[End of Disc One]

Michael Fletcher...the name sounds familiar and I recognize one of the cover arts and titles. I feel like I've seen people talk about his books here. What's the verdict? I'm looking through his books on Goodreads and there are some very positive reviews.

[RACHEL]

If its Michael R. Fletcher you are talking about then I have read his Manifest Delusions trilogy and loved it. I definitely will be reading more of his books in the future. There is a thread on this site about the first book Beyond Redemption.

[End of Disc One]

 RACHEL, on 26 August 2020 - 04:58 PM, said:

If its Michael R. Fletcher you are talking about then I have read his Manifest Delusions trilogy and loved it. I definitely will be reading more of his books in the future. There is a thread on this site about the first book Beyond Redemption.

Thanks, I knew there was a reason I thought people here had read them, and it's because of that thread.

[Tiste Simeon]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace?

Seems like an interesting book, if quite hefty...

[amphibian]

 Tiste Simeon, on 09 March 2021 - 01:53 AM, said:

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace?

Seems like an interesting book, if quite hefty...

It's a fascinating book that sort of acts as an ouroboros. The main themes of it revolve around addiction, neglect, trying to find something or someone to connect to, and heavy depression. It's also wildly funny in a very violent Wes Anderson way.

There's reasons why hipsters like it and over recommend it to people who wouldn't like it, but it's also a fantastic book.

I think you'd like it.

[Tiste Simeon]

I have it on audiobook and it's long haha debating whether to throw myself in or get the credit back. I'm intrigued by it!

[worry]

I haven't read it, but it's my understanding that it has an abundance of footnotes -- that are meant to be read as a part of the text, like as a kind of playful(?) literary device -- so I wonder how an audiobook handles that.

[James Hutton]

I read The Broom in the System by Wallace, before I read Infinite Jest. That one's a lot shorter, but it's his first book so maybe not as refined as the later Infinite Jest. I at some point gave up on Infinite Jest since I found it too long, but have finished and was intrigued by The Broom (I wanted to say "enjoyed it", but I found the book too weird and confronting to use those words).

This post has been edited by James Hutton: 09 March 2021 - 12:54 PM

[JPK]

I've had Johannes Cabal the Necromancer on my to listen pile for awhile now, but haven't really heard anything about the book. Can anyone share any thoughts on it?

[Abyss]

 worry, on 09 March 2021 - 08:28 AM, said:

I haven't read it, but it's my understanding that it has an abundance of footnotes -- that are meant to be read as a part of the text, like as a kind of playful(?) literary device -- so I wonder how an audiobook handles that.

I'm blanking now on what i was ear'ing - possibly LEGION V PHALANX - where the footnotes were done really well. The narrator would read them in a slightly different, sardonic tone, that made even the really dry ones fun without throwing me out of the story.

[Aptorian]

 JPK, on 09 May 2021 - 03:25 AM, said:

I've had Johannes Cabal the Necromancer on my to listen pile for awhile now, but haven't really heard anything about the book. Can anyone share any thoughts on it?

I read about 50 pages of the book but it didn't grab me.

The setup is fun but the whole circus thing just seemed stupid to me.

[amphibian]

 Briar King, on 20 September 2021 - 05:07 PM, said:

Ayn Rand…I’m getting her name brought up a whole hell of a lot since yesterday. Any good?

She's a gadawful writer in terms of skills and her stories are basically a very right wing version of Hunger Games or creative genius is stifled without any of the fun or catchy characters that Hunger Games etc have. She launches into 17 page monologues from a character that sort of lay out her vision of being really rich as people die and governments fall, of creative people being stifled from creating, and stuff that's just really young adult bullshit that caught fire with future college GOP kids because it fit sort of into the William F. Buckley general ethos.

You can read it, but most people don't actually enjoy her writing and she was a legendarily crappy person who didn't live up to any of her ideals. I'd pass so easily if I hadn't already read two of her books long ago.

There's so many better ways to use time than to read her stuff. Or to buy into that mentality - she would be anti-you, BK, and talk about how you're one of the masses dragging down Bezos, Musk etc.

This post has been edited by amphibian: 20 September 2021 - 05:18 PM

[amphibian]

I realized I undersold how long John Galt's speech is - depending on the book's physical size and font size, it can be something like 65-90 pages long. It's a dreary slog too.

Rand was so full of crap.

[Tiste Simeon]

She's a Republican hero right? Like a ton of them adore her.

[QuickTidal]

 Tiste Simeon, on 20 September 2021 - 06:03 PM, said:

She's a Republican hero right? Like a ton of them adore her.

Libertarian. So Right wingers PRETENDING they aren't right wingers. People who like Joe Rogan, for example.

[amphibian]

What about anything we said makes you think you want to read this author?

Sanderson does not use Ayn Rand's ideas in his writing at all. I do not think Robert Jordan did either.

[Gwynn ap Nudd]

 amphibian, on 21 September 2021 - 12:21 AM, said:

What about anything we said makes you think you want to read this author?

Sanderson does not use Ayn Rand's ideas in his writing at all. I do not think Robert Jordan did either.

Goodkind kind of touches on some of Ayn Rand's ideas iirc. Probably an apt comparison for the quality of writing that could be expected too.

[amphibian]

Yeah, Goodkind definitely made Faith of the Fallen a Rand homage and it's super, super overwrought.

I think I actually read that book somehow first at the library, back tracked to Wizard's First Rule, couldn't understand any of how it fit together, and then just read the plot summaries and demon chicken sections. Phenomenally bad books.

[Macros]

People are hearing about a character called Rand Al'Thor and making a bent mental leap is my guess

[Morgoth]

yeah, how anyone connects Jordan or Sanderson to Ayn Rand is beyond me. It's like, oh you enjoyed Agatha Christie? You should really read Erikson.