What are you nerds reading? :D
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dragonswarrior said:
But....but.....I liked all the books.
I do agree that the books begin to plod along at a much slower pace towards the end but I really liked the entire series. Now granted, I read WoT AFTER they all came out so I don't know if that would help or hurt (since I went from book 0 to 10 without having to pause).
Hopefully someone can give you a better answer for I didn't read much of Lord of the Rings and I gave up on Thrones (though not because Thrones was bad; I'd have eaten that up if I'd have gotten to the book before the show, I read up to book 2).Fox12 said:
From what I read with Thrones, it's a lot less complicated than that. The books are big into travel and groups getting separated into their own stories until they meet back up (so similar to LotR more than Thrones). The mythos also has a decent amount of magic and powers so again, more LotR than Thrones.
From the minimal of Rings I've read, I think if you enjoyed Rings, you'd enjoy WoT. Many consider WoT to be a cornerstone of fantasy reading so it's gotta be doing something right!
Currently working my way through "The Strain" by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo del Toro. The basis for the FX Tv series starts off with a flight from Germany to New York City mysteriously powering down on the runway after it lands and everyone on board the plane is discovered to be dead. What follows is essentially a modern version of Bram Stoker's "Dracula", but one thats genuinely creepy and unnerving.
I just finished "The Troop", by Nick Cutter. I'm calling it the best horror story of the year. It was gripping, and touched on fear in such a way that I haven't read in a long time- think old Stephen King, with the nostalgia and rich characters, combined with a fresh threat that is terrifying in ways you might not have considered. Bonus points for being a Canadian tale, set in PEI, and not overwhelmed with bullshit Canadian tourism, media and references.
I also knocked off "Mr. Mercedes" by Stephen King (rich characters and fun twists on what feels like an old tale, but I miss the supernatural punches) and "The Montauk Monster" by Hunter Shea (I found it a bit silly given the subject matter, and yet if it wasn't related to the debunked cryptid, it actually would have had more clout - not a bad story).
That was my last ten days.
I also knocked off "Mr. Mercedes" by Stephen King (rich characters and fun twists on what feels like an old tale, but I miss the supernatural punches) and "The Montauk Monster" by Hunter Shea (I found it a bit silly given the subject matter, and yet if it wasn't related to the debunked cryptid, it actually would have had more clout - not a bad story).
That was my last ten days.
I'm like 140 pages into the first Wheel of Time book. I'm really only reading it to distract me from waiting for Winds of Winter, but it seems alright so far. I figure with my snail-like reading pace I'll be lucky to get halfway through the series before GRRM drops the new book.
Over the summer I read GRRM's 3 Dunk & Egg novellas (Hedge Knight, Sworn Sword, Mystery Knight) which are set about 100 years before the main ASoIaF series. They're a bit of a pain to track down (you're either going to be reading digital versions or buying a bunch of anthologies with other stories that you don't care about), but they were pretty goddamn brilliant and gripping. I'd say they're an essential read for any fan of ASoIaF, and their short length might actually make them a good introduction to the series for people who are intimidated by the massive brick-like tomes that are the main books.
Over the summer I read GRRM's 3 Dunk & Egg novellas (Hedge Knight, Sworn Sword, Mystery Knight) which are set about 100 years before the main ASoIaF series. They're a bit of a pain to track down (you're either going to be reading digital versions or buying a bunch of anthologies with other stories that you don't care about), but they were pretty goddamn brilliant and gripping. I'd say they're an essential read for any fan of ASoIaF, and their short length might actually make them a good introduction to the series for people who are intimidated by the massive brick-like tomes that are the main books.
To answer your question, I'm only a little ways in but I'd say it's definitely closer to LotR than GoT. You've got the chosen one hero-type character setting off on a quest to fight ultimate, black-wearing bad guy evil, so yeah.Fox12 said:
I might need to stop reading my own thread or I'll be doing this all night.Legomaniac91 said:
I LOVED The Strain trilogy.
Del Toro's name is really the only thing that got me cautiously looking into the book but boy am I glad I took that chance. One of the coolest zombie/vampire books I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I really want to check out the show but I don't have cable so I'm waiting for it to show up on The Netflix. I've heard....mixed things about the show but from what I have heard, it's now gotten it's footing under itself and has become relatively good.
I haven't read the rest of them but that first book is great once it gets going.....It took a while for me though.Elfgore said:
OT: Sophie's Choice by William Styron and V For Vendetta by Alan Moore
And I FUCKING HATE Sophie's Choice right now
I swear to gods so far it feels like he's trying to write erotica with bits about the holocaust. And those two things DON'T go together. I'm just tired of hearing him whine about how he considers himself still a virgin and wah wah no girls will sleep with me wah wah. I WANT TO HEAR ABOUT SOPHIE'S EXPERIENCE WITH THE HOLOCAUST AND BEING IN AUSCHWITZ-BIRKENAU THAT'S THE REASON I WANTED TO READ THE FUCKING BOOK DAMN IT! I mean I'm only a little over 200 pages out of the almost 600 pages but seriously I'm so tired of hearing about his sexual frustration since it seems to have NO relation to the rest of the story so far. It seems to be all about him and not her even though that's what it's suppose to be about is her.
Well, I'm currently reading Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. That and Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier. I'm one of those weird people who likes to read several books at a time.
I... think, I believe that I too started "Red Moon" and yeah, I was not impressed with the 'isms' that were deeply ingrained into the story. At first I was enjoying the factions and the setting, along with the good characterization... it totally lost me at the end of that book, just after the 'tough as nails' were-woman escapes being held by the gang of rapist/mysogynist werewolves. I could sense the forced ramp-up coming to the 'fully justified I Spit On Your Grave' fury, and decided I wasn't interested.dragonswarrior said:
Right now I'm making my way through three books.
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I'm about 60 pages in and it just got interesting. Really looking forward to the rest of the book.
The Divide by Matt Taibbi. About the widening wealth divide in the US. He's a great writer who keeps your attention with a pretty acerbic style.
Kraken by China Mieville. Great mood/ambience! Creepy and still funny at times. Very good so far.
If I could recommend one book for the Escapist crowd, it would be Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's a nostalgia bomb from the 80s, very entertaining!
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. I'm about 60 pages in and it just got interesting. Really looking forward to the rest of the book.
The Divide by Matt Taibbi. About the widening wealth divide in the US. He's a great writer who keeps your attention with a pretty acerbic style.
Kraken by China Mieville. Great mood/ambience! Creepy and still funny at times. Very good so far.
If I could recommend one book for the Escapist crowd, it would be Ready Player One by Ernest Cline. It's a nostalgia bomb from the 80s, very entertaining!
I really dug the first book and part of the second, but it lost me after that. I won't get into it, but if you read it, you might be able to guess that I was not a fan of the... shall we say, the big reveal? It felt like it shifted an entire genre, and left me rather tired.tippy2k2 said:
But of course I finished it. It's a book I despise utterly, that I will not finish!
yeah, I got no time for that kind of thing even if the books are well regarded,dragonswarrior said:
sort of similar to the Honor Harrington books I've read...theres a political slant...which is fine, I mean the author can do whatever strawman they want...its *their* universe afterall..but when it startts feeling preachy/propgandaish that just annoying. Granted I think I like those books enough to ignore it
Currently reading:
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Europe at War by Norman Davies
Chasing Light by Michael Freeman (which is about photography technique)
and still making my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude by the late great Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
Guns, Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
Europe at War by Norman Davies
Chasing Light by Michael Freeman (which is about photography technique)
and still making my way through One Hundred Years of Solitude by the late great Gabriel Garcia Marquez.
"Freedom's Dawn" (Frontiers Saga Ep. #4)
Basically, humanity is a small fledgling galactic empire when a "bio-digital plague" causes the cybernetics inside most humans to lethally alter the brain chemistry of the victim, resulting in a dark age where we lose space flight and most technology up until the Industrial Revolution. Earth's population was dramatically reduced and people were forced to work for their very survival. Women take on the more traditional role of raising children to help repopulate, men do traditional "manly" things.
Fast forward a thousand years after the plague has run its course and humanity discovers the Data Ark, allowing humanity to progress back to a space faring species in less than a few decades. We discover that other planets are in a similar state and that one is already conquering other planets for their empire.
During an incredibly secret test of an experimental propulsion system that allows a ship to travel 10 light years in the blink of an eye, a new prototype warship is somehow transported 1000 light years away from Earth (it has not been elaborated how that exactly happened). We discover that some illegal colonies were created to escape the plague millenia ago and they created vast empires. One is throned by an Emperor who believes himself a literal god and has subjugate much of his sector of the galaxy.
It is rumored that the empire are on the verge of creating a source of unlimited energy. Earth has become a lost legend that people don't believe exist, but a "prophecy" (ugh) predicts the coming of the protagonist and his fellow crew. In order to get back to Earth before the local forces invade Sol, the captain must join with the beaten and broken rebels in a quasi-religious upheaval to acquire this source of unlimited energy to allow the ship to jump back to Sol in time.
It's a decent plot with average storytelling, but I'm reasonably interested. I refuse to read more than one book in my leisure time, but I have a list of books I am going to read after I am done with my current one.
Basically, humanity is a small fledgling galactic empire when a "bio-digital plague" causes the cybernetics inside most humans to lethally alter the brain chemistry of the victim, resulting in a dark age where we lose space flight and most technology up until the Industrial Revolution. Earth's population was dramatically reduced and people were forced to work for their very survival. Women take on the more traditional role of raising children to help repopulate, men do traditional "manly" things.
Fast forward a thousand years after the plague has run its course and humanity discovers the Data Ark, allowing humanity to progress back to a space faring species in less than a few decades. We discover that other planets are in a similar state and that one is already conquering other planets for their empire.
During an incredibly secret test of an experimental propulsion system that allows a ship to travel 10 light years in the blink of an eye, a new prototype warship is somehow transported 1000 light years away from Earth (it has not been elaborated how that exactly happened). We discover that some illegal colonies were created to escape the plague millenia ago and they created vast empires. One is throned by an Emperor who believes himself a literal god and has subjugate much of his sector of the galaxy.
It is rumored that the empire are on the verge of creating a source of unlimited energy. Earth has become a lost legend that people don't believe exist, but a "prophecy" (ugh) predicts the coming of the protagonist and his fellow crew. In order to get back to Earth before the local forces invade Sol, the captain must join with the beaten and broken rebels in a quasi-religious upheaval to acquire this source of unlimited energy to allow the ship to jump back to Sol in time.
It's a decent plot with average storytelling, but I'm reasonably interested. I refuse to read more than one book in my leisure time, but I have a list of books I am going to read after I am done with my current one.
Harry Turtledove's World War series.
I'm at the start of book two.
Harry Turtledove's style is, start with an absurd premise, then follow with ridiculous amounts of real historic reasearch and attention to detail.
The absurd premise for the day : What if aliens invaded the earth during World War II!
Alien military tech levels are approximately ours around the early 90's.
Still less absurd then the last Harry Turtledove story I read: What if time traveling Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging gave AK-47s to the Confederate States of America.
I'm at the start of book two.
Harry Turtledove's style is, start with an absurd premise, then follow with ridiculous amounts of real historic reasearch and attention to detail.
The absurd premise for the day : What if aliens invaded the earth during World War II!
Alien military tech levels are approximately ours around the early 90's.
Still less absurd then the last Harry Turtledove story I read: What if time traveling Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging gave AK-47s to the Confederate States of America.
Currently reading the Sookie Stackhouse books and if it counts, MArvel 1602 when I don't feel like reading an actual book. I'm also listening to George Carlin narrating "Napalm and Silly Putty."
That baby is already on my "to read" shelf! Good to hear a recommendation though as I just randomly bought it off Amazon when I was browsing around without knowing anything about it.davidmc1158 said:
I am reading Guards! Guards! now. But, I have just went through the Tiffany Aching/Wee Free Men series, along with the rest of Night Watch books and The Moist Lipwig books. Raising Steam was fantastic for those who haven't read it yet. I Read the Dresden Files books earlier this year just before the new book came out in Spring.