Return of the Book Thread

[Evildrider]

Went on a small spree at the bookstore a few days ago, and bought
Ender's Exile by Orson Scott Card
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson
Princeps' Fury by Jim Butcher
And a dictionary on Pirate lingo :P

Wanted to buy Turn Coat (latest Dresden book) but they didn't have it in paperback version, and I have all the other ones in paperback, so...*shrug*

Almost done reading Ender's Exile right now, and enjoying it greatly. The man can definitely write.

Turn Coat doesn't come out in paperback til the new book is released.  That's the usual M.O. for them at least.

[Johny Cee]

I've read Mieville's The City & The City, which is quite good.  Some speculative elements, but it's not really a genre book.  I find Mieville to be very hit or miss, at least for my tastes.  Loved The Scar but couldn't finish Perdido Street Station.

Brust's latest, Iorich, is good.  A pleasant 300ish pages that breezed right along.  The main mystery was kind of meh, but Vlad's dialogue is always fun and the interactions with Cawti and his son were very good.  I love the way the way a certain relationship is presented, in all it's mindfucking glory.  I hate to spoil it just in case, so I'll just say the discovery of the real identity of a certain person in Orca.

I love the fact that Vlad has never mentioned it again, though he will talk around it and he isn't above baiting certain characters about it.


Trying to read Halting State by Charles Stross.  This is the near future MMO book that involves a robbery of an in-world bank and the subsequent investigation by police, regulatory agencies, and various auditors. 

Just in the early going, but I keep getting dragged out of the book by errors, inconsistencies, and the bizarre world prognostications for 2017.  I think there's far too much "this would be cool to put in" and far too little educated extrapolation on current technology trends.

Probably my background makes me one of the people most likely to completely fail at suspension of disbelief, as well. 

[Xuri]

Turn Coat doesn't come out in paperback til the new book is released.  That's the usual M.O. for them at least.

Turn Coat, paperback: 2010 March 3
Meh!

[Cyrrex]

Started reading the third Malazan Empire book recently (Memories of Ice), and while I have to say that 2 was clearly better than 1, this third one seems to be vastly better than either.  I hope they stay of this quality, because the others have just been a tad too difficult to follow along (though I kept reading because I could sense the potential).

[dd0029]

Read John Scalzi's very short novella The God Engines.  Quite a bit different.  Very little of the customary wry humor.   A rather bleak story in all with a completely random sex scene.  I am not sure if I would call this science fantasy or supernatural science fiction, it does have an interesting foundational idea.  The gods duked it out in some previous time.  The victorious god now uses the defeated gods to power space ships, because really what else is there to do with them? You can read the first chapter on his site.  It was ok, but it's decidedly expensive for what it is.  I would recommend asking your library to get a copy of it unless you must have all things Scalzi.

[Quinton]

Started reading the third Malazan Empire book recently (Memories of Ice), and while I have to say that 2 was clearly better than 1, this third one seems to be vastly better than either.  I hope they stay of this quality, because the others have just been a tad too difficult to follow along (though I kept reading because I could sense the potential).

I'm getting near the end of the 8th book (just in time for the 9th to be available in paperback here), and have really enjoyed the series.  Every one's been a little different in some ways, and sometimes it's jarring to jump to another set of characters and locales for a book or so, but everything feels like it's converging in a good way.  Some of my favorite characters from some of the different locales are starting to run into each other, often with quite enjoyable results. 

[Vision]

I find myself unconsciously ticking off parts of the hero's journey in movies and TV that I watch.

I know exactly what you mean. It almost becomes a curse.

[Abagadro]

Robert B. Parker died yesterday. I'm going to drink a Heineken, hit the heavy bag, and shoot a chrome Colt Python .357 Magnum to pay my respects.

[Endie]

I finished Vile Bodies last night.  Simply too too smile-making.  Actually, I've never in all my life read a book where you could so clearly see the point at which the author, in their real life, went from being happy and carefree to being discontented and embittered.  It was hilarious, especially the race scene (during which I was laughing my head off), but the last chapter had me going "eh, what?"

I get the feeling I was supposed to read Decline and Fall first, though.

Trying to read Halting State by Charles Stross.  This is the near future MMO book that involves a robbery of an in-world bank and the subsequent investigation by police, regulatory agencies, and various auditors. 

Is that the one set in (or at least starting in) Edinburgh?  I bought it last year but packed it during the move shortly thereafter and have yet to find it again.

[Johny Cee]

Trying to read Halting State by Charles Stross.  This is the near future MMO book that involves a robbery of an in-world bank and the subsequent investigation by police, regulatory agencies, and various auditors. 

Is that the one set in (or at least starting in) Edinburgh?  I bought it last year but packed it during the move shortly thereafter and have yet to find it again.

Yes, that's it.  I've stalled out with about 1/4 of the book left.  The book doesn't know if it wants to be farce or a near future scifi thriller, and by bouncing between the two it defeats both plots. 

[ghost]

For those fans of Ender-

I liked the first one pretty well.  I thought it was a bit over rated, but the twist was nice.  I have tried getting into Speaker for the Dead but it just doesn't seem to grab my attention.  Does it pick up as you get more into it?  What about the rest of the series.  I own them, but again, having trouble with Speaker.

[Endie]

Trying to read Halting State by Charles Stross.  This is the near future MMO book that involves a robbery of an in-world bank and the subsequent investigation by police, regulatory agencies, and various auditors. 

Is that the one set in (or at least starting in) Edinburgh?  I bought it last year but packed it during the move shortly thereafter and have yet to find it again.

Yes, that's it.  I've stalled out with about 1/4 of the book left.  The book doesn't know if it wants to be farce or a near future scifi thriller, and by bouncing between the two it defeats both plots. 

Ah ok.  I picked it up when I saw where it was set and what the subject matter was, but it didn't grab me so I thought I'd pick it up later.  I'll still give it a try, though with suitably adjusted expectations.

[Samwise]

I liked the first one pretty well.  I thought it was a bit over rated, but the twist was nice.  I have tried getting into Speaker for the Dead but it just doesn't seem to grab my attention.  Does it pick up as you get more into it?  What about the rest of the series.  I own them, but again, having trouble with Speaker.

Yes, it definitely picks up as you get into it.  I seem to remember finding it slow going at first, but about a quarter of the way into it I ended up missing class for a day because I couldn't tear myself away.

[ghost]

I love the nerdrage over the new Dune books.  I'm sure I'll read this anyway, since I'm in the Dune pocket-protector club.

[Rishathra]

Nerdrage aside, the new books really are fucking awful.  I read all the way up until Sandworms of Dune, hoping that at some point it would get better, and I was genuinely curious about what they would do with the story post-Chapterhouse.  End result?  I am a nerd, filled with rage.

[Abagadro]

Ya, I am a huge Dune fan as it is my favorite series of all time and tried to read the first new one when it came out. Horrible.  Kevin J. Anderson is a total hack that destorys evwerything he touches.

[ghost]

I'm going through these again starting with Dune by listening to the Audiobooks as I drive.  I am going to do all of the ones I can get my hands on that way.  It is striking to me how well Dune is written.  If anything, it is underrated.  I like listening to the audiobook versions of my favorite books as I always find that I see things in a slightly different fashion. 

[Abagadro]

Dune is basically a perfect book in my opinion. It's impossible to find any real flaw with it. I know people pick apart the later ones in the series and that is fine, but I defy anyone to tell me how the first one could be improved.

[Engels]

I hear ya, Abo, but at the same time, I'm the variety of Dune nerd that thinks that the whole series hangs together as a whole. If you only read the first book, you're only getting a very marginal peek at the author's intent. At least from a philosophical point of view.

[Abagadro]

I agree with that. I love the whole series. I think the first one is a masterpiece while the later ones are "just" great books.

[ghost]

I struggle to find a book as well put together as Dune.  Maybe LOTR.  Certainly no new books.  And God Emperor, bless its soul, is a literary masterpiece as well.

The whole Kevin J. Anderson thing is tough.  Couldn't they have chosen a competent writer to come in and do this stuff?  I mean, Greg Bear or David Brin or somebody that has a fucking clue how to write?  I thought the B trio did a fairly decent job with the Asimov Foundation stuff.  Anderson is just a dolt, and yes I've read the entire goddamn Saga of the Seven Suns books.  They would have been decent if the motherfucker could write at all. 

So when it comes to the new Dune books......I guess I am over the fact that Anderson can't write and simply wonder if that was the story Herbert was trying to get to.  It certainly appears that way, from looking at parts of Chapterhouse.

[Johny Cee]

Dune is what a scifi masterwork should be.  The subsequent books were good, but just didn't have the same perfect mix of philosophy, intrigue, action, good villains and wonderfully sympathetic yet flawed protagonists.

Went on a bit of a Charlie Huston binge... picked up The Mystic Arts of Erasing All Signs of Death and Sleepless. 

[Engels]

The thing is, I believe Frank Herbert was a staggering genius, the likes of which only come around very very rarely. I still don't think we've really fully gotten our heads around what he was talking about in the book. The analysis of religion has such an amazing subtexts that it should be used as a seminal theological text in universities.

It was ridiculous to even try to continue the work, in the same way Homer's son-in-law would be foolish to try to do Illiad II: The Sandaling.

Oh, I'm currently reading Neal Stephenson's Anathem. It reads a bit better than my last attempt with the Baroque Cycle.

[Jayce]

I'm curious about the rest of the Dune books. I've read the first one at least once every few years since I picked it up probably 20 years ago. I could probably be happy serially reading it if it was the only book I had on a desert island.

I finally tried Dune Messiah last summer, expecting great things, but I was disappointed. It seemed like he was writing under the effects of equal portions of hubris and 60's era LSD, and I felt like it didn't hang together at all.  I don't even remember the point of the book. 

Do they get better?

[Abagadro]

In my mind, Messiah is a bit of a transition to Children of Dune and those three comprise somewhat of a trilogy (with God Emperor being its own story and Heretics/Chapterhouse being a duology).  So I think it suffers a bit with "middle book syndrome".  I like it, but I could see how some people would have some problems with it. If you don't buy into the issues with Alia it is out there. I'd definitely move onto Children of Dune though.

[Engels]

I think the issue is more nuanced than that. Dune is a novel. Well written, with flowing story arcs and a certain degree of turn-page-isness. After that, all conventional measures are off. If you felt that Dune Messiah was a bit off kilter, the remainder of the series wil make you positively sea-sick. Its a bit like Wagner. Just because you enjoy the Ride of the Valkieries doesn't mean you're going to like sitting through the Ring Cycle.

[NowhereMan]

I've only read Dune and Dune Messiah and it was something of a jump (got the books when I was younger and Messiah killed some of my enthusiasm for getting all the others). It was a really weird departure in terms of moving from, as has been said, a really brilliant novel that was definitely sci-fi but not bizarre to Messiah. I feel like I should try and tackle the whole series at some point, on the grounds that I can stop if my head starts hurting (I know the basic plot to the books and, well, it's out there so I'll have to see if the writing can sell it to me).

[Rishathra]

In my experience the worst thing about Messiah was that it came right after Dune.  It's a hard act to follow.  After the sixth or seventh time I read through the series - yeah, I'm a Dune nerd - I've come to appreciate it a lot more.  There's a lot of foreshadowing about the big philosophical issues Herbert tackles later in the series.  Ultimately, you realize it's pretty well written, just poorly positioned in the series. 

Another issue that I think throws lots of people off is the focus on one thing.  One of the major strengths of Dune was that it covered a lot of ideas and meshed them together well.  Subjects like religion, politics, ecology, and plain old action/adventure were all combined into a fascinating whole.  Messiah, however, was almost entirely just politics.

[Abagadro]

Dammit, this discussion is going to make me read it again and I have a bunch of other stuff to read. I usually read the whole series every 3-4 years or so and I'm about due anyways.

[Engels]

After the sixth or seventh time I read through the series - yeah, I'm a Dune nerd - I've come to appreciate it a lot more. 

I bow before you, Nerdus Maximus! Six times! I'm a rank newb.

[Rishathra]

You should see the shoulderpads we get.

[ghost]

You should see the shoulderpads we get.

I think if you do 10 you get some sort of cool codpiece.

[Arrrgh]

If you like Tehol and Bugg try Bauchelain and Korbal Broach: Three Short Novels of the Malazan Empire. It has the same sort of humor.

I want to pick those up soon.  Besides which, it's now January 2010!  Where's my next Malazan book at?!?!?!

They reprinted the first three in one volume for 10 bucks. 

[Khaldun]

I thought after Children, the series worked less well, though God Emperor was an interesting variation on some of the themes of the series. I haven't even bothered with the Anderson books, though, because it really does seem like letting a 3-year old play with a big bunch of knives.

[Grimwell]

Just finished reading Stephen King's latest, Under the Dome.

It was interesting enough, but a bit of a retread on things he has done before. The one thing that really stood out for me in the book was that it really lacked that sense of the other that King can actually do quite well. He created an interesting situation, people reacted as they tend to in his hands, and then it wrapped up in a neat Stephen King package; but it never really had  that special sauce that he can do well. I don't know how to define the mood he can hit, it's not really horror, dread, or foreboding... perhaps doom?

This book didn't have it. Nice read though.

and now... a challenge!

About three years ago someone told me about a book and I promptly forgot the name of the author, series, and characters.

The basic play of it was something like God comes down to earth when he tosses Adam and Eve out of Eden. Not as the all powerful creator, but as the "Hey, let's see what happens next!" friend along for the ride.

My memory tells me it was done by someone who's known for fantasy/sci-fi normally.

Any help?