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[hamauzu kaito]

I bought Revival based on the impressions written here and I was not disappointed. For me it was a page turner read mostly in a single sitting. 8/10

EDIT: Also ended up picking up "We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families". Gives an excellent picture of the genocide that occurred in Rwanda and its causes (culture, imperialism). My only complaint would be the organization of the chapters. I think the skipping back and forth in time, within a timeline that ultimately keeps moving forward as you read, makes it harder for the reader to connect events that took place in the same time period. 9/10

Also I am reading KOKUHAKU by Minato Kanae

 

[Atrophis]

Stop it guys, you're making me want to buy my first ever King book.

Just finished Acceptance. Liked it almost as much as annihilation. spoilers

Spoiler

I believe he did a good job at kind of wrapping up all the character arcs even though the BIG mystery was never solved. Way better version of LOST.

Annihilation: 5 stars
Authority: 3 stars
Acceptance: 4 stars
Trilogy itself: 5 stars (not averaging the books, looking at it as a whole.)

I finished it on Monday. My ratings:

Annihilation: 5 stars
Authority: 5 stars
Acceptance: 4 stars

I loved the Lovecraftian horror of the first and the paranoid spy thriller/bureaucratic nightmare of the second but the third had neither (except retreads of the horror in the first novel) so I found myself losing a bit of interest. It wraps up enough, is still brilliantly written and the bit with the owl genuinely moved me so it still gets 4 stars.

I completely forgot this was coming, thanks so much for the reminder!

Don't forget the 10 hour adaptation of War & Peace on New Years Day!

 

[Mumei]

Since my last update, almost two weeks ago:

Finished:

Seven Bad Ideas was very interesting, though I wish it went into more depth. It's apparent that it was not written by an economist, and while I don't know that I have enough background to follow something really in-depth, I at least would have preferred more than what this provided. It did seem like a useful historical overview of some of the positive roles the state played / plays in making capitalism possible, though if you're looking for that I'd imagine that Empire of Cotton: A Global History might be a better choice. Still, I did like it for the criticism of the anti-empiricist and ahistorical biases in mainstream economics.

I thoroughly enjoyed Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, especially since the last book wasn't nearly as depressing as I had been expecting. I was reading it like I expected to be hit - every character I liked was going to die, suffer terribly, or suffer terribly and die. It wasn't as bad as all that, and I think I felt less moved by the more painful denouements that did transpire because I was unattached to the characters or the relationships. Not that I didn't feel anything, of course, but relative to my imaginings my reaction was, "Oh, God, I was imagining so much worse." Anyway! I'm looking forward to reading one of the other series. I'm not sure if I should skip right to the Tawyny Man trilogy or read the Liveship Traders next.

I think I already posted about Women, Race and Class, but in case I didn't: Strongly recommend, though there were a few claims I'd like to check out myself. By and large it's one of the best explanations of the connections between the movements for class, gender, and racial equality, and how the classist and racist biases of the dominant white women's movement prevented it from being truly revolutionary.

A Season in Hell is fantastic, though personally I'd suggest reading Illuminations before reading A Season in Hell. I think it's a better introduction to Rimbaud, anyway.

Reading:

 

[BlueDogAnchorite]

Right now I am reading New X-Men Omnibus. I am the part where

Spoiler

they recruit Xorn.

So far, I am loving this comic.

 

[denshuu]

I came to the realization last week that I have absolutely no idea what is happening in Rwanda or how it started, so I picked this up on recommendation from President Bill Motherfucking Clinton.

It is heartbreaking. And infuriating.

 

[LProtag]

I got the new Murakami: The Strange Library. It's really a short story with some extravagant illustrations taking up most of the space in its 96 pages. I'll probably finish it all today.

It's pretty unwieldy though... as it's designed weird. It opens top and bottom and you have to fold the 'cover' back. Hard to explain. Here's some pictures.

I kinda want the UK version, which has the text incorporated into its illustrations and looks nicer to me. It'd be 26 dollars to get it to the US though, and I don't think I can justify spending that on a book that will take me less than an hour to read, haha.

 

[Grimalkin]

I'm currently reading:



which (so far) is very similar to another book I read this year:



I've enjoyed March Upcountry more than Valor's Choice. I mean, look at that cover. Yes, that is a man with a rat-tail haircut shooting a chromed sniper rifle riding on a dinosaur. I found the entire Empire of Man series enjoyable except for the last book which I felt was thematically weak and strayed too far from the rest of the series. Weber recently announced that they are working on a sequel series starring the same characters so I'm cautiously optimistic that they will get back to what made the first books campy fun. It's a little too obvious the chapters Weber wrote versus the chapters Ringo wrote so hopefully they can smooth that out. And that's all I will say about that.

 

[Bazza]

I'm looking forward to reading one of the other series. I'm not sure if I should skip right to the Tawyny Man trilogy or read the Liveship Traders next.

I probably wouldn't skip the Liveship Traders, while it isn't directly linked to the Farseer or Tawny Man trilogy's there are some crossovers. It also seems with each book little bits are being added to an unclear but bigger overall story line.

 

[Celegus]

Just finished up:

Love this kind of stuff. I mostly enjoy the writing and humor, but boy oh boy did he ever run the citation jokes into the ground. Got pretty obnoxious, having to look at the bottom of a page 5 times just to read some pointless one liner and having to find my place on the page again. But the actual science part of it was fantastic.

And:

The relationship between the Divinities and the people of the Continent was fascinating. Vo was an incredible character, and without giving too much away, his speech was SO good. The "murder mystery" element was pretty thin, but there was so much else going on that I didn't mind. Really hope we get more of this universe.

Started this next, since it was finally at the library:

 

[MrAstronaut]

Issac Asimov's Caliban
by Roger MacBride Allen

I'm absolutely loving it so far. Between the philosophical, environmental, and scientific dialogue its hard to put down.

 

[sparky2112]

Just finished up:

Love this kind of stuff. I mostly enjoy the writing and humor, but boy oh boy did he ever run the citation jokes into the ground. Got pretty obnoxious, having to look at the bottom of a page 5 times just to read some pointless one liner and having to find my place on the page again. But the actual science part of it was fantastic.

Still a steal on Kindle at $6.

And, yes, you CAN swim safely in one of those pools containing spent nuclear fuel rods.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

I'm currently reading:



which (so far) is very similar to another book I read this year:



I've enjoyed March Upcountry more than Valor's Choice. I mean, look at that cover. Yes, that is a man with a rat-tail haircut shooting a chromed sniper rifle riding on a dinosaur. I found the entire Empire of Man series enjoyable except for the last book which I felt was thematically weak and strayed too far from the rest of the series. Weber recently announced that they are working on a sequel series starring the same characters so I'm cautiously optimistic that they will get back to what made the first books campy fun. It's a little too obvious the chapters Weber wrote versus the chapters Ringo wrote so hopefully they can smooth that out. And that's all I will say about that.

those are some awesome covers

 

[Celegus]

And, yes, you CAN swim safely in one of those pools containing spent nuclear fuel rods.

Are you saying that from experience? I still wouldn't do it though, given that I can't swim in water regardless if it has nuclear fuel rods in it or not.

 

[sparky2112]

Are you saying that from experience? I still wouldn't do it though, given that I can't swim in water regardless if it has nuclear fuel rods in it or not.

Ha! But, yes, he makes it very clear that getting near the rods (sinking, in your case) is BAD. He makes the point, however that water absorbs radiation so well, that you're actually safer in the water than you are out of it, due to the radiation we're all exposed to naturally.

 

[zeeaykay]

Finished Locke and Key, which was incredible, so I moved onto Hill's latest novel NOS4A2 in celebration of Christmastime. It's fantastic halfway through.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

All hail VanderMeer. New StoryBundle of weird fiction, collected by him.

How's the collection? Any opinions on the books included?

 

[Mr.Swag]

Reading my first Hunter Thompson work, Hells Angels. Reading it at school while at home I read The Yiddish Policemans Union which I just started this morning.

Thriftbooks.com is the best thing ever

 

[Mr.Towel]

Does anyone have any fav space-operas they could recommend? Series or stand-alone. I've been reading some heavy stuff lately and want to move more into something lighter for the holidays, and I've been catching up with the current Macross series so it's put me in the mood for something similar. Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens, shit like that.

 

[Necrovex]

I thoroughly enjoyed Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, especially since the last book wasn't nearly as depressing as I had been expecting. I was reading it like I expected to be hit - every character I liked was going to die, suffer terribly, or suffer terribly and die. It wasn't as bad as all that, and I think I felt less moved by the more painful denouements that did transpire because I was unattached to the characters or the relationships. Not that I didn't feel anything, of course, but relative to my imaginings my reaction was, "Oh, God, I was imagining so much worse." Anyway! I'm looking forward to reading one of the other series. I'm not sure if I should skip right to the Tawyny Man trilogy or read the Liveship Traders next.

Hold on. If I love reading depressing ass novels, then this is the fantasy series for me? Besides horrible shit happening to your beloved characters, which I am certainly interested in, what about Hobb did you like?

Also Sir Mumei, will you never start reading A Dance With Dragons? And should I start on the endeavor that is Wheel of Time?

 

[Plasticine]

based purely off this cover i had to look this up

it sounds amazing please let me know what you think

Although no kindle edition is a bummer.

I'll definitely post a review when I'm done. So far, I'm really enjoying it. That isn't a surprise, though. I love Lansdale. He's an incredibly strong pulp writer. His writing has a colorful Texas flavor to it, and his stories tend to be fast paced. I never read Dead in the West before simply because it was out of print for so long. It became available a couple years ago in this collection, but I'm just now getting around to reading it.

While this particular collection isn't available on Kindle, it can be assembled piecemeal. The publisher who handles Lansdale's ebooks released Dead in the West as a stand alone title and the other stories as Deadman's Crossing.

 

[snacknuts]

I've been reading Catch-22 for the first time. It was a little difficult to follow all the characters and style at first, but I'm about a quarter of the way through and really enjoying it now.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

Does anyone have any fav space-operas they could recommend? Series or stand-alone. I've been reading some heavy stuff lately and want to move more into something lighter for the holidays, and I've been catching up with the current Macross series so it's put me in the mood for something similar. Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens, shit like that.

I'll get the obvious ones out of the way: Foundation, The Expanse, and the Vorkosigan Saga.

 

[Haly]

The Expanse is hella space operatic.

 

[Necrovex]

The Expanse is hella space operatic.

Will I get a major Mass Effect or Yamato 2199 Space Opera vibe then?

 

[Mr.Towel]

I'll get the obvious ones out of the way: Foundation, The Expanse, and the Vorkosigan Saga.

The Expanse is hella space operatic.

Is the rest of the series better than the first book? I liked it, but I wasn't really compelled to keep reading.

 

[Haly]

Will I get a major Mass Effect or Yamato 2199 Space Opera vibe then?

It's very Mass Effect, not at all Yamato 2199.

Is the rest of the series better than the first book? I liked it, but I wasn't really compelled to keep reading.

Hmmm, hard to say. No, the quality of the storytelling doesn't dramatically improve although each book is a bit different from the previous one in terms of tone and style.

You could always watch Yamato 2199 as Necrovex mentioned. It has "Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens", all of that.

 

[lightus]

Is the rest of the series better than the first book? I liked it, but I wasn't really compelled to keep reading.

Not really. Some people like the first book better, some like the second, they are roughly the same in quality though in my opinion. If you didn't care for the first you probably won't like the rest.

 

[Necrovex]

It's very Mass Effect, not at all Yamato 2199.


Hmmm, hard to say. No, the quality of the storytelling doesn't dramatically improve although each book is a bit different from the previous one in terms of tone and style.

You could always watch Yamato 2199 as Necrovex mentioned. It has "Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens", all of that.

Mass Effect will work enough.

And everyone should watch Gaf's (and mine) 2013 Anime of the Year title.

 

[GasProblem]

It's very Mass Effect, not at all Yamato 2199.


Hmmm, hard to say. No, the quality of the storytelling doesn't dramatically improve although each book is a bit different from the previous one in terms of tone and style.

You could always watch Yamato 2199 as Necrovex mentioned. It has "Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens", all of that.

Ohhh. Have the first book, really can't wait to start reading it. I love Mass Effect.

Sigh, too many books. Almost finished with Dance, then on to the Martian, then I have to choose between Leviathan Wakes, Blood Song & Tower Lord, Bone Clocks. Also getting Lies of Locke Lamora and The Ocean at the End of the Lane as gifts soon.

Also want to read either the Wheel of Time series or the Malazhan Books of the Fallen next year. Edging towards the Wheel of Time series more.

 

[aidan]

And:

The relationship between the Divinities and the people of the Continent was fascinating. Vo was an incredible character, and without giving too much away, his speech was SO good. The "murder mystery" element was pretty thin, but there was so much else going on that I didn't mind. Really hope we get more of this universe.

Bennett is writing a sequel right now.

 

[mu cephei]

I thoroughly enjoyed Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy, especially since the last book wasn't nearly as depressing as I had been expecting. I was reading it like I expected to be hit - every character I liked was going to die, suffer terribly, or suffer terribly and die. It wasn't as bad as all that, and I think I felt less moved by the more painful denouements that did transpire because I was unattached to the characters or the relationships. Not that I didn't feel anything, of course, but relative to my imaginings my reaction was, "Oh, God, I was imagining so much worse." Anyway! I'm looking forward to reading one of the other series. I'm not sure if I should skip right to the Tawyny Man trilogy or read the Liveship Traders next.

I think I already posted about Women, Race and Class, but in case I didn't: Strongly recommend, though there were a few claims I'd like to check out myself. By and large it's one of the best explanations of the connections between the movements for class, gender, and racial equality, and how the classist and racist biases of the dominant white women's movement prevented it from being truly revolutionary.

I'm glad you enjoyed it
As for whether or not to read Liveship Traders, I gather lots of people skip it and don't miss it, but as Bazza upthread said, it gives more depth to the world (and one of the characters). However if you're not particularly invested in it, then maybe there's little point.

When I was reading The Odd Women (well, I'm still reading it) I found it really depressing how classist the women's rights movement was.

 

[LProtag]

Well, that new Murakami took me maybe 20 or so minutes to read. It really is just a short story, so don't pick it up if you're expecting a novella or anything.

I mean, I liked it, and I really liked the art work. It's one of those objects where... it's form more than function, if that makes sense. I like owning it. I might even get the UK version as the artwork looks good as well.

 

[Mumei]

Hold on. If I love reading depressing ass novels, then this is the fantasy series for me? Besides horrible shit happening to your beloved characters, which I am certainly interested in, what about Hobb did you like?

Also Sir Mumei, will you never start reading A Dance With Dragons? And should I start on the endeavor that is Wheel of Time?

I would recommend it, yes. While it was less depressing than I expected, it was still on the downer side of things.

As for what I liked about it? I liked how the the narrative voice changes as Fitz grows from a six-year old boy perspective is almost wholly non-verbal and interior, focused upon his psychic connection with a puppy, to a teenager, to an adult. I liked the villains, in the sense that I despised them and thought they seemed actually threatening to the protagonists. I liked the cast of secondary characters, and I liked how flawed Fitz was. I thought the magic systems were interesting, but they don't have the feel of the numinous despite reaching in that direction.

But if you really want to be depressed, read Bloodlands.

 

[Kaladin]

NPR published their Best Books of 2014.

I've read one, The Bone Clocks and have copies of three more to read (The Martian, The Peripheral and Station Eleven).

They don't have my favorite book that I've read so far though, which was Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance. Can't say I blame them though, Stormlight Archives is a beast to get through.

http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2014/

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Does anyone have any fav space-operas they could recommend? Series or stand-alone. I've been reading some heavy stuff lately and want to move more into something lighter for the holidays, and I've been catching up with the current Macross series so it's put me in the mood for something similar. Character drama, romance, big space fights, aliens, shit like that.

Would ayone who's read it consider The Damned Trilogy a good recommendation? It's been awhile since I've read it but it's somewhat similar to what you're looking for, based on what I remember.

 

[Mr.Towel]

Sure! The Vorkosigan series by Lois McMaster Bujold is an obvious recommendation. She's won multiple awards for several of the books, and it's a great read with fun characters, interesting plots, solid writing all around. I'm very fond of the Liaden series (Fledgling is a good starting point if you're interested) by Sharon Lee and Steve Miller. Very character-focused and somewhat episodic stories rather than grand overarching plots, but the whole setting is just delightfully built, and I enjoy the warm writing style.

Thanks! I have the first couple Vorkosigan books but I haven't read them yet. Fledgling seems like it's right up my alley, are there any of the other books in the series I should tackle right after reading the Fledgling books or am I pretty safe in just picking up any of the other series that sound interesting?

 

[Celegus]

Bennett is writing a sequel right now.

Fantastic! Very excited to see what's next.

Slow day at work today, so I already finished The Slow Regard of Silent Things. Definitely not my typical cup of tea, but I still liked it and for what it was meant to be, meets that goal exceedingly well. Auri is pretty much exactly how I thought she would be while on her own. She has a very unique view of the world, much more animalistic and instinctual than most people that was fun to get a glimpse of. The writing style matches her person so well that the pages just flew by.

It's pretty nice walking past a big library on my home from work everyday!

 

[Mumei]

Thanks! I have the first couple Vorkosigan books but I haven't read them yet. Fledgling seems like it's right up my alley, are there any of the other books in the series I should tackle right after reading the Fledgling books or am I pretty safe in just picking up any of the other series that sound interesting?

Just read Vorkosigan Saga because it's the bestest.

 

[DagsJT]

NPR published their Best Books of 2014.

I've read one, The Bone Clocks and have copies of three more to read (The Martian, The Peripheral and Station Eleven).

They don't have my favorite book that I've read so far though, which was Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance. Can't say I blame them though, Stormlight Archives is a beast to get through.

http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2014/

250 books?! I was hoping for a more condensed list, i think.

 

[Kaladin]

250 books?! I was hoping for a more condensed list, i think.

The concierge tool is handy.

 

[DagsJT]

The concierge tool is handy.

Just noticed the filter, which makes it an excellent list now

 

[Kaladin]

Has anyone seen any Best of Fantasy 2014 lists?

Also....what are the major fantasy blogs to follow?

 

[Necrovex]

I would recommend it, yes. While it was less depressing than I expected, it was still on the downer side of things.

As for what I liked about it? I liked how the the narrative voice changes as Fitz grows from a six-year old boy perspective is almost wholly non-verbal and interior, focused upon his psychic connection with a puppy, to a teenager, to an adult. I liked the villains, in the sense that I despised them and thought they seemed actually threatening to the protagonists. I liked the cast of secondary characters, and I liked how flawed Fitz was. I thought the magic systems were interesting, but they don't have the feel of the numinous despite reaching in that direction.

But if you really want to be depressed, read Bloodlands.

Now I will read those books, and the one you recommended!

NPR published their Best Books of 2014.

I've read one, The Bone Clocks and have copies of three more to read (The Martian, The Peripheral and Station Eleven).

They don't have my favorite book that I've read so far though, which was Brandon Sanderson's Words of Radiance. Can't say I blame them though, Stormlight Archives is a beast to get through.

http://apps.npr.org/best-books-2014/

Sanderson is also someone I wouldn't recommend to most people. While I adore the Stormlight Archives, it's not a series where I see many non-fantasy readers enjoying.

And oh god, 250 books. That'll take me years!!!

 

[Kaladin]

Sanderson is also someone I wouldn't recommend to most people. While I adore the Stormlight Archives, it's not a series where I see many non-fantasy readers enjoying.

And oh god, 250 books. That'll take me years!!!

He's starting to broaden his audience beyond fantasy. He's started two good YA series and has his Legion novella series which is more in thriller territory.

 

[Mr.Towel]

The series is a little bit complicated because there's a (sort of) main sequence and then a lot of side stories and sequences. Fledgling has a direct sequel in Saltation, and at that point if you enjoy the series you might carry on with the Theo Waitley stories or you might wonder who all these other characters that she's met are and go back to read some of the main sequence books (Agent of Change, Conflict of Honors, Carpe Diem, Plan B, I Dare). Then there are a number of prequel books at varying distances of time from the main sequence.

The series has an interesting history in that they wrote the first three books of the main sequence, and had more books planned, but the publisher canned the series saying that sales weren't high enough. Years later, Lee and Miller discovered that their series had become a minor cult hit, and they had tons of fans online wondering where the next book was, so they got a new publisher and carried on with it. In the intervening years they had built out all kinds of characters and background around their universe, and so had tons more stories to tell.

Anyway. If you enjoy Fledgling and Saltation, hit me up again and I can try to give you more direction on where to go next.

Just one more question and I'll stop bugging you for a bit: there are two editions of Fledgling on Kobo, a free edition and a paid one listed as a 2nd edition with more content. Do you know the differences?

 

[Celegus]

He's starting to broaden his audience beyond fantasy. He's started two good YA series and has his Legion novella series which is more in thriller territory.

My wife and sister who aren't at all into fantasy both put Mistborn near their favorite books of all time after I told them to read it. They haven't braved Stormlight Archive yet though, so I'm not sure how that would fare.

 

[Necrovex]

He's starting to broaden his audience beyond fantasy. He's started two good YA series and has his Legion novella series which is more in thriller territory.

I don't doubt that. But his epic fantasy series, while extremely well-executed, is not geared towards a main stream crowd. It doesn't have that same hook as The Song of Ice and Fire. I love Stormlight Archives, but I see it as a shonen Fantasy series.

 

[Piecake]

Hold on. If I love reading depressing ass novels, then this is the fantasy series for me? Besides horrible shit happening to your beloved characters, which I am certainly interested in, what about Hobb did you like?

Also Sir Mumei, will you never start reading A Dance With Dragons? And should I start on the endeavor that is Wheel of Time?

I wouldnt

 

[Mumei]

I wouldnt

Piecake, did you know that Necrovex is holding out on reading The Story of the Stone?

 

[Kaladin]

While we're on the subject of Stormlight Archives....

Bridge Four!