I am maybe a quarter of the way through naked lunch.
It sure is different. It's like there is almost no narrative and it's just not so much a story but just a bunch experiences in each chapter drawn together by common setting.
It feels so directionless but engrossing at the same time.
Yeah? You're engrossed? I've read that book twice and still haven't managed to take much away from it aside from maybe Burroughs should have taken a few less drugs.
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StraightziHere we may reign secure, and in my choice,To reign is worth ambition though in HellRegistered Userregular
I restarted Paradise Lost last night, but did not get very far at all, so I'll probably drop it after we vote
The second Hunger Games book was not as good as the first.
Short summary review: Feel free to stick to the first book - it stands fine on its own.
Book 2 spoilers:
I did like Katniss' character throughout - Collins is really good at writing a strong feminist character who the reader can identify with - but the book suffered from having her actually return to the Hunger Games. It felt shoehorned in, and dropped the ball on a huge opportunity - the fact that she has to return to the Hunger Games anyway, as a mentor.
If Collins had done it that way, she could have revisited the horror of the Games from a new angle, while building up the political machinations and building rebelion that was obviously coming. She spends most of the book building up this aspect of the story, so I'd expect that to be the payoff.
Instead, the last third of the book swerves off from the plot of building up the politics to throwing Katniss - and the reader - into a shorter, less exciting version of the Games from the first book. And then, to add insult to injury, Collins throws in a twist reveal at the end.
I hate suprise reveals like the end of the book had, where something just comes completely out of the blue. There's no indication that Haymich is anything other than what he seems untill the last few pages of the book, and the whole "we never told you the truth" thing is just so pat. It's not like Collins couldn't have built up to the reveal by having Katniss slowly uncover the plot, rather than going "oh yeah, I totally set this up".
Anyway, yeah, it was still a pretty good read - it still only took me a day to get through it, and I attribute that entirely to Collins' ability to write a believable, strong and vulnerable protagonist.
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
The second first law book is off to a good start. The end of the first book is a bit hazy in my head though, I can't remember some things, like why everyone but Glotka went to that city.
I think Dogman and West are my favorite characters, so this should be fun.
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
yes.
Awesome. :?
though calling the second book pretty good is generous
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
the end of mistborn was pretty good though?
i mean it was just
vin wrecking everyone's fucking day because Fuck Those Guys
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
i haven't read mistborn i was talkin' bout the hunger games books
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
oh
well read the mistborn books, at least the first one
the first one is basically ocean's eleven but with MAGIC
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
yes.
Awesome. :?
though calling the second book pretty good is generous
Yeah, I bumped it up from my original review of "pretty decent". I dunno, I mean I devoured it in a day, and any book that has me basically reading the whole thing in a single sitting is worth a thumbs up of some sort. Basically, while I had some problems with it, it gets a bump because Katniss is a really well-written protagonist.
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AntimatterDevo Was RightGates of SteelRegistered Userregular
Also The Way of Kings was really good, but it's like, part one of ten, so that's kind of frustrating. The next book in the series isn't due out untill January 2013, what with all his other engagements, so we're talking, what, 20-30 years for the series to finish?
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
the big delay with stormlight 2 has been him finishing up wheel of time
he stopped writing everything else to reread the series and finish the last book
now that that's done i think we'll see him moving along a lot faster, the dude is basically a machine
i mean he took a break from writing and still managed to write another mistborn book
It's the first series where I've picked it up with only one book done. Even if he finishes a book a year it'll still be 9 years for the series to finish.
But don't get me wrong, I don't expect any sympathy for my plight.
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
uh i read dresden files and those come out once a year and we still have 10-12 books to go
and we're at book 13 now
i've been reading these books since i was in eighth grade
Also The Way of Kings was really good, but it's like, part one of ten, so that's kind of frustrating. The next book in the series isn't due out untill January 2013, what with all his other engagements, so we're talking, what, 20-30 years for the series to finish?
Haha, this is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read, and I just now learn it's the first of a planned ten? But since the book is apparently so good, I'll read it anyways.
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
the guy is also a fucking machine
people don't understand that he just writes nonstop
Malazan book 5? You would have been really nice as book...4. Or 1. Because you sure do explain a lot of the crap that happened earlier.
I have no real suggestions for the book club this time around, I'm going to wait and see what people suggest. I really enjoyed Gentlemen of the Road, and is one of the first times I've read historical fiction and said "I like this". Y'all have good tastes.
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
augh see now i feel like i need to finish reading the first five malazan books
I'm holding off on starting the Bonehunters for a short while. I can't just burst read through these because they are too jam packed.
Can I say I loved Bugg and Tehol Beddict, btw?
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
edited May 2012
let me tell you about bad books that i love
christopher farnsworth writes books about a vampire that's been bound to the office of the president of the united states since andrew jackson had a voodoo woman put a spell on him
to give you an idea of the level of terrible
the newest book is called red white and blood
they're the stupidest, trashiest books ever
and i love them
Buttlord on
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
oh my god and a new Sandman Slim book this year
holy fuckin shit i thought Aloha From Hell was the last one
well read the mistborn books, at least the first one
the first one is basically ocean's eleven but with MAGIC
it's pretty rad
Mm, I feel like that describes The Lies of Locke Lamora better than it does The Final Empire
not that I minded Mistborn, it was good. I couldn't get into the second one though. Even though he set the hooks for the sequel I just felt like the arc was so well done that I'm satisfied stopping after the first one
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ButtlordFornicusLord of Bondage and PainRegistered Userregular
the thing about sanderson that i love is that none of his twists come out of nowhere
if you really read
and really pay attention
you'll find where he started building them on like the third page of the book
butcher is the same way, he builds up to revelations with lots of little things and they all make sense in context
when the dresden RPG was in the works the writers actually figured out things that hadn't happened yet based on item descriptions and such
uh i read dresden files and those come out once a year and we still have 10-12 books to go
and we're at book 13 now
i've been reading these books since i was in eighth grade
I've only read the first one but those are kind of episodic self-contained stories with an overarching storyline, aren't they?
so was way of kings though
it told a complete story in and of itself, of one dude's redemption, with hooks for the sequel
and the episodic bit of dresden files is starting to fade as we move into the second half of the series, more and more of the books deal with the fallout of previous events
well read the mistborn books, at least the first one
the first one is basically ocean's eleven but with MAGIC
it's pretty rad
Mm, I feel like that describes The Lies of Locke Lamora better than it does The Final Empire
not that I minded Mistborn, it was good. I couldn't get into the second one though. Even though he set the hooks for the sequel I just felt like the arc was so well done that I'm satisfied stopping after the first one
The Lies of Locke Lamora was great.
And yes, this was exactly my problem with the second and third Mistborn books, as well as the second (and so far the) third Hunger Games books. It's the Star Wars syndrome. The first one is great and awesome and pretty selfcontained, and then the second one comes along and it tries to recreate the first book while expanding and acting mostly as setup for the third one. Bleurgh. Either give me a trilogy from the first book, or give me three mostly stand-alone stories.
Posts
Yeah? You're engrossed? I've read that book twice and still haven't managed to take much away from it aside from maybe Burroughs should have taken a few less drugs.
Short summary review: Feel free to stick to the first book - it stands fine on its own.
Book 2 spoilers:
If Collins had done it that way, she could have revisited the horror of the Games from a new angle, while building up the political machinations and building rebelion that was obviously coming. She spends most of the book building up this aspect of the story, so I'd expect that to be the payoff.
Instead, the last third of the book swerves off from the plot of building up the politics to throwing Katniss - and the reader - into a shorter, less exciting version of the Games from the first book. And then, to add insult to injury, Collins throws in a twist reveal at the end.
I hate suprise reveals like the end of the book had, where something just comes completely out of the blue. There's no indication that Haymich is anything other than what he seems untill the last few pages of the book, and the whole "we never told you the truth" thing is just so pat. It's not like Collins couldn't have built up to the reveal by having Katniss slowly uncover the plot, rather than going "oh yeah, I totally set this up".
Anyway, yeah, it was still a pretty good read - it still only took me a day to get through it, and I attribute that entirely to Collins' ability to write a believable, strong and vulnerable protagonist.
I haven't got the best feeling about the 3rd book so far, but I suspect it'll be like with the Mistborn trilogy: The first was great, the second was pretty good and the third I just wanted to finish to see how the series would end.
yes.
Awesome. :?
I think Dogman and West are my favorite characters, so this should be fun.
though calling the second book pretty good is generous
i mean it was just
well read the mistborn books, at least the first one
the first one is basically ocean's eleven but with MAGIC
it's pretty rad
It's been a while now since I read it, so I can't give you any specifics, but it really didn't gel with me for some reason.
Yeah, I bumped it up from my original review of "pretty decent". I dunno, I mean I devoured it in a day, and any book that has me basically reading the whole thing in a single sitting is worth a thumbs up of some sort. Basically, while I had some problems with it, it gets a bump because Katniss is a really well-written protagonist.
"being an author" thing
mistborn's his first published book and it can be shaky but it's so fun
Also The Way of Kings was really good, but it's like, part one of ten, so that's kind of frustrating. The next book in the series isn't due out untill January 2013, what with all his other engagements, so we're talking, what, 20-30 years for the series to finish?
he stopped writing everything else to reread the series and finish the last book
now that that's done i think we'll see him moving along a lot faster, the dude is basically a machine
i mean he took a break from writing and still managed to write another mistborn book
But don't get me wrong, I don't expect any sympathy for my plight.
and we're at book 13 now
i've been reading these books since i was in eighth grade
Haha, this is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read, and I just now learn it's the first of a planned ten? But since the book is apparently so good, I'll read it anyways.
people don't understand that he just writes nonstop
I have no real suggestions for the book club this time around, I'm going to wait and see what people suggest. I really enjoyed Gentlemen of the Road, and is one of the first times I've read historical fiction and said "I like this". Y'all have good tastes.
because i enjoy them
even when i don't understand what's happening
I'm re-reading along with the TOR.com reread. It helps me slow down and absorb stuff better. Also people point out neat things in the comments.
Speaking of machines, Steven Erikson is a machine. He pumped those books at about 1/year and each one is dense and massive.
@syphyre everything proceeds chronologically now, except a couple prologues I think. More with the (awesome) Bonehunters next book, obviously!
Can I say I loved Bugg and Tehol Beddict, btw?
christopher farnsworth writes books about a vampire that's been bound to the office of the president of the united states since andrew jackson had a voodoo woman put a spell on him
to give you an idea of the level of terrible
the newest book is called red white and blood
they're the stupidest, trashiest books ever
and i love them
holy fuckin shit i thought Aloha From Hell was the last one
this is the best year for stupid books y'all
THE BEST
Tehol and Bugg rule! They come back in Reaper's Gale.
it's about the boogeyman, the patron saint of serial kilelrs
it possesses people and turns them into slashers
the chapter lead-ins are all either snippets about previous boogeyman attacks or quotes from actual serial killers, which helps set the mood nicely
so far these quotes have included son of sam, bundy, and btk
and it. is. creepy.
Mm, I feel like that describes The Lies of Locke Lamora better than it does The Final Empire
not that I minded Mistborn, it was good. I couldn't get into the second one though. Even though he set the hooks for the sequel I just felt like the arc was so well done that I'm satisfied stopping after the first one
if you really read
and really pay attention
you'll find where he started building them on like the third page of the book
butcher is the same way, he builds up to revelations with lots of little things and they all make sense in context
when the dresden RPG was in the works the writers actually figured out things that hadn't happened yet based on item descriptions and such
I've only read the first one but those are kind of episodic self-contained stories with an overarching storyline, aren't they?
so was way of kings though
it told a complete story in and of itself, of one dude's redemption, with hooks for the sequel
and the episodic bit of dresden files is starting to fade as we move into the second half of the series, more and more of the books deal with the fallout of previous events
The Lies of Locke Lamora was great.
And yes, this was exactly my problem with the second and third Mistborn books, as well as the second (and so far the) third Hunger Games books. It's the Star Wars syndrome. The first one is great and awesome and pretty selfcontained, and then the second one comes along and it tries to recreate the first book while expanding and acting mostly as setup for the third one. Bleurgh. Either give me a trilogy from the first book, or give me three mostly stand-alone stories.
I can't wait.
not that i've ever read one but that's my hypothesis
I'm skeptical that I'll even care about the series by the time he's wrapping things up. :?
At this rate, I will be pushing 40 by the time he's done.
sanderson or butcher
butcher i don't even give a fuck, i've been reading these books since high school and won't ever stop