And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
I am interested to hear the reaction of somebody reading Wheel of Time for the very first ... uhm, time.
Finished Ready Player One on my new free Kindle (thank you Amazon customer service and thank you my amazing stubborn shithead customer skills).
It's not good at all. I don't hate it, because it was a short easy read, but I am exactly it's target audience - born 1970, grew up playing arcade games, played OD&D, loved John Hughes, had a Space Invaders machine in my house - and I still thought it was boring and stupid.
Now I am reading The Broken Blade and not liking that much either. I think I will go read some good old stuff, as I feel I've read all the good new F&SF.
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
I am interested to hear the reaction of somebody reading Wheel of Time for the very first ... uhm, time.
I've actually owned a copy of the Eye of the World for years but never managed to get into it. Decided I would make a real go of it since the last book is coming out next year and forced myself to read far enough to get hooked. Once you get past all the cliches there's a pretty interesting story going on, with enough twists to keep it interesting without ever really deviating from what I expect (so far at least). I'm already anticipating a future re-read where I suspect I will find a lot of hints that I missed the first time through.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
i'm on like my fifth or something reread and I'm still finding hints that I didn't see the first few times.
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
Hahahahah, no.
Sorry, they all start that way. Every single fucking one.
i'm on like my fifth or something reread and I'm still finding hints that I didn't see the first few times.
It's crazily well plotted. There's tons of hints and implications of things going on and such.
shryke on
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
seriously well plotted.
And reading on Kindle is kind of a huge help. Especially with that 'highlight' feature that Kindle has.
I can't tell you how awesome it has been to read through and find hints and features that others have highlighted that I otherwise would have skipped over.
For whoever was looking for some light fantasy: It's not modern day, but I enjoyed Naomi Novick's Temeraire series. "His majesty's Dragon" is the first book. I tore through them (although I haven't gotten the latest book yet) in about 3 weeks maximum. They're light, they're fun, fantasy, and dragons. Not for serious book reading, but if you want something fun and enjoyable, they're definitely worth a go.
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
Hahahahah, no.
Sorry, they all start that way. Every single fucking one.
Seriously? Ugh. Oh well. I guess you don't commit to something like the Wheel of Time without having boundless stores of patience, so I'll just soldier on and wait for cool stuff to happen again.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
Hahahahah, no.
Sorry, they all start that way. Every single fucking one.
Seriously? Ugh. Oh well. I guess you don't commit to something like the Wheel of Time without having boundless stores of patience, so I'll just soldier on and wait for cool stuff to happen again.
Now c'mon. the prologues are all fairly important and not all of them are completely dull.
But yeah, you're going to have a Wind starting somewhere or other in every book.
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
Hahahahah, no.
Sorry, they all start that way. Every single fucking one.
Seriously? Ugh. Oh well. I guess you don't commit to something like the Wheel of Time without having boundless stores of patience, so I'll just soldier on and wait for cool stuff to happen again.
It's just his style. The start of every book is a slow build and then the pace just goes up and up as the book goes along. Then bam climax, denoument, new book.
I found it kinda funny when I really started noticing it. It's like he starts writing each book at a leisurely pace then realises "Fuck, I'm 200 pages in and the plot just started" and then starts writing at breakneck speed to finish the book before it gets cut into two or something.
Yeah, in terms of "knowing what's going to happen down the road" RJ was really good at plotting
But in terms of "moving the story along at an efficient rate and maintaining tension"... not so much
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
Finished Ready Player One on my new free Kindle (thank you Amazon customer service and thank you my amazing stubborn shithead customer skills).
It's not good at all. I don't hate it, because it was a short easy read, but I am exactly it's target audience - born 1970, grew up playing arcade games, played OD&D, loved John Hughes, had a Space Invaders machine in my house - and I still thought it was boring and stupid.
Now I am reading The Broken Blade and not liking that much either. I think I will go read some good old stuff, as I feel I've read all the good new F&SF.
Read the Night Circus. Every time I got annoyed with the Budweiser quality of Ready Player One, the Night Circus was there like a fine single malt scotch that smelled of caramel and popcorn.
DoctorArch on
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BobCescaIs a girlBirmingham, UKRegistered Userregular
Finally reading A Dance With Dragons. So far, it's ok. I don't think I am as enamoured with these books as a lot of people are, but it's an ok read and the world-building is interesting.
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
Finally reading A Dance With Dragons. So far, it's ok. I don't think I am as enamoured with these books as a lot of people are, but it's an ok read and the world-building is interesting.
I could hug you for that sentiment. I was starting to think I was the only one.
Finally reading A Dance With Dragons. So far, it's ok. I don't think I am as enamoured with these books as a lot of people are, but it's an ok read and the world-building is interesting.
I found the last 2 meandering, but loved the first 3 so incredibly much that I can forgive that. Although I did enjoy AFFC and ADWD much more when I reread the whole series recently - there are so many sneaky little details that I can't keep track of unless I read them all together.
I'm intruiged so far. I'm still in the "set up each character situation/arc" phase right now.
give us a liveblog, it's your duty to the forum
And then we'll tell you how all your opinions are wrong
it's the circle of life
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
I'm about halfway through Dan Simmons' Fall of Hyperion. The plot has really started to pick up and I've enjoyed the series and its mysteries immensely thus far. I especially enjoy his scene setting, descriptions and analogies. If there's one complaint I'd have, however, is that numerous characters seem to speak more with the author's voice than their own.
Dashui on
Xbox Live, PSN & Origin: Vacorsis 3DS: 2638-0037-166
Maybe not the authors voice (that comes more around Fall of Endymion), but definitely with the voice of the Ideas that they represent
A trap is for fish: when you've got the fish, you can forget the trap. A snare is for rabbits: when you've got the rabbit, you can forget the snare. Words are for meaning: when you've got the meaning, you can forget the words.
So, I hit up Whichbook.net and played around with it for a bit, and took my chances on a suggestion.
I picked up The End of Mr. Y, by Scarlett Thomas, and read the first two chapters last night.
I'm digging it so far. It's first person, with a lot of train of thought writing, which kind of comes off as ADD, but the set up so far is interesting. A book about a cursed book by the same title. :P
And finished the Great Hunt. The ending was intense, series really seems to be picking up some steam now. Moving straight on to the Dragon Reborn (and hoping it doesn't start as slowly as the first two books did).
I am interested to hear the reaction of somebody reading Wheel of Time for the very first ... uhm, time.
I've actually owned a copy of the Eye of the World for years but never managed to get into it. Decided I would make a real go of it since the last book is coming out next year and forced myself to read far enough to get hooked. Once you get past all the cliches there's a pretty interesting story going on, with enough twists to keep it interesting without ever really deviating from what I expect (so far at least). I'm already anticipating a future re-read where I suspect I will find a lot of hints that I missed the first time through.
I am reading through this series as well. I started it, oh approximately 15 years ago, and made it to the end of book 5. I decided to pick it up again before Christmas and am back into book 5. My pace is not nearly as fast as some others on in this thread...*cough* lonelyahava *cough*...but I am hoping to stay interested and finish the books before the final one is released.
I am reading on the Kindle and the highlight feature mentioned sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that. Reading through the books I can definitely see how this serious lends itself to rereads. There is just so much there that you can't possible pick up in the first read through.
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Mike Danger"Diane..."a place both wonderful and strangeRegistered Userregular
Polished off Mona Lisa Overdrive. I was incredibly surprised by how much it referred back to Neuromancer and Count Zero (and kind of disappointed by
3Jane's big plot.)
I got a ton of books for my birthday, though!
- Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
- In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (fuck yes, The Secret History blew my socks off, so I have high hopes for this one)
- Little, Big by John Crowley
- A book of Merl Reagle crossword puzzles (yeah, I am a 90 year old man, so what)
I picked up Hide Me Among the Graves for myself, though, so I am probably going to be reading The Stress of Her Regard next.
Polished off Mona Lisa Overdrive. I was incredibly surprised by how much it referred back to Neuromancer and Count Zero (and kind of disappointed by
3Jane's big plot.)
I got a ton of books for my birthday, though!
- Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
- In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (fuck yes, The Secret History blew my socks off, so I have high hopes for this one)
- Little, Big by John Crowley
- A book of Merl Reagle crossword puzzles (yeah, I am a 90 year old man, so what)
I picked up Hide Me Among the Graves for myself, though, so I am probably going to be reading The Stress of Her Regard next.
Random trivia: these forums, until a few months ago, were hosted by a company called 3Jane. I didn't know the character was in any other of Gibson's books.
Polished off Mona Lisa Overdrive. I was incredibly surprised by how much it referred back to Neuromancer and Count Zero (and kind of disappointed by
3Jane's big plot.)
I got a ton of books for my birthday, though!
- Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
- In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (fuck yes, The Secret History blew my socks off, so I have high hopes for this one)
- Little, Big by John Crowley
- A book of Merl Reagle crossword puzzles (yeah, I am a 90 year old man, so what)
I picked up Hide Me Among the Graves for myself, though, so I am probably going to be reading The Stress of Her Regard next.
let me know what you think of the Erik Larson books. I've read his "Devil in the White City" and absolutely loved it. Devoured it some might say.
@socks:: pffftttt :P I'm an unemployed housewife (without the ring or the 'wife' part). I've got lots of time to read. it's the only reason I'm going so fast.
Also, Book 11 seems to be moving close to the pace that book 8 had. in other words, quickly.
After reading Perdido Street Station, what's the best next Bas Lag book?
The Scar.
Then Iron Council.
Yup.
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
If, like me, you enjoy revolutionary romanticism, Leftism and trains, Iron Council could be more enjpyable than the Scar. I liked both, but Iron Council is my favourite.
God I love the Scar. It was my first Mieville book and it absolutely blew me away. I can see echoes of Mieville in that browser game Fallen London, and it makes me want to play a Mieville game, whether video, board or card.
Random trivia: these forums, until a few months ago, were hosted by a company called 3Jane. I didn't know the character was in any other of Gibson's books.
My old site was hosted on a machine called 3jane.ashpool.org.
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BobCescaIs a girlBirmingham, UKRegistered Userregular
Finished A Dance With Dragons. It was ok; pretty much what I expected from the previous books.
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jakobaggerLO THY DREAD EMPIRE CHAOS IS RESTOREDRegistered Userregular
Finished A Dance With Dragons. It was ok; pretty much what I expected from the previous books.
You didn't find it and maybe Feast a drop in quality? I found something to enjoy in both, but would also say they are a lot more meandering and stuffed with filler than the previous books.
I just finished Adam's Tongue by Derek Bickerton. It's about language evolution and I found it to be quite fascinating. It's really easy for a layman to absorb, so if you are interested at all in the subject I'd suggest checking it out.
Picked up Embassytown by Mieville and A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge (they didn't have A Fire Upon The Deep). I read the first chapters of both of them in the store, and I'm excited especially for Deepness. I'll start on one once I finish Deadwood (which is still good).
[Tycho?] on
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lonelyahavaCall me Ahava ~~She/Her~~Move to New ZealandRegistered Userregular
And now, the challenge.
Starting Book 12 of Wheel of Time. Let's see if I can make it through this without the burning hatred that I got last time. I'm reading it slowly and deliberately. So far, it's better than I remembered.
Mike Danger"Diane..."a place both wonderful and strangeRegistered Userregular
I found Virtual Light for 50 cents at the library, so I am rolling on with the William Gibson thing. I have Burning Chrome waiting for me at home, so I think that I might just pick up Zero History and All Tomorrow's Parties off of Amazon and then I will own the complete oeuvre.
Posts
I am interested to hear the reaction of somebody reading Wheel of Time for the very first ... uhm, time.
It's not good at all. I don't hate it, because it was a short easy read, but I am exactly it's target audience - born 1970, grew up playing arcade games, played OD&D, loved John Hughes, had a Space Invaders machine in my house - and I still thought it was boring and stupid.
Now I am reading The Broken Blade and not liking that much either. I think I will go read some good old stuff, as I feel I've read all the good new F&SF.
I've actually owned a copy of the Eye of the World for years but never managed to get into it. Decided I would make a real go of it since the last book is coming out next year and forced myself to read far enough to get hooked. Once you get past all the cliches there's a pretty interesting story going on, with enough twists to keep it interesting without ever really deviating from what I expect (so far at least). I'm already anticipating a future re-read where I suspect I will find a lot of hints that I missed the first time through.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Hahahahah, no.
Sorry, they all start that way. Every single fucking one.
It's crazily well plotted. There's tons of hints and implications of things going on and such.
And reading on Kindle is kind of a huge help. Especially with that 'highlight' feature that Kindle has.
I can't tell you how awesome it has been to read through and find hints and features that others have highlighted that I otherwise would have skipped over.
For whoever was looking for some light fantasy: It's not modern day, but I enjoyed Naomi Novick's Temeraire series. "His majesty's Dragon" is the first book. I tore through them (although I haven't gotten the latest book yet) in about 3 weeks maximum. They're light, they're fun, fantasy, and dragons. Not for serious book reading, but if you want something fun and enjoyable, they're definitely worth a go.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Randomly picking what other people espouse in the thread. That and a well filled out GoodReads profile.
Also what the local library has on hand. I couldn't afford the habit, if I bought every book I read.
Seriously? Ugh. Oh well. I guess you don't commit to something like the Wheel of Time without having boundless stores of patience, so I'll just soldier on and wait for cool stuff to happen again.
Now c'mon. the prologues are all fairly important and not all of them are completely dull.
But yeah, you're going to have a Wind starting somewhere or other in every book.
They are worth it. I promise.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
It's just his style. The start of every book is a slow build and then the pace just goes up and up as the book goes along. Then bam climax, denoument, new book.
I found it kinda funny when I really started noticing it. It's like he starts writing each book at a leisurely pace then realises "Fuck, I'm 200 pages in and the plot just started" and then starts writing at breakneck speed to finish the book before it gets cut into two or something.
But in terms of "moving the story along at an efficient rate and maintaining tension"... not so much
Read the Night Circus. Every time I got annoyed with the Budweiser quality of Ready Player One, the Night Circus was there like a fine single malt scotch that smelled of caramel and popcorn.
I could hug you for that sentiment. I was starting to think I was the only one.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
I'm intruiged so far. I'm still in the "set up each character situation/arc" phase right now.
I found the last 2 meandering, but loved the first 3 so incredibly much that I can forgive that. Although I did enjoy AFFC and ADWD much more when I reread the whole series recently - there are so many sneaky little details that I can't keep track of unless I read them all together.
give us a liveblog, it's your duty to the forum
And then we'll tell you how all your opinions are wrong
it's the circle of life
I picked up The End of Mr. Y, by Scarlett Thomas, and read the first two chapters last night.
I'm digging it so far. It's first person, with a lot of train of thought writing, which kind of comes off as ADD, but the set up so far is interesting. A book about a cursed book by the same title. :P
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
I am reading through this series as well. I started it, oh approximately 15 years ago, and made it to the end of book 5. I decided to pick it up again before Christmas and am back into book 5. My pace is not nearly as fast as some others on in this thread...*cough* lonelyahava *cough*...but I am hoping to stay interested and finish the books before the final one is released.
I am reading on the Kindle and the highlight feature mentioned sounds interesting. I'll have to look into that. Reading through the books I can definitely see how this serious lends itself to rereads. There is just so much there that you can't possible pick up in the first read through.
I got a ton of books for my birthday, though!
- Thunderstruck by Erik Larson
- In The Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
- The Little Friend by Donna Tartt (fuck yes, The Secret History blew my socks off, so I have high hopes for this one)
- Little, Big by John Crowley
- A book of Merl Reagle crossword puzzles (yeah, I am a 90 year old man, so what)
I picked up Hide Me Among the Graves for myself, though, so I am probably going to be reading The Stress of Her Regard next.
Random trivia: these forums, until a few months ago, were hosted by a company called 3Jane. I didn't know the character was in any other of Gibson's books.
The Scar.
Then Iron Council.
let me know what you think of the Erik Larson books. I've read his "Devil in the White City" and absolutely loved it. Devoured it some might say.
@socks:: pffftttt :P I'm an unemployed housewife (without the ring or the 'wife' part). I've got lots of time to read. it's the only reason I'm going so fast.
Also, Book 11 seems to be moving close to the pace that book 8 had. in other words, quickly.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Yup.
Maybe I'll have to go design one myself.
My old site was hosted on a machine called 3jane.ashpool.org.
You didn't find it and maybe Feast a drop in quality? I found something to enjoy in both, but would also say they are a lot more meandering and stuffed with filler than the previous books.
Starting Book 12 of Wheel of Time. Let's see if I can make it through this without the burning hatred that I got last time. I'm reading it slowly and deliberately. So far, it's better than I remembered.
Democrats Abroad! || Vote From Abroad
Still reading The End of Mr Y and should finish it up in the next couple days.
PSN: Beltaine-77 | Steam: beltane77 | Battle.net BadHaggis#1433
Digging HWM a lot, not looking forward to the morbid depression that will no doubt follow finishing Blood Meridian.