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Author Topic: Return of the Book Thread  (Read 1286278 times)
Murgos
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Reply #175 on: August 23, 2006, 01:56:40 PM

Just finished "The Algebraist" by Iain M Banks.  Not as good as some of his other works but still a pretty good read.


Same here.  It confused me at first beacause I thought it would be a Culture book and it took a while to adapt to the different way of things working.

It was still pretty interesting.  Banks is one of the few remaining Sci-fi authors who follow the old model of using Sci-Fi as a way to explore social problems.

"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
Morat20
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Reply #176 on: August 23, 2006, 03:09:53 PM

Just finished "The Algebraist" by Iain M Banks.  Not as good as some of his other works but still a pretty good read.


Same here.  It confused me at first beacause I thought it would be a Culture book and it took a while to adapt to the different way of things working.

It was still pretty interesting.  Banks is one of the few remaining Sci-fi authors who follow the old model of using Sci-Fi as a way to explore social problems.
I'm a big fan of Banks, which is probably fairly obvious. Odd, though -- asked to name my favorite contemporary authors, and they're all from the UK. Pratchett, Gaiman, Banks.....
Morat20
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Reply #177 on: August 23, 2006, 03:13:58 PM

The next book is pretty good.  Good windup to the story.

I'll warn you that the Endymion books are not nearly to the same level,  but pretty good.

If you've just read The Illiad,  Simmons' Illium is pretty good.  I haven't motivated enough to read the next book, though...  Olympos.
My problem with Simmons -- and it extends to Olympus is that the first book is always good. It's cool, it's mysterious, it's awesome. And then he explains it all, and it sucks.

I'd have preferred to end with Ilium. Achilles' response to Zeus was classic. :)
Johny Cee
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Reply #178 on: August 23, 2006, 04:49:57 PM

The next book is pretty good.  Good windup to the story.

I'll warn you that the Endymion books are not nearly to the same level,  but pretty good.

If you've just read The Illiad,  Simmons' Illium is pretty good.  I haven't motivated enough to read the next book, though...  Olympos.
My problem with Simmons -- and it extends to Olympus is that the first book is always good. It's cool, it's mysterious, it's awesome. And then he explains it all, and it sucks.

I'd have preferred to end with Ilium. Achilles' response to Zeus was classic. :)

The Fall of Hyperion was very good as well.  Partially because it seemed to leave society at a new crossroads,  with no idea how things were going to go from there.

Both the Endymion books were much worse,  though still readable and fairly entertaining.  The religion lines were especially mediocre.

Almost done Ambrose's Band of Brothers.  Watched the miniseries one too many times on the History Channel.  Entertaining.  Also working on a history of the Byzantine state, Twenty Years After (sequel to The Three Musketeers), and getting back into a history book on the barbarian invasions of Rome compiled from the lecture notes of a early 20th century professor.
Strazos
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Reply #179 on: August 24, 2006, 04:41:14 AM

Just finished RR Martin's Game of Thrones. I found it to be quite excellent. I guess I'll have to catass the rest of the series.

Fear the Backstab!
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Johny Cee
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Reply #180 on: August 24, 2006, 07:19:07 PM

Just finished RR Martin's Game of Thrones. I found it to be quite excellent. I guess I'll have to catass the rest of the series.

Heh....  I enjoyed the series,  but not enough to reread it.

There's a big correlation between liking Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" and Erkison's "Malazan" books.
Xerapis
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Reply #181 on: August 24, 2006, 08:42:05 PM

Nothing wrong with rereading Song of Fire and Ice.  I've done it a couple of times, actually.

I'm rereading Erikson now, though.  Just started back into Bonehunters.

And yeah, I'd have to agree about the correlation between the two.

I like Erikson a little more only because Martin is taking way too long to write these days.

And they both make Jordan and Goodkind look like rank amateurs.

..I want to see gamma rays. I want to hear x-rays. I want to...smell dark matter...and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me...
Sky
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Reply #182 on: August 25, 2006, 06:24:11 AM

I couldn't even finish Goodkin's first book. Garbage. I've tried to get back into Jordan a couple times now, but I can't make it through his first book anymore. I think I read up to book 7 or so originally. They are so popular, I have most in hardcover through discards from the library (we get a lot in donations and can't take them all, $1 hardcover ftw).

I have one more to get to in Rosenberg's series, that series has gotten severely stale and gone in the direction of bland mainstream fantasy. He should have had Deighton bring another group through or something, anything, to keep the feel of the original books, as the cool part of his books wasn't the fantasy world so much as real world people dealing with it and growing as characters. Ah, well.

Finished the Silver Spike over vacation and I'm into the first book of the South now (Cook). Cook kicks ass eight ways to wednesday.

In non-fic, I'm reading a great book on the science of music called This Is Your Brain On Music by Daniel J. Levitin. Did you know there are hardwired points in the brain to identify pitch? A 440Hz A tone has it's own place in the brain. But we don't know how the brain breaks down intervals and chords. Fun read.
Murgos
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Reply #183 on: August 25, 2006, 06:58:16 AM

Personally, I think the first and second books of the south are pretty weak compared to the preceeding three books and SS but Bleak Seasons (book 7)  is as strong as anything he's done.

"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
Sky
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Reply #184 on: August 25, 2006, 07:20:34 AM

Well, it's definitely doing some transitioning, but I'm enjoying it. Introducing the Nar and Wheezer is pretty nifty. The clash of the two strains of Black Company, coming together to kick ass. Old Taken popping up.
murdoc
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Reply #185 on: August 25, 2006, 09:58:59 AM

I'm reading the books of the South now too (Brust is my train to work books, Black Company is my home reading). I'm enjoying them, but not as much as I enjoyed the books of the north.

Things are picking up though, so I have hope.

I've reread 'A Song of Ice and Fire' 3 times now. Most recently just before 'A Feast for Crows'. LOVE LOVE LOVE that series. Will reread again when 'A Dance with Dragons' is about to be released.

Have you tried the internet? It's made out of millions of people missing the point of everything and then getting angry about it
Johny Cee
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Reply #186 on: August 25, 2006, 04:37:50 PM

Well, it's definitely doing some transitioning, but I'm enjoying it. Introducing the Nar and Wheezer is pretty nifty. The clash of the two strains of Black Company, coming together to kick ass. Old Taken popping up.

Shadow Games is interesting because it's the transition from Croaker from annalist (closet romantic/idealist, and chief moral voice in the company) to Croaker as Captain....

Croaker as Captain is a scary guy.

I've always liked Bleak Seasons, She is the Darkness, and Water SleepsSoldiers Live is good, but...  such an anticlimatic book.
Murgos
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Reply #187 on: August 25, 2006, 05:06:36 PM

I wont go very far with this because I don't want to spoil anything for Sky and whoever else is reading the series but one of the things I really like about the series is the different voices of the annalists.  Cook is one of the few writers that is capable of changing the entire tone of the narrative depending on whose voice he's using.  A lot of writers try to do different voices but they all sound sort of the same (Jordan for instance).  There are very solid differences between Croaker and the other annalists.

You practically have to read between the lines with Croaker to understand whats really going on, Case is matter of fact and has a good sense of humor but no where near Croakers dead pan sarcasm or sense of the big picture. 


"You have all recieved youre last warning. I am in the process of currently tracking all of youre ips and pinging your home adressess. you should not have commencemed a war with me" - Aaron Rayburn
Strazos
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Reply #188 on: August 26, 2006, 04:49:14 PM

Yeah, I noticed a very distinct similarity between the prose of Martin and Jordan, with the chief difference being that something happens in seemingly every chapter of Martin's book, while Jordan drags everything out for a few hundred pages, whether it's something as important as a character learning something about themselves, or as simplistic as eating breakfast and breaking camp.

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Megrim
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Reply #189 on: August 27, 2006, 03:39:12 AM

Finished Tariq Ali's The Clash of Fundamentalisms, now moving onto Joinville & Villeharouin's The chronicles of the Crusades. For those of you battling on the Ret... erm, Politics board - if you've not read Ali's work, i highly recommend you do. Also looking for good stuff that's related to anthropology.

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Lt.Dan
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Reply #190 on: August 27, 2006, 03:51:38 PM

Just finished "The Algebraist" by Iain M Banks.  Not as good as some of his other works but still a pretty good read.


Same here.  It confused me at first beacause I thought it would be a Culture book and it took a while to adapt to the different way of things working.

It was still pretty interesting.  Banks is one of the few remaining Sci-fi authors who follow the old model of using Sci-Fi as a way to explore social problems.

When I started it I wondered if I had read it before.  The initial plot was was pretty similar to Consider Philbeas.
Sky
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Reply #191 on: August 28, 2006, 06:29:52 AM

Croaker as Captain is a scary guy.
I just caught up on a couple Deadwoods off the DVR on Sunday, then dove back into Shadow Games. Croaker's narrative was imagined as having Al Swearingen's voice. It was pretty cool.
Morat20
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Reply #192 on: August 28, 2006, 07:14:23 AM

When I started it I wondered if I had read it before.  The initial plot was was pretty similar to Consider Philbeas.
Banks once talked about movie adaptations of his films, and said that Consider Phlebas was at the top of his list -- and he didn't care if the whole damn thing sucked balls, as long as one scene was done right -- the Clear Air Turbulence's escape from the GSV bay. I've got to admit, I'd pay money to see that too.
Johny Cee
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Reply #193 on: August 28, 2006, 05:04:49 PM

Cook's A Cruel Wind is released this week.  The original Dread Empire trilogy from the '70s, and the grand-daddy of all "dark fantasy"/realistic fantasy.

Steven Erikson has released the prologue from Reaper's Gale,  Book 7 of the Malazan series.  Link here.  Formatting on that page isn't great.  Supposedly, the entire manuscript has been turned over to the advance readers for impressions,  and may be at the publishers now.
Xerapis
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Reply #194 on: August 28, 2006, 07:32:10 PM

Johny, I love you!!!

Thanks for providing that link, seriously.  I love the Malazan series!!!!!

Hell, I even signed up at amazon.co.uk JUST to get Bonehunters earlier.

Hmm....I'm a book fanboi.  How tragic.

..I want to see gamma rays. I want to hear x-rays. I want to...smell dark matter...and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me...
Johny Cee
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Reply #195 on: August 28, 2006, 08:33:01 PM

On the Malazan series:

I've been meaning to pickup Esselmont's book/s.  A long-time friend of Erikson,  he helped in building the Malazan world.  Esselmont is writing a series of standalone one-shot books on various big events in the Malazan world.  The first,  Night of Knives, is out now from an independant publisher and details the night the Emperor and Dancer are assassinated.

If you browse through the Malazan Forums, watch out for Kallor's posts.  The guy is an advance reader for Erikson,  and likes to drop teasers and tidbits meant to stir up the fanbois to madness.

A taste of his ways:

He's already dropping hints that there's a big character death in Reapers Gale.  He also likes to update his sig with a few lines from unpublished books meant to cause mass speculation on the plots of unreleased books.
Johny Cee
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Reply #196 on: August 28, 2006, 09:29:32 PM

At Strazos:

If you like Martin's "Song of Fire and Ice" try Erikson's Deadhouse Gates.  Second book in the series,  but the first two books are largely standalone.  Deadhouse is a better read then Gardens of the Moon, the first book.  Really an amazing book.

Gardens starts at a quick pace, and there's alot of undercurrents in it.  It makes alot more sense when you've been introduced to the series by something else.
Xerapis
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Reply #197 on: August 28, 2006, 10:03:31 PM

So true, Johny.

I have discovered the evil of the Kallor :P

And all must worship at the altar of Deadhouse Gates.  That's a book I could just keep rereading all the time.

..I want to see gamma rays. I want to hear x-rays. I want to...smell dark matter...and feel the solar wind of a supernova flowing over me...
Arrrgh
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Reply #198 on: August 29, 2006, 04:53:17 AM

Gardens of the Moon, good.

Deadhouse Gates, better.

Memories of Ice, one of the best I've ever read.

Don't give up on the series if Gardens of the Moon doesn't grab you right away.
Raph
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Reply #199 on: August 29, 2006, 09:26:30 AM

THought you guys would like to know that while at WorldCon, I:

- ate breakfast next to Larry Niven
- cleaned spilled coffee off of Harlan Ellison
- stood next to George R. R. Martin and didn't pester him about when the next book is coming out
- stalked John Scalzi
- had dinner with Nancy Kress
- shared a table with Peter Beagle
- chatted videogames with Todd McCaffrey for a good 45 minutes
- signed next to John deChancie
- discovered Pat Cadigan is a UO fan

It's amazing to compare how accessible creators are in the SF world versus in the gaming world.
Rasix
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Reply #200 on: August 29, 2006, 09:28:59 AM


- stood next to George R. R. Martin and didn't pester him about when the next book is coming out


You are a stronger man than I. 

-Rasix
WayAbvPar
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Reply #201 on: August 29, 2006, 10:32:16 AM

Quote
It's amazing to compare how accessible creators are in the SF world versus in the gaming world.

Probably because most books don't have official forums  :-D

When speaking of the MMOG industry, the glass may be half full, but it's full of urine. HaemishM

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HaemishM
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Reply #202 on: August 29, 2006, 11:21:43 AM

- cleaned spilled coffee off of Harlan Ellison

You disappoint me, since you didn't immediately follow this sentence with the phrase "before stabbing him in the eye with my salad fork."

bhodi
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Reply #203 on: August 30, 2006, 01:16:12 PM

You disappoint me, since you didn't immediately follow this sentence with the phrase "before stabbing him in the eye with my salad fork."
He may have a caustic personality and some backwards ideas about the internets and copyrights, but you can't deny his contribution to 'speculative fiction'.
HaemishM
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Reply #204 on: August 30, 2006, 03:05:05 PM

I'm a loudmouth douchebag as well, but no one is lauding my contributions to speculative fiction.

bhodi
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No lie.


Reply #205 on: August 30, 2006, 08:04:59 PM

I'm a loudmouth douchebag as well, but no one is lauding my contributions to speculative fiction.
You haven't won 8.5 hugos, 3 nebulas, 5 bram stokers, and 4 writer's guild most outstanding teleplays. Yet.
« Last Edit: August 30, 2006, 08:10:06 PM by bhodi »
Triforcer
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Reply #206 on: August 30, 2006, 09:59:33 PM

I've just started to get into the Xanth series.  I've read the first couple books, and so far I haven't found any references to having sex with children (this board has given me to understand Mr. Anthony brings this up a lot).  Wait, there was the scene where the illusionist lady took many forms to seduce Bink and one was of a 14 year old... tongue

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Reg
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Reply #207 on: August 31, 2006, 12:17:32 AM

Stop now while you're still enjoying it. The Xanth series just gets worse with each novel after the first two or three.
bhodi
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No lie.


Reply #208 on: August 31, 2006, 07:21:27 AM

Yeah, he has something about underage sex on the brain. He gets asked pretty regularly in interviews, and he denies it, and when asked specifically about the girl in his mode series and others, he states that he's writing about people who act in a natural fashion, and also says he doesn't feel 18 is an appropriate age for arbitrary legal intimate relationships, and doesn't see anything wrong with younger if the circumstances are approrpriate. Some of this may be slightly wrong, since I'm doing it from memory, unable to pull up the exact interview I'm thinking about.

Also, dear god man. Get thee to a web designer!

Oh, hey, according to wikipedia he finally wrote another mode book in 2001. I guess I should re-read the series, I kinda liked it.
« Last Edit: August 31, 2006, 07:23:39 AM by bhodi »
HaemishM
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Reply #209 on: August 31, 2006, 09:26:48 AM

I've just started to get into the Xanth series.  I've read the first couple books, and so far I haven't found any references to having sex with children (this board has given me to understand Mr. Anthony brings this up a lot).  Wait, there was the scene where the illusionist lady took many forms to seduce Bink and one was of a 14 year old... tongue

Read Firefly (not a Xanth novel). You'll lose all desire to ever read anything he writes again.

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