Author Topic: What are you reading? (Read 1059456 times)

DKT · **Reply #1775 on:** April 13, 2011, 10:52:11 PM

I just finished listening to Hunter's Run, a SF collaboration between George R. R. Martin, Gardener Dozois, and Daniel Abraham. About a couple hours into this book, I was pretty sure I was going to hate it. I like anti-heroes as much as the next chain-smoking practitioner of the dark arts does, but this protagonist was a total ass. The Mexican/Southwestern flavor of the space opera was all kinds of awesome, as was the worldbuilding, but I just couldn't get passed this guy being such an asshole.

Of course, there was a reason the protag had to be so unlikeable. A lot of times it's a really hard trick to pull off, but wow, this one paid off for me, and left me thoroughly satisfied at the end.

Now, I'm about 100 pages into China Mieville's Kraken. Thus far? Totally in love with this one

kibitzer · **Reply #1776 on:** April 14, 2011, 02:37:07 AM

Quote from: DKT on April 13, 2011, 10:52:11 PM

I just finished listening to Hunter's Run, a SF collaboration between George R. R. Martin, Gardener Dozois, and Daniel Abraham.

I always wonder how collabs actually work, especially with such huge names as these. Who comes up with the plot? The names? The dialogue? Does it all just get stuffed in a pot and stirred around or is it even more important to plan ahead?

These are, of course, the questions of a n00b but I still wonder.

kibitzer · **Reply #1777 on:** April 14, 2011, 02:50:46 AM

Just finished reading The Man Who Folded Himself by David Gerrold. I was super-curious about this one since it's often lauded as the last word in time-travel stories.

'Twas not what I expected. Once could almost argue it's not sci-fi since the object that makes time-travel possible is a "timebelt" the protag inherits from his uncle. It's just a thing that makes time-travel happen in the same way the bottle of wine in EP287, A Taste Of Time, just makes it happen. It could just as easily have been a magic spell or an enchanted staff. However where (IMHO) it crosses into sci-fi is the way it plays with and posits ideas, theories, questions about what would happen to a person in such a situation. It's far less about the intricacies of time-travel and clever paradoxes overcome, than it is about philosophical and fundamental questions such as: Who am I? What does it mean to be me? If there's more than one of me am I still me? If I have me can I ever be lonely? That's what really good sci-fi does: it proposes, speculates, opens up new paths of thought.

I think it would take several reads for me to begin to unravel all the questions asked in this book.

Did I like it? I'm not sure.

DKT · **Reply #1778 on:** April 14, 2011, 04:03:25 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on April 14, 2011, 02:37:07 AM

Quote from: DKT on April 13, 2011, 10:52:11 PM
I just finished listening to Hunter's Run, a SF collaboration between George R. R. Martin, Gardener Dozois, and Daniel Abraham.

I always wonder how collabs actually work, especially with such huge names as these. Who comes up with the plot? The names? The dialogue? Does it all just get stuffed in a pot and stirred around or is it even more important to plan ahead?

These are, of course, the questions of a n00b but I still wonder.

Nah. I've actually done a collab, and I'm still not 100% sure how they hell they work

I suspect each one is its own unique process. I'd definitely like to try and do another one sometime, though.

Ocicat · **Reply #1779 on:** April 14, 2011, 06:15:25 AM

I love The Man Who Folded Himself. It is actually internally consistent about how time travel works, and yes - it's about all those other more philosophical things too.

But I think you'll find the time-belt isn't just random. Spoilers in white:
I think on further consideration you'll discover that the "Uncle" is also a version of the main character from a now-wiped out timeline. It's a not-quite circular thing - presumably the belt was invented in some timeline, but you can't get there from here. Sometimes I think that's why time travel doesn't exist - every time it gets invented, the inventor ends up erasing the discovery from the timeline. :^)

kibitzer · **Reply #1780 on:** April 14, 2011, 06:25:23 AM

Quote from: Ocicat on April 14, 2011, 06:15:25 AM

I love The Man Who Folded Himself. It is actually internally consistent about how time travel works, and yes - it's about all those other more philosophical things too.

But I think you'll find the time-belt isn't just random. Spoilers in white:

Agreed; in fact the edition I read ("updated 21st Century!") spelled that out quite explicitly. My point was that the belt itself wasn't important, it was merely the thing that made time travel possible and in that sense, it could have been anything. Some time travel stories go to some lengths to explain or postulate how such gadgets might work. The Time Machine, for example, describes an elaborate machine constructed by the Traveller, powered by "some transparent crystalline substance"; the Machine is itself a character. Here, the belt just is, it exists only to provide the conditions for the rest of the story.

DKT · **Reply #1781 on:** April 15, 2011, 06:39:18 PM

Currently devouring GRRM's A Game of Thrones.

So this is how addiction begins?

(I'll probably watch it on DVD.)

Scattercat · **Reply #1782 on:** April 23, 2011, 09:02:46 AM

Just read "Sharp Teeth" by Toby Barlow. It's a werewolf novel written as an epic free verse poem. Very interesting, good story, strong imagery, but I did feel like the poetry angle was a bit more of a stunt than a necessity. It would have been just as evocative and considerably easier to read as prose. (Several times I went scanning back to find a name whose relevance I had forgotten and was stymied by the formatting. I can scan blocks of prose like nobody's business, but blocks of poetry not so much. I suppose an inveterate poetry reader might have had an easier time of it.)

Still, worth a read, and much shorter than it appears due to, y'know, only having half of any given line of text actually filled with words. The cover is pretty sweet, too.

stePH · **Reply #1783 on:** April 23, 2011, 03:43:14 PM

Finished "Luke's" gospel yesterday. After reading those of "Mark" and "Matthew", it feels a bit repetitive, like some years back when I followed Albert Speer's Inside the Third Reich with a biography of Hitler (which I didn't get more than a couple of chapters into).

Anyway, going to read Buddha's Brain: The Practical Neuroscience of Happiness, Love, and Wisdom by Dr. Rick Hanson. And I've got the first volume of the Hikaru no Go manga from the library as well. Need to decompress a bit before returning to the Bible and reading either the Gospel of John, or the Acts of the Apostles (haven't decided yet... the latter follows from Luke and is most likely by the same author.)

kibitzer · **Reply #1784 on:** April 24, 2011, 03:55:19 AM

The Gospel of John is weird, man... so incredibly different in language to the others. I don't really get John's writings.

kibitzer · **Reply #1785 on:** April 24, 2011, 04:00:14 AM

As a result of this article I'm trying a few authors I've not read before. I'm starting with The Night Sessions by Ken MacLeod. I'm not more than a few chapters in but holy crap it's good. It's the representations of Christianity in this society, as much as anything else, that's got me hooked. But also the robots are actual, real, believable characters with humour and nuance as much as any human. And it's very well written., Pretty heavy on the exposition in the beginning (to explain the world) but it's not overbearing and seems to be tapering off.

Listener · **Reply #1786 on:** April 25, 2011, 05:56:24 PM

Harry Potter 6.

kibitzer · **Reply #1787 on:** April 26, 2011, 06:30:17 AM

Finished The Night Sessions. Wow. Great stuff. Essentially it boils down to a detective whodunnit but with near(?)future tech and self-aware robots. I think I'm doing it a disservice with that description because there's a lot of philosophical stuff in there -- on of the characters is a preacher who believes self-aware robots should also have the chance to hear God's Word. Really, really enjoyed this one and I recommend it. I love finding new authors; I'll certainly search out a few more of his.

Sandikal · **Reply #1788 on:** April 27, 2011, 03:19:27 AM

Quote from: kibitzer on April 26, 2011, 06:30:17 AM

Finished The Night Sessions. Wow. Great stuff. Essentially it boils down to a detective whodunnit but with near(?)future tech and self-aware robots. I think I'm doing it a disservice with that description because there's a lot of philosophical stuff in there -- on of the characters is a preacher who believes self-aware robots should also have the chance to hear God's Word. Really, really enjoyed this one and I recommend it. I love finsing new authors; I'll certainly search out a few more of his.

That sounds like something I'd like. It's got a little bit of everything I enjoy.

Listener · **Reply #1789 on:** April 27, 2011, 11:14:45 AM

Knocking out the latest (and, according to the author, possibly the last) Star Trek New Frontier novel, "Blind Man's Bluff".

Not sure what I'm going to read next yet. Supposed to be getting a couple of books to review from an author, and I have a lot of books on my reader, although most of them are series...es and if I start I'm going to want to keep going. And there are a LOT of Lemony Snicket and Percy Jackson books on there.

Scattercat · **Reply #1790 on:** May 10, 2011, 02:48:40 PM

Bought the complete works of P.G. Wodehouse for a dollar on the Kindle. (Thirty novels and a dozen short story collections.) Have enjoyed the fluff immensely from time to time. Will not likely finish it anytime soon, but too much Wodehouse all at once is a bit rough on the mental digestion anyway.

Read "The Tell-Tale Brain," by V.S. Ramachandran, a favorite of mine. He does good work in the "neuroscience for the layman" sub-sub-genre. (I recommend "Phantoms in the Brain," as well, more or less unhesitatingly.) He appeared to be holding a grudge against surfer dudes and G.W. Bush/Bush voters when he wrote "Tell-Tale," however. (He makes incidental digs at those two a half a dozen times throughout the book, apropos of nothing and a bit mystifyingly.)

Reread "Fudoki," by Kij Johnson. God damn is that a good book. Got depressed about how crappy my writing is in comparison.

Bought a trio of short story collections from Norilana Press. "Sky Whales and Other Stories" was so-so overall, but the story that inspired it and that gave it its title ("The Sky Won't Listen") is phenomenal. "Clockwork Phoenix I" was a solid read, lots of good stories, generally entertaining, but I don't recall any highlights from it, which might say something. "Warrior Wisewoman 3" was my third book, as I have a story under consideration for iteration four of that series and I thought I'd see if the previous incarnations were good. I was slightly disappointed; there were a couple of good stories (like the one that reminded me of a mashup of "Y: The Last Man" and "Damnation Alley") but I ended up speedreading through three or four of them just because they weren't going anywhere interesting (nor anywhere I hadn't seen before.) I wouldn't set the book on fire or anything, nor would I discourage anyone from reading it. Just... overall a bit more 'meh' than 'yay.'

Still reading "Zoo City." It's good, but it feels *really* aimless at times. Like, I'm 60% of the way through and things are getting bad for the protagonist, but instead of her troubles having anything to do with the ostensible plot, her most recent disaster was literally just random drug addicts robbing her and trying to attack her. I feel like it's a bit whiffy to have your book building to a climax without any of the threads coming together in any meaningful way. We'll see how it shapes up; hopefully it gets more coherent toward the end.

Listener · **Reply #1791 on:** May 10, 2011, 03:15:39 PM

I'm trying to read "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms" but I can only do it in fits and starts. I think I'm up to chapter 7 or 8.

After that, either "Scouts" by Nobilis or "Embassytown" by Mieville.

kibitzer · **Reply #1792 on:** May 11, 2011, 02:49:26 AM

After I saw The American with George Clooney, I hunted up the novel on which it's based, A Very Private Gentleman by Martin Booth. I rate The American as the best film I've seen this year so I was curious to plumb the source.

I can tell you, the movie is a great adaptation of the book, which has a very slow and contemplative feel to it, as rich in imagery and beauty as it is in occasional cold-blooded violence. If you're looking for a Bond knock-off, this ain't it. I highly recommend both book and movie but be warned: I expect many would find both too slow.

iamafish · **Reply #1793 on:** May 11, 2011, 05:59:01 AM

I'm currently reading Shadow of a Dark Queen by Reymond E. Feist, which i'm finding interesting, but not spectacular. The writing is a little sloppy and takes me out of the story a few too many times for my liking. The story itself is a little slow to get going, but has me fairly well hooked. I'll see it through to the end and see if i feel like picking up the others in the series

Devoted135 · **Reply #1794 on:** May 11, 2011, 01:37:03 PM

Finally finished A Storm of Swords (the third one in the Song of Fire and Ice series)! I loved it, and kept pestering my husband with cryptic phrases like "Oh my goodness, two MAIN characters just died!" and "Something really good just happened!" or "Something SUPER bad just happened!" I feel like this series just gets more intense and the stakes get higher with each installment, so I can't imagine how it's going to end. Or how everyone won't be dead by the fifth book for that matter. :-P

Now on to Pack up the Moon by Anna McPartlin because after that behemoth I wanted a truly fluff piece to skip through.

stePH · **Reply #1795 on:** May 11, 2011, 03:27:20 PM

Hikaru no Go. Read book 1 last night; have books 2 and 3 on hand. I think there are fourteen or so in all.

I was hoping it would incorporate tutorials on how to play the game, as most of the finer points are still lost on me, but so far not really.

stePH · **Reply #1796 on:** May 14, 2011, 10:01:26 PM

Richard Stark's (Donald E. Westlake's) The Green Eagle Score yesterday and this morning, as I'd just finished volume 5 of Hikaru no Go and couldn't get volume 6 from the library until today. Probably going to continue with The Black Ice Score before resuming Go.

kibitzer · **Reply #1797 on:** May 15, 2011, 01:08:55 AM

Stephen King's Night Shift, quite an old collection now. There's some good stories in there but overall it's surprisingly hit-or-miss.

Scattercat · **Reply #1798 on:** May 15, 2011, 01:18:36 AM

Read "Being Wrong," which was pleasant and interesting. The author gets credit for using cool words ("bounden" and "suasion," for example), but it was a little heavy on anecdata and opinion, I felt. I'd consider buying it, though; I could reread it in a few years and enjoy it.

Right now, I'm rereading the Darwath series by Barbara Hambly and enjoying a bit of nostalgia.

Faraway Ray · **Reply #1799 on:** May 20, 2011, 08:40:54 PM

Currently reading that Stephen King book where he ripped off the Simpson's Movie.