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The "What Are You Reading" Thread

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Posts

  • RaekreuRaekreu Registered User regular
    Turkson wrote: »
    Raekreu wrote: »
    and creeping emo-ness of the main characters would have been mitigated tremendously.

    Almost done with Book 13. Going to spoiler this:
    I was getting very bored and irritated with Rand's character for the very same reasons you listed. It almost forced me to skip his chapters. However, it becomes a plot point, and one whose resolution I like now. It's a shame that it went on for so very long.

    Rand is a much better character now.

    Yeah, exactly...the only reason that I went through the chapters involving him was that he's, y'know, the main character. Though I'll go back on my earlier statement and say that the first time through, I did actually read each book cover to cover. It's only in going back and re-reading that I cherry pick the chapters that aren't boring. Because holy shiat, there are so, so many chapters that just should have been edited out, or condensed to 1 or 2 pages.

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Entriech wrote: »
    Popped over to the library and came away with The handmaid's tale by Margaret Attwood. Folks say it is a classic.

    It's fantastic. I love Atwood.

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    I keep meaning to read that. Need to put it on my kindle so I won't forget again

    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.
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    shryke on
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Raekreu wrote: »
    Turkson wrote: »
    Raekreu wrote: »
    and creeping emo-ness of the main characters would have been mitigated tremendously.

    Almost done with Book 13. Going to spoiler this:
    I was getting very bored and irritated with Rand's character for the very same reasons you listed. It almost forced me to skip his chapters. However, it becomes a plot point, and one whose resolution I like now. It's a shame that it went on for so very long.

    Rand is a much better character now.

    Yeah, exactly...the only reason that I went through the chapters involving him was that he's, y'know, the main character. Though I'll go back on my earlier statement and say that the first time through, I did actually read each book cover to cover. It's only in going back and re-reading that I cherry pick the chapters that aren't boring. Because holy shiat, there are so, so many chapters that just should have been edited out, or condensed to 1 or 2 pages.

    If you are skimming/skipping chapters, it's only gonna get more boring because you are missing 90% of the details of what's going on.

    Most things seem meaningless when you skip the context.

    shryke on
  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    I'm near the end of Hyperion. 96% on my Kindle. I started losing interest halfway through the Consul story. Pushing through to finish it. I guess can put the rest of the series further down my list.

  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    Raekreu wrote: »
    joshgotro wrote: »
    Raekreu wrote: »
    Tomanta wrote: »
    Turkson wrote: »
    And Book 10 of Wheel of Time is done.

    I think I may skip this one in any future rereads that I do. Only one thing of significance happens in this book and it's in the very last chapter.

    Come on,
    Perrin wandering around the countryside for 1/3 of the book is vital plot advancement!

    Seriously, though - that's the book where I finally gave up on the series for the exact reason you stated.

    After book...6, I want to say, I basically read them just to say that I had. And by 'read' I mean 'I thumbed through the chapters and if the characters involved weren't Rand or Mat I skipped to the next chapter and repeated the process'.

    @Raekreu Have you made it to the books written by Sanderson?
    @joshgotro
    Yessir, I've actually read all of the books and have to admit that I didn't have high hopes for the conclusion when I heard that Robert Jordan had died. I haven't read any of Sanderson's non-WoT work, but I have to say that if he'd worked with Robert Jordan as co-author at an earlier point in the series, the dozens of meaningless characters, long-winded and largely pointless chapters, and creeping emo-ness of the main characters would have been mitigated tremendously.

    @Raekreu I've spent a few months going through his catalogue minus is young adult works. While his story in Mystborn felt very shallow, the action is amazing. His stand alone works, Elantris and Warbreaker, were both a nice mix of the same problem.

    Then he goes and writes The Way of Kings. I feel for each character while he still delivers amazing action set pieces. Although it does get a bit predictable around the 2/3 mark.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    joshgotro wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    I'm near the end of Hyperion. 96% on my Kindle. I started losing interest halfway through the Consul story. Pushing through to finish it. I guess can put the rest of the series further down my list.

    The Fall of Hyperion is an excellent novel and well worth reading. It ties off all the plotlines started by the first book and is obviously a natural continuation rather than tacked on sequels like the Endymion books.

  • RaekreuRaekreu Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    shryke wrote: »
    Raekreu wrote: »
    Turkson wrote: »
    Raekreu wrote: »
    and creeping emo-ness of the main characters would have been mitigated tremendously.

    Almost done with Book 13. Going to spoiler this:
    I was getting very bored and irritated with Rand's character for the very same reasons you listed. It almost forced me to skip his chapters. However, it becomes a plot point, and one whose resolution I like now. It's a shame that it went on for so very long.

    Rand is a much better character now.

    Yeah, exactly...the only reason that I went through the chapters involving him was that he's, y'know, the main character. Though I'll go back on my earlier statement and say that the first time through, I did actually read each book cover to cover. It's only in going back and re-reading that I cherry pick the chapters that aren't boring. Because holy shiat, there are so, so many chapters that just should have been edited out, or condensed to 1 or 2 pages.

    If you are skimming/skipping chapters, it's only gonna get more boring because you are missing 90% of the details of what's going on.

    Most things seem meaningless when you skip the context.

    As a rule, I don't skip chapters the first time I read something, but with the later WoT books...it was really hard to slog through them, even though I was still in 'fuck yeah, new book' mode when I was reading them. Jordan just kept on adding more and more plot lines, characters, and McGuffins rather than advancing, explaining, or ending the arcs that he'd already established.

    I knew things were amiss when the foreword for each book started averaging 150 pages.




    Raekreu on
  • HamHamJHamHamJ Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    One or more of the following is true:
    Time is moving backwards for future Rachael and the Shrike, which means that the Shrike they fight is a past Shrike, that has not been subjugated yet.

    There are two version of the Shrike. One sent back by the UI to destroy humanity, Terminator 1 style; the other reprogrammed and sent back by God to save humanity, Terminator 2 style. Both the T1 and T2 Shrike exist simultaneously, because the future's quantum waveform has not yet collapsed, and it is still uncertain whether the UI or God will win.

    Rachel's main job is to go fetch Kassad to fight the war in the future. To do that she needs to stowaway on the Time Tombs with the Shrike.

    HamHamJ on
    While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Bogart wrote: »
    joshgotro wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    I'm near the end of Hyperion. 96% on my Kindle. I started losing interest halfway through the Consul story. Pushing through to finish it. I guess can put the rest of the series further down my list.

    The Fall of Hyperion is an excellent novel and well worth reading. It ties off all the plotlines started by the first book and is obviously a natural continuation rather than tacked on sequels like the Endymion books.

    Yeah, I would read Fall of Hyperion just to get the actual ending.

    But I wouldn't say it's a great book or that it ties up the loose ends of the first book very well. It reminded me of Lost in alot of ways.

    shryke on
  • CommunistCowCommunistCow Abstract Metal ThingyRegistered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Would any of you be able to recommend me a fantasy book as super awesome as Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? (Yes I have read Wise Man's Fear)

    CommunistCow on
    No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Would any of you be able to recommend me a fantasy book as super awesome as Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? (Yes I have read Wise Man's Fear)

    What kind of book are you looking for?

  • EntriechEntriech ? ? ? ? ? Ontario, CanadaRegistered User regular
    Would any of you be able to recommend me a fantasy book as super awesome as Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? (Yes I have read Wise Man's Fear)

    The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch.
    Granted, I haven't read Name of the Wind. But Locke Lamora was great.

  • EVOLEVOL Registered User regular
    I finished A Scanner Darkly. God, what a miserable, sad, heart-wrenching, absolutely fucking brilliant book.

    I'm now very interested in Philip K. Dick's work. I always wanted to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep due to my love for Blade Runner. Can anybody recommend any different books of his?

  • HamHamJHamHamJ Registered User regular
    I'm reading Reamde, and it's funny how pretty much all fictional MMOs go in the opposite direction from where MMOs are actually going (at least to my observation). The One in Reamde is a single server, real time, full on open world PvP, etc. But real mainstreeam MMOs are increasingly instanced, have dozens of disconnected servers, and while PvP servers exist, they are generally not the main focus or largest component. Something like T'Rain would not be successful. There's a niche "hardcore" audience that might be interested, but mass market appeal has proven to be linked to being casual friendly. I imagine the disconnect has something to do with what features are need for the MMO to function as a second world for narrative purposes.

    While racing light mechs, your Urbanmech comes in second place, but only because it ran out of ammo.
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    The ones that function as second worlds are havens for creepy sex fantasies more then trilling violent adventure.

  • Simon MoonSimon Moon Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    Would any of you be able to recommend me a fantasy book as super awesome as Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss? (Yes I have read Wise Man's Fear)

    Locke Lamora is indeed pretty awesome. Personally, I'd recommend Abercrombie's First Law trilogy. Despite their many differences, I have yet to meet a person who liked Rothfuss who failed to love Abercrombie.

    (Having said that, this thread will now explode with precisely those people.)


    Regarding Reamde, I read it, and then started Ready Player One shortly thereafter, and spent an afternoon researching how many MMO billionaires there are. (At least three.) Just seemed awfully weird that two books would come out so close together where the major theme is "MMO dev makes fuck-you money, hijinks ensure."

    Simon Moon on
    Steam: simon moon
  • eEK!eEK! Registered User regular
    EVOL wrote: »
    I finished A Scanner Darkly. God, what a miserable, sad, heart-wrenching, absolutely fucking brilliant book.

    I'm now very interested in Philip K. Dick's work. I always wanted to read Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep due to my love for Blade Runner. Can anybody recommend any different books of his?

    The most popular books (other than the ones you listed) are Valis, Ubik, Man in a High Castle and Flow My Tears, so that is a good place to start, but basically all of them are worth reading.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    edited April 2012
    Great Phillip K Dick novels:

    VALIS
    Dr Bloodmoney
    The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
    Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?
    The Man In The High Castle
    Ubik
    Martian Time-Slip
    Time Out Of Joint

    And then you have his many, many short stories to read as well

    Other pretty fine novels by him include (he wrote a lot, a lot, of novels):
    Flow My Tears, The Policeman Said
    The Simulacra
    Now Wait For Last Year

    Bogart on
  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    Bogart wrote: »
    joshgotro wrote: »
    shryke wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    bIn the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    I'm near the end of Hyperion. 96% on my Kindle. I started losing interest halfway through the Consul story. Pushing through to finish it. I guess can put the rest of the series further down my list.

    The Fall of Hyperion is an excellent novel and well worth reading. It ties off all the plotlines started by the first book and is obviously a natural continuation rather than tacked on sequels like the Endymion books.

    I'm glad I just went ahead and started Fall of Hyperion. Consumed half the book yesterday.

  • EVOLEVOL Registered User regular
    I finished The Long Goodbye by Chandler. I should really read it again though, I read it in one sitting and by the end I wasn't paying nearly enough attention to the book as I should have been.

    After a re-reading, I'm going to dig into PKD's novels. Man, that's a huge amount of books. I'm gonna start with 'Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?' first and see how it goes. I've been meaning to read that for a long time anyhow.

  • EggyToastEggyToast Jersey CityRegistered User regular
    HamHamJ wrote: »
    I'm reading Reamde, and it's funny how pretty much all fictional MMOs go in the opposite direction from where MMOs are actually going (at least to my observation). The One in Reamde is a single server, real time, full on open world PvP, etc. But real mainstreeam MMOs are increasingly instanced, have dozens of disconnected servers, and while PvP servers exist, they are generally not the main focus or largest component. Something like T'Rain would not be successful. There's a niche "hardcore" audience that might be interested, but mass market appeal has proven to be linked to being casual friendly. I imagine the disconnect has something to do with what features are need for the MMO to function as a second world for narrative purposes.

    Your point is actually one of the reasons I tend to shy away from novels that deal with very current events/items. MMO is sort of a natural extension of cyberpunk, and allows for authors to write about something that more people can relate to without adding additional abstraction a la Neuromancer or Snow Crash. But yeah, your point rings true -- authors inevitably change how these things are used in real life in order to create a more effective plot.

    I mean, a real MMO that people actually play is basically just a group of friends playing an RPG together against, like you say, instanced events. People play to level up, acquire loot, and advance a part of the overall story. But no one plays PvP because for it to work in an RPG, there should be some consequences. Yet the only PvP games that people actually enjoy are those where there are no consequences -- you respawn or just start fresh with no repercussions, other than perhaps a hit to some leaderboard.

    Translating that to an MMO environment really doesn't work, and also doesn't work for a novel, because if you're writing a novel about MMOs you want that to have some impact on the character, and not only positive impact. In the real world, anything with "real world" impact ends up with griefers, farmers, and not many actual players -- because it sucks to be griefed and deal with cyber bullies.

    But yeah, it does seem like the authors who really understand how an MMO could work technically end up writing about fictional ones that would be realistically unpopular, and those who understand more of the social element of MMOs write about ones that wouldn't work technically. It's an odd mix.

    || Flickr — || PSN: EggyToast
  • GrudgeGrudge blessed is the mind too small for doubtRegistered User regular
    Finished Wise Man's Fear - it was ok, a bit longer than it needed to be and not quite as good as the first one, but good enough to probably make me read the last one as well when it's released.

    Got Charles Stross' The Atrocity Archives on a whim, and am enjoying it quite a lot. Quirky fun with plenty of nice little references here and there (I'm sure I'm probably missing most of them though). Nice and short too, only 350 pages, as opposed to the almost 1K page brick above.

  • joshgotrojoshgotro Deviled Egg The Land of REAL CHILIRegistered User regular
    @Grudge Is story there still need spoiler?
    Once Kvothe finally makes it back to University in Wise Man's Fear the story should have ended. All that celebrating by spending lots of money was useless. Of course the actual end of the book makes up for it. Magma teeth.


  • Mike DangerMike Danger "Diane..." a place both wonderful and strangeRegistered User regular
    Around 800 pages into Storm of Swords. My friend described it best today when he said, "yeah, that book is really when Martin comes into his own as a relentless murderer."

    Steam: Mike Danger | PSN/NNID: remadeking | 3DS: 2079-9204-4075
    oE0mva1.jpg
  • DalbozDalboz Resident Puppy Eater Right behind you...Registered User regular
    I finally finished The Wind's Twelve Quarters by Ursula K. LeGuin. I mostly read it because it contains the two short stories that started Earthsea. The others were mostly interesting, but at the same time, the volume felt like a bit of a mixed bag.

    I'm probably going to start on our current group read, The Fifth Head of Cerberus, very shortly, but my attention has been turned in another direction at the moment, and I have a question. I'm looking at reading Don Quixote, but I see several different versions available for free on the Kindle through Amazon (I think they're all translated by John Ormsby). Which is best/most complete? I'm guessing it would be the two volumes of The History of Don Quixote, but I can't find any definitive answers, and I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as "The History" of Don Quixote before.

  • TomantaTomanta Registered User regular
    Turkson wrote: »
    Tomanta wrote: »
    Turkson wrote: »
    And Book 10 of Wheel of Time is done.

    I think I may skip this one in any future rereads that I do. Only one thing of significance happens in this book and it's in the very last chapter.

    Come on,
    Perrin wandering around the countryside for 1/3 of the book is vital plot advancement!

    Seriously, though - that's the book where I finally gave up on the series for the exact reason you stated.

    You should keep going!

    It gets better! Seriously! so much better!

    Actually, it really does. I'm halfway through Book 11 and it's much, much better. I'm not sure if I ever made it this far into the series before.

    A little time travel since I don't check this thread that often. I might go back and finish it, but not until it is completely done, because I like what I've read from Sanderson (mostly the Mistborn books).

  • Uncle_BalsamicUncle_Balsamic Registered User regular
    Finished Inherent Vice. Still too terrified to try and make a start with Gravity's Rainbow.

    2LmjIWB.png
  • [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    shryke wrote: »
    Dashui wrote: »
    I suspect I may be an idiot. I just finished Fall of Hyperion and all the wibbly wobbly timey wimey has made my head hurt.
    Or more specifically, Rachel's mission and plot after handing her younger self to her father and the Shrike she accompanied. I could come up with a few paragraphs of questions for those two.

    Alright, so the machine UI sent back a Shrike to find the human UI.

    In the future, Kassad and Rachel stopped the Shrike army from sending back more than one Shrike?

    Keats rescued baby Rachel from the Shrike. Future Rachel came back in time with the tombs, took baby Rachel from Keats and then gave it to her father. Sol then took baby Rachel to the future where she would grow up, lead an army, then go back in time to take baby Rachel from Keats to give to her father so that her father could go into the future and TIME LOOP WIBBLY WOBBLY!

    But obviously adult Rachel had another mission past that point. What was it? To find and prepare Kassad for that final battle? But why was she accompanying the Shrike? Why be its mistress and then turn on it? I feel like I"m missing something.

    A friend told me that some Shrikes are under human control, which just confuses me more trying to figure out how that fits with what I read.

    It doesn't really make much sense.

    Hyperion builds up great atmosphere and is a good book, but Fall of Hyperion drops the ball and the other 2 sequels are ... ugh.

    I really enjoyed aspects of Fall of Hyperion, especially the Ouster stuff. I agree it dropped the ball though. I finished that book knowing even less than what I knew after finishing the first one, and far less satisfied. The sequels I have stayed away from.

    mvaYcgc.jpg
  • [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    Finished Inherent Vice. Still too terrified to try and make a start with Gravity's Rainbow.

    Fuck, man. You should be terrified. I got all of 5 pages into that book.

    mvaYcgc.jpg
  • Evil MultifariousEvil Multifarious Registered User regular
    i would agree that Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion is like Lost with a college degree

    completely fails to deliver in the second book

    and then the next two show you why he failed to deliver

  • Target PracticeTarget Practice Registered User regular
    I'm two-thirds of the way through C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, having finished Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. They're okay; nothing special. That Hideous Strength is supposed to be the best of the three.

    I'm also reading a collection of T.S. Eliot's poetry from 1909 to 1935. Irritatingly, there's a good bit of foreign-language material that the publisher provided no translation for, including a number of poems written entirely in French. Also, the last poem I read in it was a comparison of the hippopotamus to, I guess, the Unitarian Church. So yeah.

    Before I read That Hideous Strength, I may stop to re-read Johnny Tremain; mostly because I watched the '57 movie a few days ago and feel the urge to confirm my feeling that it shat all over the novel.

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  • KanaKana Registered User regular
    I think it's generally best to just group Endymion as a totally different series than Hyperion. He's really aiming for a different story and theme, it just happens to exist in the same universe.

    Although the shitfest that was Olympos, after the really fun Ilium is yet another example that Simmons has no goddamn idea how to end a story.

    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.
  • eEK!eEK! Registered User regular
    Dalboz wrote: »
    I'm looking at reading Don Quixote, but I see several different versions available for free on the Kindle through Amazon (I think they're all translated by John Ormsby). Which is best/most complete? I'm guessing it would be the two volumes of The History of Don Quixote, but I can't find any definitive answers, and I don't think I've ever heard it referred to as "The History" of Don Quixote before.

    I read a translation by Edith Grossman that was good. I'd imagine The History of Don Quixote is is non-fiction book about the book as Don Quixote is usually called Don Quixote or The Ingenious Gentleman Don Quixote of La Mancha.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    i would agree that Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion is like Lost with a college degree

    completely fails to deliver in the second book

    and then the next two show you why he failed to deliver

    Not sure if you're saying Simmons is a bad writer here.

  • nightmarennynightmarenny Registered User regular
    edited April 2012
    I always have trouble with this particular WoT discussion.

    I had no trouble finishing any of the books. At worst it took me a few weeks to finish book nine.

    I feel so out of place.

    nightmarenny on
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  • zeenyzeeny Registered User regular
    Bogart wrote: »
    i would agree that Hyperion/Fall of Hyperion is like Lost with a college degree

    completely fails to deliver in the second book

    and then the next two show you why he failed to deliver

    Not sure if you're saying Simmons is a bad writer here.

    If he is, decapitate him if I'm not around to do it.

  • Mojo_JojoMojo_Jojo We are only now beginning to understand the full power and ramifications of sexual intercourse Registered User regular
    Fall of Hyperion was a bit of a disappointment after Hyperion, for me at least. This is largely due to the abrupt change in style and lack of closure. It wasn't bad though. It was good enough that I looked a the rest of the expanded universe's series and then bought then, even if I've not got around to reading them yet.

    Homogeneous distribution of your varieties of amuse-gueule
  • [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    I'm two-thirds of the way through C.S. Lewis' Space Trilogy, having finished Out of the Silent Planet and Perelandra. They're okay; nothing special. That Hideous Strength is supposed to be the best of the three.

    I'm also reading a collection of T.S. Eliot's poetry from 1909 to 1935. Irritatingly, there's a good bit of foreign-language material that the publisher provided no translation for, including a number of poems written entirely in French. Also, the last poem I read in it was a comparison of the hippopotamus to, I guess, the Unitarian Church. So yeah.

    Before I read That Hideous Strength, I may stop to re-read Johnny Tremain; mostly because I watched the '57 movie a few days ago and feel the urge to confirm my feeling that it shat all over the novel.

    "They should call the book Johnny Deformed."

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