[amphibian]

The text of the Maharbharata itself is full of opportunities to show alternate paths for different interpretations of characters and mythologies. Just like every gospel has its take on Jesus, even the minor characters have alternate pasts, abilities or descendants/special friends.

Add in the "can we show this on public tv" dynamic and you get a great set up for interesting as fuck Sunday morning conversations - if they are willing to get dark like the Sanskrit epochs so often did.

You and I were probably conditioned to like Malazan doubly so than our Christian or Moslem counterparts.

[Maark Abbott]

I'm on book two of Lightbringer. I think Kip wants to bork that other Blackguard trainee.

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 20 November 2014 - 06:02 AM, said:

Macros, on 19 November 2014 - 07:52 PM, said:

I'd rate the Emperor series as a lot worse than the Mongol series, not on historical accuracy (anyone looking for accuracy, or some degree of it, read a textbook, not something with the word Fiction composing half of its description) just as an actual series.

I'm not really in a hurry to read Iggulden anyway, but by the same token, if he's that dissatisfied with the way history actually happened, do what Guy Gavriel Kay or indeed Gemmell do/did and don't even bother pretending that it's actual history.

AS already mentioned, that's why it's historical fiction. It's got a whole subgenre named after it that is ABOUT making up some stuff and making stories from the past a little more thrilling.

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 20 November 2014 - 09:34 AM, said:

The text of the Maharbharata itself is full of opportunities to show alternate paths for different interpretations of characters and mythologies. Just like every gospel has its take on Jesus, even the minor characters have alternate pasts, abilities or descendants/special friends.

Add in the "can we show this on public tv" dynamic and you get a great set up for interesting as fuck Sunday morning conversations - if they are willing to get dark like the Sanskrit epochs so often did.

You and I were probably conditioned to like Malazan doubly so than our Christian or Moslem counterparts.

The characterization of the Mahabharata is one of the more fascinating things for me. I mean on one layer it has the usual moral/traditonal stuff about honour, respect, righeousness etc. But there are so many twists, some blatant, some subtle...Mahabharata for me is one of the first texts that tried writing grey characters.

[QuickTidal]

Haha. Bork.

[Mentalist]

Finished "Corum: The Prince in the Scarlet Robe".

Full review will be posted in the ded thread, but overall, "better than Hawkmoon" just about covers it.
In the transit reading list, next up is "Sailing to Utopia", which is a Moorcock book I haven't actually read/or attempted to read before (first of the collection so far).

on the "reading at home" front, I'm almost two-thirds into "Princeps' Fury", which is the 5th Alera book. It's not jaw-droppingly, I-can't-put-this-down-must-stay-up-all-night-to-read-this-and-then-hate-myself-the-following-day-at-work awesome, but it's a solid entry. Pacing is good without being hectic "ASOS on crack", and my biggest source of annoyance in the series so far is downplayed. Not in any particular hurry to either finish this or move on to Alera 6, but I'm savoring it the way you would a TV series.

[Andorion]

Finished Larry Nivens Beowulfs children. Really enjoyed that read. I had forgotten how much I liked a bit of old-style sci-fi. Its been years since I read any, what with having finshed Asimov and Clarke, and finding good fantasy books to read.
Any suggestions for other good sci-fi? I mean not the current authors - Reynolds, Hamilton, Asher, Banks etc. but something older, contemporary to Niven, 70s-80s maybe.

[amphibian]

Just power through the Niven with the Ringworld, then the Niven/Pournelle stuff with A Mote in God's Eye and The Gripping Hand. If you haven't read Frank Herbert, he's a person to load up an entire corpus' worth of books and steadily chew through.

Then drop down into George Alec Effinger for my all time favorite SF book (A Fire in the Sun), work over to Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry series, then drive to Lois McMaster Bujold for the more modern take on Flandry, with the Miles Vorkosigan books, check out Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness, A Wrinkle in Time and many, many more like Gene Wolfe with his Solar Cycle books etc.

Science fiction is a huge field and there are many here who know the ins and outs of various parts of it to an enormous degree.

[Tiste Simeon]

Andorion, on 21 November 2014 - 04:45 AM, said:

Finished Larry Nivens Beowulfs children. Really enjoyed that read. I had forgotten how much I liked a bit of old-style sci-fi. Its been years since I read any, what with having finshed Asimov and Clarke, and finding good fantasy books to read.
Any suggestions for other good sci-fi? I mean not the current authors - Reynolds, Hamilton, Asher, Banks etc. but something older, contemporary to Niven, 70s-80s maybe.

Um Banks started writing in the 80s & he died a year or two back so he's not technically "current"

But I'm a Banks fanboy so I'd always recommend him!

[T77]

Finished a couple of books recently:

Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson. It was just OK. Good enough to keep me reading, although I did consider putting it down a few times. After not liking Mistborn and thinking he did a great job finishing up WoT I think so far this series is somewhere between those two. Slightly above average fantasy. The plot is decent, everything else is just meh.

The Wind Through the Keyhole by Stephen King. I enjoyed it, my only gripe is that the main characters were not in it much. Love the Dark Tower though and I hope he writes more. I know he mentioned these books just come to him, I hope more do.

[Andorion]

amphibian, on 21 November 2014 - 05:37 AM, said:

Just power through the Niven with the Ringworld, then the Niven/Pournelle stuff with A Mote in God's Eye and The Gripping Hand. If you haven't read Frank Herbert, he's a person to load up an entire corpus' worth of books and steadily chew through.

Then drop down into George Alec Effinger for my all time favorite SF book (A Fire in the Sun), work over to Poul Anderson's Dominic Flandry series, then drive to Lois McMaster Bujold for the more modern take on Flandry, with the Miles Vorkosigan books, check out Ursula LeGuin's Left Hand of Darkness, A Wrinkle in Time and many, many more like Gene Wolfe with his Solar Cycle books etc.

Science fiction is a huge field and there are many here who know the ins and outs of various parts of it to an enormous degree.

Read Moties, both of them, Read Frank Herberts Dune (The first and original) It was awesome. Do you recommend the other Dune books?
Other stuff I havent read, though I did do some Poul ANderson way back.

I read your reco at a stretch, and it felt a bit like a roller coaster ride. Now if I can get hold of a few of these, I can intersperse them with my existing fantasy books and then I will be set.

[Andorion]

Tiste Simeon, on 21 November 2014 - 06:59 AM, said:

Andorion, on 21 November 2014 - 04:45 AM, said:

Finished Larry Nivens Beowulfs children. Really enjoyed that read. I had forgotten how much I liked a bit of old-style sci-fi. Its been years since I read any, what with having finshed Asimov and Clarke, and finding good fantasy books to read.
Any suggestions for other good sci-fi? I mean not the current authors - Reynolds, Hamilton, Asher, Banks etc. but something older, contemporary to Niven, 70s-80s maybe.

Um Banks started writing in the 80s & he died a year or two back so he's not technically "current"

But I'm a Banks fanboy so I'd always recommend him!

Banks is great, but I have read practically all the Culture books except the last two. Saving them for later.

[Maark Abbott]

Briar King, on 20 November 2014 - 06:24 PM, said:

Maark, on 20 November 2014 - 09:43 AM, said:

I'm on book two of Lightbringer. I think Kip wants to bork that other Blackguard trainee.

Gee what ever on Earth makes you think that?

The fact he had fantasized about her and felt so much shame after, perhaps. Sneaky little wanker... Literally.

The short chapters in this book are still a little jarring to me (some are less than two pages, and I don't consider that a chapter).

[amphibian]

Andorion, on 21 November 2014 - 04:53 PM, said:

Read Frank Herberts Dune (The first and original) It was awesome. Do you recommend the other Dune books?

Read the other Frank Herbert books - not just the Dune books. The Dosadi Experiment in particular is a good place to look at people figuring out science fiction beyond the Star Trek/Edgar Rice Burroughs model.

Do NOT read any of the son's books written with Kevin J Anderson, unless you have a tolerance for legacies being ruined by terrible nuts and bolts writing. Read the wikipedia summaries instead and see what the overall plots aim towards: a return of thinking machines to the Dune Universe and the subsequent war to obliterate humanity.

[Tru]

Quote

The short chapters in this book are still a little jarring to me (some are less than two pages, and I don't consider that a chapter).

Yeah, I would think that making them into scenes within a larger chapter would be a good option. I've just finished a book that did that, some scenes lasting a mere 3/4 of a page, and this book still had 65 chapters over roughly 470 pages, which helped reduce the amount of eye rolling I did.

I jsut started "Reapers Gale" last night. Still on chapter one however, so I don't have much to say about it other than the opening sequences are promising to make this one very interesting.

This post has been edited by Tru: 21 November 2014 - 05:39 PM

[Maark Abbott]

The first set of prequels (House A/H/C) were good. The Butlerian Jihad was poor. I stopped reading the ones after that - they were just that bad.

[Abyss]

amphibian, on 19 November 2014 - 02:32 AM, said:

All hsiens are sobornosts, but not all sobernosts are hsiens.

I must have oublietted that.

Tattersail_, on 19 November 2014 - 04:10 PM, said:

Obdigore, on 19 November 2014 - 04:07 PM, said:

Tattersail_, on 19 November 2014 - 03:03 PM, said:

Ready to buy either

Lies of Locke Lamora - Scott Lynch

or

A Land Fit for Heroes - Richard Morgan

Which one? I think Tiste should answer because his tastes run close to mine but all opinions welcome.

Purchase both.

Which would you recommend first, mr money bags

I agree with Obdi, but otherwise Morgan, because the entire LFFH series is done and solid right thru.

Lynch's GENTLEMEN BASTARDS suffers from inconsistent quality and is not yet complete.

[Baco Xtath]

Had to put down Malice 16 hrs into my listen. It seemed very unoriginal to the point of silliness and I new I wouldn't continue on in the series so I bailed. Started a re-listen of Endymion for the hell of it. Also stopped listening to Emperor Mollusk vs. the Sinister Brain at a little over an hour in. Way too silly for me (not that I was expecting some literary masterpiece but still, way too ridiculous). So that's three books in a row I've quit (Free Fall being the first). Going to give the Thousand Names a go next.

Still reading Vicious Circle and the Iron Jackal. Both good.

[Macros]

I stuck it out to finish Malice, but gave up a few chapters in Valour, the second book.

[McLovin]

Started TARKIN. James Luceno's writing is a step up from John Jackson Miller.