Return of the Book Thread

[Sky]

Yeah, I liked Carrion Comfort, too. The only horror I read is Lovecraft, though. I never got how my supervisor could read Tolkein over and over until once he saw me reading Lovecraft and asked how many times I'd read that one. Like most movies, I like the idea of horror better than teh execution. So few good horror movies or books imo, way too easy to take it to cheese levels.

[HaemishM]

I am actually getting into reading again. I like horror novels and mystery stuff. Any suggestions?

I can't suggest Clive Barker highly enough, especially the Books of Blood short story collections. You can order the first collection from Amazon and the second from Amazon UK. (Books of Blood Omnibus)

I never got the Clive Barker love. Nothing I've read by him has in anyway made me think more than "meh."

[Margalis]

Have you read the Books of Blood? His novels are a lot more uneven.

[HaemishM]

I've read Hellraiser and Imagin-something or other. Neither were terrible, but neither were they really all that memorable. I liked the Lord of Illusion movie more than what I read in those books.

[HAMMER FRENZY]

Does Chuck Palahniuk count as Horror?

Hahah, I think not, but I have read all his books. I really love his stuff. My fem-bot is currently reading his stuff.

I recently have been reading Ruins by Scott Smith. It is a pretty good read. I was entertained the whole way through, in a helplessly stranded sort of way. It was fun. I will probably read his other book A Simple Plan.

Anyone know of any good mystery or crime fiction novels I could get into? I really like that a lot too.

[Margalis]

For crime fiction I like Andrew Vachss a lot.

Haem, you should really try the Books of Blood. One of the last stories is related to Lord of Illusions, and the basis for Candyman is in there as well. I am not a fan of Clive Barker's "dark fantasy" stuff really either, I read one book by him and didn't pick up another one for 5 years.

[Johny Cee]

Does Chuck Palahniuk count as Horror?

Hahah, I think not, but I have read all his books. I really love his stuff. My fem-bot is currently reading his stuff.

I recently have been reading Ruins by Scott Smith. It is a pretty good read. I was entertained the whole way through, in a helplessly stranded sort of way. It was fun. I will probably read his other book A Simple Plan.

Anyone know of any good mystery or crime fiction novels I could get into? I really like that a lot too.

If you've never read Wiseguys,  you should go pick it up.  It's the story of Henry Hill that Scorsese adapted to make the movie "Goodfellas".  Lots of the narration in the movie is directly lifted word for word from quoted interviews in the book.

[Margalis]

So I started reading a Ramsey Campbell collection of short stories. This is the first book I've read where I want to put it down based on the preface, which read like a grocery list. The first story is absolutely awful, a tedious Lovecraft ripoff that read like an obvious fourth rate knockoff.

The stories are in chronological order (I think) so I might skip to the middle. Certainly not an author who burst on the scene with an invigoratingly fresh take. The preface admits that the first story is quite bad; makes you question the wisdom of the ordering.

[MrHat]

I just finished Cryptonomicon and I'm so glad I managed to push through the page 200-250 hump (I have a notoriously short attention span).  Damn fine read.

[Sky]

Crypto was good, but I can't pierce Quicksilver. Too much cheese. Like everyone the main character influences ends up being some major influential scientist. Oh, and the boy following me around? Ben Franklin. That boy with the quick wit? Isaac Newton. It just starts to push the boundaries of imagination way too far imo. I like historical fiction, but it reads more like a historical farce.

Picked up Snow Crash again, at least the quality of writing is higher.

[WayAbvPar]

If you can get through the first 'book' of Quicksilver, things pick up noticeably when Jack and Eliza take center stage. The Waterhouse story was just dull, but had some damned funny dry humor sprinkled in.

[Sky]

I did like that about the Waterhouses in Crypto. Actually how he kinda varied the writing for each character was one of my favorite things outside the fun rambles. I just picked up the third baroque book at the supermarket for $5 hardcover. Figured if I never make it that far I can donate it to the library, couldn't pass up the deal. They also had the last Jordan book for $5...could pass up the deal, but still almost bought it for the library.

[Viin]

If you can get through the first 'book' of Quicksilver, things pick up noticeably when Jack and Eliza take center stage. The Waterhouse story was just dull, but had some damned funny dry humor sprinkled in.

That's good to know, I hadn't started the next book yet because Quicksilver took way too long to read.

[Rishathra]

It took me about a year and a half to get through the first "book" in Quicksilver.  Then three weeks for the whole rest of the series.

Any part of the books that involved Jack Shaftoe was golden.

I found that the best way to enjoy the Baroque Cycle was to have at least some knowledge of the historical era involved.  Stephenson takes little to no time explaining the context of a lot of the things going on around the characters.  Personally, this ended up being a benefit, not a hindrance, because it motivated me to learn more about that time.  And it's not like you have to become a scholar of Late Seventeenth Century European History either.  A few enjoyable hours of delving through wikipedia entries brought the whole story in to much greater focus.

[Murgos]

Stephenson has said that he tried to be as accurate as possible about who was where when and what they were doing for the historical figures he used.  I thought that added a LOT of depth and interest to the story.

[Margalis]

Well the Ramsey Campbell book isn't getting any better. I really dislike it. He writes ghost stories. His language use is very annoying, it's descriptive yet not evocative at all, the individual word choice is peculiar and repetitive. There are always seas of grass and moss and lichens and heather and dampness etc etc. The last line of a couple of stories have been basically non-sequitors, twist or shock endings barely related to the content of the story.

His approach to both violence and sexuality is rather juvenile, especially coming off of Barker. By juvenile I mean he seems to be holding back, as if his stories were aimed at teens and below.

[Johny Cee]

Well the Ramsey Campbell book isn't getting any better. I really dislike it. He writes ghost stories. His language use is very annoying, it's descriptive yet not evocative at all, the individual word choice is peculiar and repetitive. There are always seas of grass and moss and lichens and heather and dampness etc etc. The last line of a couple of stories have been basically non-sequitors, twist or shock endings barely related to the content of the story.

His approach to both violence and sexuality is rather juvenile, especially coming off of Barker. By juvenile I mean he seems to be holding back, as if his stories were aimed at teens and below.

I tried to read some of Lumley's books....  same general problem.  I did enjoy the first Necroscope book,  but the generally awful short story collection turned me off.

I really liked The Dark Chamber.  Wierd fiction,  with alot of elements that stradle the boundry between psychological and cosmic supernatural.  Nothing overtly supernatural,  so you can read it as just a bunch of people slowly going insane.

Dates from 1927 (and doesn't feel dated at all),  so not really new horror....

[Margalis]

Like NBC said about summer re-runs: "If you haven't seen it, it's new to you!"

[Johny Cee]

Recently finished:

A Fighter's Heart by Sam Sheridan - Sheridan is a sort of rootless Harvard grad and sometime journalist who engages in odd wanderings (don't think many Harvard grads join the Merchant Marine for a tour after graduation...).  The book covers what basically is investigative journalism into muay thi camps,  mixed martial arts,  amateur/pro boxing,  and even hits dog fighting and cock fighting.  Wants to understand why people do these kinds of things.  He goes about it by participating.  He was on the Daily Show this winter pimping the book.

Thirteen, by Richard K. Morgan (it was titled Black Man in the UK, I believe) --  Meh.  Really, really, really retreads Morgan's first book,  Altered Carbon.  Not much new here,  and what is new is pretty mediocre.

The Devil You Know, by Mike Carey -- Meh.  Noirish detective/exorcist.  Not alot that's really gripping.  The author is a comics guy who worked on some of the John Constantine books (along with Lucifer and one of the Xmen books),  and it kind of feels like rewarmed Constantine (the little of it I've read).  The best thing I can say about it is it doesn't turn into vampire erotica halfway through.

A pile of Warhammer omnibuses as fun reading.

Reread Cook's "Garrett" books.

A collection of Howard's "Kull" short stories.  Alright,  but not at the same level as Conan.  Conan stories can hit some decent notes about barbarism vs. civilization.

Medieval Warfare - History on the Hundred Years War, War of the Roses, that time period.

A New World, by Micheal Stackpole - Finishes up the trilogy set up in A Secret Atlas and Cartomancy.  Was alright.  Stackpole consistently has some interesting ideas and a couple of neat characters with a couple of great plot points,  and inconsistent delivery.

A bio on Milton Friedman.

Working on:

Almost done a book on the Peloponnesian War.  I put it aside for a month or two after burning through 2/3 of it fairly quickly.

Finishing up some light reading on Rome.

A book on Blackbeard.  Pirates, gar!

Have Modesitt's first Recluce book to start,  along with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.  Somehow missed Stranger when I burned through Heinlein's stuff a couple years ago.

Been eyeing the biography of Cicero that came out a couple years ago.  Got some decent press.

[Margalis]

Well I'm done with Ramsey Campbell, read a bit more, didn't get any better.

Moving on to the complete book of Cordwainer Smith short stories, which I know kick ass.

[Chimpy]

Have Modesitt's first Recluce book to start,  along with Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land.  Somehow missed Stranger when I burned through Heinlein's stuff a couple years ago.

Stranger in a Strange Land is definitely one, if not the absolute best, of Heinlein's work. And I enjoy pretty much any Heinlein. If you enjoyed more than 50% of what you read of his you should really like it.


I just re-read the Hyperion Cantos. Had been a few years since I had read them. The fact that the pace of the first half of Hyperion is so difficult for me to handle (I can only read about 20-40 pages before getting tired and falling asleep, which is a rarity for me) but I still finish and really love the book speaks volumes for the quality of Simmons' work. Now I need to go back to the library and pick up the other 2 books, yeah I know they are not as good but I like them anyway and will feel like I short changed myself if I don't read them now.

[Morat20]

Crypto was good, but I can't pierce Quicksilver. Too much cheese. Like everyone the main character influences ends up being some major influential scientist. Oh, and the boy following me around? Ben Franklin. That boy with the quick wit? Isaac Newton. It just starts to push the boundaries of imagination way too far imo. I like historical fiction, but it reads more like a historical farce.

Picked up Snow Crash again, at least the quality of writing is higher.

For the most part, it's pretty much supposed to be like that -- the Enlightment, and the natural philosophers behind it, did congregate together -- and everyone DID influence everyone else, often pretty directly. The whole point of Waterhouse (the point of ALL the Waterhouses Stephenson writes about) is to be there as a concrete example of historical influences. Waterhouse -- in all the books -- is more of a living witness to history and fame, never an actual actor in his own right. So while Franklin's a bit of a stretch (although to be honest, it's not that that big a one if you think about it), the rest aren't. All these movers and shakers knew each other, went to school with each other, and spent their lives collaborating with each other.

[Endie]

For the most part, it's pretty much supposed to be like that -- the Enlightment, and the natural philosophers behind it, did congregate together -- and everyone DID influence everyone else, often pretty directly.

This is exactly right: to take Edinburgh as an example in the second half of the 18th century - at the time a very small city where everyone of note lived within a mile of each other at most, and a couple of hundred yards in general - you could have gone to the Old College or the Poker Club and bumped into Adam Ferguson (founder of sociology), David Hume (philosopher), Adam Smith (founder of modern economics), Robert Adam (architect), James Hutton (first modern geologist), Boswell, Thomas Reid (philosopher) Raeburn (artist), Watt (inventor of the steam engine), Joseph Black (physicist and chemist), Robert Burns and quite literally thirty or so other giants in new fields of learning, law and the arts.

And to pluck an example from Sky's post, Benjamin Franklin turn up in Edinburgh to sample this extraordinary concentration of intellectual endeavour, probably unmatched since Athens of the 5th and 4th century.  So you can get at worst a second-degree connection from Franklin to everyone in the Scottish Enlightenment and ensuing period of development, from Burns right through to Napier, Walter Scott, Lord Kelvin and more.

[Sky]

Not the Waterhouse chapters, they're fine. The Enoch Root chapters bug me. I always thought he was a weak character in Crypto as well, and now he's responsible (RESPONSIBLE) for Ben Franklin and Issac Newton's enlightenment? That's where my credibility is stretched, and it's very early in the book.

Actually his chapters are ok, it's just that angle of the story that really bugs me for some reason. Him showing up in Puritan New England as an enlightened guy with swords is cooler than most of his action in Crypto.

[MrHat]

His part in Crypto was the only part that bugged me in the book.  I just figured that the Erudite group he belongs to just always has somebody called Enoch Root.  Like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

[HaemishM]

Finished Royal Blood, the book about the two "maybe murdered" princes at the end of the War of the Roses. A decent book, but it spent way too much time talking about hypotheticals and the evidence that MIGHT have made the hypothetical situations credible, but then never bothered to actually take a stand on which scenario the author believed most likely.

Finished Camus' The Fall. Fantastic book that would never ever ever get the kind of acclaim or probably even get published in today's literature world.

Started on Bismarck, The Man and the Statesman because Bismarck and German unification is one subject in history that I know fuckall about thanks to my shitty public school history education.

[Endie]

Started on Bismarck, The Man and the Statesman because Bismarck and German unification is one subject in history that I know fuckall about thanks to my shitty public school history education.

Paradoxically it's the one subject just about everyone who ever did history to higher level in Scotland does know about.

If we're allowed to mention stuff that isn't genre fiction, I read Young Stalin, by Simon Sebag Montefiore, last month.  It completely rewrites peoples' understanding of Stalin in the early days, showing what a hatchet job Trotsky did of him (arf).  He's painted as a very good poet (one of his admirers liked his poetry enough to let him rob his bank), a brilliant leader of horrendously dangerous men, a genuine pirate who then killed the rest of his crew, stole the loot and took it across the Caucasus on mule-back to fund the revolution, quoting his own poetry on the way.  A murdering bastard who was also terrifyingly charismatic.

On a less highbrow level, I've been readin S.M. Stirling's Island in the Ocean of Time series, which is kinda fun but ridiculously glib about the difficulties of a small group applying modern book-larnin' in a bronze-age environment.  It gets a bit daft when he heads off to the eastern mediterranean at the time of the Trojan war, and restages Rorke's drift scene-for-scene with Americans against fertile-crescent troops.  I've also started reading the Sharpe series, since I love trashy Napoleonic-war military series.  Sharpe's Eagle, the first, is a little formulaic, of course, but great on a yarn level, and more original than the range of Hornblower-inspired naval novels (which I love nonethteless).

[HaemishM]

Shit, that Stalin book sounds awesome. Amazon says it isn't even out in the US until October. I must remember it.

[WayAbvPar]

Shit, that Stalin book sounds awesome. Amazon says it isn't even out in the US until October. I must remember it.

All about the Wish list, young padawan.

[Endie]

Shit, that Stalin book sounds awesome. Amazon says it isn't even out in the US until October. I must remember it.

It is actually a pretty awesome read.  He also fucks just about everything that moves; has a sociopathic sidekick who, without irony, begs to be allowed to cut peoples' chests open and pull out their hearts with his bare hands (and sometimes gets to, as a treat); joins companies like Rothschilds refinery and starts fires the next day; escapes from Siberia on a regular basis...  The tricky thing with Hitler is keeping yourself awake through descriptions of his tawdry early existence.  With Stalin, it's trying not to sneakingly admire him.

[Johny Cee]

Shit, that Stalin book sounds awesome. Amazon says it isn't even out in the US until October. I must remember it.

It is actually a pretty awesome read.  He also fucks just about everything that moves; has a sociopathic sidekick who, without irony, begs to be allowed to cut peoples' chests open and pull out their hearts with his bare hands (and sometimes gets to, as a treat); joins companies like Rothschilds refinery and starts fires the next day; escapes from Siberia on a regular basis...  The tricky thing with Hitler is keeping yourself awake through descriptions of his tawdry early existence.  With Stalin, it's trying not to sneakingly admire him.

I'll definitely keep my eyes open for this one when it comes out here. 

In sort of the same vein,  anyone read the "Joe Steele" short story by Harry Turtledove?  Basically,  a "what if" Stalin's family had immigrated to the US and he ended up running for President.

[Sky]

All about the Wish list, young padawan.

The Wish List is a magical thing. It has made family xmas totally bearable. Dating a librarian has taught me list-fu I could only have imagined a couple years ago.

Also, I went to Amazon's listing after fye.com wiped out half their database, including about six years of my wishlist for music I had painstakingly researched, in a website upgrade. I emailed them so they could pull it from their backups...they didn't have any for the customer lists. Then they had the balls to say "I hope you will continue to shop at fye.com!" I went all Haemmy on them. Seriously, fuck those guys.

[Ironwood]

His part in Crypto was the only part that bugged me in the book.  I just figured that the Erudite group he belongs to just always has somebody called Enoch Root.  Like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Er.  That's not how I read it at all.

Indeed, if that's the case it has now ruined ANY point to the story.

[HaemishM]

Shit, that Stalin book sounds awesome. Amazon says it isn't even out in the US until October. I must remember it.

All about the Wish list, young padawan.

Wow, I'd completely forgotten about the Wish List. I R SMURT.

[MrHat]

His part in Crypto was the only part that bugged me in the book.  I just figured that the Erudite group he belongs to just always has somebody called Enoch Root.  Like the Dread Pirate Roberts.

Er.  That's not how I read it at all.

Indeed, if that's the case it has now ruined ANY point to the story.

Explain please?