Books we've been reading V2.0

[Malcador]

Leviathan Wakes was a good space opera type novel, the two plots do weave together neatly, ending is so-so. I really hate the captain, Holden, rather amusing how naive he is but at least someone points that out to him. Will have to get the sequel.

 

Finishing off "Fear to Tread", Ka'Bandha vs Sanguinius was a rather brief and hurried fight. Overall average HH quality (I feel somewhat disappointed in myself that I own 21 of these books...).

[Lexx]

Reading Umberto Eco's The Prague Cemetery right now. I am nearly done with it and it's pretty good so far. My first book from Umberto Eco and I might look at some of the older ones as well.

[WDeranged]

I'm currently nibbling my way through Moving Pictures but my brain is having trouble with books and games at the moment, I generally find it hard to read Terry Pratchett's earlier books but this one is pretty well structured, it's a shame that I'm auto-piloting through it.

[AGX-17]

A History of Britain, by Simon Schama. I have 4000 +/- pages of A Song and Ice and Fire sitting there staring at me, but it's 4000 +/- pages.

[Sensuki]

Just finished Dance with Dragons. I enjoyed the reading, but it is fairly amazing how little the plot moved forward in 1000 pages. Ah well, more people are dead, I'm assuming the last book will simply be a long list of every character being dead.

 

I absolutely loved the first four books, but yeah A Dance with Dragons ... there were a few things I didn't like and it did really feel like an unnatural book. I haven't re-read it yet, but I didn't enjoy Tyrion or Daenerys' storylines at all, Quentyn's was completely superfluous as well. The best ones were all the stuff happening in the North, Dorne and Arya.

 

 

I really hated the ending of Jon Snow's chapters in the book, it just felt so forced and out of character, oh I have to somehow turn Jon into Azor Azai

 

 

I read the books first a few years before the show came out and the show doesn't hold a candle to the books. I was utterly devastated by how bad season 2 was (there were like 2 good episodes). I suppose the people that say they prefer the show probably watched it first.

 

The ASoIAF books really benefit from re-reads actually, I've read the first four books 8 times each and only the last 2 reads felt superfluous. There were still little things I was picking up on and different chapters jumped out at me at different times (didn't care for the prologue of A Clash of Kings on the first read, LOVED It on the second+ etc)

Edited October 25, 2012 by Sensuki

[Monte Carlo]

Am surprised nobody has mentioned any Joe Abercrombie.

 

I haven't read any fantasy for ages, picked up The Heroes on Kindle and boom! I'm hooked. Now reading The Blade Itself trilogy (started ass-backwards) and finding it very much to my taste. Gritty low-fantasy with lots of violence, swearing, torture and double-crossing. Just like a day at the office.

 

http://www.joeabercrombie.com/

Edited October 28, 2012 by Monte Carlo

[Huinehtar]

I begin to read the third part of the Merlin Codex series ("The Broken Kings") by Robert Holdstock. I have read "Celtika" and "The Iron Grail", and other books from the Ryhope Wood series, years ago, but I was waiting for The Broken Kings' small paperback release in my country. I was shocked when I have heard Robert Holdstock passed away in 2009. R.I.P.

 

So I never tried to continue, because themes (mystical forest spawning ancestral heroes and mythological creatures for Ryhope Wood, and antique vision of Merlin centuries before Arthur's story) were very particular, and I couldn't resolve my self to read last chapters from this great novelist.

 

But, now it's time.

[Gorth]

Since somebody brought it up in a Project Eternity thread some weeks ago, I'm reading Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods". I had forgotten that I bought the book in an airport bookstore in some city somewhere a couple of months ago. Makes for excellent reading and an interesting take on theology... and philosophy

[LadyCrimson]

Re-reading the original Blue Adept series by Piers Anthony. I always love the parts about the Game on Proton.

[melkathi]

Re-read Guards! Guards!

Not as funny now as I remembered it, but my taste has evolved just as Pratchett's writing has and I prefer his later, more serious style now.

[Raithe]

I have to admit, I can enjoy reading Pratchett's books once. But I find it hard to re-read them. Hm, apart from Good Omens, but that he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.

[Alyriel]

Im rereading Wise Man's Fear now, there's alot of nuance and oblique hints at the present and "Kote" that you miss the first time around.

 

I also got started on the Lymond Chronicles, Dorothy Dunnett (recommended by a friend). Its a little hard keeping the characters and history straight, not to mention all of Lymond's multilingual literary references, but still very enjoyable.

 

Very eagerly awaiting: A Memory of Light, and River of Stars.

[Oerwinde]

Almost finished re-reading Y: The Last Man. They really need to not make a movie out of that. A series on HBO or Showtime would work, but there is far too much for a movie and very little that isn't important.

[melkathi]

Trying to read Vanity Fair.

[Alyriel]

I've never read Banks' sci-fi stuff, I always imagine him as a clever horror writer. But, of course, his horror isn't supernatural, it's very much rooted in the real world. Which makes it scarier IMO.

 

If you've never read any of Bank's scifi you're missing out. I love the Culture series, always full of big ideas. Player of Games or Surface Detail are good ones to start with. Although my favorite Banks is the non-culture Against a Dark Background.

[Guard Dog]

I just went on a little camping trip and brought two books with me. Democracy in America by Alexis de Touqueville and Old Man and the Sea by Hemingway. The first was published in 1832 and shocking has never been more relevant than in the age of the Obamanation. The other is the perfect book to read when all you are doing is fishing and pondering futility.

 

Now reading Muck City by Bryan Mealer. It's about the high school football program in Belle Glade FL. One of the poorest and most crime riddled town in America but has somehow produced almost thirty NFL players.

[SophosTheWise]

Since somebody brought it up in a Project Eternity thread some weeks ago, I'm reading Terry Pratchett's "Small Gods".

 

An absolutely brillant book.

 

I'm currently (well, I haven't had much time lately so I've been reading that for a few months now, maybe even longer) reading Der letzte Weynfeldt by Martin Suter. And I've finished Antigone by Sophokles.

[GhostofAnakin]

Reading The Last Wish, the English translation of the book that the Witcher video game is inspired by. I picked it up for cheap way back when I finished The Witcher 2 video game, but hadn't gotten around to reading it until now.

[JFSOCC]

I'm currently reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, after having read Collapse ages ago. (both are recommended)

I'm also currently reading The Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb

I'm also reading I, claudius by Robert Graves.

 

Though I only progress intermittingly in each.

I'm eagerly awaiting the next Patrick Rothfuss book for some hard-core highbrow fantasy. but that's probably 2 years away, at the rate he writes.

[Blarghagh]

Urgh, I am so conflicted about Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle. Expert and very entertaining writer and storyteller who chooses to use that talent to tell an extremely dull tale of wizard school student loans from the point of view of the worst Mary Sue in the history of fantasy. I'm somehow always riveted while reading it yet so disappointed at the end because he's essentially told a story that could be summed up in about ten pages without missing any important details.

 

I have to admit, I can enjoy reading Pratchett's books once. But I find it hard to re-read them. Hm, apart from Good Omens, but that he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.

 

I agree, although I've read Mort several times as well. Fantastic book.

 

I just finished David Wong's This Book Is Full Of Spiders - Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It which lacked the braincracking insanity* of its predecessor (John Dies At The End) but was still highly entertaining and had a much stronger structure. Still a rare example of horror comedy that exhibits both horror and comedy. Next on the list is Yahtzee "Zero Punctuation" Croshaw's new novel "Jam".

 

*

My favourite part from that book was when Dave and John feed a breathmint to a possessed dog that is floating about a foot in the air and it proceeds to explode into bloody chunks.

 

Edited November 14, 2012 by TrueNeutral

[Gorth]

Finished 'Small Gods'. Great story with an actual ending. Game developers take note!

 

Started reading the latest Dan Abnett paperback release, 'Salvations Reach' (a Gaunts Ghosts novel). Ended up reading in my bed until 5:30 in the morning. Not good. It's going to be a long day today >_

[melkathi]

Salvation's Reach... been meaning to get ahold of that.

[JFSOCC]

Urgh, I am so conflicted about Patrick Rothfuss' Kingkiller Chronicle. Expert and very entertaining writer and storyteller who chooses to use that talent to tell an extremely dull tale of wizard school student loans from the point of view of the worst Mary Sue in the history of fantasy. I'm somehow always riveted while reading it yet so disappointed at the end because he's essentially told a story that could be summed up in about ten pages without missing any important details.

 

I have to admit, I can enjoy reading Pratchett's books once. But I find it hard to re-read them. Hm, apart from Good Omens, but that he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.

 

I agree, although I've read Mort several times as well. Fantastic book.

 

I just finished David Wong's This Book Is Full Of Spiders - Seriously, Dude, Don't Touch It which lacked the braincracking insanity* of its predecessor (John Dies At The End) but was still highly entertaining and had a much stronger structure. Still a rare example of horror comedy that exhibits both horror and comedy. Next on the list is Yahtzee "Zero Punctuation" Croshaw's new novel "Jam".

 

*

My favourite part from that book was when Dave and John feed a breathmint to a possessed dog that is floating about a foot in the air and it proceeds to explode into bloody chunks.

 

I have to agree, sometimes a little mary sue. I excuse it because it is supposedly an epic character, one of those once every few generation people. and he has a fair amount of character flaws. (such as not being overly concerned about making enemies)

I wouldn't say the story could be quickly summed up, however, any more than any other book could. He's narrating his life to his biographer.

[AGX-17]

I have to admit, I can enjoy reading Pratchett's books once. But I find it hard to re-read them. Hm, apart from Good Omens, but that he co-wrote with Neil Gaiman.

 

I can't re-read any book and have fun. The only books I re-read are textbooks, because I have to.

 

Currently reading Fragile Things by Gaiman Himself.

 

I'm currently reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, after having read Collapse ages ago. (both are recommended)

 

Strange order (reverse,) but both good, if a bit tedious at times. I don't understand why concision is such a sin in the world of writing. Diamond often writes as though he's just padding for extra page length. It's especially tough when you're dealing with subjects for which there is a dearth of evidence, and that's something Collapse suffers for.

Edited November 15, 2012 by AGX-17

[JFSOCC]

I'm currently reading Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond, after having read Collapse ages ago. (both are recommended)

 

Strange order (reverse,) but both good, if a bit tedious at times. I don't understand why concision is such a sin in the world of writing. Diamond often writes as though he's just padding for extra page length. It's especially tough when you're dealing with subjects for which there is a dearth of evidence, and that's something Collapse suffers for.

In collapse he explains that he's had a lot of criticism on his previous book (saying that he is accused of environmental determinism and tries to frame everything in that way), and that is why he decided to take you through the step by step process of "Why we know this is true" So he talks about how ice-cores are analyzed as much as he talks about how animal middens are analyzed, so we know with certitude that he is not making **** up.

So that there is very little room for misinterpretation or doubt. It makes his books a little harder to read, but all the more scientific, and I find that exceptionally refreshing.