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The D&D [Book] Thread

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Posts

  • skippydumptruckskippydumptruck begin again Registered User regular
    V1m wrote: »
    Huh you probably wouldn't like Michael Moorcock's stuff either then, but I was actually thinking of Meiville's Kraken not his Bas-Lag books.

    I've not read Kraken. I have his Embassytown which I haven't read yet. I'm hoping it's more palatable than the other stuff; if so then maybe I'll give Kraken a shot.

    I am a mieville fan, so take this with a grain of salt

    but I looooooooooooved embassytown

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    A friend recommended "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made."

    I jokingly asked how to defriend him in real life after I finished it. What a load of dreck.

    Edit: I always knew Geth had taste.

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  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    V1m wrote: »
    Huh you probably wouldn't like Michael Moorcock's stuff either then, but I was actually thinking of Meiville's Kraken not his Bas-Lag books.

    I've not read Kraken. I have his Embassytown which I haven't read yet. I'm hoping it's more palatable than the other stuff; if so then maybe I'll give Kraken a shot.

    I am a mieville fan, so take this with a grain of salt

    but I looooooooooooved embassytown

    I need to read more Mieville. I liked City and the City aside from my problems with the story itself (I love how the Americans in the book react exactly the way I think about the setting).

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  • nexuscrawlernexuscrawler Registered User regular
    V1m wrote: »
    Huh you probably wouldn't like Michael Moorcock's stuff either then, but I was actually thinking of Meiville's Kraken not his Bas-Lag books.

    I've not read Kraken. I have his Embassytown which I haven't read yet. I'm hoping it's more palatable than the other stuff; if so then maybe I'll give Kraken a shot.

    I am a mieville fan, so take this with a grain of salt

    but I looooooooooooved embassytown

    I got the sense that Kraken was him having fun and blowing off steam while he worked on his more serious book(City and City). Kraken was much looser and less controlled than his other stuff.

  • CroakerBCCroakerBC TorontoRegistered User regular
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.

    You might try Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, or Paul Cornell's London Falling. Neither is as cynically funny as Aaronovich, but both would probably fit the bill otherwise, and are good, solid reads. I'll also second Kraken, which is very un-Bas-Lag'y, though it is still Mieville, so if you're already not a fan, probably skippable. Oh, and Mike Shevdon's Sixty-One Nails is very good, though largely played straight.

    Also, Jonathan L. Howard's criminally under-read Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. Which is a bit of an urban period piece, but played at least partially for humour.

  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    How about a Bill Bryson travelogue? Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods are entertaining, fun to read, should be safe for everybody, and has been around long enough that demand should be lower for them at the library.

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  • CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    A friend recommended "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made."

    I jokingly asked how to defriend him in real life after I finished it. What a load of dreck.

    Edit: I always knew Geth had taste.

    Wow, that sounds terrible. Like a cross between half of Baxter's pretty good Ring with...mormons. Why would a space whale be mormon? How would a space whale even understand what mormonism is? That concept is almost bizarre enough to make me want to read it just to find out but it's written by a mormon so I find it unlikely that I would be at all satisfied with the answers.

    You should read Ring. It has incorporeal sun-dwelling aliens but doesn't suck.

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  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    A friend recommended "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made."

    I jokingly asked how to defriend him in real life after I finished it. What a load of dreck.

    Edit: I always knew Geth had taste.

    Wow, that sounds terrible. Like a cross between half of Baxter's pretty good Ring with...mormons. Why would a space whale be mormon? How would a space whale even understand what mormonism is? That concept is almost bizarre enough to make me want to read it just to find out but it's written by a mormon so I find it unlikely that I would be at all satisfied with the answers.

    You should read Ring. It has incorporeal sun-dwelling aliens but doesn't suck.

    Thanks for the suggestion, I'll put it on my to-read list. And if you're curious, That Leviathan is a short story, so you could probably finish it within an hour if you want to see for yourself how dumb it is. It's so sad that it was a Hugo nominee.

    Still working my way through Pratchett's Snuff. I love me some Discworld, and while I'm sad that Terry will be leaving us soon, at least they've put the proper contingency plans in place and Rhianna Pratchett will continue the series.

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  • CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    CroakerBC wrote: »
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.

    You might try Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, or Paul Cornell's London Falling. Neither is as cynically funny as Aaronovich, but both would probably fit the bill otherwise, and are good, solid reads. I'll also second Kraken, which is very un-Bas-Lag'y, though it is still Mieville, so if you're already not a fan, probably skippable. Oh, and Mike Shevdon's Sixty-One Nails is very good, though largely played straight.

    Also, Jonathan L. Howard's criminally under-read Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. Which is a bit of an urban period piece, but played at least partially for humour.

    *points at his list of stuff he's already read for Carey and Shevdon* :p

    Thanks for the recommendation on Cornell, though, I'll check that out. I think I may actually own a copy of Johannes Cabal; I'll have to look in my Drawer of Books I Forgot About.

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  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    A friend recommended "That Leviathan, Whom Thou Hast Made."

    I jokingly asked how to defriend him in real life after I finished it. What a load of dreck.

    Edit: I always knew Geth had taste.

    Wow, that sounds terrible. Like a cross between half of Baxter's pretty good Ring with...mormons. Why would a space whale be mormon? How would a space whale even understand what mormonism is? That concept is almost bizarre enough to make me want to read it just to find out but it's written by a mormon so I find it unlikely that I would be at all satisfied with the answers.

    You should read Ring. It has incorporeal sun-dwelling aliens but doesn't suck.

    Thanks for the suggestion, I'll put it on my to-read list. And if you're curious, That Leviathan is a short story, so you could probably finish it within an hour if you want to see for yourself how dumb it is. It's so sad that it was a Hugo nominee.

    That's cause the Hugos are kinda ridiculous. Especially in this day and age.

    I just laughed my ass off when I found out how they were organized years ago.

  • skippydumptruckskippydumptruck begin again Registered User regular
    CroakerBC wrote: »
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.

    You might try Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, or Paul Cornell's London Falling. Neither is as cynically funny as Aaronovich, but both would probably fit the bill otherwise, and are good, solid reads. I'll also second Kraken, which is very un-Bas-Lag'y, though it is still Mieville, so if you're already not a fan, probably skippable. Oh, and Mike Shevdon's Sixty-One Nails is very good, though largely played straight.

    Also, Jonathan L. Howard's criminally under-read Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. Which is a bit of an urban period piece, but played at least partially for humour.

    *points at his list of stuff he's already read for Carey and Shevdon* :p

    Thanks for the recommendation on Cornell, though, I'll check that out. I think I may actually own a copy of Johannes Cabal; I'll have to look in my Drawer of Books I Forgot About.

    oh yeah what about jonathan strange and mr norrell

  • CptHamiltonCptHamilton Registered User regular
    edited February 2013
    CroakerBC wrote: »
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.

    You might try Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, or Paul Cornell's London Falling. Neither is as cynically funny as Aaronovich, but both would probably fit the bill otherwise, and are good, solid reads. I'll also second Kraken, which is very un-Bas-Lag'y, though it is still Mieville, so if you're already not a fan, probably skippable. Oh, and Mike Shevdon's Sixty-One Nails is very good, though largely played straight.

    Also, Jonathan L. Howard's criminally under-read Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. Which is a bit of an urban period piece, but played at least partially for humour.

    *points at his list of stuff he's already read for Carey and Shevdon* :p

    Thanks for the recommendation on Cornell, though, I'll check that out. I think I may actually own a copy of Johannes Cabal; I'll have to look in my Drawer of Books I Forgot About.

    oh yeah what about jonathan strange and mr norrell

    Read it already too. Also The Ladies of Grace-Adieu. Both quite good :)

    In looking around amazon.co.uk I stumbled across Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan, which does not fit into my British Urban Fantasy query but looks interesting. Has anyone in here read it?

    I also discovered that Kate Griffin, who is British, has continued writing. I read her Madness of Angels and was too deeply unimpressed to go on and read Midnight Mayor. Her new book, Stray Souls, is apparently set in the same world as her others but told from a different viewpoint and in the 3rd person. Anyone know if it's any better than her others?

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  • [Tycho?][Tycho?] As elusive as doubt Registered User regular
    V1m wrote: »
    Huh you probably wouldn't like Michael Moorcock's stuff either then, but I was actually thinking of Meiville's Kraken not his Bas-Lag books.

    I've not read Kraken. I have his Embassytown which I haven't read yet. I'm hoping it's more palatable than the other stuff; if so then maybe I'll give Kraken a shot.

    Embassytown is fucking amazing. Really is. I like a variety of his books, but I think this one is the strongest for a number of reasons. It isn't terribly accessible, and if you're looking for a British voice in your writing I don't think this will satisfy. Extremely good though, I highly recommend it.

    mvaYcgc.jpg
  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    [Tycho?] wrote: »
    V1m wrote: »
    Huh you probably wouldn't like Michael Moorcock's stuff either then, but I was actually thinking of Meiville's Kraken not his Bas-Lag books.

    I've not read Kraken. I have his Embassytown which I haven't read yet. I'm hoping it's more palatable than the other stuff; if so then maybe I'll give Kraken a shot.

    Embassytown is fucking amazing. Really is. I like a variety of his books, but I think this one is the strongest for a number of reasons. It isn't terribly accessible, and if you're looking for a British voice in your writing I don't think this will satisfy. Extremely good though, I highly recommend it.

    Agreed. Embassytown is his best imo. It's the kind of sci-fi chalk full of incredible ideas, but not about technology wankery.

  • CommunistCowCommunistCow Abstract Metal ThingyRegistered User regular
    edited February 2013
    Just finished Ready Player One which I rather liked. The main character is a gamer competing in a world wide competition based on 80s video game, movie, and music trivia. I figured other people on the forum might like it.

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  • DoctorArchDoctorArch Curmudgeon Registered User regular
    Just finished Ready Player One which I rather liked. The main character is a gamer competing in a world wide competition based on 80s video game, movie, and music trivia. I figured other people on the forum might like it.

    It's a decent popcorn novel. I enjoyed it, but I read The Night Circus (phenomenal book) right before Ready Player One and the difference in quality, storytelling and writing between the two is like night and day.

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  • ThomamelasThomamelas Only one man can kill this many Russians. Bring his guitar to me! Registered User regular
    Bogart wrote: »
    Finished off The Maltese Falcon and zipped through The Glass Key over the weekend. I knew the Coen brothers took a lot of cues from Hammet's style for Miller's Crossing, but didn't realise how much they got from The Glass Key. It's not an adaptation or anything, but you can see where they lifted details, set-ups and a couple of great lines.

    Are you planning on hitting up Red Harvest next? I found a lot of the stuff attributed to it is more a combination of it and The Glass Key but the amount of material lifted from him with the serial numbers filed off is astounding.

  • CommunistCowCommunistCow Abstract Metal ThingyRegistered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    At least around here anything even remotely popular has a giant waiting list at the library. You could also check to see if they have Kindle/Nook versions available from your library's website. Or you'll just have to get people to commit to buying the books.

    No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    At least around here anything even remotely popular has a giant waiting list at the library. You could also check to see if they have Kindle/Nook versions available from your library's website. Or you'll just have to get people to commit to buying the books.

    they have ebook and audiobook downloads, yeah.

  • BogartBogart Streetwise Hercules Registered User, Moderator mod
    Thomamelas wrote: »
    Bogart wrote: »
    Finished off The Maltese Falcon and zipped through The Glass Key over the weekend. I knew the Coen brothers took a lot of cues from Hammet's style for Miller's Crossing, but didn't realise how much they got from The Glass Key. It's not an adaptation or anything, but you can see where they lifted details, set-ups and a couple of great lines.

    Are you planning on hitting up Red Harvest next? I found a lot of the stuff attributed to it is more a combination of it and The Glass Key but the amount of material lifted from him with the serial numbers filed off is astounding.

    Read that one a few years ago, then for some reason took ages before I went on to read the other Hammet novels I've got. And yeah, now that I've finally read his stuff you can see his fingerprints all over tough guys throughout literature and cinema.

    I've never seen the movie of the Glass Key, aside from the ten second clip of Veronica Lake they used in Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid, but plan on doing so now just to see if its any good.

  • MadCaddyMadCaddy Registered User regular
    So It Goes wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    At least around here anything even remotely popular has a giant waiting list at the library. You could also check to see if they have Kindle/Nook versions available from your library's website. Or you'll just have to get people to commit to buying the books.

    they have ebook and audiobook downloads, yeah.

    I'd say the best way to choose a book would be finding a few genre-specific sites and putting to vote works outs, and allowing whoever wants to put up a book and a synopsis/how much they want everyone to read it (helps get the book into hands as well), if library/financials are an issue, the free audible stuff and ebooks can at least bridge the gap, if suffering some serious churn. You could even do a cycular system and plan ahead to let people really do as they please, while still having a 'group' dynamic.. Being a bit specific about what sorta discussion in a group you're after is always good.

  • Mike DangerMike Danger "Diane..." a place both wonderful and strangeRegistered User regular
    I finished Little, Big a little while ago. John Crowley can fucking write but I have that same Gene-Wolfe-novel feeling that I've missed half of the larger, more important stuff.
    My biggest question: is there supposed to be some connection of some kind between Russell Eigenblick/Barbarossa and Auberon? Auberon reads about Barbarossa in the Edgewood library, and then he shows up in the story as Eigenblick, so I figured there had to be something there, but they never really cross paths in the novel.

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  • lonelyahavalonelyahava Call me Ahava ~~She/Her~~ Move to New ZealandRegistered User regular
    So i picked up a few new books on kindle the other night.

    "Team of Rivals" by Doris KearnsG
    "The Lies of Locke Lamora" Scott Lynch
    "Wolf Hall" Hilary Mantel
    "the Apprentice: My life in the Kitchen" Jacques Peppin
    "The Romanovs" Robert K Massie
    "Sweet Heaven When I Die" Jeff Sharlet
    "The Devil in the Kitchen" Marco Pierre White
    "1491" Charles C Mann


    and i've decided to start reading the Team of Rivals.

  • TurksonTurkson Near the mountains of ColoradoRegistered User regular
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    How about a Bill Bryson travelogue? Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods are entertaining, fun to read, should be safe for everybody, and has been around long enough that demand should be lower for them at the library.

    Grab his book "A Short History of Nearly Everything." It's pretty entertaining, and if you can retain any of it, you will crush Jeopardy! and any other trivia game.

    oh h*ck
  • skippydumptruckskippydumptruck begin again Registered User regular
    Turkson wrote: »
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    How about a Bill Bryson travelogue? Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods are entertaining, fun to read, should be safe for everybody, and has been around long enough that demand should be lower for them at the library.

    Grab his book "A Short History of Nearly Everything." It's pretty entertaining, and if you can retain any of it, you will crush Jeopardy! and any other trivia game.

    get the version with all the pictures

    also there are some fascinating personal stories (not of him, but personal about the lives and intersections between scientists) in that book

  • So It GoesSo It Goes We keep moving...Registered User regular
    Turkson wrote: »
    DoctorArch wrote: »
    So It Goes wrote: »
    I picked another book, then realized it had triggers for one person, so switched to Wild, which is apparently all booked up at the library.

    I give up.

    How about a Bill Bryson travelogue? Sunburned Country and A Walk in the Woods are entertaining, fun to read, should be safe for everybody, and has been around long enough that demand should be lower for them at the library.

    Grab his book "A Short History of Nearly Everything." It's pretty entertaining, and if you can retain any of it, you will crush Jeopardy! and any other trivia game.

    get the version with all the pictures

    also there are some fascinating personal stories (not of him, but personal about the lives and intersections between scientists) in that book

    yeah I got that for christmas once it was really enjoyable

  • EchoEcho ski-bap ba-dapModerator mod
    Finished John Meaney's Absorption. Really weird one.

    It has several interweaving stories: a 9th century viking warrior, a female scientist in the late 1920s as the Nazis rise to power, a 2100s explorer making first contact with an alien species, a 2600s young college student who is also an undercover spy... it got weird. And the stories all hook up across space and time somehow and ow my head.

  • Raiden333Raiden333 Registered User regular
    Picked up Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Read the first few pages of each and decided to do UoW first. Really enjoying its narrative style so far.

    There was a steam sig here. It's gone now.
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    CroakerBC wrote: »
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.

    You might try Mike Carey's The Devil You Know, or Paul Cornell's London Falling. Neither is as cynically funny as Aaronovich, but both would probably fit the bill otherwise, and are good, solid reads. I'll also second Kraken, which is very un-Bas-Lag'y, though it is still Mieville, so if you're already not a fan, probably skippable. Oh, and Mike Shevdon's Sixty-One Nails is very good, though largely played straight.

    Also, Jonathan L. Howard's criminally under-read Johannes Cabal, the Necromancer. Which is a bit of an urban period piece, but played at least partially for humour.

    *points at his list of stuff he's already read for Carey and Shevdon* :p

    Thanks for the recommendation on Cornell, though, I'll check that out. I think I may actually own a copy of Johannes Cabal; I'll have to look in my Drawer of Books I Forgot About.

    oh yeah what about jonathan strange and mr norrell

    I picked that up and read about the first twenty pages. I really wanted to be interested, and the story and characters were okay, but it was a little dry and a little slow. If it had been half as long I would've kept going, but it wasn't the sort of book that can hold my interest for 50 pages at a time, and I didn't want to be committed to it for three months.

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  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    But it's sooooooo gooooooood.

  • MadCaddyMadCaddy Registered User regular
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    Picked up Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Read the first few pages of each and decided to do UoW first. Really enjoying its narrative style so far.

    I definitely had a hard time getting into Player of Games.. Took me 2-3 months to read it, with only about 2 weeks of that being after I finished the first chapter... It definitely isn't a smooth operation, and in retrospect the first chapter really does have a forced feeling with it's relevance for the overall story.. Still, nice book, and the end was entertaining.

  • QuidQuid Definitely not a banana Registered User regular
    And wait 20 pages in? Aren't the story and characters at that point pretty much just the magical historians arguing over history?

  • DissociaterDissociater Registered User regular
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    Picked up Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Read the first few pages of each and decided to do UoW first. Really enjoying its narrative style so far.

    I love both of these books. Even my wife, who normally reads popcorn crime fiction, liked them.

    For kicks I'm rereading this old series from my childhood called the Death Gate Cycle. I'm trying to pretend I've never read it before. The writing's not nearly as good as I remembered it (I was like 14, give me a break!), but the story is still a really fun adventure. I feel like it would make an entertaining CGI tv show.

  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    edited February 2013
    Quid wrote: »
    And wait 20 pages in? Aren't the story and characters at that point pretty much just the magical historians arguing over history?

    Yeah, probably. Maybe I read further. When I stopped, it was sort of hinting at the story to come, and it was a compelling world, but I don't have a lot of time to read, and I'd rather get through three pretty good books than one pretty good book.

    The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, on the other hand, was just as long, but I could not put that shit down. That's the sort of quality that is required to get me to commit to a 800 page book.

    ElJeffe on
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  • MadCaddyMadCaddy Registered User regular
    ElJeffe wrote: »
    Quid wrote: »
    And wait 20 pages in? Aren't the story and characters at that point pretty much just the magical historians arguing over history?

    Yeah, probably. Maybe I read further. When I stopped, it was sort of hinting at the story to come, and it was a compelling world, but I don't have a lot of time to read, and I'd rather get through three pretty good books than one pretty good book.

    The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, on the other hand, was just as long, but I could not put that shit down. That's the sort of quality that is required to get me to commit to a 800 page book.

    I've been having a hard time reading any fantasy since I read Books 1-4 of ASoFaI in 2 months.. I still haven't gotten more than two chapters in Under Heaven. Been reading a lot of work stuff and non fiction instead, and just procrastinating, so think I might swap out for some scifi.. Thinking I'm gonna read Stephenson since I liked Snow Crash so much as a kid, and really haven't read any of his other stuff.

  • CommunistCowCommunistCow Abstract Metal ThingyRegistered User regular
    Quid wrote: »
    But it's sooooooo gooooooood.

    Nope. Boring McSlowPacedPants. Not that I can really name any better books in the magical history category.

    No, I am not really communist. Yes, it is weird that I use this name.
  • ElJeffeElJeffe Moderator, ClubPA mod
    I will note that I am extremely goddamn picky about my sci-fi and fantasy. I don't even have any real hard guidelines, but I generally know inside of two pages if I'm going to dig it or not, and most of the time it's "not". Part of it is I prefer my spec-fic to be mostly reality-based with small-ish concessions for the relevant spec bits, but even that's not a hard rule, since I loved the Ender books and Terry Pratchett and Harry Potter.

    I guess part of it is that I need to dig not just the story, but the writing. Dry prose doesn't do it for me.

    I submitted an entry to Lego Ideas, and if 10,000 people support me, it'll be turned into an actual Lego set!If you'd like to see and support my submission, follow this link.
  • A Dabble Of TheloniusA Dabble Of Thelonius It has been a doozy of a dayRegistered User regular
    edited February 2013
    I picked up Banks' Excession, Corey's Leviathan Wakes, Harrison's Ever After, and have Aaronovich's Whispers Underground coming in the mail. Then I started another editing pass on one of my novels, so haven't actually started any of the ones I've got on hand. Probably will take an editing break when the Aaronovich book comes in the mail.

    Can anyone recommend me some UK-authored urban fantasy? I've already read Aaronovich, Carey, O'Malley, Green, Gaiman, and Shevdon. I'm willing to import from amazon.co.uk if necessary. I'm looking for something with a strong British voice, but will settle for things set in the UK written by someone with enough first-hand experience to make it feel authentic.



    I quite enjoyed Kate Griffin's A Madness of Angels, and it's sequels. Cool take on magic. Decent enough writing, I thought. I've noticed my tastes run away from a lot of people in this thread though, so this may not be a sterling recommendation.

    I'll second the Johannes Cabal books, and I adore Strange & Norrell, but it definitely isn't for everyone.

    A Dabble Of Thelonius on
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  • shrykeshryke Member of the Beast Registered User regular
    Raiden333 wrote: »
    Picked up Player of Games and Use of Weapons. Read the first few pages of each and decided to do UoW first. Really enjoying its narrative style so far.

    I love both of these books. Even my wife, who normally reads popcorn crime fiction, liked them.

    For kicks I'm rereading this old series from my childhood called the Death Gate Cycle. I'm trying to pretend I've never read it before. The writing's not nearly as good as I remembered it (I was like 14, give me a break!), but the story is still a really fun adventure. I feel like it would make an entertaining CGI tv show.

    It goes so badly off into crap in the last 2 or so books.

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