Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 845503 times)

Boggled Coriander

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 545
    • Balancing Frogs
Reply #650 on: October 14, 2008, 03:09:32 AM
Not to pre-judge the thing, but I suspect that if you didn't like Neuromancer, the other two legs of the trilogy aren't going to work for you, either.   I was totally blown away by Neuromancer, and Gibson is one of my reigning favorites, but the books have more similarities than differences. 

Well, I read Neuromancer over a decade ago, when I was in my early teens, and I think my tastes have widened considerably since then.  I've also really enjoyed similarly-themed books by Bruce Sterling and Charles Stross, so I think I'll give Gibson another go.

When an SF author is very well-regarded, I give them several chances to win me over.  I think I finished three Greg Bear novels before deciding he just wasn't to my taste.  I'm always afraid I'll get turned off to an otherwise good author just because I picked up the wrong book.

"The meteor formed a crater, vampires crawling out of the crater." -  The Lyttle Lytton contest


Windup

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1226
Reply #651 on: October 14, 2008, 04:07:33 AM

I got a copy of "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" a couple of months ago.  I'm not sure if I've read it all or not.  I'd read an entry and it would lead me to looking up other entries.  Those entries would lead me to looking up yet other entries.  I'm not sure if that method led to reading all the entries.


I'm reasonably sure it doesn't, if only because not every entry contains a cross-reference, which would make for at least a few dead-ends. Though I realize that the real question is: "Is every entry in a cross-reference" but that's much harder to figure out.

It took me so long to read little bits at a time that I used a lot of the cross-references to refresh my memory.  And there is the gag involving the "endless quest" entry. 

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Sandikal

  • Matross
  • ****
  • Posts: 287
Reply #652 on: October 14, 2008, 11:52:31 PM

I got a copy of "The Tough Guide to Fantasyland" a couple of months ago.  I'm not sure if I've read it all or not.  I'd read an entry and it would lead me to looking up other entries.  Those entries would lead me to looking up yet other entries.  I'm not sure if that method led to reading all the entries.


I'm reasonably sure it doesn't, if only because not every entry contains a cross-reference, which would make for at least a few dead-ends. Though I realize that the real question is: "Is every entry in a cross-reference" but that's much harder to figure out.

It took me so long to read little bits at a time that I used a lot of the cross-references to refresh my memory.  And there is the gag involving the "endless quest" entry. 

The endless quest gag was probably the funniest thing in there. 

I'm one of those people who goes to look up something in a dictionary or encyclopedia and ends up reading all all the entries on the page and forgetting what I was looking up.  As I was reading "Tough Guide...", I was doing the same thing.  I didn't just read the reference I looked up, but 4-5 before and after it too.



Thaurismunths

  • High Priest of TCoRN
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1421
  • Praise N-sh, for it is right and good!
Reply #653 on: October 15, 2008, 11:29:57 PM
Nostrum House Expedition by our very own Alasdair5000.
It's a 31 part series, one a day, that started on October 1. The segments are short, but well written, and I'm really enjoying the plot. Creepy, and very SF. Wonder if Steve would run it?

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


DKT

  • Friendly Neighborhood
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 4980
  • PodCastle is my Co-Pilot
    • Psalms & Hymns & Spiritual Noir
Reply #654 on: October 16, 2008, 12:19:17 AM
Nostrum House Expedition by our very own Alasdair5000.
It's a 31 part series, one a day, that started on October 1. The segments are short, but well written, and I'm really enjoying the plot. Creepy, and very SF. Wonder if Steve would run it?

ooooo.  Good call.  Special Halloween episode?  Please?


Thaurismunths

  • High Priest of TCoRN
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1421
  • Praise N-sh, for it is right and good!
Reply #655 on: October 16, 2008, 10:36:36 AM
Nostrum House Expedition by our very own Alasdair5000.
It's a 31 part series, one a day, that started on October 1. The segments are short, but well written, and I'm really enjoying the plot. Creepy, and very SF. Wonder if Steve would run it?

ooooo.  Good call.  Special Halloween episode?  Please?
Wow... how awesome would that be?
I wonder if the Jorvik Games people would be cool with that?

How do you fight a bully that can un-make history?


wintermute

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1291
  • What Would Batman Do?
Reply #656 on: October 16, 2008, 01:01:34 PM
I'm now about half-way through Juggler of Worlds by Niven and Lerner. It's sort of a stand-alone Known Space novel, and sort of a different look at events covered in other stories, and sort of a sequel to Fleet of Worlds. That last is a little confusing, because the events of the two books are basically interspersed, and (so far, at least) there's been no mention of the humans of NP4, though they do appear in the list of characters.

Anyway, the core of the story involves Sigmund Ausfaller, Beowulf Schaffer and Nessus. Interesting, but a lot of it has been dealt with before, so unless you're a completest, I don't think I'd recommend it too highly.
« Last Edit: October 16, 2008, 03:03:16 PM by Russell Nash »

Science means that not all dreams can come true


Swamp

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 2230
    • Journey Into... podcast
Reply #657 on: October 16, 2008, 03:35:53 PM
I have listened to the first 7 or so chapters of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  So far it is very entertaining and well written.  So far NASA's Mars Rovers have found evidence of the civilizations described on Mars, but they haven't looked everywhere yet.
I think the novel was written around 1910.  This is the first time I have actually read/listened to anything from Burroughs, and he tells a compelling story.

So far NASA's Mars Rovers have found evidence of the civilizations described on Mars, but they haven't looked everywhere yet.
I think the novel was written around 1910.

Facehuggers don't have heads!

Come with me and Journey Into... another fun podcast


slic

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 727
  • Stephen Lumini
Reply #658 on: October 16, 2008, 04:12:58 PM
I have listened to the first 7 or so chapters of A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs.  So far it is very entertaining and well written. 
That series was one of the first set of "grownup" books I ever read.  I loved all of them (except #11 which even I knew then that Mr. Burroughs never wrote it).  It was first published in 1912 as a serial, and 1917 as a book.

ERB's use of descriptive language is fantastic.  I enjoy re-reading them, though some of the language is dated (I giggled occasionally as a teenager when one of his characters expressed something forcefully - "I won't allow it," John Carter ejaculated!)



Bdoomed

  • Pseudopod Tiger
  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 5891
  • Mmm. Tiger.
Reply #659 on: October 19, 2008, 06:39:52 PM
well I am not reading them, yet... but i went to a big book sale yesterday where everything was between $0.50 and $2.00
sooooo
i got
2001: A Space Oddyssey
2010
2061
3001
Jurassic Park
The Andromeda Strain
Halo: First Strike (hey why not, and i LOVE Halo)
Planet of the Apes
The Darwin Awards II (for a friend but i'll probably read it before i give it up ha)
and finally, 6 Gary Larson: Far Side comics (my GOD i love these)
and the day before i bought Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk

sooo i think next up after Snuff is Lullaby then... i duno.

oh and all these books put together (not Lullaby) was $13.25 :D
Lullaby was $14 at the UF bookstore haha

edit: forgot to mention, also included in the $13.25 is a book on electricity for my roommate, thought he might like it.  Tis called Electricity: Principles and Applications
« Last Edit: October 20, 2008, 12:02:08 AM by Bdoomed »

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Zathras

  • Guest
Reply #660 on: October 20, 2008, 03:17:53 AM
well I am not reading them, yet... but i went to a big book sale yesterday where everything was between $0.50 and $2.00
sooooo
i got
2001: A Space Oddyssey
2010
2061
3001

It's been a while since I read these.  I seem to recall enjoying them, especially some of the minor details in 3001.



stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #661 on: October 20, 2008, 04:58:15 AM
and the day before i bought Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk


Palahniuk's my homeboy.  Portland, represent!  :)

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


wintermute

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1291
  • What Would Batman Do?
Reply #662 on: October 20, 2008, 12:36:35 PM
Finished Juggler of Worlds. There is some new plot at the end, but not enough to be worth buying a hardback for. If you read Crashlander and came out of it with a burning desire to know more about Sigmund Ausfaller, this is the book for you. Otherwise, not so much.

Now I'm on to Greg Egan's Incandescence. I previously read his Disaspora, and, while I like my science-fiction hard, I felt like I needed a degree in n-dimensional geometry to get the best out of it. So I wasn't looking to pick up anything else by him, but I read this, and it made it sound pretty interesting. I'm a handful of chapters in, and so far it makes (some) sense.
« Last Edit: October 20, 2008, 04:57:36 PM by Russell Nash »

Science means that not all dreams can come true


Zathras

  • Guest
Reply #663 on: October 20, 2008, 02:37:46 PM
Yeah, so not of much interest to most of you, but...

I just finished Harrington on Hold'em Vol 1, and am moving on to Vol 2.  Also, I've got The Psychology of Poker on deck.  These books are from 2 + 2 Publishing, who do a good job on poker books.  As a book nut, I really appreciate the high quality paper used in these books.



Listener

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3187
  • I place things in locations which later elude me.
    • Various and Sundry Items of Interest
Reply #664 on: October 20, 2008, 08:53:07 PM
well I am not reading them, yet... but i went to a big book sale yesterday where everything was between $0.50 and $2.00
sooooo
i got
2001: A Space Oddyssey
2010
2061
3001

It's been a while since I read these.  I seem to recall enjoying them, especially some of the minor details in 3001.

2061 was very disappointing to me, and 3001 I didn't follow at all.

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

Blog || Quote Blog ||  Written and Audio Work || Twitter: @listener42


Listener

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3187
  • I place things in locations which later elude me.
    • Various and Sundry Items of Interest
Reply #665 on: October 20, 2008, 08:57:18 PM
Finally finished HG Wells's "The Island of Dr. Moreau". Very blah. The narrator was just too blase about everything. Also, I don't think he CHANGED in any way except to become more fearful throughout the story.

Also re-read the graphic novel version of "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen" by Alan Moore et al. The second chapter is much bawdier than I remember.

Re-read Sergei Lukyanenko's "Night Watch" while on vacation. As good as ever, though the third story seems a little schizophrenic, like the author wanted to tell two separate stories -- Anton's story, and the story of Tiger Cub's dacha.

Now reading the second in that series, "Day Watch", by the same author. Because he's established the characters in other stories, the second one (the Rogoza story) has some odd-seeming interludes with Anton and the Night Watch, and the whole concept of Rogoza is poorly-conceived, but the first story, with Alisa, is worth it, and I seem to remember liking the third as well.

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

Blog || Quote Blog ||  Written and Audio Work || Twitter: @listener42


Alasdair5000

  • Editor
  • *****
  • Posts: 1022
    • My blog
Reply #666 on: October 23, 2008, 10:11:56 AM
Currently most of the way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter having got into the TV show on the second year.  Really good, horrific in a detached, almost calm way.



stePH

  • Actually has enough cowbell.
  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 3906
  • Cool story, bro!
    • Thetatr0n on SoundCloud
Reply #667 on: October 23, 2008, 01:20:09 PM
Tuesday (two nights ago) I read the first book of Runaways: Vol. 2 which collects the first six issues.  Sadly, my library does not have any more.  :(

Also started Consider the Lobster by David Foster Wallace the other night after finishing the comic.  The man sure loved his footnotes!

"Nerdcore is like playing Halo while getting a blow-job from Hello Kitty."
-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Talia

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 2682
  • Muahahahaha
Reply #668 on: October 23, 2008, 02:06:58 PM
Just finished a couple of Lee Child's Reacher novels (yeah, yeah, not lofty intellectual stuff, but fun, so. :p). Very addictive. Currently working on an urban fantasy anthology called "Paper Cities," and have a Chuck Klosterman book, "Killing yourself to live" up next. I also recently finished a very very short but entertaining Warren Ellis graphic novel, 'Orbiter.' (Seriously, I think I read the whole thing in about 15 minutes).

Not long ago I finished a rather excellent anthology, 'Year's Best Fantasy 8.' The first three stories are from Holly Black, Michael Moorcock and Neil Gaiman, if that gives you some idea of it's awesomeness. :) One of the best anthologies I've read in quite a while. I really must recommend it.

 



Zathras

  • Guest
Reply #669 on: October 23, 2008, 07:26:56 PM
Currently most of the way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter having got into the TV show on the second year.  Really good, horrific in a detached, almost calm way.

Were you waiting for that number, or did you just luck into it?



gelee

  • Lochage
  • *****
  • Posts: 521
  • It's a missile, boy.
Reply #670 on: October 23, 2008, 09:47:00 PM
Just Finied "A Fire Upon The Deep" by Vernor Vinge.  It had it's strong points, but I was not impressed.  I should have researched it a bit more before buying.  Stories that largley revolve around child protagonists don't normally do much for me.  I really didn't care for the depiction of the villian.  He was absurdly one-dimensional, would have twisted his moustache if he'd had one.  I liked the ending, but the most fascinating character in the novel was just under-developed.  He apparently got his own treatment in "A Deepness In The Sky," a prequal.  I liked him enough that I might pick it up, despite the weeknesses of the first novel.
Now working on "Anathem," buy Neal Stephenson, and listening to "Altered Carbon," by Richard K. Morgan via my subscription to www.audible.com .  I also scored a free copy of "Reality Dysfunction" by Peter F. Hamilton.  I'd be reading it now, but I'd already started on Anathem when I found out I had it, courtesy of Orbit Books --> www.orbitbooks.net.
Anathem looks to be very interesting so far.  Neat ideas, but I'm only about 100 pages in.
Altered Carbon is amazing.  Very noir.



Alasdair5000

  • Editor
  • *****
  • Posts: 1022
    • My blog
Reply #671 on: October 23, 2008, 10:22:54 PM
Currently most of the way through Darkly Dreaming Dexter having got into the TV show on the second year.  Really good, horrific in a detached, almost calm way.

Were you waiting for that number, or did you just luck into it?

Pure...blind...luck:)



Zathras

  • Guest
Reply #672 on: October 23, 2008, 10:53:54 PM
Pure...blind...luck:)

Or maybe it was supernatural...



Windup

  • Hipparch
  • ******
  • Posts: 1226
Reply #673 on: October 23, 2008, 11:31:30 PM
Just finished Installing Linux on a Dead Badger.  If you can imagine a tour through the lands of Faerie covered by the staff of Wired magazine, reporting on a zombie invasion by the protaganist of The Devil Wears Prada, and the output of a hapless technical writer assigned the job of getting parts of the technicall parts of The Serpent and the Rainbow in a more consumer-friendly format, you can visualize Installing Linux on a Dead Badger

The diminutive book is a collection of short stories, most of them previously published in Strange Horizons.  Most --  but not all -- deal with the interaction between technology, magic and office work.  If you thought the economic implications of competing with people who have a much lower standard of living were difficult, try getting your head around the implications of competing with labor that has no standard of living because it isn't even alive. My favorite stories were the ones that used absolutely deadpan, serious-journalist delivery to describe an increasingly incongrous situation, like the FBI agent commenting on what may or may not be a Troll Porn distribution ring: "The Bureau will take decisive action, as soon as we figure out what the hell we're looking at." 

There's one semiserious horror piece and a slightly whacked-out SF romance, neither of which really seem to fit with the rest of the stories, but are at least OK on their own.  All in all, good techno-geek fun in a small package.

After the break for Installing Linux, it's back to some serious stuff with A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam   by Karen Armstrong
« Last Edit: October 24, 2008, 08:33:43 AM by Russell Nash »

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Talia

  • Moderator
  • *****
  • Posts: 2682
  • Muahahahaha
Reply #674 on: October 24, 2008, 03:01:41 AM
Just Finied "A Fire Upon The Deep" by Vernor Vinge.  It had it's strong points, but I was not impressed.  I should have researched it a bit more before buying.  Stories that largley revolve around child protagonists don't normally do much for me.  I really didn't care for the depiction of the villian.  He was absurdly one-dimensional, would have twisted his moustache if he'd had one.  I liked the ending, but the most fascinating character in the novel was just under-developed.  He apparently got his own treatment in "A Deepness In The Sky," a prequal.  I liked him enough that I might pick it up, despite the weeknesses of the first novel.
Now working on "Anathem," buy Neal Stephenson, and listening to "Altered Carbon," by Richard K. Morgan via my subscription to www.audible.com .  I also scored a free copy of "Reality Dysfunction" by Peter F. Hamilton.  I'd be reading it now, but I'd already started on Anathem when I found out I had it, courtesy of Orbit Books --> www.orbitbooks.net.
Anathem looks to be very interesting so far.  Neat ideas, but I'm only about 100 pages in.
Altered Carbon is amazing.  Very noir.

Excellent choice in Altered carbon! The sequels are amazing also, as is his other recent sci fi novel 'Thirteen'.