I've tried reading Gardens of the Moon multiple times and it just has never hooked me. The characters feel almost nonexistent and I have heard worrying opinions on the series that point to characters taking a back seat to giant battles. Should I try to push forward with Malazan anyway?
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What are you reading? (February 2017)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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Did you actually finish the first book?
I have read the first 3 Malazan books, and the next two are nowhere near as disjointed from a narrative perspective. I liked some of the characters in the first book, but it takes a long time for things to get going. If you hated everyone the entire way through, I don't know if you will like the other novels. There are definitely better series to be reading if you want character moments that aren't related to action.
I gave up on Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer. Unfortunately for me, it was a hot mess of confusion that wasn't very enjoyable to read. Mind you, it did get a lot of good reviews on Goodreads, so check it out as you might like it.
Now onto The Legacy of the Bones by Dolores Redondo.
Now onto The Legacy of the Bones by Dolores Redondo.
250 pages into Revelation Space (Finnish edition is 700 pages long) and I'm really enjoying the book now that I can just, kind of.. Read and understand everything right away. I mean I did understand it in English too, just had to read it frustratingly slowly at times.
Characters are a bit shallow I guess at the moment, but the plot and world is intriguing and I love how hard sci-fi it is. Not like I know anything about the science in the book, but everything sounds very believable to me.
As long as I can alternate between just thesis writing and reading this, I'll probably be done with the book in a week or two.
Characters are a bit shallow I guess at the moment, but the plot and world is intriguing and I love how hard sci-fi it is. Not like I know anything about the science in the book, but everything sounds very believable to me.
As long as I can alternate between just thesis writing and reading this, I'll probably be done with the book in a week or two.
ShiroAmakusa
Member
Finished Ancillary Justice in January and immediatly picked up Ancillary Sword.
Book one is great, let's see if Leckie can surpass her debut novel.
Also got this:
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
Book one is great, let's see if Leckie can surpass her debut novel.
Also got this:
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
NekoFever
Member
I started reading The Fall of Japan by William Craig yesterday.
I've done a lot of reading about the European war so I wanted to brush up on my Pacific. It's good so far. I know how things happened in general terms but I'm really enjoying the internal perspective of the Japanese government and military hierarchy, which I've been mostly clueless about.
I've done a lot of reading about the European war so I wanted to brush up on my Pacific. It's good so far. I know how things happened in general terms but I'm really enjoying the internal perspective of the Japanese government and military hierarchy, which I've been mostly clueless about.
Only a chapter into it but I was laughing pretty damn hard. Only 300 pages so I'm planning on picking up something else.
This sounds great, definitely gonna read it soon.
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
You sir are in for a treat.
Also got this:
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
Jealous, wish I could selectively delete memory's so I could enjoy the Culture books for the first time again.
ShiroAmakusa
Member
Haven't read a book, from start to finish, in over a decade...but as a measure to curb my rapidly downwards spiraling depression I've (among other efforts ofc) started reading the first one in oh so many years. No idea how I decided on this one but ended up getting Making Money by T Pratchett.
BrokenFiction
Member
Finished Ancillary Justice in January and immediatly picked up Ancillary Sword.
Book one is great, let's see if Leckie can surpass her debut novel.
Also got this:
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
You are lucky. Enjoy!
Despite being a big fan of scifi in general, i never could get into the Culture. I read about half of one book (can't recall the name) and never finished. The characters just didn't grab me, and since the world is seen through character's eyes, it didn't seem interesting enough.
kamineko
Does his best thinking in the flying car
Will read more (I'm a graduate student), but I know I'm reading these:
NW by Zadie Smith: four characters living in northwest London, formally experimental (I am told)
NW by Zadie Smith: four characters living in northwest London, formally experimental (I am told)
What the Night Numbered by Bradford Tice: Poetry collection that merges the events of the Stonewall Riots with the myth of Cupid and Psyche
sparky2112
Member
I don't normally back-to-back books in a series, but The Three Body Problem ended strongly, so I charged into:
It's certainly...missing the mystery of the previous book. I'm 10% in and it's just kinda 'there'. Still, I'm sure it reviewed well for a reason, so we'll see where this goes. I mean, it has asked a very interesting question:
It's certainly...missing the mystery of the previous book. I'm 10% in and it's just kinda 'there'. Still, I'm sure it reviewed well for a reason, so we'll see where this goes. I mean, it has asked a very interesting question:
If you have 450-ish years to prepare for an alien invasion, what would we do as a species, and how would we do it? So far, it doesn't look terribly promising.
I'm reading Star Wars Catalyst by James Luceno. I used to read a lot of Star Wars books in the old continuity and recently one of my bosses has started lending me some of the newer stuff. I'm struggling to get through Catalyst, partly because I'm not finding a lot of time to read, and partly because it just isn't that interesting.
It falls into the traps that sink most bad prequels. Everything feels preordained and unsurprising. If you've seen the movie you can guess what is going to happen to every major character. Questions of if they will or will not do something are meaningless because the first 10 minutes of Rogue One tell you how the story ends. It also struggles to find an interesting story to tell about the early development of the Death Star and it struggles to find an interesting protagonist in Galen Erso. Galen is portrayed as a genius who is duped into working on a superweapon because he doesn't understand the potential of the technology he is developing. He exists in a sort of dreamy haze of theory and the text goes to great pains to remind the reader that he is brilliant in a very abstract way. Unfortunately, it makes him largely unrelatable, and his inability to see the true potential of the technology he is developing a hard pill to swallow. More damning, the idea of the spaced out genius weapons designer who doesn't understand the full impact of their work was already done better in the old EU in the form of Qui Xux, the old continuity's original Death Star designer.
Most of Galen's chapters deal with him trying to get more energy out of Kyber crystals. Unfortunately, these passages are almost completely useless. Calculations and experimentation are alluded to in such general detail that its impossible to get a feel for any sort of progress. Obviously the science is fake, but the way that it is written makes it feel fake, as though all of these parts were supposed to be rewritten later to inject a feeling of discovery of excitement into it. Most of the other chapters focus on a completely forgettable smuggler or on Galen's wife Lyra who both exist in the story solely to piece together that the Empire is Up To Something, which is boring because we, the reader, already know exactly what they are up to. Jyn Erso, is a child and has, thus far, no bearing on the plot whatsoever, seeming only to exist in the book because she is the main character in the movie.
My favorite character in the movie was Director Krennic and his chapters are the only parts of the book that seem to have any life in them. I really like the dimension he brings to the Star Wars universe. He's a technocrat and Imperial apparatchik, nakedly ambitious and always striving for more power, more influence, and more recognition. He scrambles and schemes and does everything in his power to gain the notice of his superiors and leverage that notice into influence, favors, and ever more responsibility. What I love about Krennic is that, however badly he wants it, he's just never going to be a power player in the Empire. Those higher up the food chain easily override him or undercut him, and he burns with a constant need for validation, validation which he is routinely denied at the whims of his superiors. He has a few run ins with Tarkin in the book that feel like they should have been more tense, but so far even his chapters haven't been able to overcome the whole book's lack of stakes or momentum.
There is nothing here that is surprising, or that sheds some new light on the characters of the movie. It's literally just an accounting of what the characters were doing prior to the movie and is thus the worst kind of prequel. I feel like if the book had focused more on Krennic's attempts to politic his way to the top and his rivalry with Tarkin, a more seasoned, ruthless, and altogether more natural opponent, that the book could have been more interesting and taken on more of a dimension of grand tragedy as he scurries and strives and tries his hardest while reader knows that in the end his rival is going to crush him without a single pause and take the credit for his greatest accomplishment. Galen Erso should have been a background character at best. If Galen had to be the viewpoint character, then he should have known what he was working on and the story should have presented some reason for him to have a change of heart and decide to work against the Empire from the inside, not have him be ignorant of the true purpose of his work for most of the story.
Ultimately I intend to finish the book because I am stubborn but I doubt anything in the last 3rd will radically alter my opinion of it. At this point I definitely don't recommend it.
xeroborn55
Member
Decided to read this one next. REALLY digging it so far. I really like the way its written, very tense situation right from the start.
StWilson85
Member
Sorry for the delay. I actually liked the first one, despite some of the slow sections. By the mid point of book 2, I wanted to murder the people who recommended it to me.
Jag
Member
I actually liked Krennic better in the book than in the movie. I feel like they gave him more depth and you get a much better understanding about his motivations and struggles. Obviously the movie can't go in as much detail as the book, but I felt having him fleshed out in the book made him a more interesting character. Reading the book and knowing he was doomed to lose his battle with Tarkin also made his struggles a bit more poignant.
I did like the actor that played him and he did a great job, but was hoping to see more of him in the movie.
I love that book. It was literally life changing for me in terms of how I think about acquiring skills.
Currently reading this
Really fun series so far which has had me laughing out loud quite often, I would probably put it the same genre as the Discworld books. Definitely recommend it if you want something a little less serious to read.
I love Jasper Fforde. Have you read his Nursery Crimes series? My only problem with him is he likes to start series and then not publish anything in them for a while.
OG Shaka Zulu
Member
I think I'm going to start Reza Aslan's "Jeebus" soon.
Atraveller
Banned
You mean Zealot?
Tragicomedy
Member
Oh boy. That sounds doubleplusungood. I need to read a summary to see what this train wreck entails.
Funyarinpa
Member
I did something a little bit crazy and borrowed the first volume of the Feynman Lectures on Physics from my school's library.
Just finished reading Carl Hiassen's latest Florida crime novel, Razor Girl. Hilarious as always. Hiassen writes his criminals vicious, but stupid. This book brings back Andrew Yancy, a cop kicked off the force for publicly sodomizing his girlfriend's husband with a vacuum cleaner, when he thought he was hitting her. Now he works as a food inspector, smokes a lot of weed, and dates the ex-pathologist, Rosa.
Into his life crashes Merry, a professional car wrecker, who distracts her marks by shaving her cooch while driving. Her and business partner Zeto, manage to get themselves, and Andrew, involved in the kidnapping of Buck Nance, reality star of Bayou Brothers, by his number one fan.
As always, lots of strange characters, doing dumb things, that turn out worse than you expected. Hiassen spent decades writing real crime stories for a Florida paper, and he writes with equal measures of love and embarrassment of the state.
Into his life crashes Merry, a professional car wrecker, who distracts her marks by shaving her cooch while driving. Her and business partner Zeto, manage to get themselves, and Andrew, involved in the kidnapping of Buck Nance, reality star of Bayou Brothers, by his number one fan.
As always, lots of strange characters, doing dumb things, that turn out worse than you expected. Hiassen spent decades writing real crime stories for a Florida paper, and he writes with equal measures of love and embarrassment of the state.
Funyarinpa
Member
I have to read this now, hahahahahaha
TwntyOneTwlv
Member
Pretty much, of the 5 books I think the 2nd and 5th books are the weakest in the series but still well worth diving into.
I hear ya, I'd much rather have the kindle version as well! Let me know what you find with your copy!
FlowersisBritish
fleurs n'est pas britannique
Alright, so I finally read my first Haruki Murakami thing. No, it wasn't a book, it was a short story called Kino It was a very good short story, a lot of really great, downplayed elements in it. Some really great bits of writing (there was this one bit with seaweed at the end I just had to stare at). His ending was a little weird to me, and from what I've heard about Wind Up Bird Chronicles, I have to wonder if he might have the Stephen King problem of not really nailing the ending to his things?
I don't normally back-to-back books in a series, but The Three Body Problem ended strongly, so I charged into:
It's certainly...missing the mystery of the previous book. I'm 10% in and it's just kinda 'there'. Still, I'm sure it reviewed well for a reason, so we'll see where this goes. I mean, it has asked a very interesting question:If you have 450-ish years to prepare for an alien invasion, what would we do as a species, and how would we do it? So far, it doesn't look terribly promising.
I wasn't incredibly enamoured of the second book myself (and haven't read the third... yet). Part of it was definitely the absence of the mystery that so made the first book work for me. I found the second book a bit meandering and frustrating, and the
cryogenesis? stuff
Not really sure that is a common issue with his novels. I have read 3 or 4 of his books but the endings were not what put me off on him. Mostly for me it is that the books don't really have much going on in them. When I look back at them I feel like I could grab a chunk of the book, rip it out and not much would be lost. A lot of people like his simple style and the scifi/mystic realism is always popular. Just try one of his shorter novels, they are quick reads.
Stead Fast
Banned
Get it on kindle. I got the physical, and there are no maps or artwork to be found in it.
Jag
Member
I guess it's probably required reading if I live in the state now. Haven't read any Hiassen yet.
BrokenFiction
Member
I did many, many years ago when the 1st edition was out. Loved them then, but I don't know what I'd think now.
Tawney Bomb
Member
Finished reading The Name of the Rose a few weeks back, have since started reading Dune and Babylon's Ashes. I'm not far in Babylon's Ashes, but holy shit do I love Dune just got passed the part where
and I'm excited to see what happens now.
Also downloaded the audiobook of Norse Mythology on Audible, bonus that he is also narrating it.
Duke Leto dies
Also downloaded the audiobook of Norse Mythology on Audible, bonus that he is also narrating it.
Took a quick look at what's available on Kindle at what price, and good points of entry are:
Lucky You $7.99
Stormy Weather $7.99
Sick Puppy $7.99
The Edible Exile (short story) $1.99
Lucky you is a particular favorite, and Stormy Weather is rated one of his best.
Edible Exile is interesting because he originally wrote it in the 80's, lost it, and then rewrote it when he found it, but left the setting, so it's Florida 80's excess out the wazoo. Also a decent place to start to see if you like his style.
If you want the really good shit, he has a scathing book about Disney called Team Rodent: How Disney Devours the World, heavily informed by his ecological conservatism and by working as a journalist in Florida for decades.
Funyarinpa
Member
Is "S." by J. J. Abrams worth the asking price?
(30$ with shipping)
(30$ with shipping)
About to complete the third Witcher book. Is there a point where the amount of knowledge I get from the book series starts to give back diminishing returns, in terms of lore and relevance to the game series? I expect I'll complete the fourth Witcher book before I get home (as I can tell the third will end on a cliffhanger).
Finished Ancillary Justice in January and immediatly picked up Ancillary Sword.
Book one is great, let's see if Leckie can surpass her debut novel.
Also got this:
I've seen the name Iain M. Banks thrown around regularly in Sci-Fi threads, let's see what all the fuss is about.
Personally I'd start with the second book, The Player of Games, rather then Consider Phlebas. While I really like the first book, and it provides important context for later novels, it's a bit bleak and the only one in which The Culture serves as an antagonist. Others may disagree though.
Just finished,
I loved it! Urban fantasy with magic that stays on the... magical side of the spectrum (As opposed to the defined rules and laws of a Sanderson magic system). Prose just a shade shy of purple, in a good way, and a use of imagery and narration that's slightly and intentionally off. No idea how the following books are but I've already ordered the next one from my library.
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