Return of the Book Thread

[Ironwood]

I swear he's slowly been getting better at that.  The Baroque Cycle had an ending (okay, it took him FOREVER, but he did end it instead of just running out of pages).  And Anathem wrapped up pretty well.

I almost put Reamde on the Christmas list my one aunt always insists on shopping for me from, but nnnngh so little bookshelf space for massive hardcovers.  Need to hold out for the paperback.

2 Things :

1 - is Anathem any good ?  I started it but found it really, really annoying almost instantly, so dropped it.

2 - Get yourself an E-book reader.  I've been loving mine and seriously considering getting rid of my shelving in my office.  So much space I could save. 

[Chimpy]

1 - is Anathem any good ?  I started it but found it really, really annoying almost instantly, so dropped it.

I really liked it, but it does take a bit for it to get going as the real story doesn't start until the world (and linguistic quirks) get fleshed out.

[Tmon]

I finally got around to How to Live Safely in Science Fictional Universe -- I finished it a bit ago, but don't think I mentioned it here.

It was...not what I expected, and very, very good. Especially once I started focusing on what looked like techno-babble but wasn't, and realized what the author was doing.

It's not a happy book, by any means, but not entirely a sad one either. It's only science fiction by chance. It's incredibly good.

I gave up on about a third of the way through.  I didn't have the faintest glimmering of a clue as to what he was trying to do or say.  I'm just too shallow of a reader for stuff like that.

[Samwise]

1 - is Anathem any good ?  I started it but found it really, really annoying almost instantly, so dropped it.
2 - Get yourself an E-book reader.  I've been loving mine and seriously considering getting rid of my shelving in my office.  So much space I could save. 

1 - Yes, but you do have to be able to get past the "aren't I clever" alternate world with a silly language.
2 -  .  I buy books so that I can lend them out easily and so they can look nice on my bookshelf.  Otherwise, library.

[Quinton]

I was entirely unbothered by the made-up-words games in Anathem.  Enjoyed the book massively and didn't mind picking stuff up from context.

Some people, it drove them crazy.

[Morat20]

I gave up on about a third of the way through.  I didn't have the faintest glimmering of a clue as to what he was trying to do or say.  I'm just too shallow of a reader for stuff like that.

He was...well, he was talking about a couple of things. Life, the process of writing a book itself, literature, imagination. His prose was at times amusing and at other times stellar. But mostly it was about his relationship with his Dad, and it was harsh and realistic in a way that was at times hard to read but very, very true.

In general, though, it's not a matter of shallow or deep. I find that whole concept (applied to books or readers) as just bullshit. Writers write what they like -- and if they don't, they turn out shit. Same for readers. I can't 'force' myself to like a book just because it's critically reviewed, and cheerfully admit to loving books that are, by all artistic merits, utter crap.

Just depends on what you like, what you're in the mood for. There's a couple of books that I probably should like, that people with similar tastes rave about, and I just can't get through them even if I can see why they like it.

[Ozzu]

Read books 1 and 2 of the Kingkiller Chronicles by Patrick Rothfuss.

Awesome books.

[Engels]

yep, they are quite good.

[stu]

I was choosing between The Blade Itself, The Desert Spear, and Game of Thrones on Amazon when I found that books 1-4 of ASoIaF were on sale for $14. I probly won't read them all at once, but that deal was too good to pass up.

[HaemishM]

I finished Altered Carbon the other day. Goddamn but that book DRAGS. There were some very good bits, but he seemed to want to take so much effort to build a world around the character that he puts the character into situations that are tedious. The whole pit fighter segment and the entire use of the Patchwork Man/Kadmin felt forced to me. There was almost 50 pages worth of "I'm setting something clever and devious up" treading water towards the end that just made me go "GET ON WITH IT, ALREADY!" It felt so long that I actually forget a lot of the minor characters that were important to the whole set up later. A good book in need of a more enthusiastic editor.

[Ironwood]

Um ?

 

[HaemishM]

I assume you disagree?

[Ironwood]

Very, very strongly.

But I suspect arguing about it is pointless.  The first time I read it (which was a while back) I pretty much devoured it.  I re-read Kovacs Trilogy regularly and I don't really see that.  All I will say is that if you thought that about Carbon, it's hugely possible you'll HATE Woken Furies with a passion.

Hmmm.

[shiznitz]

I have to agree with Ironwood.  I found Altered Carbon well paced, especially compared to the books that came after.

[HaemishM]

I will admit it could be because I read so very slowly and in such small snatches that it felt very draggy to me. I compare it to my read of Game of Thrones and can't recall one part of GoT that I felt dragged. I didn't hate the book, but I was ready to be done with it by the time it was over. I'd certainly like to read more as I think there's some cool things going on. It would probably make a kickass action movie with some trims.

[Khaldun]

I thought Altered Carbon moved along pretty well. I wouldn't say that was true of Woken Furies, but that book has more problems than pacing.

[lamaros]

I just read Ted Chiang's 'Story of Your Life'

I read it through in one sitting. As soon as I finished I started crying, so much so I woke up my GF. I didnt think I was that emotionally affected before then. It was amazing, I am a bit shocked by it. I dunno what to think.

Good story, I would have to say.

[Bzalthek]

I forgot who and I'm too lazy to check, but whoever mentioned the foreigner series by CJ Cherryh, thank you so much.  These are fucking awesome.  I'm just starting the 4th arc now.

[ghost]

I forgot who and I'm too lazy to check, but whoever mentioned the foreigner series by CJ Cherryh, thank you so much.  These are fucking awesome.  I'm just starting the 4th arc now.

It was probably me.  I haven't gotten all the way through them yet.  They got a little repetitive for me and I got busy and haven't gotten back to them.  I think that they are good though- very different than most other Sci Fi.  Cyteen is pretty good, too.

[bhodi]

Going through some old sci-fi.

Day of the triffids was surprisingly good! I was not expecting a pre-zombie zombie survival horror. Or have it done so well. The main character had a bit of the Heinlein Everyman about him, though.

Reading Zelazny's Lord of Light now, which is also very good so far. His amber series went wonky after a few books so I sort of wrote him off; glad I came back to this book.

[Ironwood]

This post has shocked me rigid :

Chaps, and I mean all of you, if you haven't read Day of the Triffids, you SHOULD.

NOW.

One of my top ten and, frankly, one of the few books in the history of my life to actually freak me out.

[Ingmar]

I've seen the movie. 

[Ironwood]

Don't make me beat you.

In seriousness, the BBC Miniseries is fairly faithful.  The recent one with Dougray is Not.

[Reg]

Day of the Triffids and Lord of Light are science fiction classics. I'm surprised that Bhodi is only reading them now.  Hasn't anyone recommended them in this thread yet?

[jth]

While browsing some book review sites I found a lot of praise for B. Justin Shier's "Zero Sight" and it's follow-up "Zero Sum". Read the first book some days ago and really liked it, I'm about halfway through the second book now. Someone described them being a mix of Dresden, The Kingkiller Chronicles and Harry Potter, which is a pretty accurate description.

The books are indie and only available as ebooks from Amazon and B&N, links can be found here.

[bhodi]

Day of the Triffids and Lord of Light are science fiction classics. I'm surprised that Bhodi is only reading them now.  Hasn't anyone recommended them in this thread yet?

Actually, no, search reveals nothing (Though it only goes 20-30 pages back)

There are so many books to read, they are one of those classics you know you should read but you never quite get to them until years after you should have. When I have nothing, I start working backwards on the hugo/nebula lists. Both of those were written decades before I was born. Generally, I stick to stuff in the last 30 years because everything before that feels incredibly dated.

[Reg]

Lord of Light has always been a particular favourite of mine. The Agnostic's Prayer is pure gold. 

[Johny Cee]

Lord of Light has always been a particular favourite of mine. The Agnostic's Prayer is pure gold. 

The Agnostic's Prayer is Creatures of Light and Darkness (which is another great Zelazny book), unless it was reprinted in Lord of Light? 

[Reg]

Ack! You're right! It must be time for a reread so I don't make anymore Zelazny errors.

[Johny Cee]

Ack! You're right! It must be time for a reread so I don't make anymore Zelazny errors.

I think the Agnostic's Prayer has been reprinted in marketing/cover blurb on other things...  according to wikipedia, it's been used by other authors as well.  I only read Creatures a year or two ago, and I know I had encountered it in other places.

It's not really appropriate for Lord of Light as the religions (which are important to the story) are admitted to be entirely cribbed form Earth religions....  yet with Sam, he freely admits that his number one acolyte may actually be the Buddha, and his actions moved Sam from a callous exploitation to honestly recognizing the importance of his stolen ideology.

To me, Lord of Light is one of THE major Scifi/fantasy books that everyone should read, right there with Dune or LOTR. 


Also Bhodi,  if you haven't read any Gene Wolfe yet.... you should.

[Murgos]

A lot of people like Gene Wolf and his unreliable narrator, and I can see how that should be intriguing (because I like when others do it) but every time I have tried to read one of his stories I end up feeling annoyed so I put it down and don't come back.  I don't know if it's just his writing style or if his narrator is just too unreliable.  Maybe I'll try again soon.

[proudft]

Devoured the new Stephen King book 11/22/63 over the last couple of days.  I was pleasantly surprised.  A lot of his quirks really came into their own in this one - even his 'and I would never see Fred alive again' tic is appropriate.

Hard to say anything that won't ruin it, but I was glued to it to continually see what happened next, which is kinda funny for a quasi-historical novel.

[dd0029]

While browsing some book review sites I found a lot of praise for B. Justin Shier's "Zero Sight" and it's follow-up "Zero Sum". Read the first book some days ago and really liked it, I'm about halfway through the second book now. Someone described them being a mix of Dresden, The Kingkiller Chronicles and Harry Potter, which is a pretty accurate description.

The books are indie and only available as ebooks from Amazon and B&N, links can be found here.

Surprisingly good, though the first book just stops and the second book is in desperate need of a copy editor.

[Ironwood]

200 pages in and Anathem is steadfastly refusing to be any good at all.

 

[ghost]

Devoured the new Stephen King book 11/22/63 over the last couple of days.  I was pleasantly surprised.  A lot of his quirks really came into their own in this one - even his 'and I would never see Fred alive again' tic is appropriate.

Hard to say anything that won't ruin it, but I was glued to it to continually see what happened next, which is kinda funny for a quasi-historical novel.

My wife just finished this and had a lot of good things to say about it.  She's typically fairly picky about her books, so I'm assuming that it's at least decent.  It's the next thing I'm going to read.