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"It wasn't lies. It was just... bull****"."

             -Elwood Blues

 

tarna's dead; processing... complete. Disappointed by Universe. RIP Hades/Sand/etc. Here's hoping your next alt has a harp.

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Yeah, that was kind of my feeling as well.

 

There were some amusing things on tvtropes as well about it when I looked deeper.. :ermm:

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

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  • 2 weeks later...
Finished reading the first Witcher book. Wasn't really my cup of tea to be honest.

The novel or short story collection?

 

That is, Last Wish or Blood of Elves? Got them both, but haven't read either. I think some gents around here have gone through them, but I'm always interested in other takes. So I can know where to play them in the queue.

"Show me a man who "plays fair" and I'll show you a very talented cheater."
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The Last Wish.

 

Some chapters I enjoyed, but it never really got its hooks on me. The beginning and the ending I didn't care for very much. But the middle chapters were really interesting to me.

 

But from what I have read I think my opinion on books should be taken lightly. Some of the authors I like doesn't seem to be liked by all.

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Can't afford to buy books right now and all the local libraries only have the barest english language sections (I refuse to read in Dutch because the language is sterile as hospital) so in desperation I decided to reread some of my old books. Currently on Mark Olivier Everett, a.k.a. E from the Eels' autobiography "Things the Grandchildren Should Know". Surprisingly candid on a lot of subjects such as the deaths of his entire family and pre-teen drug use, yet the musical missteps he's made (like a solo album from the 80's that he keeps off eBay by buying it for ridiculous amounts every time it pops up) are completely absent. An odd thing to be ashamed of, I think.

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Valhalla Rising by Clive Cussler. Pulpy nonsense, but enjoyable all the same. :lol:

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

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Re-reading Howl's Moving Castle. Which made me watch the movie again too.

I love Howl.

“Things are as they are. Looking out into the universe at night, we make no comparisons between right and wrong stars, nor between well and badly arranged constellations.” – Alan Watts
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The Last Wish.

 

Some chapters I enjoyed, but it never really got its hooks on me. The beginning and the ending I didn't care for very much. But the middle chapters were really interesting to me.

 

But from what I have read I think my opinion on books should be taken lightly. Some of the authors I like doesn't seem to be liked by all.

I enjoyed Last Wish. Not enough to keep going I guess but I did like it for itself.

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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Now reading A Dog's Purpose by Bruce Cameron, excellent book, I highly, highly reccomend. Also reading 2 Years to a Million in Real Estate by Matthew Martinez. I'll tell you in two years how it is.

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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Clive Cusler's Trojan Odyssey. More enjoyable pulp nonsense. Throws up some interesting ideas.. but I think even though its pulp silly, I kind of wish he kept up more..continuity and fallout from big events he's done in earlier books.

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

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Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down.

 

I've read it three times since 2000. He's a brilliant journalist, the book is thoroughly gripping.

 

I re-read his Killing Pablo the other month. He certainly puts a lot of research behind his efforts to tell what happened. Of course, I was utilising it for my research as well.and now the spine is rather bent.. :)

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

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Looks like 180 copies of Dance With Dragons got shipped early in Europe and the internet is flooded with spoilers. Read below. worth a chuckle.

 

http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/07/04/thro...html?hpt=hp_bn5

 

One part struck me though:

"There's an 18- or 19-year-old guy from Kentucky. There's a guy out in Australia that we've had problems with before, who occasionally sneaks in and causes trouble.

 

It's Krezack isn't it! I know it's him. It MUST be him. Some guy in Australia causing trouble? I know it's him!

 

:shifty:

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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Mark Bowden's Black Hawk Down.

 

I've read it three times since 2000. He's a brilliant journalist, the book is thoroughly gripping.

 

Read Herr's Dispatches as well. Still punching through Green Mars, at the conference part, a bit utopian for my liking but oh well. Still hate Hiroko's character.

Why has elegance found so little following? Elegance has the disadvantage that hard work is needed to achieve it and a good education to appreciate it. - Edsger Wybe Dijkstra

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The Steampunk Bible - A fully illustrated compendium tracing the roots and history of the subculture from the founding fathers of Jules Verne & H.G. Wells, to the modern day and the community of craftsmen and artists that continue to spread it...

 

Arrived today and I've been flicking through a few pages here and there.. definitely one for the quirky interest.

"Cuius testiculos habeas, habeas cardia et cerebellum."

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I'm about half way done with Shogun which has been truly good fun but I'm also super excited to start Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

People laugh when I say that I think a jellyfish is one of the most beautiful things in the world. What they don't understand is, I mean a jellyfish with long, blond hair.

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currently re-reading the Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

 

borrowed it and the sequel off my sister. i read the first one a few years ago, so trying it out again before going on to the next one

when your mind works against you - fight back with substance abuse!

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I'm about half way done with Shogun which has been truly good fun but I'm also super excited to start Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Shogun was one of my all time favorites. I never really like any of his other novels except King Rat.

"While it is true you learn with age, the down side is what you often learn is what a damn fool you were before"

Thomas Sowell

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Finished The Player of Games by Iain Banks. Great work around themes in games, but flirted hard with the wonky side of sports and games in naratives (abstact and deus-exish drama and resolution at every turn really, orson scott card style...) and characters are very thin. Still worth it.

 

Starting The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver who is apparently very talented, its starting well. Lined up after this are Use of Weapons and Look at the Birdie short stories by Vonnegut.

Edited by Asol

All deception is self deception all hypnosis is auto-hypnosis

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currently re-reading the Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss

 

borrowed it and the sequel off my sister. i read the first one a few years ago, so trying it out again before going on to the next one

Good luck with Wise Man's Fear, you'll need it.

 

Finished The Player of Games by Iain Banks. Great work around themes in games, but flirted hard with the wonky side of sports and games in naratives (abstact and deus-exish drama and resolution at every turn really, orson scott card style...) and characters are very thin. Still worth it.

 

Starting The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver who is apparently very talented, its starting well. Lined up after this are Use of Weapons and Look at the Birdie short stories by Vonnegut.

I started the Culture off with Consider Phlebas and that put me off of Banks for a long time. Maybe I'll try The Use of Weapons eventually.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Started digging into "Russia Against Napoleon" By Dominic Lieven.

 

Basically, the guy is trying to refute the very british centric version of how the last years of the Napoleonic Wars went down, that it wasn't Wellington and Waterloo that beat napoleon in the long run, it was Russian military drive and their logistical capacity (along with Alexandyr I being awesome)

Victor of the 5 year fan fic competition!

 

Kevin Butler will awesome your face off.

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