Return of the Book Thread

[RhyssaFireheart]

On a side note, I have no idea what possessed me to recommend to my pregnant wife that she should read this.   Hormones + Children killing Children =  hormonal sobbing and blaming me for it

Oo yeah, bad call.  Going to need plenty of ice cream to make up for that rec.

I need to hit up the library again soon to pick up some new books to read.  I'm getting tired of picking over my own library and rereading series (currently on the Cheysuli series by Jennifer Roberson).  I want something new and I'm going to see if I can find several of the books mentioned in this thread.

[Reg]

I hear the Black Company books by Glen Cook are quite good!

[bhodi]

When it's recommended by Ironwood, you've got to read it!

[RhyssaFireheart]

 

Black Company books are out.  I checked the last time I was at the library and they didn't have them.

[Johny Cee]

Black Company books are out.  I checked the last time I was at the library and they didn't have them.

Have you read any Bujold?  The library should have a pretty good collection of  her works, as she sells well and is tied for most Hugo nominations with Heinlein (I think).

Her Miles Vorkosigan space opera series is entertaining, and I really loved two of her fantasy books:  Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls.  Standalone books, though a couple of minor characters from Curse are main characters in Paladin.  Of the books in the Miles series, the two prequels that follow Miles' mother collected in Shards of Honor are probably my favorite.

[Viin]

1 of: Felaheen [Paperback]
By: Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Doh!  Sorry Morfiend.  Pashazade is the first book.

Good recommendation here. Just finished Pashazade and Effendi, started Felaheen last night. Reminds me a bit of the Dresden books, but with less magic and more tech + crazy middle-eastern culture.

[Ard]

Hrm, relevant to my interests.  Bookmarked for later.

I started reading the Swords and Dark Magic fantasy compilation that someone linked a long while back.  About halfway through, and it's proving a pretty solid read, even the stuff from the majority of authors I hadn't heard of.  I just wish Moorcock's story hadn't been more Elric though, his non-Elric fantasy is almost more interesting most of the time.  Cook's black company short story takes place back at the beginning of the series, and felt kinda phoned in.  If that's someone else's sole reason for wanting to get this, I can't recommend it for that one.  The rest of it has been pretty solid and interesting so far though.

[dd0029]

Someone, somewhere recommended Elizabeth Moon's Vatta's War series. 

The first one was kind of good.  Then, things just went downhill, rapidly.  Too much suspension of disbelief required combined with whiplash from the changes between the intensely personal, in the context of this series, and the shoot 'em up space opera bits.  Oh, and the prevalence of high functioning sociopaths is a bit much.  Dexter, this is not.

[Johny Cee]

1 of: Felaheen [Paperback]
By: Jon Courtenay Grimwood

Doh!  Sorry Morfiend.  Pashazade is the first book.

Good recommendation here. Just finished Pashazade and Effendi, started Felaheen last night. Reminds me a bit of the Dresden books, but with less magic and more tech + crazy middle-eastern culture.

They're both first person noir?   

I just find Dresden, as a series, to be more pulpy, more entertaining, and wear it's geek heart on it's sleeve....  definite comedic overtones.  When it works, which is most of the time, it's a hell of alot of fun.  Stross' "Bob Howard" books have a similar feel, I think.  I've reread many of the books multiple times, as it's a great entertainment read.

Grimwood's Arabesque books have a real definite literary and tragic tinge.  I liked the books, but I don't feel like ever rereading them.  There really is no magic in the Arabesque books...  there is some surreal/magical realist stuff, but I interpreted that as a bit of sufficiently advanced technology and a bit of unreliable narrator.


I'm reading Zafon's The Angel's Game now.  He's the guy that wrote Shadow of the Wind.  Readable enough, but feels too much like his previous book.

[Johny Cee]

Just finished John Dies at the End.  Very entertaining book.  This is the second book where I pretty much just pictured one of the characters as an f13 poster....  Schild Dies at the End just isn't as catchy a title.

[murdoc]

Just finished John Dies at the End.  Very entertaining book.  This is the second book where I pretty much just pictured one of the character's as an f13 poster....  Schild Dies at the End just isn't as catchy a title.

LOVE this book.

Just finished 'The Passage' by Justin Cronin and quite liked it. As with all good monster movies/books, it's not as much about the monsters as it is about the people. Strong start to what is supposedly a trilogy. I'm starting the 'Hunger Games' trilogy next based on the most passionate plea from a employee at a bookstore I've ever had. She saw me looking at the newest one of the series, since I'd been starting to hear about it, and gave me quite the pitch to give it a try.

[FatuousTwat]

Anyone read through The Way of Kings yet? I'm about a third of the way through it, and it's good so far.

[K9]

Has anyone read Blair's memoirs yet? I wasn't thrilled about buying it when he was going to get the money; but since it's going to the British Legion I am much more inclined to pick up a copy.

[Ironwood]

Who the fuck would be interested in sub-par crime fiction ?

Forget it.  Get Black Company instead.

[Johny Cee]

Hrm, relevant to my interests.  Bookmarked for later.

I started reading the Swords and Dark Magic fantasy compilation that someone linked a long while back.  About halfway through, and it's proving a pretty solid read, even the stuff from the majority of authors I hadn't heard of.  I just wish Moorcock's story hadn't been more Elric though, his non-Elric fantasy is almost more interesting most of the time.  Cook's black company short story takes place back at the beginning of the series, and felt kinda phoned in.  If that's someone else's sole reason for wanting to get this, I can't recommend it for that one.  The rest of it has been pretty solid and interesting so far though.

Since reading it, this compilation has really grown on me.  The Abercombie is actually pretty fun.  I liked Caitlin Kiernan's deconstruction of the classic hero quest to kill village monster (Sea Troll's Daughter).  The Wolfe short was interesting, as his stuff always is.  The Enge story (and a World Fantasy Award nom) got me to read his Morlock Ambrosius novel.  The Lynch story was fun, if a bit silly.  The KJ Parker story was pretty interesting as well.

Still haven't gone back to finish the Elric story.  I just have been really burned by the mediocre Elric stuff that has come out since the original finale.

[Sheepherder]

Is it just me, or is Ayn Rand just Raskolnikov with tits?

(Haemish understands)

[WayAbvPar]

Just blew through Where Men Find Glory: The Odyssey of Pat Tillman. As usual, Krakauer delivers. I always thought Tillman was a douche, but this definitely gave me a lot more respect for him. He still definitely had some douche-y qualities, but his reasons for joining up and his thoughts about the military, the CiC, and the Iraq war were about the polar opposite of what I expected. It should be required reading for every single person who ever sends a soldier into harm's way- the devastating impact on his family was even sadder to read about knowing that it was duplicated thousands of times with every soldier's death (to say nothing of the thousands more maimed and permanently disfigured/disabled).

The entire media/propaganda/coverup machine was completely unsurprising given what we know about the people involved now, but it is still galling. And as always when I read about the lead  up to and the prosecution of the Iraq war, it made me every three sentences. Breathtaking idiocy and incompetence abounded.

[HaemishM]

Is it just me, or is Ayn Rand just Raskolnikov with tits?

(Haemish understands)

No, at least Raskolnikov actually had empathy for the drunkard's family. Ayn Rand would have told them they need to get a job before fucking one of the renters in the next room.

[Abagadro]

At sundance the tillman family said that that book was full of lies. Take that for what it's worth.

[Johny Cee]

At sundance the tillman family said that that book was full of lies. Take that for what it's worth.

Just to second:

Take anything Krakauer writes with a huge pile of salt.  He is trying to write bestsellers, so he's not above reframing real events into an easily digestible narrative. 

[naum]

At sundance the tillman family said that that book was full of lies. Take that for what it's worth.

Just to second:

Take anything Krakauer writes with a huge pile of salt.  He is trying to write bestsellers, so he's not above reframing real events into an easily digestible narrative. 

Odd thing is, having just seen the movie (in a theater just a few miles away where Tillman suited up #42 for Sun Devils and #40 for Cardinals), it really was mostly a rehash of Krakauer's book, except that the movie mainly focused on military behavior aftermath — only difference I noted was that Tillman's father was absent in book and brother Kevin was absent from movie (other than Congressional testimony). 

Perhaps the Tillmans didn't like that Krakauer got to read Pat's (given by his wife) journals and shared some unsavory stuff about him, though overall, I came away respecting Tillman a lot more than before I read the book.

[Sheepherder]

No, at least Raskolnikov actually had empathy for the drunkard's family. Ayn Rand would have told them they need to get a job before fucking one of the renters in the next room.

And among us Russians, our poor little defenseless boys and girls, we still have our own, eternally present basic point on which Socialism will long continue to be founded, that is, their enthusiasm for the good and their purity of heart.  Their are countless rogues and scoundrels among them.  But all these high school pupils, these students, of whom I have seen so many, have become Nihilists so purely, so unselfishly, in the name of honor, truth, and genuine usefulness.  You know they are helpless against these stupidities and take them for perfection.

Dostoevsky: grandmaster troll.

EDIT: Does it seem a little strange that the refutation of Rand predates Rand by about a century?

[HaemishM]

It isn't like it's hard to refute Rand. She is bugfuck crazy and heartlessly insane.

[shiznitz]

I was at my uncle's 60th birthday party this past weekend and he was showing me his collection of 70s classic sci-fi.  He gave me a book called The Vang.  It is out of print but you can find used copies on Amazon. I highly recommend this. It is about a hive mind  alien species that forcefully symbiotes with humans.  It has a good horror aspect to it and is reminiscent of Alien and Invasion of the Body Snatchers.

[ghost]

Have you read any Bujold?  The library should have a pretty good collection of  her works, as she sells well and is tied for most Hugo nominations with Heinlein (I think).

Her Miles Vorkosigan space opera series is entertaining, and I really loved two of her fantasy books:  Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls.  Standalone books, though a couple of minor characters from Curse are main characters in Paladin.  Of the books in the Miles series, the two prequels that follow Miles' mother collected in Shards of Honor are probably my favorite.

Curse of Chalion and Paladin of Souls are goddamned awesome books. 

I like the Vorkosigan books too, but they're a little too smarmy for me at times.  And who loves midgets?

[FatuousTwat]

I've only read her Chalion books.

[Xilren's Twin]

Just picked up Brandon Sanderson's latest the Way of Kings.  It the first in a new series from him and it's huge (998 pages seriously and has a fair amount of maps, diagrams and pictures in it).  I liked his Mistborn series, and his first WoT assist so looking forward to this.  Only a short way in but you can see the same sort of thought about magic in here that his used in Mistborn.  The first fight involves an assassin who can manipulate gravity of himself and others to change which way is "down", which makes for some neat acrobatics.

[FatuousTwat]

Finished it a couple days ago, and I was definitely impressed.

[FatuousTwat]

Finished the latest in the Imager series by Modesitt yesterday, and it was definitely a Modesitt book.

[Xilren's Twin]

Just picked up Brandon Sanderson's latest the Way of Kings. It is the first in a new series from him and it's huge (998 pages seriously and has a fair amount of maps, diagrams and pictures in it)

Finished this.  Highly recommend it.  This fantasy world take is so fully realized you could practically treat it like an RPG campaign sourcebook.

[Quinton]

Just picked up Brandon Sanderson's latest the Way of Kings.  It the first in a new series from him and it's huge (998 pages seriously and has a fair amount of maps, diagrams and pictures in it).  I liked his Mistborn series, and his first WoT assist so looking forward to this.  Only a short way in but you can see the same sort of thought about magic in here that his used in Mistborn.  The first fight involves an assassin who can manipulate gravity of himself and others to change which way is "down", which makes for some neat acrobatics.

From the blurb about the book on amazon: "This massive tome is the first of a 10-part epic fantasy series from relative newcomer Sanderson"

Ye gods, 10 parts?!  As if fantasy trilogies weren't bad enough, now everyone wants to follow in the footsteps of Jordan/GRRM/Erikson...

Having seen enough of these just fall apart (Jordan), get stuck in a rut (GRRM), etc, I'm pretty hesitant to look at something like this until it's far enough along that I think it might be finished... (started reading Erikson shortly before book 9 was published).

How does it stand on its own?  Any odds on this guy keeping up the quality and/or finishing the series? ^^

[Xilren's Twin]

From the blurb about the book on amazon: "This massive tome is the first of a 10-part epic fantasy series from relative newcomer Sanderson"
Ye gods, 10 parts?!  As if fantasy trilogies weren't bad enough, now everyone wants to follow in the footsteps of Jordan/GRRM/Erikson...
Having seen enough of these just fall apart (Jordan), get stuck in a rut (GRRM), etc, I'm pretty hesitant to look at something like this until it's far enough along that I think it might be finished... (started reading Erikson shortly before book 9 was published).
How does it stand on its own?  Any odds on this guy keeping up the quality and/or finishing the series? ^^

It seems that many fantasy authors have their own multi book extravaganza magnum opus series lurking in mind for years, but not too many get to actually pull it off until they have established themselves.  Everyone wants to be the next Tolkien, but I don't think it's so much of an intentional money grab by the author so much as it is a editor/publisher thing. I suspect most authors have to be heavily managed to keep any books they write from bloating, so editors have to pare and cut and keep them below and certain length and on time.  As much as I am also tired of having to wait to move such series forward, sadly i have gotten used to it and so long as the books themselves remain enjoyable, I'll bite.  What i would suggest for Sanderson is to read his first trilogy (the mistborn ones) to get a sense of what his style is and to see how he constructs a large narrative in pieces.  Personally, i think you would enjoy those or this fine.

And it's not even just the huge series that run the risk of never ending; if Pat Rothfuss never publishing book freaking 2 in his Name of the Wind series i will be disappointed, even through book 1 stands alone pretty well on its own.

Thinking about it, it's depressing how many series i am waiting on: WoT, Song of Ice and Fire, Dreden, Erickson, Weber's Haven series, etc etc

[RhyssaFireheart]

Since we're speaking of Brandon Sanderson, there is a sneak peek/excerpt for the next WoT book Towers of Midnight.  Person who posted the link on another forum said that it's apparently from chapter 8 of the book.

I read it and I like how well he keeps the spirit of the characters and story without all the niggling extra-fine details about clothing and stuff like that.

Linky.
 

[dd0029]

Since we're speaking of Brandon Sanderson, there is a sneak peek/excerpt for the next WoT book Towers of Midnight.  Person who posted the link on another forum said that it's apparently from chapter 8 of the book.

I read it and I like how well he keeps the spirit of the characters and story without all the niggling extra-fine details about clothing and stuff like that.

Linky.
 

That was good.  Matt was not as much of a buffoon as he was on first pass in the last book.

[Sky]

Between my mother's ebay gift card she won in a raffle (I don't know what to do with it) and my amazon cc rewards, I just got three of the Malazan hard covers (2 new!) and a book of sheet music for a couple bucks. One more and I'll have all 9 in hardcover, though two are book club editions. I love free stuff.