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Maklershed · Oct 1, 2016

Maklershed · Oct 1, 2016

Currently reading book 3 of Revelation Space - Absolution Gap

Absolution Gap by Alastair Reynolds

Tugatrix · Oct 1, 2016

9780060004873_custom-5fda65e48fa70f76fae8403e43fafaa124259222-s300-c85.jpg

in anticipation for the movie, it's quite good

Silent Chief · Oct 1, 2016

The Icewind Dale Trilogy.

Heckler456 · Oct 1, 2016

Decided to try to get into Malazan again. I kind of petered out around book 4-5 last time around, but I'm chalking it up to me not being 100% up to speed when it came to the bigger picture. Now I'm going through it at a much slower rate, and with some amount of knowledge beforehand, and it's still really enjoyable.

AngmarsKing701 · Oct 1, 2016

Still working through The Stone of Farewell. I'm only about 230 pages in though. I need to crank this one out in the next couple of weeks so I can squeeze in a horror novel--thinking The Shining--around Halloween, before turning back to Williams to complete my re-read with To Green Angel Tower.

kingofrod · Oct 1, 2016

Getting into the spirit of the season with Jonathan Aycliffe's "The Matrix". I've already read Naomi's Room by the same author based on a "forgotten horror gems" recommendation from someone on this forum (wish I could remember who), and was pleasantly surprised to find the recommendation was spot on! Hopefully the Matrix holds its own as well.

I also just finished Jack Ketchum's "Off Season", another horror novel. I'd been really impressed with his book "the Lost", but was not very impressed with "Off Season"'s story of cannibals terrorizing a vacationing trio of couples. It's not that its poorly written or too gory (or not gory enough) - I just didn't feel anything for the characters and so

the eventual death of all but one of them

doesn't exactly hit hard. It's his first book, apparently, so I'll cut it a little slack - next up is Ketchum's "The Girl Next Door" which is supposed to be his signature book, so we'll see if that redeems him.

mu cephei · Oct 1, 2016

October thread, ~~where are you?~~ woo here you are.

Mumei said:
I finished the Rain Wilds Chronicles today. I really liked it, but it was definitely a less interesting story than the Farseer/Tawny Man set.

The relationship between dragons and humans and Elderlings leaves me rather unsettled. I'm not sure to what extent a human's flattery and a dragon's glamour are equivalent or the extent to which the dragons' conception of humans (or Elderlings) as servants are accurate or the story they tell themselves to explain away their dependency on humans for such basic tasks as breeding or grooming.

I am also interested in hearing more about the relationship between Silver and the Skill and humans and Elderlings.

I miss derpy Rapskal.

Yes, the silver/ skill thing is really interesting, if/ when! you read the Fitz and Fool books, I have hopes we might learn something about it (I think that's not too much of a spoiler, sorry if so).

Also, totally agree about Rapskal. His story was a good one, even though he was so endearing and it was sad how he changed, it was great the way Hobb did it, showing in that way how dragons can take so much as well as give. I vaguely recall thinking maybe she went too far in that direction, in the first (?) series the Fool was all like, humans need dragons so humans aren't top dog, and I agreed, but the balance seems like it could really tip towards dragons... that is, I think the not-quite-right dragons are deluding themselves about how dependent they are, but for Tintaglia and any fully healthy dragons I thought it might be different (I don't recall properly, I read them very quickly and didn't pause to think about some things.) Anyway I though the ambivalence was pretty well done.

March 2017 is so far away...

MrOogieBoogie said:
Based on my tastes, could anyone recommend me a sci-fi and/or fantasy book/series?

You might like Ursula Le Guin, and the Malazan books, as others have suggested. Le Guin just because she's amazing, and Malazan because they have a very slight Dune/ Hyperion thing going on. Also you could try Hannu Rajaniemi, Christopher Priest, maybe Adam Roberts.

Cerity · Oct 1, 2016

Jumping back on the train with

It starts off very cool and then gets quite uncomfortable, mostly due to the innocence of the main characters. I'll be moving onto the rest of Dalkey's Korean lit. library after this.

Gozer the Gozerian · Oct 1, 2016

Re-read IT by Stephen King for the first time in over a decade, such a captivating read and probably my favorite novel of his, so incredibly well-paced for a 1000 pager. I feel so empty finishing it, the core group of characters is so easy to fall in love with and makes me nostalgic for my own childhood. I fucking love how

weird and metaphysical it gets at the end, it's like an ayahuasca trip.

I hope the move re-make coming next year can capture some of the magic of the book, but I'm tempering my expectations...

Fuu · Oct 1, 2016

Starting these this month:

Wonders of the Invisible World (2015), Christopher Barzak
Dance Dance Dance (1988), Haruki Murakami
Água Viva (1973), Clarice Lispector
Between the World and Me (2015), Ta-Nehisi Coates
The ISIS Apocalypse: The History, Strategy, and Doomsday Vision of the Islamic State (2015), William McCants

Thanks to Golden_Pigeon for The ISIS Apocalypse recommendation.

MrOogieBoogie · Oct 1, 2016

Damn, didn't realize this thread was happening so soon. Is it alright if I ask my question from the previous month's thread here? Already got some great responses:

MrOogieBoogie said:
Based on my tastes, could anyone recommend me a sci-fi and/or fantasy book/series?

Loved:

A Song of Ice and Fire (books 1-3)
Hyperion and the Fall of Hyperion
Dune
1984

Liked:

The Book of the New Sun

Meh:

Neuromancer

Couldn't stand:

The Blade Itself

kswiston · Oct 1, 2016

MrOogieBoogie said:
Damn, didn't realize this thread was happening so soon. Is it alright if I ask my question from the previous month's thread here? Already got some great responses:

Try the Forever War by Joe Haldeman. It's only a couple hundred pages so it will go fast.

LProtag · Oct 1, 2016

Still on this, it's pretty dense:

Sadly I don't have as much reading time right now. It's funny that as an English teacher I don't always have the time to read because I spend so much time re-reading the texts I teach or planning on how to teach kids to read. Oh well.

PeregrinSe7en · Oct 1, 2016

Alien vs Predator: Armageddon - The Rage War Book 3

Author: Tim Lebbon

It's a great read and hopefully a satisfying conclusion to this three parter (i'm only halfway through).

Hop · Oct 1, 2016

Reading:

Listening:

Now that I'm driving again, I'm trying audiobooks instead of podcasts. Going okay so far, all told.

JonnyKong · Oct 1, 2016

I've started Big Brother by Lionel Shriver which I think is pretty great so far.

DemWalls · Oct 1, 2016

MrOogieBoogie said:
Couldn't stand:

The Blade Itself

You should stop reading altogether, and may God have mercy on your soul ಠ_ಠ

fakefaker · Oct 1, 2016

Feed by Mira Grant

hardcastlemccormick · Oct 1, 2016

I'm reading American Gods and having a pretty good time of it.

AngmarsKing701 · Oct 1, 2016

MrOogieBoogie said:
Damn, didn't realize this thread was happening so soon. Is it alright if I ask my question from the previous month's thread here? Already got some great responses:

Re-posting my answer as I put it in this morning after the new thread went up.

Tad Williams's Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy, starting with The Dragonbone Chair. GRRM cites it as a major influence on ASOIAF, and I can see where many of the elements he used were lifted from Williams's classic epic upon this re-read.

In 2017, Williams is also returning to this series with a short follow-on (The Heart of What Was Lost) in January, followed by the first book in a new trilogy set in the same world of Osten Ard (The Witchwood Crown) in April.

Given your preferences, this is a series I imagine you'll like quite bit.

Also, don't forget to take a look at all of the indie authors here on GAF (thanks to Maklershed for keeping our titles in the OP every month!).

thomaser · Oct 1, 2016

Finished Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Left Hand of Darkness" today. Thoughtful, original sci-fi that I highly recommend!

Now, starting Patrick Modiano's "Missing Person" (in the Norwegian translation). He won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 2014. No idea what to expect.

Golden_Pigeon · Oct 1, 2016

Fuu said:
Thanks to Golden_Pigeon for The ISIS Apocalypse recommendation.

You're welcome, i hope you'll enjoy it

It's the best book i have read on the subject, with the Luizard one (but only in french).

mstevens · Oct 1, 2016

I need a few recommendations.

I've recently gotten interested in graphic novels. So far, I've only read the Scott Pilgrim series and I just finished Volume 1 and 2 of Saga. I really like Scott Pilgrim, and I am absolutely loving Saga. What other "must read" graphic novels are there out there that have a similar tone to either. To be specific, Saga is probably more up my alley of the two, but I'd be interested in reading something like Pilgrim if it's also great.

My other questions is about audiobooks. I signed up for the audible free trial for a free book, and ended up getting two. I bought GoT so I could listen through the series (I read them all last year) before TWoW comes out. The other book I got was the Golden Compass, which I hadn't read and had the audiobook recommended to me because of the full cast. I adored it. Besides the rest of that trilogy, are there any other good books that really thrive in audiobook format?

Lightning Count · Oct 1, 2016

I first read the Conan stories years ago after seeing the film. I love the amazingly deep lore which Howard created, the foreword basically tells an abbreviated history of the nations featured in the stories.

Mike M · Oct 1, 2016

mstevens said:
I need a few recommendations.

I've recently gotten interested in graphic novels. So far, I've only read the Scott Pilgrim series and I just finished Volume 1 and 2 of Saga. I really like Scott Pilgrim, and I am absolutely loving Saga. What other "must read" graphic novels are there out there that have a similar tone to either. To be specific, Saga is probably more up my alley of the two, but I'd be interested in reading something like Pilgrim if it's also great.

Not familiar with Saga, but for me the best graphic novels in the medium are Sandman, Fables, and Transmetropolitan.

kevin1025 · Oct 1, 2016

mstevens said:
I need a few recommendations.

I've recently gotten interested in graphic novels. So far, I've only read the Scott Pilgrim series and I just finished Volume 1 and 2 of Saga. I really like Scott Pilgrim, and I am absolutely loving Saga. What other "must read" graphic novels are there out there that have a similar tone to either. To be specific, Saga is probably more up my alley of the two, but I'd be interested in reading something like Pilgrim if it's also great.

My other questions is about audiobooks. I signed up for the audible free trial for a free book, and ended up getting two. I bought GoT so I could listen through the series (I read them all last year) before TWoW comes out. The other book I got was the Golden Compass, which I hadn't read and had the audiobook recommended to me because of the full cast. I adored it. Besides the rest of that trilogy, are there any other good books that really thrive in audiobook format?

Preacher might be worth looking into!

I really enjoyed the World War Z audiobook, the different cast of characters and their perspectives really shines through in that format. Though the book is not for everyone!

TwntyOneTwlv · Oct 1, 2016

It started off really well, but almost 200 pages in I'm finding myself getting bored. I heard the ending is worth it though.

Ikuu · Oct 1, 2016

Rug Monkey · Oct 1, 2016

mstevens said:
I need a few recommendations.

I've recently gotten interested in graphic novels. So far, I've only read the Scott Pilgrim series and I just finished Volume 1 and 2 of Saga. I really like Scott Pilgrim, and I am absolutely loving Saga. What other "must read" graphic novels are there out there that have a similar tone to either. To be specific, Saga is probably more up my alley of the two, but I'd be interested in reading something like Pilgrim if it's also great.

Y, The Last Man
The Unwritten
Locke & Key
Morning Glories
Transmetropoliton

sparky2112 · Oct 1, 2016

JonnyKong said:
I've started Big Brother by Lionel Shriver which I think is pretty great so far.

Still haven't read anything by her, and that seems like something I need to fix.

kevin1025 · Oct 1, 2016

Ikuu said:

Hell yes. My favorite fantasy author, right there!

mu cephei · Oct 1, 2016

Currently reading The Traitor/ The Traitor Baru Cormorant.

I was trying to hold out for the US paperback as the cover is so much nicer than the UK cover, but I succumbed.

Makonero · Oct 2, 2016

About to start Neverwhere. The only Gaiman stuff I've read was Sandman and The Ocean at the End of The Lane. I enjoyed the little I've read of his stuff but I'm not over the moon for it. Time to dive a little deeper into the well.

BlueDogAnchorite · Oct 2, 2016

I've been reading the Fables series. I just got to volume 7. I'm really enjoying it so far ^^

dakini · Oct 2, 2016

Read Twelfth Night by Shakespeare and I absolutely loved it! It was really easy to understand and before I read it, I was worried about how accessible the humor was going to be, but it had me laughing out loud. I would definitely recommend this to someone who's been turned off by Shakespeare in the past.

I also bought it in the brand new Pelican 400th anniversary editions!

Dan · Oct 2, 2016

Finishing up this, after reading the previous installments of the trilogy in July and August. Just 150 pages left, and I think it's been pretty strong. I'm hoping he nails the ending, because I thought Reynolds dropped the ball a bit with how he ended the core Revelation Space story in Absolution Gap.

Macapala · Oct 2, 2016

The Shining.

I've seen the movie multiple times before so I'm quite familiar with the story. It's still quite enjoyable though as the book has many small differences and gives you some insight into the ghosts of the Overlook Hotel, which the movie doesn't even attempt to do.

The House in Fata Morgana.

Haven't formed an opinion on this as I've only just started reading it. All I can really say is it's quite mysterious.

brawly · Oct 2, 2016

Got all my stuff from amazon after they forgot to pack in Dune. Thick ass book aswell.

Need to wrap up Hyperion, then I'll probably dive head first into Golden Son. So excited for that.

JonnyKong · Oct 2, 2016

Has anybody read much from this year's Manbooker shortlist? I think His Bloody Project is probably the only one appealing to me right now,

http://themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-announces-2016-shortlist

Sean C · Oct 2, 2016

Junot Diaz's debut (and, almost a decade later, still sole) novel owes an obvious debt to past magical realist authors -- though while many reviews tend to cite Gabriel Garcia Marquez, presumably out of geographical and cultural proximity, the comparison that seemed most apt to me on reading it was Salman Rushdie, who has a similar habit of fashioning familial narratives as an exploration of nationalism and the legacies of colonial history (see, e.g., Midnight's Children and its lesser-known companion piece Shame).

For those, myself included, unfamiliar with the history of the Dominican Republic, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao is jam-packed with tidbits (often related in lengthy footnotes) alongside the central narrative, which is related out of chronological order via focus on three different generations of the family. Diaz's prose is propulsive and creative, again in a way that reminded me of Rushdie (as well as Michael Chabon), albeit strewn with untranslated Spanish that will surely annoy some unilingual readers (myself, I managed to make a lot of it work contextually; the rest, as with Umberto Eco's use of Latin in The Name of the Rose, I just ignored). It's a highly readable book, with the middle section dealing with Oscar's mother being probably the most interesting to me, but no section flags overall.

If there's a reservation about this novel that keeps me from giving it top marks, it's the handling of Oscar himself, in respect of his lifelong quest for romantic affection. This is evidently meant as a contrast with the traditional machismo of the narrator, Oscar's acquaintance Yunior. I contemplated whether Oscar's actions were meant to be skewed by Yunior's own perspective, but it's a perspective that seems to be shared by the book's back cover, which describes Oscar as a "sweet but disastrously overweight ghetto nerd". On this point, I must dissent. Oscar's romantic quests are, uniformly, pushy and frequently described in a manner that resemble street harassment; nor does this alter, the novel's climactic and apparently meant to be significant final pursuit not significantly different in his disregard for the expressed wishes of his intended.

kevin1025 · Oct 2, 2016

JonnyKong said:
Has anybody read much from this year's Manbooker shortlist? I think His Bloody Project is probably the only one appealing to me right now,

http://themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-announces-2016-shortlist

I haven't read it, but Do Not Say We Have Nothing is pretty big here in Canada, and is also up for the Giller Prize next month! I hope to read it before then.

Sean C · Oct 2, 2016

kevin1025 said:
I haven't read it, but Do Not Say We Have Nothing is pretty big here in Canada, and is also up for the Giller Prize next month! I hope to read it before then.

I haven't read it yet, but I'm rooting for it. Canadians have only won the Booker three times in the award's history, and it's ridiculous that somebody like Robertson Davies was only even nominated once.

Ravensmash · Oct 2, 2016

I'm steaming through The Humans by Matt Haig at the moment.

Definitely a change from the darker books I've been reading recently.

Sparse · Oct 2, 2016

Just finished The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu:

Loved it, loved it, loved it.

Now starting Post Office by Charles Bukowski:

Deleted member 125677 · Oct 2, 2016

Currently reading Kirkegaard's The concept of Anxiety and a book by Stephen Greenblatt, The Swerve

Finished Torgny Lindgren's Dore's Bible.
The narrator in the book clinges to a Lebenslüge. He claims to have been a dearly loved son, and how his life as an alexic, stowed away at a Special education institution, has been kept up and given meaning by this irrevocable fact. Because he can't read or write, he tells his story on a Sony MZN 710. But the child is gifted, he excels at drawing and telling stories (a gift he got from his grandfather, who passed on to him orally literature from all over the world). Doré's illustrated Bible (with no words) also becomes extremely important to him. This book finishes Lindgren's trilogy about "life and art" (also consists of Sweetness and Hash), and they're all really particular and highly enjoyable!

kevin1025 · Oct 2, 2016

Sean C said:
I haven't read it yet, but I'm rooting for it. Canadians have only won the Booker three times in the award's history, and it's ridiculous that somebody like Robertson Davies was only even nominated once.

I read Fifth Business for a Canadian Lit class back in university. I really need to read more of his work (and probably reread it again, it's been a while). I wonder if, with the rules change, Canadians will find it more difficult to shine through.

survivor · Oct 2, 2016

JonnyKong said:
Has anybody read much from this year's Manbooker shortlist? I think His Bloody Project is probably the only one appealing to me right now,

http://themanbookerprize.com/news/man-booker-prize-announces-2016-shortlist

I have read Eileen, it was a fun and weird thriller.

Anno · Oct 3, 2016

Halfway through The Spy Who Came in from the Cold. Not my usual kind of book but I'm thoroughly enjoying my time.

Ghostshark · Oct 3, 2016

Because of all the movie hype, and the possibility of spoilers that comes with it, I decided to start The Gunslinger. I've heard nothing but good things about the Dark Tower series, so I'm excited about it. I'm going to try and finish the whole series this month so I have plenty of time for NaNoWriMo.

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