Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 845411 times)

Russell Nash

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Reply #125 on: June 25, 2007, 05:37:48 PM
Of course, when HP7 comes out, I'll be dropping everything for that.

I will be too, but not because I need to read it.  Since it's so popular, if I don't read it really fast, some ass will tell me how it ends before I read it.  If it wasn't for that, it would go into my pile and maybe I'd read it by Christmas.



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Reply #126 on: June 25, 2007, 05:41:39 PM
Of course, when HP7 comes out, I'll be dropping everything for that.

I will be too, but not because I need to read it.  Since it's so popular, if I don't read it really fast, some ass will tell me how it ends before I read it.  If it wasn't for that, it would go into my pile and maybe I'd read it by Christmas.

I read insanely fast, though.  I read Hamilton's "Lunatic Cafe" in four hours, McMullen's "Voidfarer" in about six over two days, 75% of Robson's "Silver Screen" in three hours at an airport, Potter 5 in five hours, and Potter 6 in about four.  For me, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to put down my current book, lock myself in the bedroom, and rip through Potter 7 in a few hours.  Amazon says 784 pages... if the font size is the same as the other Potter books, I figure I'll get through it in 4-5 hours and probably read it again a few days later.

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Russell Nash

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Reply #127 on: June 25, 2007, 05:52:01 PM
Of course, when HP7 comes out, I'll be dropping everything for that.

I will be too, but not because I need to read it.  Since it's so popular, if I don't read it really fast, some ass will tell me how it ends before I read it.  If it wasn't for that, it would go into my pile and maybe I'd read it by Christmas.

I read insanely fast, though.  I read Hamilton's "Lunatic Cafe" in four hours, McMullen's "Voidfarer" in about six over two days, 75% of Robson's "Silver Screen" in three hours at an airport, Potter 5 in five hours, and Potter 6 in about four.  For me, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to put down my current book, lock myself in the bedroom, and rip through Potter 7 in a few hours.  Amazon says 784 pages... if the font size is the same as the other Potter books, I figure I'll get through it in 4-5 hours and probably read it again a few days later.

I still wouldn't pick it up before I wanted to if it wasn't for the chance of someone telling me the ending.  I look at my books and say, "what mood am I in now?" and then I pick up something.  That's know I went from 5 Pratchetts to Stephen King.  I will start HP7 when I get it, not when I want to start it.  Since my wife and I read the HP stories to each other 150 pages an hour is unenjoyable.



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Reply #128 on: June 25, 2007, 07:31:33 PM
Of course, when HP7 comes out, I'll be dropping everything for that.

I will be too, but not because I need to read it.  Since it's so popular, if I don't read it really fast, some ass will tell me how it ends before I read it.  If it wasn't for that, it would go into my pile and maybe I'd read it by Christmas.

I read insanely fast, though.  I read Hamilton's "Lunatic Cafe" in four hours, McMullen's "Voidfarer" in about six over two days, 75% of Robson's "Silver Screen" in three hours at an airport, Potter 5 in five hours, and Potter 6 in about four.  For me, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to put down my current book, lock myself in the bedroom, and rip through Potter 7 in a few hours.  Amazon says 784 pages... if the font size is the same as the other Potter books, I figure I'll get through it in 4-5 hours and probably read it again a few days later.

I still wouldn't pick it up before I wanted to if it wasn't for the chance of someone telling me the ending.  I look at my books and say, "what mood am I in now?" and then I pick up something.  That's know I went from 5 Pratchetts to Stephen King.  I will start HP7 when I get it, not when I want to start it.  Since my wife and I read the HP stories to each other 150 pages an hour is unenjoyable.

My wife doesn't read Potter.  She reads VC Andrews, Sandra Brown, and JD Robb (which is technically sci-fi, from what I hear her tell me about it).  She actually likes sci-fi, just not really reading it.

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pralala

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Reply #129 on: July 18, 2007, 02:59:04 PM
I've been boucning back and forth between my genres, and am currently reading Octavian Nothing, Tratior to a Nation: The Pox Party, which starts off reading like SF/Fantasy but by the middle (where I am now) plants its foot firmly in Historical Fiction.




Russell Nash

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Reply #130 on: July 18, 2007, 05:26:08 PM
I just finished the first five Discworld books and I'm starting Stephen King's Cell
*L* Wow. With a change of gears like that, you're lucky you didn't drop your transmission. :)

I can never just keep reading the same thing.  I think it runs in the family.  My cousin, Thomas Tryon wrote horror novels and historical romances.

Finished Cell.  Hated the ending.

Finished the sixth Discworld and starting the seventh.

Prepared for the drop everything and read HP this saturday when the delivery truck comes.



Leon Kensington

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Reply #131 on: July 19, 2007, 06:49:03 PM
Finished Hydrogen Steel by K.A. Bedford

Starting on Blood Rites (Dresden Files Book Six) by Jim Butcher

After that I'm going to read Night Watch (forgot the name of the author)



madjo

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Reply #132 on: July 20, 2007, 12:10:55 PM
After that I'm going to read Night Watch (forgot the name of the author)
Sergei Lukyanenko?
Or Terry Pratchett?
Or Sarah Waters?
Or Sean Stewart?



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Reply #133 on: July 20, 2007, 02:34:16 PM
I'm on break from Narnia right now to finish rereading HP6 so I can be ready for 7 when I get it tomorrow.

I was in the middle of Prince Caspian when I did that, though.

The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first.  I was unimpressed.  And, although it was a good book, I felt the Lion Witch Wardrobe movie did some things better than the book itself.  (Blasphemy, I know.)

Anyway, that's what I'm reading.

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DKT

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Reply #134 on: July 20, 2007, 04:24:08 PM
I'm just curious...what do you think the movie did better than the books?  Was it characterization or something else? 

Although I think the battle at the end came off more epic than it does now in the books, although as a kid reading it I thought it was as action-packed as it could get. 


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Reply #135 on: July 20, 2007, 04:34:47 PM
I'm just curious...what do you think the movie did better than the books?  Was it characterization or something else? 

Although I think the battle at the end came off more epic than it does now in the books, although as a kid reading it I thought it was as action-packed as it could get. 

Mostly the battle.  Reading the book as an adult, I felt the ending was a little weak -- ended too fast, that sort of thing.  But the movie really did the last... oh, I don't know... half hour, maybe 45 minutes... very well.

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ClintMemo

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Reply #136 on: July 20, 2007, 07:02:33 PM
The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first. 

I've read them both ways and I think the "original" order, where "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" comes first works better.
The Magician's Nephew works better as a flashback than as a starting point.  It was always one of my favorites in the series because it had a lot of "oh THAT's there that came from" moments in it - like the lamp post.
Whenever I read them, I have to almost force myself through Prince Caspian - it just seems so bleak and boring.

Life is a multiple choice test. Unfortunately, the answers are not provided.  You have to go and find them before picking the best one.


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Reply #137 on: July 20, 2007, 07:07:58 PM
The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first. 

I've read them both ways and I think the "original" order, where "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" comes first works better.
The Magician's Nephew works better as a flashback than as a starting point.  It was always one of my favorites in the series because it had a lot of "oh THAT's there that came from" moments in it - like the lamp post.
Whenever I read them, I have to almost force myself through Prince Caspian - it just seems so bleak and boring.

Oh... great...

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Holden

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Reply #138 on: July 21, 2007, 03:32:45 AM
Quote
The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first.

Source, please!

Quote
I've read them both ways and I think the "original" order, where "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" comes first works better.

Yes, definitely.

Most people I talk to say that Prince Caspian is their least favorite in the series, though some say their least favorite is A Horse and His Boy. The best chance for enjoying Caspian is to slow down, relax, and not expect a lot of action. I also give that same advice for anyone starting the Fellowship of the Ring.

When the BBC made a miniseries based on the Narnia books, they combined Caspian and Dawn Treader into one season. I believe this is because it would be difficult to make Caspian last long enough to fill six episodes.

The Silver Chair is my favorite in the Naria series, and I was well pleased with the BBC's performance of it. Tom Baker (!) played Puddleglum.



ClintMemo

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Reply #139 on: July 23, 2007, 12:01:37 PM
Quote
The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first.

Source, please!
[/quote]

Just to jump in, I have a big soft cover version that I bought to read to my daughter when the first movie came out.  It has the stories in the chronological order and I think there is a comment in the forward about C.S. Lewis wanting them to be this way.


Quote
I've read them both ways and I think the "original" order, where "The Lion The Witch and the Wardrobe" comes first works better.

Yes, definitely.

Most people I talk to say that Prince Caspian is their least favorite in the series, though some say their least favorite is A Horse and His Boy. The best chance for enjoying Caspian is to slow down, relax, and not expect a lot of action. I also give that same advice for anyone starting the Fellowship of the Ring.
[/quote]
Horse and his Boy was my second least favorite.  It's not that Caspian is awful, so much. It just seemed like a depressing retread of the previous book. The two books on either side of it always inspired my imagination because they were going to new, wonderous places.  I always like Silver Chair, even though it seemed bleak, for the same reason.

Of course, that was my take as a kid.  I read them now and see things in it I really have a problem with.

Quote
When the BBC made a miniseries based on the Narnia books, they combined Caspian and Dawn Treader into one season. I believe this is because it would be difficult to make Caspian last long enough to fill six episodes.

The Silver Chair is my favorite in the Naria series, and I was well pleased with the BBC's performance of it. Tom Baker (!) played Puddleglum.
Did they ever make all the books?  I saw a DVD set that covered maybe the first three, but I shied away from it because the reviews I saw for it made it sound pretty awful.

Life is a multiple choice test. Unfortunately, the answers are not provided.  You have to go and find them before picking the best one.


Leon Kensington

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Reply #140 on: July 23, 2007, 03:12:16 PM
Just finished Blood Rites (Book 6 of Jim Butcher's Dresden Files)

Starting on Sergei Lukyaneko's Night Watch

Next is Robert J. Sawyer's Rollback.



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Reply #141 on: July 23, 2007, 06:30:36 PM
Quote
The anthology I have has them in what they call "the order CS Lewis intended the stories to be read in", which means Magician's Nephew came first.

Source, please!

The back of the book I have said that.  It's a softcover, trade-sized anthology edition.  List price $19.99.

Finished "Prince Caspian".  It wasn't bad, but I think toward the end it was almost too bleak, and the way the kids came back and had to re-figure-out what was going on was a little meh.

Now reading "Voyage of the Dawn Treader", and while I like it so far, it does feel a little formulaic, as if Lewis had to bring in Eustace to get the outside view on Narnia for people who'd never read the other books.

I liked "Horse and His Boy", actually.

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Holden

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Reply #142 on: July 23, 2007, 07:39:33 PM
Quote
Quote
When the BBC made a miniseries based on the Narnia books, they combined Caspian and Dawn Treader into one season. I believe this is because it would be difficult to make Caspian last long enough to fill six episodes.

The Silver Chair is my favorite in the Naria series, and I was well pleased with the BBC's performance of it. Tom Baker (!) played Puddleglum.
Did they ever make all the books?  I saw a DVD set that covered maybe the first three, but I shied away from it because the reviews I saw for it made it sound pretty awful.

They only had three seasons: LWW, Prince Caspian and Dawn Treader, and the Silver Chair. I would have liked them to cover the entire series. The special effects are about the same as late '70s/early '80's Doctor Who episodes. Not that impressive - even laughable at times. That being said, they closely follow the books, so if you are a fan of the books you know you will like the story. I watched them with my daughter after reading the series to her.

Quote
The back of the book I have said that.  It's a softcover, trade-sized anthology edition.  List price $19.99.

Thanks. I've never heard that before. I feel a bit foolish in disagreeing with the author on the order that his books should be read, but I'll stand by my position. Have fun with Dawn Treader. I know a few who say it's their favorite in the series.



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Reply #143 on: July 23, 2007, 07:50:40 PM
I just finished "Shadowplay" by Tad Williams.  Like most of his stuff, I like it, but it's highly abridgeable.  You could cut it down by half and miss no plot whatsoever.  Interesting characters, though, if you care to read about what they think and feel about anything and everything.

One thing I like about Williams is that you never have any idea which of his characters is going to live or die.  He'll develop a character for a 1000 pages, then kill them off BAM without a single paragraph's forewarning or foreshadowing.  That's kind of frustrating, but it's also realistic and it adds to the authentic feeling of his worlds.

I started reading "Zima Blue," a collection of short stories by Alasdair Reynolds.  I'm about half done, and so far they're mostly bleh, except for "Zima Blue" itself, which is one of the coolest stories I have ever read.  (Hopefully, it'll be featured on Escape Pod someday!)

My mother bought a copy of HP7, which will be passed around the family until everyone has read it.  My turn will come eventually, but my wife has already read it, which will make the waiting just a bit more anxious.

Hear my very very short story on The Drabblecast!


Leon Kensington

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Reply #144 on: July 23, 2007, 07:54:57 PM
Try Galactic North, it is much better than Zima Blue and features a few stories about people from the Revelation Space Trilogy.



Mr. Tweedy

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Reply #145 on: July 23, 2007, 09:15:32 PM
I figure I'll probably end up reading everything Reynold's has written.  I'm most of the way there now.  I'm starting on his shorts because (I think) I finished all the novels.

I like his ideas a lot, but he seems to have a hard time with endings.  "Chasm City" had one of the best, most mind-bending endings ever, but all the others came off pretty flat or (as in the Revelation Space Trilogy) failed to have any ending at all and just sort of–

Hear my very very short story on The Drabblecast!


Leon Kensington

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Reply #146 on: July 23, 2007, 09:32:09 PM
When I finished Absolution Gap I just about bought a ticket to Europe and a good sniper rifle.

BTW, Strange Horizons review says that his newest book "The Prefect" is crap.  I don't know the critics viewpoints very well (I find it nice to know that especially when our local movie critic hates all scifi and fantasy unless it is 100% indi.) so I can't judge if his thoughts on it were biased but the guy seemed to know his stuff.



Mr. Tweedy

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Reply #147 on: July 23, 2007, 09:53:31 PM
Nooo!  As long as he's alive, there's some chance he'll write a sequel to Absolution Gap and tell us what the heck happens to everybody.  What you should do is kidnap his dog.  "Write the ending or we'll feed the pooch a Hershey bar!"

Century Rain was fairly lame.  If he's gone downhill from there, then the new book just might suck.

Hear my very very short story on The Drabblecast!


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Reply #148 on: July 24, 2007, 08:22:00 AM
Nooo!  As long as he's alive, there's some chance he'll write a sequel to Absolution Gap and tell us what the heck happens to everybody.  What you should do is kidnap his dog.  "Write the ending or we'll feed the pooch a Hershey bar!"

I wouldn't read it if he did - the Absolution Gap trilogy is marked by a clear "each book is worse than its predecessor" progression, so I would hate to see book number 4. I Reynolds is really best with stand-alones - Chasm City was excellent, and Diamond Dogs was also very good in a very disturbing sort of way.



Russell Nash

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Reply #149 on: July 24, 2007, 10:34:39 AM
I'm about half done, and so far they're mostly bleh, except for "Zima Blue" itself, which is one of the coolest stories I have ever read.  (Hopefully, it'll be featured on Escape Pod someday!)

Write him an email and suggest it to him.  Steve says the best submissions he gets have a cover letter something like: "Several fans have told me that I should submit X, Y, or Z to you, so here is this."  Steve says it's the best way to get a famous author to take the risk of selling something to EP.