Books

[Guest The Architect]

Hey guys what's a good Mafia/organised crime book I could read?

[Walsingham]

Hey guys what's a good Mafia/organised crime book I could read?

 

*mechanical whirring noise as I spool up*

 

What sort of thing are you after? Kicks, or facts? Probably the best of both would be The Dragon Syndicates, by Martin Booth. Martin died a couple of years ago under what I consider suspicious circumstances, but he really knew his stuff.

[Xard]

Sorry, but you have quite horrible taste when it comes to books then

I wouldn't go that far. I'd say he's probably still a teenager. That's like berating a toddler for being into Bob the Builder. Salvatore is a decent pulp action writer and it's good that he's keeping young people reading. Hopefully as "I want" grows up, he will keep reading and broaden his horizons.

 

I think I read all the Salvatore books in college. They were fun.

Did it suddenly get douchebag in here?

 

Yeah, you're right, they are fun. The action is fun, the bits of humor are fun. Almost every book is tons of fun to read.

 

Spine of the World was terrible, though. The Wulfgar bits were good, but I can't really be interested in hearing about some some tart's idiotic love problems and engangement to an airheaded prince. Also, Drizzt's section intros should be shot and killed.

 

I have nothing against reading Salvatore per se (they're good at providing some brainless entertainment, though there's better such), but considering him as your favourite author must mean you're either young, have poor taste and/or haven't read much

[Musopticon?]

I also have The Man Who Was Thursday

I really loved it.

 

 

And just because Xard is beind a tard - I love Robert Howard's Conan stories. What does that tell of my so-called tastes?

[Xard]

Conan is luv

 

 

There's huge difference between Howard's and Salvatore's literal talents

[Tigranes]

I think I read one Salvatore book a few years ago (I don't read much fantasy). The attempts at character development were laughable, but it was overall quite well written and entertaining, in terms of pacing the reader - like a good action flick. And just like a good action flick, you just needed to skip the dialogue and romance.

 

Don't have a lot of time to read non-work related stuff at the moment. On my list is Sea of Poppies by anthropologist/author Amitav Ghosh, which should prove interesting: will also follow up on Wals' 'Islamist', should be interesting after reading Karen Armstrong's The Battle for God: A History of Fundamentalism couple years back.

 

But uh, right now? Andrew Keen's The Cult of the Amateur: How Today's Internet is Killing Our Culture. Sounds like your standard moral panic trash, but actually quite reasonable between the covers - and I suspect quite timely for the Silicon Valley audience to whom it is addressed.

[Musopticon?]

to Xardy:

But you can't know that without having read both, which why I get weird looks every time I praise Howard. Because when nerds gather, there's always Salvatore-hatin' and when it's done by a guy who everyone knows likes, what outward must seem like, stories about a loin-clothed testosterone monster saving fantasy chicks, I look like a massive hypocrite. For a lot of people, the two writers are not that different.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Musopticon?

[Xard]

...of course this might be partly just bitterness due to several Salvatore fanboys I've encountered...

 

Salvatore is quite horrible at describing combat btw. The way he describes every. single. strike. and. block. and. counterattack. and. what. kind. of. bat ****. wizard. uses. to. make. a. fireball. The. descriptions. also. get. very. repetitive. over. the. time

 

Still, Salvatore is far from the worst

 

edit: as for Conan I already commented on it - not directly though

 

"(they're good at providing some brainless entertainment, though there's better such)"

Edited July 24, 2008 by Xard

[Musopticon?]

Obviously, you haven't read Weis and Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I mean...for ****'s sake stop the dice-rolling already.

 

Then again, the Death Gate cycle is absolutely fantastic, a real gem from them.

[Xard]

Obviously, you haven't read Weis and Hickman's Dragons of Autumn Twilight. I mean...for ****'s sake stop the dice-rolling already.

 

I have

 

If there's one roleplaying fantasy book above all other that's it.

 

You can HEAR the dice rolling in that

 

I liked the second and third book in that series though, esp. second Sturm's death (that can't really be considered as spoiler)

[Guest The Architect]

*mechanical whirring noise as I spool up*

 

What sort of thing are you after? Kicks, or facts? Probably the best of both would be The Dragon Syndicates, by Martin Booth. Martin died a couple of years ago under what I consider suspicious circumstances, but he really knew his stuff.

 

Doesn't matter whether it's fact or fiction, I'm interested in any bookwork to do with the Mafia.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep that in mind, Waltz man.

 

I don't know why my post-end to signature gap spaced out so much.

Edited July 24, 2008 by The Architect

[Walsingham]

None of you wannabes impress me with you lame authors. Now E.E. 'Doc' Smith wrote appalling space opera.

[Musopticon?]

I see your E.E Smith and raise you Richard A. Knaak. Worst fantasy license writer ever, practically a hack.

[Tale]

I got particularly annoyed by Stephen King's fantasy attempts. I couldn't get past the second page of Eyes of the Dragon. The narrative style was grating. And the last three books of The Dark Tower (though not traditional fantasy), were twice the length they needed to be. One of the characters in the books commented that Stephen King writes by the inch. I think half the time he sat down and typed it was just to keep himself busy.

[Xard]

I got particularly annoyed by Stephen King's fantasy attempts. I couldn't get past the second page of Eyes of the Dragon. The narrative style was grating. And the last three books of The Dark Tower (though not traditional fantasy), were twice the length they needed to be. One of the characters in the books commented that Stephen King writes by the inch. I think half the time he sat down and typed it was just to keep himself busy.

 

 

YOU ARE ON MY DEAD LIST YOU HEAR ME

[Tale]

Hey, The Dark Tower was good, but he dragged out things way more than he needed to. And then the ending. Roland's part was fine, Susannah's was a joke.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Tale

[Moatilliatta]

*mechanical whirring noise as I spool up*

 

What sort of thing are you after? Kicks, or facts? Probably the best of both would be The Dragon Syndicates, by Martin Booth. Martin died a couple of years ago under what I consider suspicious circumstances, but he really knew his stuff.

 

Doesn't matter whether it's fact or fiction, I'm interested in any bookwork to do with the Mafia.

 

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll keep that in mind, Waltz man.

 

I don't know why my post-end to signature gap spaced out so much.

Sicilian or American?

[Gorgon]

The Crystal shard trilogy was the first Faerun book I read, decades ago, after I had read the Dragonlance saga.

 

I thought it was decent. Then I read the one where Dual wielding Drizzt was trapped in the underdark or something, the name escapes me. I thought that was even better. It had the Jhon Woo style encounter with the good guy, and the good bad guy, forced to work together.

 

Then a year ago I finally read the last installment, and realized I had grown up in the meanwhile. The whole exercise seemed pointless, I dunno, maybe Salvatore grew up and lost interest as well, but still needed the checks.

Edited July 24, 2008 by Gorgon

[Xard]

Hey, The Dark Tower was good, but he dragged out things way more than he needed to. And then the ending. Roland's part was fine, Susannah's was a joke.

 

You're not helping any, you know

 

Only book that dragged too long was Wolves of Calla and it still paid off in ****ing awesome finale

 

You hate Susannah's part only because you're cynic

 

so there!

[Tale]

Only book that dragged too long was Wolves of Calla and it still paid off in ****ing awesome finale

The finale was awesome, but it still took too long to get there. Wolves of the Calla was the worst offender of the final three because it didn't do anything else other than the Calla, hahah. And the Reverend was a good character to have.

 

You hate Susannah's part only because you're cynic

Damn straight.

[Xard]

tbh I didn't like it either that much, but it felt appropriate

 

The finale, The Dark Tower is my favourite book of the series with Gunslinger and Wasteland

 

 

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

[I want teh kotor 3]

Sorry, I didn't mean to start a pseudo-argument about whether Salvatore is a good author or not. Yeah, as you guys have guessed, I'm still in high school, and its better (read: less boring) than what I'm supposed to be reading, so there you go .

[Hurlshort]

Stephen King is a very interesting writer. His amazing talent comes in the form of being super-disciplined. The guy writes a novel a month, even today when he's extremely rich. Heck, he got run over a car and I think he didn't miss a day of writing. Literary critics are pretty harsh on him though.

 

He has improved over the years, from what I hear. I read The Dark Tower and it was solid. Other than that I haven't read anything since It. Creepy book.

[Tale]

Hearts in Atlantis made me give up on Stephen King. That book bored me so terribly that I gave up a book every 2-3 day habit in favor of not reading in my leisure time again for several years.

[Xard]

Sorry, I didn't mean to start a pseudo-argument about whether Salvatore is a good author or not. Yeah, as you guys have guessed, I'm still in high school, and its better (read: less boring) than what I'm supposed to be reading, so there you go .

 

Sorry if I came off a bit harsh. But that's what I always end up doing

 

Stephen King is a very interesting writer. His amazing talent comes in the form of being super-disciplined. The guy writes a novel a month, even today when he's extremely rich. Heck, he got run over a car and I think he didn't miss a day of writing. Literary critics are pretty harsh on him though.

 

He has improved over the years, from what I hear. I read The Dark Tower and it was solid. Other than that I haven't read anything since It. Creepy book.

 

 

The Dark Tower saga is best piece of speculative fiction (umbrella term for horror, scifi, fantasy etc. in case you didn't know) I've ever read. What's even better most of King's book are related in some way to it.

 

I don't know, from the reviews (both american & finnish) one gathers Stephen King isn't hated. Most get at least good reviews, others are reverred as awesomeness.

 

King does however has his deale of written crap that harms his reputation

 

And then there's elitist circles...