AngmarsKing701
Member
I like his Honor Harrington stuff but there's a good deal of suspension of disbelief required. Definitely falls in the space opera category.
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What are you reading? (August 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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I like his Honor Harrington stuff but there's a good deal of suspension of disbelief required. Definitely falls in the space opera category.
Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
That was a good read. I think I was more enamored with how the story was presented than the actual story itself. It's written as a series of taped interviews by anthropologists studying an alien culture that presents a very simple story initially that gains depth and complexity as others confide their own roles in it.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Perused Barnes & Noble for a bit tonight while my son was hanging out with friends.
Anyone have an opinion on the following:
James Barclay - Dawnthief
John Barnes - Directive 51 (and the subsequent Daybreak books)
EE Knight - The Dragon Champion (1st book in a series)
Jack Campbell - Dauntless (1st book in the Lost Fleet series)
Anyone have an opinion on the following:
James Barclay - Dawnthief
John Barnes - Directive 51 (and the subsequent Daybreak books)
EE Knight - The Dragon Champion (1st book in a series)
Jack Campbell - Dauntless (1st book in the Lost Fleet series)
Mackenzie 92
Member
Lost Fleet is good. Characters are pretty bland, including the main protagonist, but the space battles are epic and really well done.
Cards of Grief by Jane Yolen
That was a good read. I think I was more enamored with how the story was presented than the actual story itself. It's written as a series of taped interviews by anthropologists studying an alien culture that presents a very simple story initially that gains depth and complexity as others confide their own roles in it.
Sounds kinda cool. Will check it out.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I'm actually making progress in The Brothers Karamazov so hopefully that continues. About halfway done after two years of reading on and off.
I'm also reading lots of other things. A third of the way through AEgypt by John Crowley. Not quite as fun as his other stuff, usually I like his brand of vague fantasy mist but here it's way too thick for anything to resonate emotionally. Storm of Swords is alright, but I think I'm tiring of ASOIAF (and I haven't even watched the TV show yet). American Psycho is still good stuff; probably my next focused read.
I'm also reading lots of other things. A third of the way through AEgypt by John Crowley. Not quite as fun as his other stuff, usually I like his brand of vague fantasy mist but here it's way too thick for anything to resonate emotionally. Storm of Swords is alright, but I think I'm tiring of ASOIAF (and I haven't even watched the TV show yet). American Psycho is still good stuff; probably my next focused read.
I'm about 100 pages in and still don't know what I think about it. The idea is interesting, maybe it's the execution? Although, the multimedia aspects are pretty cool.
Cryptonomicon - Neal Stephenson
Really enjoying it, especially the WWII parts. Bobby Shaftoe is the best.
I like Waterhouse (Waterhoose) the best.
The organ scene is amazing.
Have fun! Such a great book.
Does Sleepy know what is up and can you trust their recommendations?
A, yes.
B, no.
C, maybe.
Answer:
yes. God yes.
Wetlands by Charlotte Roche (translated by Tim Mohr)
Just finished. I liked it - it was fun to read. None of it really shocked me, though, so I can't see why (supposedly) it caused a bit of fuss on publication. The only bit that had me wince (slighty) was
when Helen, the protagonist, used the brake pedal of a hospital bed to rip her healing arsehole open (I've had run-ins with those fucking things...)
Maklershed
Member
Not being judgmental whatsoever, just genuinely curious - why is Night Film so popular and so many people are reading it in this thread? Has it been featured somewhere? Announced to be a big movie soon? Is the author well known and beloved? Can't say I've ever heard of Marisha Pessl.
Half through. Quite a good book actually. There seem to be bunch of sequels, what's the general opinion regarding those? Thanks.
All of the first three are pretty great, actually. I may read them again myself soon. It's been a few years since the last time.
The vampire Lestat is really more of a prequel, and is probably better than Interview.
Queen of the Damned brings all the characters from both books (and a few more) together, and finishes things off in a truly epic way. It's very different than the first two, written mostly in 3rd person with a story that shifts between different characters and moves around in time. It fully establishes all the more interesting technical elements of her vampire lore, and feels like a conclusion to the main story.
After that you should stop and pretend the rest don't exist. Straight downhill.
Great, thanks for that. This is what I expected after consulting the amazon reviews, which skydive after book 3. I will follow your advice then.
Easystride
Member
Is On the Road worth a read? I noticed my library has a copy of the eBook available to rent.
If you make the extra effort to educate yourself about its place in time and culture, yes. Just don't believe the people calling it life changing etc.
I was actually wondering the same thing, but I just wanted to read it because it seemed really fascinating.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Just a hyped up new release with good feedback I think.
It is kinda slow tho, keep waiting for something to happen or be revealed.
DesertEater
Member
I read one of her other books. It was called Feminism is For Everybody or something like that. I really enjoyed it and thought it was very informative. I guess I'll be getting this one, too.
Good read. Either Mumei or Devolution recommended it. Can't remember.
It's better than the film at least.
On that note, I've just finished:
First love, Ivan Turgenev.
/scandalous stuff. ;-)
Does Sleepy know what is up and can you trust their recommendations?
A, yes.
B, no.
C, maybe.
Answer:yes. God yes.
Well, I wouldn't go that far. lol I do read a lot of shit. But thanks for the kind words.
sparky2112
Member
Pessl's first novel, Special Topics in Calamity Physics was a big hit, because a) it was really good, and 2) Pessl is smokin' hot. Night Film is only her second, and it's coming something like 5 years after Physics. Her publisher has a huge publicity push behind her - deservedly so, from what I hear. Personally, I love when contemporary lit can get this level of mindshare...
I just finished Brown's Requiem, was hoping to find a copy of this at my book store tomorrow.
Maklershed
Member
How was Brown's Requiem?
Mackenzie 92
Member
Tragicomedy
Member
The writing is stupendous.
"They danced down the streets like dingledodies, and I shambled after as I've been doing all my life after people who interest me, because the only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are mad to live, mad to talk, mad to be saved, desirous of everything at the same time, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing, but burn, burn, burn like fabulous yellow roman candles exploding like spiders across the stars and in the middle you see the blue centerlight pop and everybody goes 'Awww!'"
Finished Deathless by Catherynne M. Valente.
It's basically a retelling of the story of Koschei Deathless (with a dash of Baba Yaga), set during the early 1900s up to the siege of Leningrad. I've never been a fan of re-tellings of fairytales into full novels, but I am a fan of Koschei and Valente's writing. Sadly, while her prose was still lovely, the story didn't do anything for me. It sits in that half fleshed out world that so many retellings seemed to reside in. I did really enjoy what she did with the dragon and the last ~20% or so of the story, though.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Remember reading that about 15 years ago loved it, might have to do a reread at some point. I think that it was in a book with another 2 King stories anyone know what they were?
Any of these any good? Never heard of them.
It was pretty great. I also really felt it everytime anyone talked about how much their feet hurt, or how far they'd gone (like 250 miles!). Lawd.
I don't know, mine was audiobook (can't read on transit, only listen) and it looked like it was its own book, and it was a "Richard Bachman" book.
Next up, Dovekeepers (gotta wait for my audible credit for my next King book, which will be Misery).
charlemagne
Member
I too would like to ask this.
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