Reading at t'moment?

#15921 acesn8s

Soletaken

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 12:07 PM

Andorion, on 14 August 2015 - 01:23 AM, said:

Also finished Curse of Chalion. Good book, but thought the ending was too pat.

I felt the same way. Still haven't read the sequel.

“The others followed, and found themselves in a small, stuffy basement, which would have been damp, smelly, close, and dark, were it not, in fact, well-lit, which prevented it from being dark.”
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#15922 Chance

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 02:22 PM

Been going through the Night Watch and its sequels and must say I'm impressed, it is a lot more ambitious and unique then most urban fantasy out there.

#15923 Andorion

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 02:31 PM

Chance, on 14 August 2015 - 02:22 PM, said:

Been going through the Night Watch and its sequels and must say I'm impressed, it is a lot more ambitious and unique then most urban fantasy out there.

Who is the author for this series?

#15924 amphibian

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 03:01 PM

Lukyanenko.

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#15925 QuickTidal

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 04:48 PM

Chance, on 14 August 2015 - 02:22 PM, said:

Been going through the Night Watch and its sequels and must say I'm impressed, it is a lot more ambitious and unique then most urban fantasy out there.

If you choose to watch the movies, just make sure to distance them in your head from the books...as they are pretty different.

"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon

#15926 amphibian

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 04:59 PM

QuickTidal, on 14 August 2015 - 04:48 PM, said:

If you choose to watch the movies, just make sure to distance them in your head from the books...as they are pretty different.

Get the original Russian movies with English subtitles. The Fox Searchlight version of Night Watch edited it very badly because "translation problems*".

The movies are actually very good - but as QuickTidal says, they are different.

*There is a particular storyline in Night Watch that is hacked to bits in the edited Fox Searchlight version because it was possibly objectionable to "middle America". As a result, the movie loses momentum, sense, and meaning.

I survived the Permian and all I got was this t-shirt.

#15927 QuickTidal

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Posted 14 August 2015 - 05:06 PM

Oh yeah, original Russian versions for sure. I don't think I've ever watched the dubbed/cut versions.

"When the last tree has fallen, and the rivers are poisoned, you cannot eat money, oh no." ~Aurora

"Someone will always try to sell you despair, just so they don't feel alone." ~Ursula Vernon

#15928 Chance

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Posted 15 August 2015 - 03:25 AM

QuickTidal, on 14 August 2015 - 04:48 PM, said:

If you choose to watch the movies, just make sure to distance them in your head from the books...as they are pretty different.

Pretty sure I've seen the first one some time long ago, might give it a try after I've completed the series got the New Watch and the last story of Twilight Watch to go.

#15929 JPK

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Posted 15 August 2015 - 04:18 PM

I just finished Towers of Midnight. Very good book all in all, and the cliffhanger involving the letter at the end was fantastic. Next up is Finch (only 3 weeks later than originally planned).

#15930 TheRetiredBridgeburner

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 07:31 AM

Closing in on the end of Robin Hobb's new one Fool's Quest. I love Hobb, but this has been at the same time wonderful and difficult to read. There are some punch-the-air happy moments but mostly (about three quarters of the way through) it's a book of almost wall to wall despair. I have a feeling a twist is nigh though!

- Wyrd bið ful aræd -

#15931 polishgenius

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 07:55 AM

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 16 August 2015 - 07:31 AM, said:

I haven't read it yet, but knowing Hobb, the twist will be 'more despair'.

I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.

#15932 worry

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:05 AM

Wall to wall despair is what Hobb does best!

They came with white hands and left with red hands.

#15933 Andorion

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:30 AM

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 16 August 2015 - 07:31 AM, said:

This is basically why I couldn't finish the first trilogy. I felt suffocated.

#15934 TheRetiredBridgeburner

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 09:13 AM

polishgenius, on 16 August 2015 - 07:55 AM, said:

TheRetiredBridgeburner, on 16 August 2015 - 07:31 AM, said:

I haven't read it yet, but knowing Hobb, the twist will be 'more despair'.

It wasn't. It was wonderful.

She does do wall to wall despair well, but it's more visceral in Fool's Quest than ever before. However, there were some wonderful moments of balance too. And Fitz is still an idiot, but somehow I have to like him for it.

Also, the third one is very clearly the last one, she's starting to set the stage to tie in Liveship and Rainwilds as well as the two previous trilogies.

This post has been edited by TheRetiredBridgeburner: 16 August 2015 - 09:16 AM

- Wyrd bið ful aræd -

#15935 Gredfallan Ale

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 05:51 PM

Halfway through the second volume of Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle, named "The Confusion". It's a great read, so far, as in between all the fiction, he's giving some nice history lessons as well. (History was never a great interest of mine, but these books actually triggered some in me.)

'When I use a word,' Humpty Dumpty said, in rather a scornful tone, 'it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.'

'The question is,' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things.'

'The question is,' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master — that's all.'

#15936 Baco Xtath

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 06:31 PM

Finished The Dark Forest; absolutely fucking brilliant. So for people that like absolutely fucking brilliant stuff, check it out. Definitely one of the best sci-fi books I've ever read/listened to.

Not sure what's up next. Probably going to continue The Never Hero and Library at Mount Char but I'm thinking of starting the Fifth Season by Jemisin instead. Can't go wrong with a Polish recco.

"Give a man a fire and he's warm for the day. But set fire to him and he's warm for the rest of his life." - Terry Pratchett, Jingo"Just erotic. Nothing kinky. It's the difference between using a feather and using a chicken." - Terry Pratchett, Eric
"Wisdom comes from experience. Experience is often a result of a lack of wisdom." - Terry Pratchett

#15937 polishgenius

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Posted 16 August 2015 - 08:05 PM

Baco Xtath, on 16 August 2015 - 06:31 PM, said:

Not sure what's up next. Probably going to continue The Never Hero and Library at Mount Char but I'm thinking of starting the Fifth Season by Jemisin instead. Can't go wrong with a Polish recco.

I'm starting to think I should be charging your book vendors commission. fwiw, Fifth Season is still going around in my head a few days later.

Three Body Problem is on my list, so good to hear a great reco for it and the sequel.

Me, I've started Undertow, the latest in my Elizabeth-Bear-back-catalogue-catchup-project. Bayou-set quantum-cyberpunk. Fun so far.

I can't carry it for you, but I can carry you.

#15938 Whisperzzzzzzz

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 02:20 PM

Currently reading The Chanur Saga omnibus by C.J. Cherryh. I had a false start with this book a few months ago, finding it hard to get into. But I gave it another try this month and was immediately hooked. It's a bit confusing at times, especially when trying to parse what some of the aliens are saying — sometimes the hani make as little sense to me as the t'ca. Overall though, I'm really enjoying it.

So, thanks to whoever recommended it long ago (I think it was either Apt or Abyss, but not sure).

#15939 Salt-Man Z

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Posted 17 August 2015 - 09:33 PM

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 17 August 2015 - 02:20 PM, said:

Might have been me. I know when I got deep into the series I caught myself talking like a mahe more than once.

Be aware that the series goes standalone-trilogy-standalone, and the omnibus bizarrely includes only the first three books, so you'll want to track down the fourth book (Chanur's Homecoming) to finish the trilogy/story. (The fifth book is a true sequel that isn't directly related to the first four.)

"Here is light. You will say that it is not a living entity, but you miss the point that it is more, not less. Without occupying space, it fills the universe. It nourishes everything, yet itself feeds upon destruction. We claim to control it, but does it not perhaps cultivate us as a source of food? May it not be that all wood grows so that it can be set ablaze, and that men and women are born to kindle fires?"
―Gene Wolfe, The Citadel of the Autarch