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[gburgess10]

Finished it last week. Awesome Awesome book. Can't wait for the Sequels!

Finished it this weekend by procrastinating a lot. Gotta stop reading so much.

I also can't wait for the sequels.

It was a really enjoyable read, though the author definitely feels like a new one as I had some minor annoyances. He threw in the "If this were some great story..." line too many times, for example. I think I'll write a better review some other time as I've spent too much time procrastinating and have to catch up on shit.

I think next up I am going to hit up the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Or maybe finish up Proust's In Search of Lost Time (or A Remembrance of Thing's Past). I read Swann's Way already, but maybe I should start over again as it has been a year and you can't really enjoy that sort of book one time through.

I've read a lot of Asimov (Foundation/Robot stories), Card (Ender's Game stories), a lot of Herbert's Dune series, Clarke's Space Odyssey series, and some Heinlen. My Sci Fi is really lacking. So much easier to find good fantasy.

Damn, so much to read, and nowhere near enough time. Any Sci Fi suggestions?

 

[Dresden]

Damn, so much to read, and nowhere near enough time. Any Sci Fi suggestions?

This is a good list.

I'll also bold the ones I've read, and can recommend.

Asimov, Isaac The Best of Isaac Asimov 1974
Asimov, Isaac The Gods Themselves 1972
Atwood, Margaret The Handmaid's Tale 1985
Bakker, R. Scott The Prince of Nothing 2004-2007
Ballard, J.G. High Rise 1975
Banks, Iain M. Use of Weapons 1990
Beagle, Peter S. A Fine and Private Place 1960
Bester, Alfred The Stars My Destination 1956
Blish, James Cities in Flight 1955-1962
Brackett, Leigh The Long Tomorrow 1955
Bradbury, Ray The Martian Chronicles 1950
Bradbury, Ray Fahrenheit 451 1953
Brunner, John Stand on Zanzibar 1968
Bulgakov, Mikhail The Master and The Margarita 1940
Card, Orson Scott Ender's Game 1985
Clarke, Arthur C. Rendezvous With Rama 1972
Clarke, Arthur C. Childhood's End 1953
Clarke, Arthur C. The Fountains of Paradise 1979
Crowley, John Little, Big 1981
Danielewski, Mark Z. House of Leaves 2000
Dick, Philip K. The Man In The High Castle 1962
Dozois, Gardner Best of The Best: 20 Years of The Years Best SF 2005
Dozois, Gardner Best of The Best 2 2007
Dunsany, Lord The King of Elfland's Daughter 1924
Ellison, Harlan Dangerous Visions 1967
Ennis, Garth Preacher 1995-2000
Ford, John M. The Last Hot Time 2001
Gaiman, Neil American Gods 2001
Gaiman, Neil and Pratchett, Terry Good Omens 1990
Gemmell, David Legend 1984
Gibson, William Neuromancer 1984
Grimwood, Ken Replay 1987
Haldeman, Joe The Forever War 1975
Heinlein, Robert A. Starship Troopers 1959
Heinlein, Robert A. Stranger In a Strange Land 1961
Heinlein, Robert A. Have Spacesuit -- Will Travel 1958
Herbert, Frank Dune 1965
Hoban, Russell Riddley Walker 1980
Huxley, Aldous Brave New World 1931
Jackson, Shirley The Haunting of Hill House 1959
Joyce, Graham The Tooth Fairy 1998
Kay, Guy Gavriel Tigana 1990
Keyes, Daniel Flowers For Algernon 1966
LeGuin, Ursula K. The Dispossesed 1974
LeGuin, Ursula K. The Left Hand of Darkness 1969
Lem, Stanislaw Solaris 1961
Lovecraft, H.P. The Dunwich Horror and Others 1963
Lynch, Scott The Lies of Locke Lamora 2006
MacDonald, George The Princess and The Goblin 1872
Martin, George R.R. A Song of Ice and Fire 1996-Present
Matheson, Richard I Am Legend 1954
McCarthy, Cormac The Road 2006
McDonald, Ian River of Gods 2004
Meynard, Yves The Book of Knights 1998
Mieville, China Perdido Street Station 2001
Miller Jr., Walter M. A Canticle For Leibowitz 1960
Moore, Christopher Lamb 2002
Morgan, Richard K. Black Man 2007
Newman, Kim Anno Dracula 1992
Niven, Larry Ringworld 1970
Orwell, George 1984 1949
Pangborn, Edgar Davy 1964
Poe, Edgar Allan Tales of Mystery and Imagination 1837-1845
Pohl, Frederick Gateway 1977
Pohl, Frederick and Kornbluth, C.M The Space Merchants 1953
Powers, Tim The Anubis Gates 1983
Powers, Tim The Fisher King Trilogy 1992-1997
Priest, Christopher The Glamour 1985
Robinson, Kim Stanley The Mars Trilogy 1992-1996
Russ, Joanna The Female Man 1975
Shelley, Mary Frankenstein 1818
Shephard, Lucius The Best of Lucius Shephard 2008
Shippey, Tom The Oxford Book of Science Fiction Stories 1992
Silverberg, Robert The Book of Skulls 1972
Silverberg, Robert The Science Fiction Hall of Fame Volume One 1970
Simak, Clifford D. City 1952
Simmons, Dan Hyperion 1990
Smith, Cordwainer The Rediscovery of Man 1993
Smith, Michael Marshall Only Forward 1998
Stapeldon, Olaf Odd John 1935
Stephenson, Neal Snow Crash 1992
Stevenson, Robert Louis The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 1886
Stewart, George R. Earth Abides 1949
Straub, Peter Ghost Story 1979
Sturgeon, Theodore More Than Human 1953
Tiptree Jr., James Her Smoke Rose Up Forever 1990
Tolkien, J.R.R. The Lord of The Rings 1954-1955
Vance, Jack The Jack Vance Treasury 2007
Verne, Jules Journey To The Centre of the Earth 1864
Vonnegut, Kurt Cat's Cradle 1963
Vonnegut, Kurt Slaughter-House Five 1969
Wells, H.G. The Time Machine 1895
Wilde, Oscar The Picture of Dorian Gray 1891
Wolfe, Gene The Wizard Knight 2004
Wolfe, Gene The Book of The New Sun 1980-1983
Wyndham, John The Day of The Triffids 1951
Wyndham, John The Midwich Cuckoos 1957
Zelazny, Roger Damnation Alley 1969
Zelazny, Roger Lord of Light 1967

 

[Toby]

I am curious, has anyone read:

Worth a shot?

I have. It is okay, but is entirely unmemorable so I cannot elaborate. There are probably better books to spend your time with.

 

[Salazar]

There are probably better books to spend your time with.

Truth.

I'm rereading Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That - in part for pleasure, which is substantial, and in part for work.

Also Jessica Mitford's memoir Hons and Rebels. I heard her in conversation with Christopher Hitchens, and I'd read the enormous, wonderful collection of the letters the Mitford sisters sent to each other. Incredible book, the better because I picked it up for $8 and it has a stunning cover: a photograph of Jessica (nicknamed Decca) as a young girl, scowling in a trenchcoat, looking like a shrunken Churchill.

 

[gburgess10]

This is a good list.

I'll also bold the ones I've read, and can recommend.

Thanks for the list (and especially your recommendations). I'll be busy for a LONG while with it, though it looks like I've knocked off a decent portion of it already (maybe 15%?).

 

[Keen]

Currently reading

Drood by Dan Simmons

Picked up The Whisperers by John Connolly yesterday so will take a break from Drood and finish that.

Saw this in a leave a book take a book-pile, and couldn't resist grabbing it. Dunno if I'll read it, but the name of the author had me laughing my ass off (juvenile, I know). There was also something about fans of Twilight (which I am not) being sure to like on the cover that made her name even funnier.

 

[British Monsoon]

Saw this in a leave a book take a book-pile, and couldn't resist grabbing it. Dunno if I'll read it, but the name of the author had me laughing my ass off (juvenile, I know). There was also something about fans of Twilight (which I am not) being sure to like on the cover that made her name even funnier.

I've actually read this - it's not anywhere near as bad as the cover, the terrible name or some tenuous Twilight connection makes out. Granted, it's utterly generic and makes a number of fatal errors that I usually can't stand within the fantasy genre, but it was also somewhat of a page turner - the only major downside (other than a large serving of cliché) was that the main character's internal monologue is excessively whiny and does nothing to endear her character to the reader.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

I can't really get into pre-80's sci-fi. The ideas are so outdated with the exception of maybe Brave New World, which isn't such a great book but the concepts still seem futuristic and a bit scary somehow. Pretty amazing for a book written in 1931

 

[Keen]

I've actually read this - it's not anywhere near as bad as the cover, the terrible name or some tenuous Twilight connection makes out. Granted, it's utterly generic and makes a number of fatal errors that I usually can't stand within the fantasy genre, but it was also somewhat of a page turner - the only major downside (other than a large serving of cliché) was that the main character's internal monologue is excessively whiny and does nothing to endear her character to the reader.

Thanks, I'll keep it in the to-read pile then!

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Just finished 'Latro in the Mist' by Gene Wolfe;

IMG

Really enjoyed it overall, although the ending is a bit abrubt. Now i'm reading 'The Man in the High Castle' by Phillip K. Dick;

IMG

:lol Funny you mention abrupt endings and they talk about High Castle. IMO it has the weirdest of any of Dick's endings, not so much an end as a stop. Still, it's an excellent book IMO.

I finished off Dragon Age: the Stolen Throne last night. Contrary to my expectations I loved this book to bits. I played the game over Xmas and thought it was great and esspecially the fiction, but I was still wary of the books (video game novel + fantasy could rather be playing into the very worst stereotype of the fatbeard). I'm really glad I read it though, it gave a rich backstory to the Ferelden royal family and made the game's antagonist Loghain into a much more sympathetic and even likable character which I was amazed by.

The fantasy is played lightly and realistically and the book wasn't stuffed full of heavy universe-building exposition as I had feared. In fact, if I had not played the game I would have been ratehr lost with the references to Andraste and the Chantry and so on.

After the unqualified success of this book I pretty much have to read the next one now, as well as having to admit to myself that I'm a fan of video game books... sigh...

Next up is this beast as recommended by Salazar:

It better be good man!

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

I can't really get into pre-80's sci-fi. The ideas are so outdated with the exception of maybe Brave New World, which isn't such a great book but the concepts still seem futuristic and a bit scary somehow. Pretty amazing for a book written in 1931

Even PKD? There's something about his worldview that I find very modern and bleak. I like his concept of homeopapes, a newspaper that you print out every morning at home. The tinternet, as envisaged in 1960 :lol

In contrast I find some 80's/90's SF pretty embarrassing. Neuromancer is like a string of cliches woven together in an impenetrable narrative. Sure, maybe they weren't cliche at the time, but the book just reads so badly... I think my favourite modern SF is M John Harrison's tract material like Light and Nova Swing. Man that guy has some imagination.

 

[British Monsoon]

Next up is this beast as recommended by Salazar:

It better be good man!

Oh man, you're in for a real treat - I read through the whole thing last year after someone on here reccomended it to me and I was utterly blown away. Such a fantastically bizarre series of works.

IMO it has the weirdest of any of Dick's endings, not so much an end as a stop. Still, it's an excellent book IMO

Good to hear, i'm enjoying it so far - haven't really read any of Dick's work except for 'Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said', so I thought i'd give some of his older stuff a go. Got 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' to read next.

 

[Cep]

After constantly being bugged by my friends, I am finally picking up something by this dude.

So far, I really like it.

Love his cynical look on life, even though they severely contrasts with my more optimistic views.

 

[ChillWinston]

I read Shutter Island over the last week or so. Hadn't seen the movie, just happened to pick up the book after seeing it reduced a few weeks back. It was an entertaining read although I thought it tailed off quite a bit towards the end. The final third or so was disappointingly predictable, I guessed the ending long before it was revealed. I'd heard there was a twist ending so I guess that spoiled things slightly (was suspicious when I may have otherwise been oblivious)

Still, it was enjoyable, passed my lunch hours nicely. Looking forward to seeing the movies interpretation now.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

Oh man, you're in for a real treat - I read through the whole thing last year after someone on here reccomended it to me and I was utterly blown away. Such a fantastically bizarre series of works.



Good to hear, i'm enjoying it so far - haven't really read any of Dick's work except for 'Flow My Tears, the Policeman Said', so I thought i'd give some of his older stuff a go. Got 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' to read next.

You're doing like I did with Dick then, going for his weirdest books first (inadvertantly or not). Flow my Tears is pretty maudlin for a PKD and Palmer Eldritch is properly balls out mad in the face. If you still want more weirdness, I recommend Valis after that, you'll be ready by then. If you want something a little more digestable, I always loved Time out of Joint, it's such a great little paranoid thriller. A Scanner Darkly is also rightly a classic, although it's a little less classic SF than these books.

Man, I fucking loved PKD, I read nothing but him for almost a whole year and burned myself out on them. Still, excellent stuff. Keep going, when you get in the groove he is incredible.

 

[finowns]

Just watched the movie it was so good. I have to check out the book.

 

[NZNova]

Just finished the Night Angel trilogy by Brent Weeks (which I enjoyed) and I'm currently battling my way through Ice Station by Matthew Reilly (which I am not enjoying in the slightest).

 

[toastyToast]

I'm really enjoying this so far. I was hankering for more Richard Price goodness after I read Clockers which ranks up there as one of my favorite books. The movie did it a serious injustice imo.

Back to Lush Life, very intriguing so far about half way in. Anyone who enjoyed The Wire should check it out, Price wrote a few of the episodes of the show as well.

 

[sparky2112]

I'm really enjoying this so far. I was hankering for more Richard Price goodness after I read Clockers which ranks up there as one of my favorite books. The movie did it a serious injustice imo.

Loved Clockers as well. Price wrote the screenplay as well, so blame him.

Two huge Price plugs if you haven't seen them before. First, Mad Dog and Glory (DeNiro, Thurman, Bill Murray, and David Caruso) - brilliant. AND...in my top 5 movies of all time, The Color of Mondy (Scorcese, Newman, Cruise). Price's screenplays for both are just...mindblowing.

 

[sparky2112]

_AA300_.jpg[/img]

Or maybe finish up Proust's In Search of Lost Time (or A Remembrance of Thing's Past). I read Swann's Way already, but maybe I should start over again as it has been a year and you can't really enjoy that sort of book one time through.

I'd push on and reread Swann's Way after you finish the rest. For my money the real payoff comes in the last three books, and the only reason SW is so huge is because it's no. 1 and that's all most people bother to read. Also, I've only read all of Proust once, and I sooooooo wish I had a reader's guide when I did. My 2 cents, anyway.

 

[CiSTM]

Animal Farm eng. edition
Memory of Pablo Escobar eng. edition
A Game of Thrones fi. edition
Great Shark Hunt fi. edition

edit: also Piercing ger. edition

Lots to read

 

[VistraNorrez]

After constantly being bugged by my friends, I am finally picking up something by this dude.

So far, I really like it.

Love his cynical look on life, even though they severely contrasts with my more optimistic views.

Timequake is a weird one to start out with. It's kind of a summation of his life and works. Glad you like it though. His best 3 are The Sirens of Titans, Cat's Cradle, and Slaughterhouse 5. Although you can't really go wrong with any of it, if you like his viewpoint anyway.

Vonnegut is ultimately optimistic, even if he thinks humans screw it up more often than not.

 

[FiRez]

So far as good as Ficciones

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

The Book of General Ignorance: Everything You Think You Know is Wrong

Got it from a Smodcast recommendation and so far it's pretty interesting. Reminds me of "An Underground Education" in a way -which is also a good book to read - in that it provides an accounting of things you thought you know about but in fact don't.

 

[ElectricBlue187]

Even PKD? There's something about his worldview that I find very modern and bleak. I like his concept of homeopapes, a newspaper that you print out every morning at home. The tinternet, as envisaged in 1960 :lol

In contrast I find some 80's/90's SF pretty embarrassing. Neuromancer is like a string of cliches woven together in an impenetrable narrative. Sure, maybe they weren't cliche at the time, but the book just reads so badly... I think my favourite modern SF is M John Harrison's tract material like Light and Nova Swing. Man that guy has some imagination.

Dick is a little different situation. In most of the books i've read (Do Androids..., Man in the High Tower, Scanner Darkly) he doesn't emphasize the technology and instead paints a situation his characters are in (most of humans/creatures have left earth, nazi's took over america, society is drowning itself in drugs) and then shows how this environment affects them. The technology involved is always in the background and it's never as important HOW it works, just that it somehow does. That was either lucky or prescient of him, since his books don't feel as dated as some of Heinlein's stuff

 

[CajoleJuice]

^^
Hit the nail on the head.

an, I fucking loved PKD, I read nothing but him for almost a whole year and burned myself out on them. Still, excellent stuff. Keep going, when you get in the groove he is incredible.

Did you read his short stories as well? The PKD Reader is so so great. The guy was just filled with fantastic ideas.

 

[ItAintEasyBeinCheesy]

Any The Name Of The Wind fans, Pat Rothfuss (author) has "confirmed" March 1st 2011 as the release date of The Wise Man’s Fear on his blog. A long wait to be sure, hope its damn good!

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/201...paign=Feed:+PatrickRothfuss+(Patrick+Rothfuss)

 

[Keen]

Any The Name Of The Wind fans, Pat Rothfuss (author) has "confirmed" March 1st 2011 as the release date of The Wise Man’s Fear on his blog. A long wait to be sure, hope its damn good!

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/201...paign=Feed:+PatrickRothfuss+(Patrick+Rothfuss)

Awesome! Thanks!

 

[Combichristoffersen]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/b/bf/Lettherightoneinswedishbookcover.jpg/200px-Lettherightoneinswedishbookcover.jpg

Just watched the movie it was so good. I have to check out the book.

IMO the book is far superior to the movie.

 

[eznark]

Any The Name Of The Wind fans, Pat Rothfuss (author) has "confirmed" March 1st 2011 as the release date of The Wise Man’s Fear on his blog. A long wait to be sure, hope its damn good!

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/201...paign=Feed:+PatrickRothfuss+(Patrick+Rothfuss)

Yeah, "confirming" a book release a year from now is meaningless. Just trying to keep relevant and in our minds, I'd imagine.

Seriously, there is nothing to do in Stevens Point besides HS/College hockey games (fuck you Pointers!!) so there is no excuse for this delay. I demand entertainment!

 

[Pizza Luigi]

I just came back from my vacation on the Dominican Republic, where I read these two:

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

what did you think of either? I read the Dexter book after watching the first season and...huh. Jpod was a good read until the middle/last third when the author became an integral factor in the book.

 

[Jedeye Sniv]

I just came back from my vacation on the Dominican Republic, where I read these two:

What is Dexter like, is it good?

What is JPod about?

You've given us one piece of info, these are some books you read. Now go for gold, what did you think of them??

 

[Nymerio]

Any The Name Of The Wind fans, Pat Rothfuss (author) has "confirmed" March 1st 2011 as the release date of The Wise Man’s Fear on his blog. A long wait to be sure, hope its damn good!

http://blog.patrickrothfuss.com/201...paign=Feed:+PatrickRothfuss+(Patrick+Rothfuss)

Wtf, I was hoping for a release this year . Well, at least we have a releasedate...

 

[Maklershed]

Done with Enders Game and on to Duma Key

 

[KingGondo]

Done with Enders Game and on to Duma Key

Liking it so far, let me know what you think. I'm about 40% into it so far (also reading the Kindle Edition).

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

I read that last month, and it was pretty good. Some parts were predictable, but when you've written as many books as he has and read as many of his books as I've done, it's not surprising.

Under the Dome was surprising, but that was because of something else entirely.

 

[KingGondo]

I read that last month, and it was pretty good. Some parts were predictable, but when you've written as many books as he has and read as many of his books as I've done, it's not surprising.

Under the Dome was surprising, but that was because of something else entirely.

It's my first SK book in probably 5 years, but it used to be all I read. My only complaint so far is that the main character feels a little hollow, but I guess King's strength has always been plot over character anyway.

 

[Maklershed]

This is only the second book of his that I've read. I read the first book of The Darktower series but I had no fucking clue what was going on. :lol

 

[KingGondo]

This is only the second book of his that I've read. I read the first book of The Darktower series but I had no fucking clue what was going on. :lol

You should definitely keep up reading the Dark Tower, I remember the second and third books being some of his best stuff. Never read past the fourth though, heard books 5-7 were a bit of a disappointment. There's an official thread somewhere on GAF for the series.

Anyways, if you're interested in reading more SK, I think most fans agree that his best are IT and The Stand. Most of his stuff is pretty good though.

 

[Ruuppa]

Much better than philosophy, especially since it doesn't cause me to lose any bets.

 

[movie_club]

is there a thread for what magazines you read? if not does anyone want to make one?

 

[Lear]

I just finished Volume II last night and this book is blowing my mind with how awesome it is.

 

[FnordChan]

I finally finished Blood Magic by Eileen Wilks, the sixth book in her World of the Lupi series. I just wasn't feeling it and it took me forever to slog my way through to the end. I can't really fault the book, mind you: there was nothing dramatically wrong with the writing or pacing and big things were happening in the lives of the characters, but I just wasn't into it this time. Ah well. I have hopes I'll be more in the mood for urban fantasy/paranormal romance, or at least into the next plot, by the time the next book in the series comes out.

I've just started H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian, the third novel in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the series is about Captain Jack Aubrey, who is brilliant at sea and a bit hapless on land, and his best friend Stephen Maturin, a naturalist turned surgeon and a taste for intrigue. I loved the first two books in the series, even if I had to occasionally interpret sections thick with nautical jargon as "stuff is happening on a boat", and am psyched to dig into the third. I'd strongly encouraged anyone here with an interest in historical fiction to try the series out. The movie adaptation Master and Commander was pretty great as well, so if you're not sure how you feel about naval adventure, give it a rent and consider reading the series if you dig it.

FnordChan

 

[Monroeski]

Just finished -

and the trilogy it is the final book of. Once again a great read by William Gibson, but damned if his ending don't pretty much universally leave something to be desired. It felt more like the second book of a trilogy than the final book, tbh.

 

[gofreak]

Reading Use of Weapons.

Finished Consider Phlebas and Player of Games in the last couple of months.

I love these books. I'm afraid I'll have made my way through the series before I know it. The characterisation of the drones is great...lots of great humour.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Since this is the last day of this thread: I finished Pipsqueak by Brian Wiprud. Decent story and an easy read. Picked up the second book in the Hunger Games trilogy today, as well as the first two Sword of Truth books since I'm watching the Seeker television show and it's based on them. S1 = Book 1, S2 = Book 2. The show is dumb fun from Sam Raimi's Hercules/Xena side. Also picked up The Unincorporated Man (four books on my wait list became available on the same day, hence four books at once). I'm still working on How to Read a Book, but it's kind of dense so it's not surprising that it's taking me awhile.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

I've just started H.M.S. Surprise by Patrick O'Brian, the third novel in the Aubrey/Maturin series. Set during the Napoleonic Wars, the series is about Captain Jack Aubrey, who is brilliant at sea and a bit hapless on land, and his best friend Stephen Maturin, a naturalist turned surgeon and a taste for intrigue. I loved the first two books in the series, even if I had to occasionally interpret sections thick with nautical jargon as "stuff is happening on a boat", and am psyched to dig into the third. I'd strongly encouraged anyone here with an interest in historical fiction to try the series out. The movie adaptation Master and Commander was pretty great as well, so if you're not sure how you feel about naval adventure, give it a rent and consider reading the series if you dig it.

FnordChan

Huh, you're catching up. I'm only three volumes ahead of you at the moment - and I will say that I particularly enjoyed The Mauritius Command. So, plenty of great stuff ahead in the series.

 

[J-Roderton]

Pretty cool book. Not a story or anything to it. Just like a lesson about marriage and how it changed from hundreds and hundreds of years.

 

[Fuzz Rez]

It's may, time for new thread
someone make it so

edit: thx ItAintEasyBeinCheesy. May thread