What are you nerds reading? :D
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I just finished Kill Your Boss by Shane Kuhn (called The Intern's Handbook over in the States). It's a really great read with an interesting concept at its core: a contract killer firm that disguises its assassins as interns to bump off corporate higher-ups. The idea being that interns are pretty much invisible to the paid workers, and managers are more than happy to offload tasks (and thus access and trust) onto them. Right up until the 'intern' finishes them off and vanishes.
It's violent and pretty dark, but also very entertaining. The book is presented as a handbook for new intakes by a retiring assassin, who frames his rules for the job by telling the story of his final assignment to kill a partner in a Manhattan law firm. The narration really nails it: the main character pulls no punches telling you about his amorality and disregard for human life, but also has this very dry sense of humour that works wonders when he inevitably breaks every one of his rules on his final mission. A unique idea and pretty well executed to boot.
It's violent and pretty dark, but also very entertaining. The book is presented as a handbook for new intakes by a retiring assassin, who frames his rules for the job by telling the story of his final assignment to kill a partner in a Manhattan law firm. The narration really nails it: the main character pulls no punches telling you about his amorality and disregard for human life, but also has this very dry sense of humour that works wonders when he inevitably breaks every one of his rules on his final mission. A unique idea and pretty well executed to boot.
Re-reading By Schism Rent Asunder from the Safehold series by David Webber. Its about a human colony that was hidden from genocidal aliens, only the administrator took the directive of not having any technology that could attract them to the extreme and set up an anti-technological church with himself and the rest of the command crew as 'archangels'. The books deal with an android that re-activated several centuries afterwards that's trying to break the church's hold on the world.
A Darkling Plain, last book in the Mortal Engines quartet. Couple of dozen pages from the end, I expect I'll cry again. Brilliant little steampunk series.
I have Cloud Atlas standing by and ready to go as soon as I'm done with that book.
I have Cloud Atlas standing by and ready to go as soon as I'm done with that book.
Nah, I started Discworld a long time ago.Twintix said:
Never read them in order, though. I just read them as I came across them.
I started with Wyrd Sisters and it's still one of my favourites. I think that's why I didn't enjoy Equal Rites as much as I could have, because I didn't realise how early on it was.
I must admit I find the earlier books harder to read.
Also, Monstrous Regiment is another of my favourites! I lost my copy so I'm looking to pick up another one.
And I like it when Death turns up too.
I'm making another attempt to read The Silmarillion. I succeeded once around ten years ago (after a few failed attempts because I just lost track of everything), so I'm ripe for this attempt.
So far, it's looking good. I'm up to the part where Feanor is introduced, and I've managed to retain the events that have happened so far.
So far, it's looking good. I'm up to the part where Feanor is introduced, and I've managed to retain the events that have happened so far.
Really? I don't want to get into it since another member in this very thread is about to finish it but I thought the ending was excellent.Artaneius said:
It was a...different ending so I suppose I can understand why you would have hated it.
I read a few of the Discworld books before I decided I didn't like them (LOVED the book where Death had an apprentice but I didn't really care for any of the others I read).Twintix said:
For reference (since I know you're dying to hear my opinion
)Color of Magic was alright
Light Fantastic (is that the one with the sentient piece of luggage? Cause if so, I kind of liked it)
Equal Rights was good
Mort was AWESOME!
Wyrd Sisters I did not like
Basically the series was really hit and miss for me and when I ran out of books to read from that series, I just sort of...stopped trying to get them again.
I am currently reading Greg Egan, everything I can get my fingers on. Egan is an australian science fiction writer and computer scientist. If you like hard science fiction, you will love his stories.
I would recommend to start with Axiomatic, a collection of some his short stories. Every single one of them is just amazing.
Wanna read about an assassin, who has to kill his target in an infinite amount of parallel universes simultaneously?
Wanna know how it would be if you could buy an implant, that would change all your ethical values in an instant?
Or maybe you would like to read a tale about a man, who wakes up in someone elses body each morning?
My personal favorite, Into Darkness, makes the meaning of past, present and future so bodily tangible, like I've never seen it anywhere else.
Go buy all of Egan's stuff. Now. You will NOT regret it!
I would recommend to start with Axiomatic, a collection of some his short stories. Every single one of them is just amazing.
Wanna read about an assassin, who has to kill his target in an infinite amount of parallel universes simultaneously?
Wanna know how it would be if you could buy an implant, that would change all your ethical values in an instant?
Or maybe you would like to read a tale about a man, who wakes up in someone elses body each morning?
My personal favorite, Into Darkness, makes the meaning of past, present and future so bodily tangible, like I've never seen it anywhere else.
Go buy all of Egan's stuff. Now. You will NOT regret it!
I have been reading The Red Knight of Germany by Floyd Gibbons. It's a biography of Manfred Von Richthofen, better known as the Red Baron. Fairly interesting read, if I do say so myself. Granted I've been reading it on and off for the last five months, and I already know the ending, but it's still a good book. I just wish the copy of it I have wasn't falling apart.
Still working my way through A Song of Ice and Fire series. It's a good series, no doubt, but when there are anywhere from ten to twenty different storylines going on simultaneously and you're only interested in two, and you realize you're going to have to slog through another one hundred pages before you hit the perspective you enjoy the most... it gets a little hard to read.
Dealers of Lightning: Xerox PARC and the Dawn of the Computer Age
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0887309895?pc_redir=1409138676&robot_redir=1 [Amazone link]
As the title suggests it chronicles the innovations of Xerox PARC and it's effect on the computer industry.
It is pretty interesting.
www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/0887309895?pc_redir=1409138676&robot_redir=1 [Amazone link]
As the title suggests it chronicles the innovations of Xerox PARC and it's effect on the computer industry.
It is pretty interesting.
It wasn't really an ending. Hell, even Stephen King writes a warning before the actual ending to stop reading. Kind of bad when the author tells you to stop reading.tippy2k2 said:Really? I don't want to get into it since another member in this very thread is about to finish it but I thought the ending was excellent.Artaneius said:
It was a...different ending so I suppose I can understand why you would have hated it.
I read a few of the Discworld books before I decided I didn't like them (LOVED the book where Death had an apprentice but I didn't really care for any of the others I read).Twintix said:
For reference (since I know you're dying to hear my opinion
Color of Magic was alright
Light Fantastic (is that the one with the sentient piece of luggage? Cause if so, I kind of liked it)
Equal Rights was good
Mort was AWESOME!
Wyrd Sisters I did not like
Basically the series was really hit and miss for me and when I ran out of books to read from that series, I just sort of...stopped trying to get them again.
Ah, most of those are really early on, when Pratchett was still figuring out how to write the books. Of the earlier books, Mort and Guards! Guards! are some of the better ones, in my opinion.tippy2k2 said:I read a few of the Discworld books before I decided I didn't like them (LOVED the book where Death had an apprentice but I didn't really care for any of the others I read).
For reference (since I know you're dying to hear my opinion
Color of Magic was alright
Light Fantastic (is that the one with the sentient piece of luggage? Cause if so, I kind of liked it)
Equal Rights was good
Mort was AWESOME!
Wyrd Sisters I did not like
Basically the series was really hit and miss for me and when I ran out of books to read from that series, I just sort of...stopped trying to get them again.
If you liked Mort, you could try Reaper Man or Soul Music. They also follow Death. Otherwise, you could try the City Watch books, starting from Guards! Guards!. If you want to try them again, that is.
Haha, I pretty much can't read books out of chronological order. I accidentally read Thief of Time before The Truth because they were listed in the reverse order in the book index, and when I found out I was like:Phasmal said:I started with Wyrd Sisters and it's still one of my favourites. I think that's why I didn't enjoy Equal Rites as much as I could have, because I didn't realise how early on it was.
I must admit I find the earlier books harder to read.
Also, Monstrous Regiment is another of my favourites! I lost my copy so I'm looking to pick up another one.
And I like it when Death turns up too.
Yeah, the earlier books seem a bit wonky when you've come far. Equal Rites is only the third book in the series. I'm glad that the Granny Weatherwax in the later books is quite different. It somehow suits her better.
Good that I'm not the only one who loves it when Death shows up. I see the letters THAT ARE ALL CAPITAL and I'm like:
Hah. I probably would have read them in order if I had started reading them as an adult, but my dad collected them when I was a kid, so I used to just read the ones I found lying around.Twintix said:Haha, I pretty much can't read books out of chronological order. I accidentally read Thief of Time before The Truth because they were listed in the reverse order in the book index, and when I found out I was like:
Yeah, the earlier books seem a bit wonky when you've come far. Equal Rites is only the third book in the series. I'm glad that the Granny Weatherwax in the later books is quite different. It somehow suits her better.
Good that I'm not the only one who loves it when Death shows up. I see the letters THAT ARE ALL CAPITAL and I'm like:
I recommended Monstrous Regiment to my sister as a Discworld you can read as a stand-alone and she kind of freaked out when she saw the number book it was.
I will re-read them all in order at one point.
I've read multiple King books (specifically The Stand, Under the Dome, and 11/22/63) and the man can write a hell of a story but can't end a story to save his freaking life. Both "The Stand" and "Under the Dome" went Deus Ex Machina to fix the situations while "11/22/63" was stated by him that the ending was someone else's idea...Artaneius said:It wasn't really an ending. Hell, even Stephen King writes a warning before the actual ending to stop reading. Kind of bad when the author tells you to stop reading.
Yeah, the stand-alones are great for introducing someone who doesn't want to read all the books in order. Of the stand-alones, Small Gods might just be one of the best. At least, in my opinion. We'll see if I change my mind; I haven't gotten all that far into Monstrous Regiment. I like how it ties into The Truth a bit, too.Phasmal said:I recommended Monstrous Regiment to my sister as a Discworld you can read as a stand-alone and she kind of freaked out when she saw the number book it was.
I will re-read them all in order at one point.
I can't wait to start reading Going Postal. I got the movie version sometime last spring, but I haven't watched it because I want to read the book first. I've heard that it's apparently the best of the movie versions. I just cross my fingers and hope that reading the book doesn't ruin the movie for me.
LotR was basically ruined for me because I watched the movies first and I got too bored when reading the much slower-paced book. I don't want it to happen to my precious Discworld...
I have a habit of keeping more than one book on the go at once, so the titles I'm currently reading are Breaking The Spell by Daniel Dennett and From Dust To Life by John Chambers and Jacqueline Mitton, although my copy of the Firefly pen-and-paper RPG was delivered today so I'll have to begin making time for that in my schedule as well.
To be fairArtaneius said:It wasn't really an ending. Hell, even Stephen King writes a warning before the actual ending to stop reading. Kind of bad when the author tells you to stop reading.tippy2k2 said:
The ending(s) are split into the 'happy' ending for Roland's companions and then followed by Roland's tragic epilogue. The warning by King is there to reinforce the idea that King is not making up Roland's story but merely reporting it, hence the 'don't read any further, you won't like what I've had to write' disclaimer. If you remember, when Roland is asking King why he stopped telling Roland's story, King replies " I got scared. I didn't like what you'd become". By seeming reluctant to finish his own book, it adds credence to the concept of Roland having his own life outside of King's control. I agree with Tippy, the ending was excellent.
Those are all stuff from way back in the 80s. Mort is awesome, but I don't think Pratchett really hit his stride until much later. I'd recommend giving him another shot and reading Night Watch. Really. It's the book that turned Pratchett into one of my favourite authors, rather than just one I kinda pass the time with.tippy2k2 said:
Anyway, I came to this thread because I haven't read a good book in ages and I want to trawl it for ideas ^^ I need to get my friend to lend me Mogworld...
The last good books I read were The Song of Ice and Fire series, Fahrenheit 451 by err... it wasn't Huxley... Bradbury? Which I'd definitely recommend in any case, especially if you liked 1984 or generally Orwellian fiction. I also tried reading Riddley Walker, but I think I've since lost it due to my many house moves.
There's a Going Postal movie?? Why did nobody tell me this? Who the hell did they get to play Moist?Twintix said:
Just finished Hyperion.
It had pretty cool ideas, and I liked most of it. It felt a little disjointed, and some parts, like the bard's tale were just meh, others like the priest's or scholar's story were great.
Generally a good book, left me wanting more of the series.
It had pretty cool ideas, and I liked most of it. It felt a little disjointed, and some parts, like the bard's tale were just meh, others like the priest's or scholar's story were great.
Generally a good book, left me wanting more of the series.
I read A Storm of Swords during easter. Aside from that, I started on Animal Farm a good while back, but never got around to finish it. Suspect I might have to start over again. The same goes for The God Delusion, though that's going to be a pain to start over, I think I was about halfway through that.
I could go on with the stuff I have lying around that I intend to read some day, but I won't bore you with that. Just gonna say that the 4th book of dune has been in my library for a few years now...
I could go on with the stuff I have lying around that I intend to read some day, but I won't bore you with that. Just gonna say that the 4th book of dune has been in my library for a few years now...