in society, what benefits introverts bring to the table in the workplace, and how to interact with introverts/extroverts at work, at home, or as a parent.
Really? That's high praise from you. I'll read it, thanks for making my choice easy!
Piecake said:
Thanks to you too. I'll read Quiet or Musicophilia after The Time Traveller's Wife. I'm a real introvert myself, so Quiet should be interesting and useful.
Kinda a guilty pleasure but check out Brilliance and A Better Today of the brilliance saga. A lot like xmen.
Dresden Files? There are a few vampires in some of the books, but it by no means focuses on them and they arent brooding heart-throbs.
Sounds a bit like what I'm looking for, although maybe a bit too much supernatural.
That does sound nice! Will check it out.
Keep em coming.
Add more!
read (221), to-read (121)
This either be very easy or very tough job to do.
To be fair about Vandermeer and New Weird, what he said is that he doesn't have any sculpting it, not him being truly against New Weird . New Weird could at least traced back to late 90's-2000's, and at that time, I don't think Vandermeer already write something that he considered to be New Weird, judging from his bibliography. Obviously he changed his mind later, proved with the existence of that book
I loved this book.
Excellent so far.
read (221), to-read (121)
This either be very easy or very tough job to do.
To be fair about Vandermeer and New Weird, what he said is that he doesn't have any sculpting it, not him being truly against New Weird . New Weird could at least traced back to late 90's-2000's, and at that time, I don't think Vandermeer already write something that he considered to be New Weird, judging from his bibliography. Obviously he changed his mind later, proved with the existence of that book
I have over 1200 things on my to-read list. I'm sure you'll find some ideas there~
Now I'm overwhelmed lol
I'm reading The Man in the High Castle right now. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is all I've read of Philip K. Dick and everyone says that Man in the High Castle is good. I'm almost half way through. I'm not really impressed yet.
I bought Ubik and A Scanner Darkly, since they were on sale today for $1.99. I wish I had waited to get Man in the High Castle. It was almost $9 when I bought it a couple weeks ago and now it's $1.99.
I bought Ubik and A Scanner Darkly, since they were on sale today for $1.99. I wish I had waited to get Man in the High Castle. It was almost $9 when I bought it a couple weeks ago and now it's $1.99.
I can vouch for this method.
I found the concept to be great but the execution to be really lacking. So you're not alone in being unimpressed.
Finished Knife of Dreams. I'm so glad I stuck with it. It really was awesome compared to the last one.
I'm a little sad that KoD is the last book Robert Jordan finished, but I'm excited to see Brandon Sanderson's ending to the series. But I admit I am a little afraid to start on The Gathering Storm. I know shit's going to go down at some point, and I'm scared for my favorites. Plus, once I finish it, I can never read it for the first time again, as weird as that sounds.
I really, really love Egwene Al'Vere. I know the women get hate in this series, but just about everything she did as prisoner made me smile. I want to see her destroy Elaida. (I'll be really sad if she doesn't. I don't want to know if she does/doesn't either, that wasn't asking for spoilers!) At first I was bored of the Mat/Tuon interactions, but Tuon kinda grew on me, too. I wonder if she'll ever acknowledge that she can learn to channel.
I'm a little sad that KoD is the last book Robert Jordan finished, but I'm excited to see Brandon Sanderson's ending to the series. But I admit I am a little afraid to start on The Gathering Storm. I know shit's going to go down at some point, and I'm scared for my favorites. Plus, once I finish it, I can never read it for the first time again, as weird as that sounds.
I know.
Maybe for a start I should see your read instead and see which books got 5 star ratings.
I'm finally about to finish Wise Man's Fear. I started it about a year ago, but dropped it. Restarted it again recently and I've been enjoying it quite a bit. The complaints about it are a bit overblown in my opinion, but I can see why people might not like it.
Sidenote: I wish fantasy books didn't have such ridiculous cover art.
After I finish this, I think I'm going to read the LotR trilogy for the first time. Added bonus: that series tends to have nice cover art at least, haha.
Sidenote: I wish fantasy books didn't have such ridiculous cover art.
After I finish this, I think I'm going to read the LotR trilogy for the first time. Added bonus: that series tends to have nice cover art at least, haha.
sparky2112
Member
Like I'm fond of saying, there's either a reason why something sold bizillion copies or there isn't. There's a reason this one did.
It's rare that I want to lock the outside world out and do nothing but read (despite how I love it so), but this book was exactly that. FULL OF WIN.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I saw the movie. I'm going to guess the book is worlds better given the love it's getting here.
sparky2112
Member
Excellent so far.
10% in. When people were like 'too much science', I'd think, 'Wimps.', but, yeah the first portion, anyway, is like a botany and/or chemistry master class. Otherwise, it's a really short novel. So. Onward!
sparky2112
Member
Duuno. Are you hard-hearted? KIDDING! But seriously, Rachel McAdams, the queen of time-travel movies, including the arguably-better 'About Time', does NOT do bad time travel movies, so....
Haeralis The BRave
Banned
charlemagne
Member
100% agree. I've mentioned that to friends before and they never think the same.
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