Summarize the book, or book series, that you are currently reading

[J. MB]

While not a series, I'm reading various books on the Australian SASR.
The protagonists (real men) have a tendency to be motivated less by patriotism and more by the challenge of Special Forces.
They generally range from the early 90s to early 2000s and typically involve medical service in several South-East Asian countries, reconnaissance and support in Afghanistan and a lot of parachuting everywhere.

 

[dragonswarrior]

A young, neglected and abused child is recruited to a special school for folks wit da magic. Meanwhile, he discovers that he's incredibly famous for something he did accidentally as a baby, and then he spends the next 7 years earning that fame while alternatively being awesome and being a total prat.

3 guesses what the series is and the first two don't count.

It's my third reread of the entire series. It's actually really great reading it with older and wiser eyes. There's a lot of stuff I missed when I was younger and more ignorant.

 

[dragonswarrior]

set in the late 1800's a woman and her frail sister live in a big house they are occasionally visited by terrible lake monsters, she has a laboratory in the basement to try and figure out whats going on

Is it good? It sounds really interesting. What is this???

snips

It's out???? It's out already??? How did I miss this????

I can't believe she's dragging Fitz out of retirement though, for real. Hobb's done enough to that poor man already...

Still gonna read the ever lovin' shit outa that book though.

 

[Vault101]

Is it good? It sounds really interesting. What is this???
.

Recently came out its Maplecroft my Cherie Priest she's better known for her steampunk books

I'm really enjoying it!

 

[Objectable]

"The building was on fire, and it wasn't my fault."
The Dresden Files.

 

[DirgeNovak]

A guy gets a letter from his dead wife and looks for her in a town full of monsters.
(It's the novelization of Silent Hill 2)

 

[KingsGambit_v1legacy]

snips

It's out???? It's out already??? How did I miss this????

I can't believe she's dragging Fitz out of retirement though, for real. Hobb's done enough to that poor man already...

Still gonna read the ever lovin' shit outa that book though.

It's out! Came out late Aug without even a whisper. I stumbled on it by luck or chance and ordered it on the spot

It grabbed me, lost me for a bit but has me quite firmly again. Hobb's writing is superb and after six Fitz novels, all from his PoV it's like meeting up with an old friend. It's a wonderful return to the Six Duchies and the slow build up is really nice. Fitz is well middle-aged now and all the other people in his life have aged too. The world has moved on a little and it's so great to hear him tell it.

At the end of the last Fitz book, it was a happy and hopeful, if wistful and poignant ending. All your imaginings of what might come next for him are in this book. You're right about how much Hobb has put poor Fitz thru, in fact that plays into the story...but since Fool's Assassin is the first of a new trilogy it seems Fitz and the Fool may have one more adventure yet.

Sadly, no Nighteyes or Burrich tho :-(

 

[Pappytech]

The series I'm currently reading is a bit of an odd one. Basically, it's a fantasy world that's completely governed by the rules of drama and various tropes. Heroes, while not particularly bright, are insanely talented at coming across ancient tombs, assassination is considered death by natural causes for a king, the underdog always triumphs against insurmountable odds, etc. The general tone is sarcastic as hell, with what would ordinarily be climatic reveals being spoiled fifty pages ahead of time. Each book has its own cast of characters, but so far the most important ones seem to be a wizzard who can't do magic, a witch who'd rather rely on headology than actual curses and brews, a Grim Reaper going through a mid-life crisis, and a sapient footlocker.

Also, the world itself is disc-shaped, instead of being a globe. A sort of Discworld, if you would.

 

[TheYellowCellPhone]

Still reading a Song of Fire and Ice...

The story of a spontaneously appearing family feud in a medieval world that spark a major civil war that also happens to cause a lot of bad things to happen.

 

[Ihateregistering1]

I'm reading the Dune books.

Summary: what the hell is going on? I'm so confused. Holy crap Frank Herbert must have been on a lot of drugs when he wrote these. I probably should get some drugs.
(drugs)
It all makes SENSE now!

 

[NerfedFalcon]

It's 1985, at the height of the Cold War. Superheroes are a dying breed, made obsolete by the presence of one who actually has supernatural powers. When ex-heroes start disappearing, those left are forced to answer the question of what it truly means to be a hero, whether you have a mask or not, and the public asks in return:

Who watches the Watchmen?

 

[Johnny Impact]

Iron Council, the third book in China Mieville's Bas-Lag series. I'd call it gritty steampunk. Imagine Victorian England with all its poverty, industry, politics, effluence, and bustle. Then throw in cactus-men, frog people who can sculpt water like clay, alchemists and thaumaturgy and golems and a hundred other things. New Crobuzon's justice system Remakes the judged for punishment or slave labor, turning car thieves into living taxicabs or replacing a convict's arms with jackhammers for mine work. There is a strong impression that the world was somehow ruined long ago, whether by nuclear fallout or industrial excess: everything outside the city is swamps and badlands sparsely populated by creatures so weird as to defy understanding.

 

[The Eupho Guy_v1legacy]

To quote the foreword of one of the books from the series:

"There are ten of them published as I write, and an eleventh on the way. People seem to like them. I'll keep writing until they don't anymore or, as I've said, until I've killed every body - whichever is the soonest."

The foreword is a little out of date (Its now thirteen of them published, and a fourteenth on the way), but the intent remains the same, large scale warfare with a body count to match.

Spoiler: The series in question?

Gaunt's Ghosts, by Dan Abnett

 

[Vault101]

Iron Council, the third book in China Mieville's Bas-Lag series. I'd call it gritty steampunk. Imagine Victorian England with all its poverty, industry, politics, effluence, and bustle. Then throw in cactus-men, frog people who can sculpt water like clay, alchemists and thaumaturgy and golems and a hundred other things. New Crobuzon's justice system Remakes the judged for punishment or slave labor, turning car thieves into living taxicabs or replacing a convict's arms with jackhammers for mine work. There is a strong impression that the world was somehow ruined long ago, whether by nuclear fallout or industrial excess: everything outside the city is swamps and badlands sparsely populated by creatures so weird as to defy understanding.

I have an interest in the Victorian era (particually America and the south) but I admit I've never read steam-punk

its because I've always associated it with annoying pandering marketing that seems hell bent on cramming as many sub-sub-subgenres into it to make it sound craaaaazy

[b/]steampunk-urbanfantasy-vampire-magic-werewolf-electric boogaloo!!![/b]

but this sounds interesting

[sub/]even if I don't like urban fantasy eather[/sub]

I've got Cherie Priest's Boneshaker on standby to read as all

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Wheel of Time series.
Farm boy is the chosen one, his friends and him are part of a prophecy to save the world from the dark one and the forces of evil once and for all. It's pretty cliche but it's done really well.

 

[Blow_Pop]

*tongue in cheek*
Basically this poet has a midlife crisis, gets lost in the woods and almost gets killed by some big ol' animals.

I don't know if it's sad, bad, or I've just read this enough to recognise it but after reading just that sentence I went "that's the inferno" and sure enough..... I adore the Divine Comedy and have a very nice version of it too.



I just started my current book (though I could and will describe the one I just finished) and so far two guys meet up in a bar and talk and the one guy agrees to let the other guy come with him and work for him even though the other guy attacked his last boss and has told the first guy this. They sail to an island in the Mediterranean and meet the natives. They've just woken up at this point.
I'm reading Zorba the Greek. So far it's good and I'd recommend it. How good I'm not sure since I just came off of a really bad book but so far its good.

Spoiler: book i just finished

it tells the story of a Polish holocaust survivor's tale of how she survived and what her life was like. It takes place in New York and the narrator goes on and on about how attractive the survivor is and a few other women are and goes on for a considerable amount of time of how sexually frustrated he is and how he feels that girl A is a cocktease because she flirts but is a virgin and won't sleep with him, girl B is worse than a cocktease because she gives him 9 orgasms by handjobs in the course of 3 nights (3 a night) but won't sleep with him because she's had her own trauma regarding sex in the past, and girl C aka the Polish survivor finally has sex with him and he gets his end goal of finally obtaining a blowjob. Oh and Polish girl is madly in love with a jewish abusive schizophrenic drug addict who winds up convincing her to kill herself with him by use of sodium-cyanide pills.
Any guesses?

Sophie's Choice. 0/10 WOULD NOT recommend. Unless of course you like intending to pick up a book that's suppose to focus on the atrocities that she had to go through during her stay at Auschwitz-Birkenau (no auto correct I DON'T mean Birkenstock I do mean Birkenau) that instead focuses on the narrator and how sexually deprived he is and how he tries to make everything that happened to her about him (ie: the day she went into Auschwitz I was doing this). In which case, this is the perfect book for you.

Edit: Also reading:

Remember remember the 5th of November

Gee I'll bet no one guessed V for Vendetta (which I still have yet to see the movie.....)

 

[RedDeadFred]

The Name of the Wind

A man tells his life's tale to a chronicler. His life is tragic, filled with wonder and mystery, and also has some truly hilarious moments. Mysterious beings assault him and his family at a young age and this pushes him towards trying to uncover the secrets of the world. Along the way, he will become the youngest member of the University, where he will excel at sympathy (a form of magic that is treated more as an actual science), meet interesting people, and go on several adventures. The book is titled as it is because Kvothe (main character) wants to learn the name of the wind. Everything has a true name. If you know it, you can control it. Truly gifted "namers" are quite rare, but several of the professors at the University know a name or two.

The one thing that I must stress above all else when it comes to this book is that it is beautifully written. Seriously, I don't think I've ever encountered writing more compelling than this. Rothfuss could be writing about the most mundane things but he finds a way to make it deeply interesting.

 

[Fijiman]

The Red Knight of Germany is a biography about the Red Baron. There is nothing else to be said here.

 

[Shiftygiant]

The Spy Who Came In From The Cold

Alec Leamas is a British Spy who, after a mission in Berlin goes tits up, is forced to retire. He's given one mission, to kill Mundt, a senior intelligence operative. Everything falls apart when he falls in love with an English Communist named Liz, and defects.

 

[mysecondlife]

Mine's about a family of father, mother and 5 daughters fighting against zombies during 19th century England.