What Are You Reading?

shootermacg · 09-11-2019 9:33pm

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

Just finished Priest of Bones and the last 40% absolutely flew by. Just bought the sequel, Priest of lies, now. I'm upping the rating to 8/10

I's good, but all I see is Thomas Shelby. It's such a blatant rip-off.

Thargor · 11-11-2019 9:38pm

Hmmm, struggling to get into the Three Body Problem tbh.

Buford T. Justice XIX · 11-11-2019 11:12pm

shootermacg wrote: »

I's good, but all I see is Thomas Shelby. It's such a blatant rip-off.

I've only ever seen one or two episodes of Peaky Blinders so I don't have that to compare to and against.

shootermacg · 12-11-2019 12:30am

Buford T. Justice VI wrote: »

I've only ever seen one or two episodes of Peaky Blinders so I don't have that to compare to and against.

You should watch it, it's quality and gets better every season.

Xofpod · 12-11-2019 10:19am

Thargor wrote: »

Hmmm, struggling to get into the Three Body Problem tbh.

I found it pretty dull I have to say

smacl · 12-11-2019 5:32pm

Xofpod wrote: »

I found it pretty dull I have to say

The same, found it all a bit slow going and disappointing though couldn't figure out why. Decent plot, well written but just didn't click with me.

pixelburp · 12-11-2019 5:38pm

I'm another person re. Three Body Problem: I started it but couldn't get going. Wasn't a fan of the prose & pacing, finding the whole thing a bit dull. The breathless hype, like is often the case, didn't help things either as it was only ever going to disappoint and leave me confused.

ixoy · 12-11-2019 7:39pm

I gave 'The Three Body Problem' a solid, unspectacular, 3* on Goodreads. It's a little dull and the prose somewhat stilted. I preferred the second but it certainly won't change your mind. Was not much of a fan of the third and some of the cultural differences come through there - I thought the female characters were particularly poor. An overrated series IMO.

Blowfish · 12-11-2019 7:51pm

I'm another with pretty mixed views on the Three Body Problem series. I did read them all and there are some interesting concepts in there, but the execution was poor. I struggled with pretty much all of the characters really, some were just bland to the point of forgettable, others just seemed to react in particularly odd ways sometimes with random overblown outbursts of emotion that made them just come across a little unhinged. I genuinely just couldn't identify with any of them.

The overall arc also didn't seem to flow particularly well either, it's like the author came up with a few concepts and was determined to squish them all into the 3 books, regardless of whether it made sense to have them all together or not.

Mr Meanor · 12-11-2019 11:46pm

Found the same problem with most of his books, I don't know whether its the translation or cultural references or maybe both.
The Wandering Earth really annoyed me both the book and the film (I'm a glutton for punishment) for the fact that moving the earth had been written and filmed before!
Check this out https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0056709/ Gorath (1962) A.K.A Yôsei Gorasu
Here's the summary from one reviewer, remind you of anything?

In 1980, a giant planetoid named Gorath is discovered to be on a collision course with Earth. Even though it is smaller than Earth, its mass is huge enough to crush the Earth and destroy it. A mission sent to observe Gorath is destroyed after all the orbiting ships are drawn into the planetoid. A later mission is sent to observe and the crew barely leaves before suffering the same fate. However Astronaut Tatsuo Kanai is left in a catatonic state due to his near death experience. The Earth's scientists then come up with a desperate plan to build giant rockets at the South Pole to move Earth out of Gorath's path before it is too late.

Great film even has the obligatory Japanese rubber suit scene, give it a go!

ixoy · 16-11-2019 11:45pm

Finished a couple recently:

'The Fell Sword' by Miles Cameron, the second book in his Traitor Son cycle. On the positive side, it's got some good world building, an interesting magical system, and Cameron deftly wielded multiple plot strands together to bring a strong climax. On the negative side though, it felt quite padded and could have been a fair bit shorter without losing anything. And I know Cameron is a big fan of medieval reenactments and history, but he goes a bit overboard showing off his knowledge of the various pieces of armour and old titles for army formations, leaders, etc. Still more than enough for me to read the next book.

'Station Eleven' by Emily St. John Mandel - This is a well written but pretty slight read. It's a post-apocalyptic tale told by jumping back and forth between characters before and after the events. The world building here isn't up to much and I don't think Mandel really put much thought into how a world would actually cope post-apocalypse. The novel also relies a bit too much on coincidence. It's easy to read but I am a bit puzzled as to its popularity and why on earth this particular novel is being made into a TV show when there's little substance to it.

Manach · 17-11-2019 9:56pm

Relaxing a bit with the audio version of the Belgarion series by David Eddings. Enjoyable and light fantasy fun.

Thargor · 17-11-2019 10:14pm

The last Lightbringer book is out now.

I had no problem finishing the 3 Body Problem in the end, it picks up a lot once you realise whats happening half way through.

17-11-2019 11:32pm

Thargor wrote: »

The last Lightbringer book is out now.

aw brilliant - got it now. i think i need a recap of the last one!

keane2097 · 18-11-2019 12:42pm

I got a bit bored of the Stormlight Archive stuff after the end of the third book and was about to ask if it's worth carrying on with when I realised the next book isn't out till the end of next year!

I suppose I'll give it a spin at that stage, it is kind of starting to feel a bit drawn out.

Paddy Samurai · 18-11-2019 3:35pm

Survivors by GX Todd . The Voices Book 3 (Voices 3)

I love this series

, as I have said before it reminds me of the video game The Last of Us.

About 3 chapters in and like the way this one has started with a change of pace / setting and timeline.

[SIZE=+1]
'Of a piece with Stephen King's The Stand' Independent[/SIZE][SIZE=+1].
[/SIZE]
'Thrilling . . . Todd skilfully captures hope and humanity in the lives of characters whom the reader comes to care about' Guardian

'Compelling, suspenseful, and altogether extraordinary' Lee Child

Xofpod · 21-11-2019 10:10am

Finally got around to reading Europe in Autumn, Dave Hutchinson, which had been in my sights for a while. Mostly Alan Furst-y espionage stuff in near-future Europe, until it takes a big sci-fi swerve. Enjoyable enough, and will probably follow up with the sequels at some point but won't be dashing out to get them this morning.

It is bang on trend for Brexity related concerns, though I'm not sure that a massive selling point for too many people at the moment...

Thargor · 21-11-2019 6:37pm

Struggled with the Three Body Problem but by the time I was halfway through the sequel The Dark Forest I was hooked, it definitely has its flaws, so many metaphors and character interactions that dont quite work and feel like the original Chinese was just run straight through Google Translate but the story carries the whole thing and Ill have no problem moving straight on to the third one, love how unpredictable it is and feels like one of those sci-fis that will stay with you forever.

Sleepy · 22-11-2019 1:22pm

bluewolf wrote: »

aw brilliant - got it now. i think i need a recap of the last one!

Thinking the same myself, did you find a good recap online?

Fian · 22-11-2019 2:46pm

just finished Blood Meridian - historical fiction rather than fantasy, by Cormac McCarthy. Easily the most "grimdark" book I have ever read.

Bleak, brutal, violent and horrific. I suppose I should have expected as much from the author of "the road".

Obviously very well written as well.

Not sure what is next but it will be relatively light and frothy after that.

Igotadose · 22-11-2019 3:28pm

Slogging through "Codex Alera" by Jim Butcher. First 3 done. O.K. light reading, much suspending of credulity at the events.
Now reading "Seven Blades in Black" by Sam Sykes. Much more interesting than the Codex Alera stuff. Bad things happen. People behave badly.
Characters don't seem as generic as in the Butcher novels (which, tbf, is something he does in pretty much everything he writes.)

22-11-2019 4:37pm

Sleepy wrote: »

Thinking the same myself, did you find a good recap online?

Cities skylines ate my life so i didnt get around to it yet. I think i have about 4 brand new books lined up

cdgalwegian · 22-11-2019 7:35pm

ixoy wrote: »

If you really want hard sci-fi, try Greg Egan if you haven't already. Pick up one of his short story collections, such as Oceanic, to get a taste. The sci-fi is so hard, he publishes papers afterwards based on the theories in some of the works - it's the XXX-rated of hard sci-fi!

Thanks for the recommendation. Well into Diaspora- up to pg 110 now. Really like it, despite the initial first 40 pages of the 'Orphanogenesis'; the accelerated development of an inchoate transhuman mind (gulp). After that, it's been plain sailing, so far

.

23-11-2019 10:22am

Sleepy wrote: »

Thinking the same myself, did you find a good recap online?

wikia actually. bringing it all back now

https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Black_Prism
https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Blinding_Knife
https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Broken_Eye

there's no recap for book 4.
i had a vague memory that

the prison for dazen turned out to be a hallucination and he had actually killed his brother?

someone mentioned there's a recap in the new book itself which i havent opened

Jayd0g · 23-11-2019 12:19pm

bluewolf wrote: »

wikia actually. bringing it all back now

https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Black_Prism
https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Blinding_Knife
https://lightbringerseries.fandom.com/wiki/The_Broken_Eye

there's no recap for book 4.
i had a vague memory that
the prison for dazen turned out to be a hallucination and he had actually killed his brother?
someone mentioned there's a recap in the new book itself which i havent opened

Recaps for each of the first four books included at the start of book five. Cracking read, really enjoyed it.

Thargor · 23-11-2019 7:50pm

Jayd0g wrote: »

Recaps for each of the first four books included at the start of book five. Cracking read, really enjoyed it.

Ah great thanks for letting me know that.

24-11-2019 1:55am

I dont know if I'd forgotten but he's so waffly. Or maybe it's just this book
What felt like 20 pages of one character talking to themselves!

Still v good and dying to find out what happens

Thargor · 24-11-2019 3:41pm

bluewolf wrote: »

I dont know if I'd forgotten but he's so waffly. Or maybe it's just this book
What felt like 20 pages of one character talking to themselves!

Still v good and dying to find out what happens

Well the last book felt like about 200 pages of him trying to

force himself into his too-tight virgin wife

so anything would be an improvement over that! :eek:

24-11-2019 8:59pm

Thargor wrote: »

Well the last book felt like about 200 pages of him trying to
force himself into his too-tight virgin wife
so anything would be an improvement over that! :eek:

Ah i read the afterword and thought it was nice he was trying to raise awareness

Finished now... Great conclusion but holy jaysis it got preachy

Sleepy · 27-11-2019 4:15pm

For anyone else looking for summaries of Lightbringer - here's a chapter by chapter recap of the first four books.

https://www.reddit.com/r/LightbringerSeries/comments/djnua4/read_me_if_you_are_looking_for_summaries_to_help/

CalamariFritti · 30-11-2019 10:32am

Just finished The Reality Dysfunction trilogy. Absolutely epic space opera. Its huge but its worth every word of it. Still under its spell so maybe a little overenthusiastic but feels right now like one of the best if not the best I ever read.

Thargor · 30-11-2019 10:56am

CalamariFritti wrote: »

Just finished The Reality Dysfunction trilogy. Absolutely epic space opera. Its huge but its worth every word of it. Still under its spell so maybe a little overenthusiastic but feels right now like one of the best if not the best I ever read.

It's probably my favourite series of all time aswell, absolutely amazing. Everything he's published since has been solid gold aswell with very few exceptions.

30-11-2019 12:43pm

It's always been one of my faves

Thargor · 30-11-2019 5:06pm

Finished the 3 Body Problem/Dark Forest/Deaths End trilogy, turned out to be a pretty amazing series in the end, one of those sci-fi stories you'll never forget reading.

CalamariFritti · 30-11-2019 6:16pm

Thargor wrote: »

It's probably my favourite series of all time aswell, absolutely amazing. Everything he's published since has been solid gold aswell with very few exceptions.

I'm amazed how you can have an arc this wide and a story so big and this many protagonists without ever going stale or losing the reader. We have the fate of mankind and a stereotypically dashing captain and a damsel in distress and Al fkn Capone in it and it all makes sense and its not ridiculous or too light or anything. Just wow.

You could turn that into a 10 seasons TV series and if you did it right it would be the greatest TV series ever.

Thargor · 30-11-2019 8:50pm

Yeah there isnt a single dip in quality throughout all 3 books and the books are bricks the same size as The Stand, I remember as a kid nearly crying when I finished it because I knew I wouldn't be reading anything like that again soon, I always associate it with 9/11 because I was reading it at the time and through all the craziness afterwards. Nights Dawn (Reality Dysfunction is the first book) and The Stand are probably the books Ive reread the most actually. People bitch about the ending and say his Commonwealth Saga is better but they're wrong, although you are in for a treat with Commonwealth, one of the best enemies and universes in any sci-fi.

He's 2 books into the Salvation Sequence with the next one next year aswell and it sounds like its going to be good:

Humanity's complex relationship with technology spirals out of control in this first book of an all-new trilogy from "the owner of the most powerful imagination in science fiction" (Ken Follett).

In 2204, humanity is expanding into the wider galaxy in leaps and bounds. A new technology of linked jump gates has rendered most forms of transporation--including starships--virtually obsolete. Every place on earth, every distant planet mankind has settled, is now merely a step away from any other. And all seems wonderful...until a crashed alien spaceship is found on a newly-located world 89 light years from Earth, harboring seventeen human victims. And of the high-powered team dispatched to investigate the mystery, one is an alien spy...

Bursting with tension and big ideas, this standalone series highlights the inventiveness of an author at the top of his game, as the interweaving story lines tell us not only how humanity arrived at this moment, but also the far-future consequences that spin off from it. (less)

smacl · 30-11-2019 8:54pm

Thargor wrote: »

Finished the 3 Body Problem/Dark Forest/Deaths End trilogy, turned out to be a pretty amazing series in the end, one of those sci-fi stories you'll never forget reading.

Must give the rest of the trilogy another go so, sounds like I was too quick to give up on the very many enforced dehydrations

Thargor · 30-11-2019 9:19pm

Yeah the first book is the weakest, it turns into proper epic sci-fi after that.

Trojan · 01-12-2019 2:47pm

I love the Reality Disfunction, but the Commonwealth Saga is even better

01-12-2019 3:00pm

Just started salvation now

Mr Meanor · 03-12-2019 10:54pm

Finished 'The Robots of Gotham' by Todd McAulty
Set near the end of the 21st Century in a time of overt and covert war with billions of human beings, robots and AIs just trying to live together with possible future genocide for one group or another in the offing.
Reminded me of older classical science fiction works with a protagonist and narrative you could actually root for!
Anyway it was over 900 pages long and I flew through it, very enjoyable not the most original for the main part but different enough to enjoy.

Thargor · 03-12-2019 11:35pm

Mr Meanor wrote: »

Finished 'The Robots of Gotham' by Todd McAulty
Set near the end of the 21st Century in a time of overt and covert war with billions of human beings, robots and AIs just trying to live together with possible future genocide for one group or another in the offing.
Reminded me of older classical science fiction works with a protagonist and narrative you could actually root for!
Anyway it was over 900 pages long and I flew through it, very enjoyable not the most original for the main part but different enough to enjoy.

Oooo sounds good thanks.

I read Sea of Rust recently, another robot uprising book, it was a complete and utter turd, one of the worst things Ive read.

Manach · 06-12-2019 2:55pm

The Goblin Emperor - so far it is promising to be an excellent read.

ancapailldorcha · 06-12-2019 3:13pm

I've started The Last Wish. It's a collection of short stories that seem to be the first installment of the Witcher series. Thinking of playing the games so I thought I'd give these a go as they seem fairly short.

alchemist33 · 06-12-2019 3:28pm

Halfway through The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch, and it's probably the best SF I've read in five years. The blurb references Inception and True Detective, but it's more than that, with time travel, alternative universes and elements of horror. The writing, imagination and characterisation are top notch and I'm rivetted.

alchemist33 · 06-12-2019 3:31pm

CalamariFritti wrote: »

Just finished The Reality Dysfunction trilogy. Absolutely epic space opera. Its huge but its worth every word of it. Still under its spell so maybe a little overenthusiastic but feels right now like one of the best if not the best I ever read.

Probably my favourite author, and I've even met him in person. His world-building is fantastic- the closest I've seen to Banks. But I don't think his series are perfect. There's usually one arc that goes nowhere or seems to drag on too long. Everything else usually makes up for that though.

Thargor · 06-12-2019 3:59pm

alchemist33 wrote: »

Halfway through The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch, and it's probably the best SF I've read in five years. The blurb references Inception and True Detective, but it's more than that, with time travel, alternative universes and elements of horror. The writing, imagination and characterisation are top notch and I'm rivetted.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33413556-the-gone-world

Ooo that sounds great thanks.

cdgalwegian · 06-12-2019 4:21pm

alchemist33 wrote: »

Halfway through The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch, and it's probably the best SF I've read in five years. The blurb references Inception and True Detective, but it's more than that, with time travel, alternative universes and elements of horror. The writing, imagination and characterisation are top notch and I'm rivetted.

Thargor wrote: »

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33413556-the-gone-world

Ooo that sounds great thanks.

Hard sci-fi with heart. Definitely gonna try that.

Blowfish · 06-12-2019 8:06pm

ancapailldorcha wrote: »

I've started The Last Wish. It's a collection of short stories that seem to be the first installment of the Witcher series. Thinking of playing the games so I thought I'd give these a go as they seem fairly short.

I liked the Witcher stuff a lot. It doesn't try and do anything particularly new or unique with the genre, but the characters and relationships between them make it.

Like yourself I hadn't played the games, but making myself through the first one now, definitely a fair amount of references to the book that you'd easily miss.

ancapailldorcha · 08-12-2019 11:47am

Blowfish wrote: »

I liked the Witcher stuff a lot. It doesn't try and do anything particularly new or unique with the genre, but the characters and relationships between them make it.

Like yourself I hadn't played the games, but making myself through the first one now, definitely a fair amount of references to the book that you'd easily miss.

Aye and the books seem fairly short and straightforward which is a nice change from the Malazan series. Apparently, the developers gave Geralt amnesia for the games so that they could do something new without alienating new players.

What Are You Reading?

Comments