[Spoilsport Stonny]

Salt-Man Z, on 22 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

See, God Emperor is my favorite of the Dune books. I actually might like the second three better than the original trilogy.

Maybe I was tired of it by then. I just couldn't find any sympathy for any of the characters. Pretty decent ending though.

Salt-Man Z, on 22 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

The ending for Cryptonomicon totally took me surprise at first; it was like, "Wait, that's it?" But it didn't take very much reflection for me to decide it was perfect. And what a visual to end on!

RIGHT?!?! After I was done I was all "Hmmm." Then I was like "Ohhh..." Then I was like "Fuuuuu......". The story about the incredibly expensive bed was so good, despite the point being that we weren't supposed to have access it. I never read a book where privacy was a theme and it was handled very well.

[Baco Xtath]

Been looking to read/listen to some superhero novels and was wondering about a couple. Anybody here read Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes or 14? If so, what did you think? What about Austin Grossmans's Soon I will be Invincible? I've already ordered A Once Crowded Sky per Abyss's recco, just wondering about the others as they're available on audible.

[D'iversify]

Briar King, on 03 March 2013 - 10:14 PM, said:

1st time I read God Emperor of Dune I hated it. Rereading though was a completely dif exp I fucking loved it so much.

Curious to know what you disliked about it first time round. I think I pretty much went straight from 1-6, or at the very least 2-6, fairly quickly, and God Emperor I thought very enjoyable, even coming after Children, which I regard as in many ways the best of the series. It's maybe a slow starter, but I found that helped with the establishment of how different the new ecology and polity of Dune is.

[Abyss]

Stalking Stonny, on 22 February 2013 - 11:30 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 22 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

See, God Emperor is my favorite of the Dune books. I actually might like the second three better than the original trilogy.

Maybe I was tired of it by then. I just couldn't find any sympathy for any of the characters. Pretty decent ending though.

I struggled with the later books in the series and bottomed out with God Emp. I can allow for the possibility that i was too young to really appreciate the books, but fundamentally the series goes through a radical shift in tone and theme and i didn't find where it ended to be nearly as interesting as where it began.

Quote

Salt-Man Z, on 22 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

The ending for Cryptonomicon totally took me surprise at first; it was like, "Wait, that's it?" But it didn't take very much reflection for me to decide it was perfect. And what a visual to end on!

RIGHT?!?! After I was done I was all "Hmmm." Then I was like "Ohhh..." Then I was like "Fuuuuu......". The story about the incredibly expensive bed was so good, despite the point being that we weren't supposed to have access it. I never read a book where privacy was a theme and it was handled very well.

There was a lot to like in CRYPTO', but fundamentally i didn't find the ending (either of them) very satisfying. Clever, perhaps, but both storylines seemed to be buildling to a flashier and perhaps more connected conclusion, and the execution just didn't wow me.

The book was worth reading, but it left me unmotivated to try BAROQUE CYCLE and ANATHEM has languished in the TRP for ages.

Baco Xtath, on 03 March 2013 - 02:38 AM, said:

Been looking to read/listen to some superhero novels and was wondering about a couple. Anybody here read Peter Clines's Ex-Heroes or 14? If so, what did you think? What about Austin Grossmans's Soon I will be Invincible? I've already ordered A Once Crowded Sky per Abyss's recco, just wondering about the others as they're available on audible.

Hope you enjoy SKY, i was pretty blown away. INVINCIBLE is supposed to be good fun but i havent read it yet.

There's also a duology called THE ICARUS PROJECT, bk 1 is BLACK AND WHITE and bk2 is SHADES OF GREY (no connection to the mommy-pr0n) by Kessler and Kittredge... buzz on them was good but i can't say more other than theyre in the trp and i'm looking fwd to reading them.


Has anyone read David Gibbins' JACK HOWARD MARINE ARCHEOLOGIST SUPERHERO series?
I'm seriously struggling to even finish the first one, just wondering whether it gets better?

[Garak]

I've read all of the Dune books. The original book was awesome, the following two were ok and then it went downhill - God Emperor and onward imho felt like an author running out of ideas (I felt Idaho turned into a bad joke). Then of course came the ones by Brian and KJA and .... yeah. The House Trilogy felt flat but ok, everything else was a horrible mess.

[polishgenius]

Soon I Will Be Invincible is pretty good. Worth a read, for sure.

[Spoilsport Stonny]

D, on 05 March 2013 - 10:39 AM, said:

Briar King, on 03 March 2013 - 10:14 PM, said:

1st time I read God Emperor of Dune I hated it. Rereading though was a completely dif exp I fucking loved it so much.

Curious to know what you disliked about it first time round. I think I pretty much went straight from 1-6, or at the very least 2-6, fairly quickly, and God Emperor I thought very enjoyable, even coming after Children, which I regard as in many ways the best of the series. It's maybe a slow starter, but I found that helped with the establishment of how different the new ecology and polity of Dune is.

I never even thought to read it again. Maybe one day.

Abyss, on 05 March 2013 - 03:38 PM, said:

Quote

Salt-Man Z, on 22 February 2013 - 09:19 PM, said:

The ending for Cryptonomicon totally took me surprise at first; it was like, "Wait, that's it?" But it didn't take very much reflection for me to decide it was perfect. And what a visual to end on!

RIGHT?!?! After I was done I was all "Hmmm." Then I was like "Ohhh..." Then I was like "Fuuuuu......". The story about the incredibly expensive bed was so good, despite the point being that we weren't supposed to have access it. I never read a book where privacy was a theme and it was handled very well.

There was a lot to like in CRYPTO', but fundamentally i didn't find the ending (either of them) very satisfying. Clever, perhaps, but both storylines seemed to be buildling to a flashier and perhaps more connected conclusion, and the execution just didn't wow me.

The book was worth reading, but it left me unmotivated to try BAROQUE CYCLE and ANATHEM has languished in the TRP for ages.

Don't give up on Anathem. But then again you didnt like Cryptonomicon as much as I did. I had a different expectation that what I got from Crypto, and maybe that was the thing.

I think with The Baroque Cycle, he had so much to say and it was just too much, like an assault in a way.The story needed that many pages to be told, but I dont know if needed to be told. But that's kinda dismissive, and that's not my intention. I'm glad I read it it but I wasn't thrilled reading it.

This post has been edited by Stalking Stonny: 08 March 2013 - 03:48 AM

[Morgoth]

The Baroque Cycle is absolutely fantastic. It can require some work, but it is well worth it.

[acesn8s]

Briar King, on 07 March 2013 - 11:50 PM, said:

Anyone else read Kathrine Kurtz's Deryni books? I picked up the 1st 3 on a reco from a friend on TF.N and Ive quite enjoyed what Ive been able to read inbetween my major book reads. I wanted a good Tudors era story with lots of politics and this is what she reco for me and it fit the bill nicely plus raised the stakes with magic being thrown in the mix. These books are from the 70's or 80's though so they are def sorta dif from todays fantasy genre books.

I have the first 2 books in paperback. I pick up book 1 periodically, but ever since I got an ereader and a smartphone (with an ereader app) I find myself using them to read instead physical books.

Story looks good.

[Defiance]

Have any of you read 11/22/63? How was it?

[Macros]

I have 3 Ian M Banks books on my shelf:
Compiance
White
Matter

now I've not read much Sci-Fi, infact I think the first Dune book and Enders Games could probably cover all that I have (as a touch point, enjoyed Dune, really didnt see the hype over enders)
anyone read all 3? which would be the best to dip my toe into to get a feel of his work?

[Obdigore]

Macros, on 14 March 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

I have 3 Ian M Banks books on my shelf:
Compiance
White
Matter

now I've not read much Sci-Fi, infact I think the first Dune book and Enders Games could probably cover all that I have (as a touch point, enjoyed Dune, really didnt see the hype over enders)
anyone read all 3? which would be the best to dip my toe into to get a feel of his work?

I would suggest you go get Player of Games. Of those 3 I've only read Matter and it certainly isn't, imo, a good introduction to his work.

I'm assuming you mean Whit and Compliance as the other two?

[Chance]

Macros, on 14 March 2013 - 08:50 AM, said:

I have 3 Ian M Banks books on my shelf:
Compiance
White
Matter

now I've not read much Sci-Fi, infact I think the first Dune book and Enders Games could probably cover all that I have (as a touch point, enjoyed Dune, really didnt see the hype over enders)
anyone read all 3? which would be the best to dip my toe into to get a feel of his work?

I'd say none of them...Complicity and Whit are from his none culture novels which vary wildly and Matter is one of the later and least impressive of the culture novels. Any of them will probably give a feel for his writing but not at its best such as in Use of Weapons, Player of the Games or Excession.

This post has been edited by Chance: 14 March 2013 - 10:07 AM

[yuna_anomander25]

The Assassin's Creed books, i'm more of an Assassin-type stories fan now than i did before, liked the Farseer (nearing half-way on Royal Assassin), The Night Angel trilogy, Stover's Caine, and would like to try Abyss & PG's recco of Col Buchanan's Farlander,

also, Elizabeth Moon's The Deeds of Paksenarrion(sp?) i've been curious about this one for quite some time now, since i first saw a trade paperback ver of this on the bookstore,

anyone read:

Paul Hoffman, Lev Grossman and E.E. Knight?

well, that's for now, this authors isn't much talked here, and i would like to know if it's worth it to acquire some of their books, thanks forum,

[worry]

I've read Paksenarrion. It's good, but very much a character study rather than heavily plot-driven or occupied (let alone preoccupied) with world-building, so it comes off a bit episodic. YMMV on this one for sure.

I've read the The Magicians by Lev Grossman. As I've stated here before, I thought it was a standalone book at the time and as a result, I wasn't fully satisfied with it (as a missed opportunity). Once I learned it was the first in a series, my opinion of it rose substantially, and I'm definitely gonna read the sequel when I get my hands on it. He's very good (especially if you don't need all your characters to be "likable").

[polishgenius]

I read Hoffman's first book. It was okay. I've got the sequel sitting around but no great urge to read it, though I'm sure I'll pick it up eventually. There's much better stuff like it around - Abercrombie, Mark Lawrence.


I like Lev Grossman's books a lot. They're part-homage, part-subversion of Narnia, and where he succeeds particularly well is in his depiction of that same style of magic, loosely defined and full of wonder. He's also expert at, like worrywort says, making protagonists who aren't particularly likable be nonetheless compelling.

[amphibian]

The Deeds of Paksenarrion are pretty damn good. The paladin at the center of it, Paksenarrion, is a true paladin - goody goody, blessed by the gods and so on, but Moon ensures that there's real danger, she does screw up in ways that aren't predictable and the threats to her and her friends/family are genuine. The politics are also well written and fairly involved in pushing things around logistically for large groups of people, rather than simple problem solving as many authors like to cheap out with.

I recommend them all, as long as you remember that they're not the absolute tip top of literature. The Gird stuff in the middle of the series is awesome.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 21 March 2013 - 03:19 PM

[Nevyn]

Kruppe, on 21 June 2012 - 07:37 PM, said:

After starting Malazan and learning it was originally inspired by RPG, I became interested in checking out similarly inspired works.

I read a Forgotten Realms novel and didn't care for it.

I checked out Dragonlance. I'm finding it enjoyable but a bit too formulaic (i.e. Fellowship moves from point A to point B, meets character C, event D happens, rinse and repeat).

Then I bought a Magic The Gathering novel (Artifacts Cycle I omnibus) and was completely blown away, starting from page one. Has anyone else read these? Does the awesomeness continue, or am I being sucked in only to be disappointed later? Are the other books any good?

Artifacts Cycle II
Agents of Artifice
Alara Unbroken
The Purifying Fire

I believe there are some out of print titles, as well...

MTG books are kind of all over the place. Tons of books, but different authors, different realms, different characters, so its very hit or miss.

[amphibian]

The MTG books I have read have indeed been of uneven quality.

The Kamahl/Chainer/Mirari books are quite good. The three book "cycle" is called the Odyssey cycle. They are "Odyssey", "Chainer's Torment" and "Judgment". Chainer's Torment in particular is truly inventive.

I think the Tetsuo Umezawa books are okay.

The Urza saga is fairly well written too. Nice epic feel to it, with relatable characters, especially after Urza goes more nuts and the good guys have to soldier on.

I didn't read much beyond these. Hopped over to other books. The Warhammer 40k books, particularly those written by Dan Abnett, are a better collection of completely bonkers light/fun/comically ultraviolent reading.

[Macros]

Night angel trilogy is short entertaining stuff, didn't blow me away but I was satisfied with the series as a whole.

my milage varied greatly on the deeds of pak books, some parts were very well.done but I found other parts very dull, beyond Paks herself I found the cast a bit flat