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[ElectricBlue187]

I recently finished this too. I was kind of meh about the ending, but mostly because the middle half of the book dragged on. I was more interested in the forward-moving chapters than the backwards moving ones. The twist was unexpected, but the more I thought of it, the less I got it. Spoiler of the ending:

Spoiler

So what happened? Did Culture put in the wrong personality when he brought him back to life the first time? Or was it a whole elaborate game played by the main character? Why does he think he's Zakalwe?

Just finished

The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin
I was surprised so many people read this as a kid. I hadn't even heard of it till recently. But it's a pretty good mystery and I love how all the clues are there in the beginning and if you were clever enough, you *could* figure it out.

Spoiler

if I remember correctly (I read it three years ago) he lost his mind and as a coping mechanism he actually believes he is Zakalwe perhaps because of his guilt. He's an interesting character that's in a few Culture books hes so burnt out from constant war that he has no identity anymore, he literally is just a weapon.

 

[Sleepy]

Finished Chronic City; loved it, loved it, loved it. I didn't see the "twist" coming, so I was pleasantly surprised. Still unsure of how to completely interpret a few parts but that will give me a reason to read it again in a few months.

Started The Fantastic by Todorov. Hopefully, it will give me a critical vocabulary to ponder the above book. As love is not very critical.

 

[Corto]

Len Fisher - Rock, Paper, Scissors

Amazing. I've just started it and I'm already shifting the way I think and the way I interact with people.

Great read. I'm still finishing it as I started a thematic reading marathon on the subject of games theory this past may...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=27767322&postcount=209

The Price of Altruism is just amazing too. I can't recommend it enough.

 

[Erico]

Six Frigates by Ian Toll

Well-written narrative of the US Navy's first six major warships (including the famous USS Constitution) and the huge roles they played in Quasi War, Barbary Wars, and War of 1812.

I'm really enjoying it so far. Highly recommended to fellow naval history buffs

 

[Witchfinder General]

Great read. I'm still finishing it as I started a thematic reading marathon on the subject of games theory this past may...

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=27767322&postcount=209

The Price of Altruism is just amazing too. I can't recommend it enough.

Cool, thanks for the suggestions. Fisher's more recent book, The Perfect Swarm is also an excellent, although that one deals with swarm intelligence amongst other things.

 

[eznark]

^^ Awesome! Definitely now on my to-read list (in regards to Six Frigates)

I just started up Steve Earle's novel "I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive." I love his music and thought he was amazing in The Wire as the junky turned counselor. Dude knows the life and so far (I'm about a quarter through the book) he is doing a great job portraying the life of an addict. Plus, the ghost of Hank Williams!

 

[f3niks]

Currently

and this

 

[Olorin]

I recently finished The Tawny Man trilogy by Robin Hobb. I had read it once before, and it was actually better than I remembered it. Still the weakest of the Realm of the Elderlings saga, but not by much, and better than her Soldier Son trilogy. Perhaps a bit too much fanservice for female readers, but very enjoyable with great characters.

Currently reading The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb, which continues the Realm of the Elderlings saga, but with completely new characters so far. I'm about 150 pages in and it's mostly setting up and introducting characters, but it looks like it will be quite good again.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Still deciding on a second book to read.

 

[nakedsushi]

Just finished a quick read I started last night:


The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross

Pretty boring. It's free on the Amazon Kindle, but not even worth the time it takes to download and sync. Very trite, predictable, and poorly written steampunk. The only good to come out of it is to discourage me from reading the other books in the series.

On a related note, this novella (which is supposedly # 0.5 of the series) being offered for free is a great way to give readers a taste of what your series has to offer. I wonder if we'll be seeing more of this in the future for other books.

 

[coldvein]

Really enjoying it so far; has me completely engrossed.

Really love his work. Going to have to look for what I'm told are superior versions of his stuff, but I'm still thoroughly enjoying this particular edition.

About halfway through Foundation and am loving it. Going to have to go and read The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire afterwards.

that lovecraft collection is fugly as fuck!

 

[jeremy70583]

77% through. Still good, starting to get a little repetitive tho. Does it get a lot slower after this book as well? I guess i'm a little less impressed as i started this series right after i read ASOIAF

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

77% through. Still good, starting to get a little repetitive tho. Does it get a lot slower after this book as well? I guess i'm a little less impressed as i started this series right after i read ASOIAF

How is this series? I love ASOIAF and I happen to own the first two in the series but have never gotten around to reading them.

 

[aidan]

How is this series? I love ASOIAF and I happen to own the first two in the series but have never gotten around to reading them.

Read Daniel Abraham's The Long Price Quartet instead.

 

[Dresden]

The pace slows down by a ton with each passing book. Thousands of pages where nothing happens.

 

[jeremy70583]

How is this series? I love ASOIAF and I happen to own the first two in the series but have never gotten around to reading them.

The first 4 or so books are really good, then I hear it gets dragged out until book 12 where the original author dies. Like i said, it's still good, but so much descriptions of everything. Starting to get a little bored with it, but too much time invested to quit.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

Fair enough,I'll avoid them.

 

[coldvein]

read them you jerk.

 

[DOBERMAN INC]

read them you jerk.

Well if you put it like that maybe I...

 

[Gvaz]

The first 4 or so books are really good, then I hear it gets dragged out until book 12 where the original author dies. Like i said, it's still good, but so much descriptions of everything. Starting to get a little bored with it, but too much time invested to quit.

I thought you were talking about asoiaf at first, and then I realized it was another series and I thought "such a thing can't happen, he must be trolling"

But you're right

 

[nakedsushi]

The different parts of my brain all want to read different things.

I'm currently choosing between:


Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
In the mood to read a classic. So far only on chapter 2 but pretty hilarious with the family drama.


The Help by Kathryn Stockett
Not usually my style, but I saw the trailer recently and it looked ok. Lots of my GR friends who don't usually read this style either liked it.


Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Read Aidan's review of it this morning and now I'm inspired to read it. Since I finished with Use of Weapons, I've been craving some more space opera and space opera with a little noir and horror sounds GREAT.

Decisions, decisions =( I only want to pick 1 book because I want to be done with it by the time Dance of Dragons comes out next month!

 

[giri]

77% through. Still good, starting to get a little repetitive tho. Does it get a lot slower after this book as well? I guess i'm a little less impressed as i started this series right after i read ASOIAF

How is this series? I love ASOIAF and I happen to own the first two in the series but have never gotten around to reading them.

I'm re-reading the series for about my 15th time. So take this with a grain of fan-boy salt. Books 6 & 7 are slow going. They're a slog, some important things happen in them, but jordon took FAR to long to get them there. And spends far too much time on unimportant side characters. I mean, it helps build his world, but it really dragged the pace of the whole god damn series down. books 8&9 are better, but the pace really starts to pick up in book 10 again and the whole story starts flowing again.

The pace slows down by a ton with each passing book. Thousands of pages where nothing happens.

you obviously haven't read the newer books.

WoT is still the greatest fantasy series i've ever read. And there really is a LOT of very subtle plots and inter-twinings you won't see on your first read through. But books 6 & 7 very nearly ruin the whole series. I'm half way through book 6 currently, and they haven't done anything of note yet. Its truly frustrating.

I think this is part of why i love the empire trilogy (from the magician world), Wurts & Feist really set a great pace through the whole trilogy. Completel oposite of WoT.

 

[aidan]

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Read Aidan's review of it this morning and now I'm inspired to read it. Since I finished with Use of Weapons, I've been craving some more space opera and space opera with a little noir and horror sounds GREAT.

Thanks!

Funny you mention Use of Weapons, though. I had major issues with that book and didn't enjoy it at all!

Haha, same. Dude's pretty convincing.

 

[nakedsushi]

Funny you mention Use of Weapons, though. I had major issues with that book and didn't enjoy it at all!

I'd be interested to hear what you didn't enjoy about the book. I liked it okay, but my enjoyment of it definitely tapered as I got further along the book.

 

[aidan]

I'd be interested to hear what you didn't enjoy about the book. I liked it okay, but my enjoyment of it definitely tapered as I got further along the book.

Here's my review. Excuse it for being a little long in the tooth now.

tl;dr - Too much of the story seemed contrived just to make Zakalwe a badass. Plus, the twist wasn't shocking or, frankly, sensical.

 

[charlemagne]

Finished it this morning. Great read. I found the final section a little weak, like the author had a clear idea of how to get there, but didn't know what to do with it once she got there. Still I've not read anything else I could easily compare it to, and the choice of narrator adds some charm and naivety to what is really quite a bleak situation. I'd definitely recommend it.

 

[Narag]

Figured it was time for another reread so gave Neuromancer another shot. It seems to get better with every reread and feels just as fresh as the first time as a consequence.


Neuromancer by William Gibson

 

[ymmv]

you obviously haven't read the newer books.

WoT is still the greatest fantasy series i've ever read. And there really is a LOT of very subtle plots and inter-twinings you won't see on your first read through. But books 6 & 7 very nearly ruin the whole series. I'm half way through book 6 currently, and they haven't done anything of note yet. Its truly frustrating.

Looking at the hilarious customer reviews on the Amazon page for book 10, the series actually gets worse after books 6 and 7.

Personally I'm not looking forward to a huge 15 book series where the middle section is getting worse with each new book and only picks up when the original author dies and his replacement saves the series. It's too much of an investment of my time, especially when I know there are thousands and thousands of pages to wade through where nothing substantial happens.

 

[Dresden]

Looking at the hilarious customer reviews on the Amazon page for book 10, the series actually gets worse after books 6 and 7.

Personally I'm not looking forward to a huge 15 book series where the middle section is getting worse with each new book and only picks up when the original author dies and his replacement saves the series. It's too much of an investment of my time, especially when I know there are thousands and thousands of pages to wade through where nothing substantial happens.

Just follow my foolproof guide to Wheel of Time™.

- Skip every chapter with a female POV
- Skip every chapter with a Perrin POV past book seven
- Skip every chapter in books nine and ten
- Skip every chapter with a female/Perrin (often the same thing) POV in Knife of Dreams
- Read The Gathering Storm while skimming through every chapter featuring the tribulations of Egwene Christ

 

[sparky2112]

I'm re-reading the series for about my 15th time.

Huh? I...the, uh....I don't even....

 

[Karakand]

Just speaking of Pynchon and DeLillo, I recently completed an independent study with one of my professors on American Postmodern literature.

Both my professor and I came to the conclusion that, in our opinions, Pynchon is just attempting to cram as much irony and little jokes as possible into his books. DeLillo on the other hand is providing a pretty interesting opinion on modern society through the use of humor.

What is it that those of you who enjoy Pynchon get from his work?

For reference the books discussed were Gravity's Rainbow and White Noise.

Pynchon is a human being and DeLillo is a automaton that doesn't even want to be a real boy.

Also, DeLillo might seem like he's got something interesting to say in one book, but when you go through three or four you realize that something interesting is all he has to say so it's really not that interesting anymore. (That's not to say Pynchon isn't guilty of the exact same thing, but at least he can still be fun.)

 

[KidDork]

Does anyone have recommendations of a good H.P. Lovecraft selection to check out? Shamefully, the extent of my actual knowledge of Lovecraft is that it's about incomprehensible cosmic things and some movies with varying levels of Lovecraft influence (Re-Animator, In the Mouth of Madness, that sweet-ass Call of Cthulu movie on netflix.)

So yeah, help me out book GAF!

I'd recommend going with The Annotated H.P. Lovecraft, edited by S.T. Joshi. Joshi is a decent guide to Lovecraft's work, and provides footnotes like lanterns along a dark path. This volume has some of the greats, like 'Rats In The Walls', 'The Colour Out of Space', and 'At The Mountains of Madness'. I'd recommend 'Mountains' over 'Call of Cthulu' as your first longform Lovecraft, since I thought it was far creepier.

Joshi also includes a brief biography, which sheds some light on why perhaps Lovecraft's mind worked the way it did.

 

[Joe]

I started reading LOTR: Fellowship Of The Ring this month (I've never read any of the books or seen any of the movies). I only finished the first 2 chapters but I always find myself wanting to get home so I can read a little more. Sucks I'm such a slow reader

 

[Ratrat]

finished this. Slightly disappointing as I feel he didn't do anything interesting with the vampire mythos. But I liked the melancholic atmosphere towards the end. reminded me of Mistfall and Dying of the Light. Love Ice and Fire but it makes me sad that he'll probably never publish any more original stand alone novels.

next-up:

 

[Clegg]

I just finished reading John le Carres first novel Call for the Dead and I thought it was pretty good.Has anyone here read any of his other books,Are they worth getting into?

 

[nakedsushi]

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Dogs and cats living together... mass hysteria!

So, yes. Ready Player One relies overmuch on 80's pop culture references. It uses a collect-the-plot-coupons plot structure. And the prose won't be winning any prizes. But it's charming, geeky, and eminently readable. And man does it cram in the nostalgia. Adventure to Zork, and everything in between. Ghostbusters, Airplane!, Monty Python (complete with someone quoting the lines before they happen!), the Woz, Gygax, Voltron, X-Wings, KITT, Back to the Future, Doctor Who, videogames galore (although, where the hell is Mario?), D&D. Hell, some current geek stuff makes it in there too, with Fireflies, Cory Doctorow, Kurt Vonnegut, et al.

So how do you combine a virtual-world quest story with a bottomless well of 80's movie quotes, videogame references, and geek culture? Why, you turn the virtual world's designer into an 80's-obsessed Willy Wonka, of course! Perfect excuse for an exercise in ridiculous nerd obsession.

Again, there are plenty of problems with the rather silly plot, the hollow characterization, the overly expository prose. But somehow, someway, the book sank its hooks into me and didn't let go. I couldn't stop reading. Just one more chapter. One more page.

One more quarter.

I felt exactly the same. Without the homage to nerd culture, it would be a book no one read. I'm wondering if the lack of Mario is some legal thing, like he didn't want Nintendo to get all up in his flavor.

finished this. Slightly disappointing as I feel he didn't do anything interesting with the vampire mythos. But I liked the melancholic atmosphere towards the end. reminded me of Mistfall and Dying of the Light. Love Ice and Fire but it makes me sad that he'll probably never publish any more original stand alone novels.

I didn't really like Dying of the Light, but I really enjoyed Fevre Dream. Where else can you read about a vampire and a Mark Twain-like steamboat? It's such a good bromance book.

I started reading

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

and it's FANTASTIC. I don't know why I didn't start this when the 1st round of reviews came through. As a fan of both Firefly and BSG, I have to say this is right up my alley. The detective/noir parts also have a very Blade Runneresque aura around it. I think this is one of the few space operas I've read where I was actually interested in the technology.

 

[Erico]

I just finished reading John le Carres first novel Call for the Dead and I thought it was pretty good.Has anyone here read any of his other books,Are they worth getting into?

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the spy-novel to end all spy novels. It's bleak as hell and devastatingly good.

If you enjoyed George Smiley, read the Karla Trilogy. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is excellent. I thought the plot of Honourable Schoolboy fell apart completely towards the end, but Smiley's People is a decent wrap up to story of Smiley's career arc.

Le Carre's latest novels seem to be filled with overt, ham-fisted criticism of the Bush administration and really pale in comparison to his Cold War novels.

 

[Clegg]

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold is the spy-novel to end all spy novels. It's bleak as hell and devastatingly good.

If you enjoyed George Smiley, read the Karla Trilogy. Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy is excellent. I thought the plot of Honourable Schoolboy fell apart completely towards the end, but Smiley's People is a decent wrap up to story of Smiley's career arc.

Le Carre's latest novels seem to be filled with overt, ham-fisted criticism of the Bush administration and really pale in comparison to his Cold War novels.

I've heard good things about The Spy Who Came in From The Cold,thanks for the recommendations.I just finished reading The Dubliners by Joyce and thought it was phenomenal,its great reading stories about your own city.I'm only 20 but I think this is the greatest book I will ever read.The last story "The Dead" was outstanding.

 

[mike23]

Read this just now.

So good. Cool magic, cool lore. I was laughing out loud every 10 pages. The dog was hilarious. At the same time it was fast paced and had good action.

I saw that the book was released in 2011, so I was happily surprised that a second book is already out and a third is coming in a few weeks with 3 more in the works. Going to start the second one now.

 

[giri]

Looking at the hilarious customer reviews on the Amazon page for book 10, the series actually gets worse after books 6 and 7.

Personally I'm not looking forward to a huge 15 book series where the middle section is getting worse with each new book and only picks up when the original author dies and his replacement saves the series. It's too much of an investment of my time, especially when I know there are thousands and thousands of pages to wade through where nothing substantial happens.

Customer reviews are fairly terrible for the series after it got popular, there's a huge "anti-wot" faction. I personally think people would have better things to do, but, what ever.

It's still the best fantasy series i've ever read. As i said, it improves with each re-read.

Huh? I...the, uh....I don't even....

it's like an old friend

 

[Octagon]

This...

I especially like the way how Self mixes cabbie jargon with religion.

 

[Sh1ner]

Mistborn part 1 by Brandon Sanderson, finished the 650 pages within 2 and a half days. I didn't do much else as it pulled me in so well.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/076531178X/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Love the artwork on that, wish mine was as cool

Off to waterstones to buy the sequel.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0765316889/?tag=neogaf0e-20

 

[the_painted_bird]

Finished all of Murakami's books with Dance Dance Dance, which was hard to read at times... his earlier stuff is definitely not as enjoyable, but it's good work. Bring on IQ84. He's my shit, but it's time to move on for a while.

I'm currently reading Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller. Would have posted the cover but there's a boob on it. It's difficult reading at times, difficult in telling what's going on or what the Author is talking about. I really, really enjoy the reflections of Paris amid the vulgarity.

 

[charlemagne]

Finished this one. Despite being a children's book, the author has done a fantastic job of getting inside the narrator's head and capturing her voice, to create a charming but sad novel.

In a completely different vein, going to start Accelerando by Charles Stross next.

 

[sparky2112]

Just finished. Very, very good. I'm not sure it's a classic, but it's certainly one of a select fiew Vietnam novels that should stand the test of time. If you know anything about Vietnam, there's nothing really new here; it's just told really well. I pretty much tore through it.

 

[Dresden]

I didn't dig the main story that much - interesting enough concept, but it never really took off and everything ended without a satisfying conclusion - but that last line.

I've grown so attached to these characters that

Spoiler

losing one hit me harder than I thought. Bravo. What a journey it's been.

 

[Salazar]

Just as fascinating as Trawler.

Both are on Kindle. Anybody interested in natural history, travel writing, comical physical hardship, and so on, has very few excuses.

 

[suzu]

Finished this recently. Was all right!

Just picked up this.

 

[nakedsushi]

Finished & really enjoyed:

Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Leviathan Wakes has everything to make it a Hollywood blockbuster. The classic battle of good versus evil, incredibly tense space fights, near zero-g close combat, awkward relationship dynamics, and a likeable crew of ragtag space cowboys brought together by a common goal. Reading this whopper of a book brought me to the good ol' days of experiencing Battlestar Galactica and Firefly for the first time.

...

It would be a crime to give the plot away, but I will say that it starts you off slow, getting you used to the space station atmosphere and the science behind it. But when things started ramping up, the momentum was hard to stop. I kept going, "WTF??" through many of the reveals and twists. Just when I thought it couldn't get more *out there* it did. And it was very very good.

 

[elrechazado]

Reading the second farseer assassin book - royal assassin I think it is. Not feeling this series at all.