[worry]

You should use a spoiler tag on that post.

It didn't strike me as a particularly big mystery, but I will think it over as I read for sure.

[End of Disc One]

I would honestly advise against thinking about that too much

[EmperorMagus]

In search of a good military sci-fi series, I started and finished a trilogy called The Fall of the Dread Empire.
The best word for describing the series is "fine". It was well written but fairly cliche, and the romance was horrible.

The aforementioned trilogy made me wary of mil scifi for now and I decided to start Lord of the Flies, as it's supposedly a classic. Unfortunately, classics tend to be excruciatingly boring (IMO of course).

This post has been edited by EmperorMagus: 21 February 2016 - 08:48 AM

[worry]

Lord of the Flies is one of the greatest explorations of human nature in literary history.

[TheRetiredBridgeburner]

Briar King, on 21 February 2016 - 03:12 AM, said:

Now the question you should ask yourself is who killed

Spoiler

Asmodean

and it should consume your every waking thought and invade your dreams. This was RJs most asked ?'s at signings I think. He got sick of it.

Also it doesn't matter much on 1st read but on my 2nd/3rd I was very happy with no Perrin.

Terez has a thread on this very subject in the Robert Jordan board.

I'm finding the updates interesting Worry - I always like seeing what other people think of a series as they're reading it (and we seem to react to WoT largely similarly)

[Andorion]

EmperorMagus, on 21 February 2016 - 08:48 AM, said:

In search of a good military sci-fi series, I started and finished a trilogy called The Fall of the Dread Empire.
The best word for describing the series is "fine". It was well written but fairly cliche, and the romance was horrible.

The aforementioned trilogy made me wary of mil scifi for now and I decided to start Lord of the Flies, as it's supposedly a classic. Unfortunately, classics tend to be excruciatingly boring (IMO of course).

Can confirm Classics are boring. They were invented when humanity was still struggling with the correct dosage of sleeping drugs and wanted to reduce the mortality rate.

[Puck]

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

[Andorion]

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 02:54 PM, said:

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

Not all classics are bad. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Homer, Its just that the entire Victorian period is like this huge black hole which sucks up all my energy. Are people like Jack London, Jules Verne, Herman Melville considered classic authors? Because I like them.

Edit: Does the argument of your book hold up?

This post has been edited by Andorion: 22 February 2016 - 04:12 PM

[QuickTidal]

Was in a deep, dark book hole which nothing could really pull me out of. Even non-fic palate cleansers didn't work.

So I decided to grab some Comic trades in digital on Comixology to read. I've got Jeff Lemire & Dustin Nguyen's (Hollywood-sought-after) THE DESCENDER (first 6 issues only), and it is STUNNING. Gorgeous art and story. The wait for the next collected trade will be difficult.

And because I loved the first issue when I read it long ago (but never grabbed anything more) Brian Wood's THE MASSIVE I have Volumes #1 and #2 on deck.

Hopefully that will get me out of my slump. After that maybe do Conn Iggulden's 3rd Wars of the Roses volume BLOODLINE.

[polishgenius]

You should read Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World. I refuse to believe that it's possible to maintain a reading slump in the face of that book. It's distilled joy.



Me, I'm finally reading Promise of Blood by Brian McLellan, after avoiding it for a long while for some reason. I am enjoying it a fair amount, although it is odd how a military fantasy has so far carefuly avoided showing any of the actual battles (a few fights, but the battles are all offscreen). Hopefully this is just a pacing tactic and it's building up to a big one at the end.


Edit: oooh, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen? That's a great team, I'll have to look out for that.

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 22 February 2016 - 05:38 PM

[QuickTidal]

polishgenius, on 22 February 2016 - 05:36 PM, said:

You should read Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World. I refuse to believe that it's possible to maintain a reading slump in the face of that book. It's distilled joy.

Edit: oooh, Jeff Lemire and Dustin Nguyen? That's a great team, I'll have to look out for that.

I may try that one out.

And yeah THE DESCENDER is pretty amazing. One young robot’s struggle to stay alive in a universe where all androids have been outlawed and bounty hunters lurk on every planet. A rip-roaring and heart-felt cosmic odyssey that pits humanity against machine, and world against world, to create a sprawling space opera and the art is like watercolour paintings. Gorgeous.

[acesn8s]

I'm about 3/4 done with The War Master's Gate.

Spoiler

Got to the French Resistance portion, it looks like.

The story is going well, but I'm glad there is only 1 more book left.

[Salt-Man Z]

Still haven't gotten motivated to start another novel, so I've been working through The Weird anthology some more. Hope to (finally!) get this finished this year. Last night I read Octavia Butler's "Bloodchild" and Clive Barker's "In the Hills, the Cities", both fairly disturbing.

[Mentalist]

Andorion, on 22 February 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 02:54 PM, said:

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

Not all classics are bad. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Homer, Its just that the entire Victorian period is like this huge black hole which sucks up all my energy. Are people like Jack London, Jules Verne, Herman Melville considered classic authors? Because I like them.

Edit: Does the argument of your book hold up?

Yes, they are classics. Never read Melville, but it's considered a classic. Jack London is one of my favourite non-SFF writers of all time.

Never got into Victorian lit. I read "The Tale of 2 Cities" a few years back, but that's about it. English lit is a pretty big gap in my education.

Speaking of classics: almost done volume 1 of "10 years later". I remembered very little of it, and so far none of the bad stuff happened. I vaguely recall that vol 2 is mostly about love triangles/intrigues, and then there's Vol 3, writing of which would be spoilerific. I'm curious to see if I was just immature the first time I read vol 2 or if it's actually bad and boring.

I'm certainly appreciating the political stuff more now than I did last time I read it (which was maybe 15 yrs ago)

[Puck]

Andorion, on 22 February 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 02:54 PM, said:

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

Not all classics are bad. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Homer, Its just that the entire Victorian period is like this huge black hole which sucks up all my energy. Are people like Jack London, Jules Verne, Herman Melville considered classic authors? Because I like them.

Edit: Does the argument of your book hold up?

Yes, they are. As I said, not all classics are bad

And sadly, can't say. At three fourths through the book I've yet to see any of the advertised argument yet. It's also not very well written. The guy who wrote it seems to be the Sanderson of myth lit - lots of books and little substance I think I'm going to read Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong next, who poses a similar argument though less focused on one area, but takes 500+ pages to properly analyze and likely refute it, knowing her style.

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 22 February 2016 - 06:35 PM, said:

Andorion, on 22 February 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 02:54 PM, said:

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

Not all classics are bad. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Homer, Its just that the entire Victorian period is like this huge black hole which sucks up all my energy. Are people like Jack London, Jules Verne, Herman Melville considered classic authors? Because I like them.

Edit: Does the argument of your book hold up?

Yes, they are classics. Never read Melville, but it's considered a classic. Jack London is one of my favourite non-SFF writers of all time.

Never got into Victorian lit. I read "The Tale of 2 Cities" a few years back, but that's about it. English lit is a pretty big gap in my education.

Speaking of classics: almost done volume 1 of "10 years later". I remembered very little of it, and so far none of the bad stuff happened. I vaguely recall that vol 2 is mostly about love triangles/intrigues, and then there's Vol 3, writing of which would be spoilerific. I'm curious to see if I was just immature the first time I read vol 2 or if it's actually bad and boring.

I'm certainly appreciating the political stuff more now than I did last time I read it (which was maybe 15 yrs ago)

Tale of Two Cities is the only Dickens I do like. The others are.... not good. Austen and the Brontes are total nono for me. Can't touch them. Oscar Wilde is mildly entertaining at best. Victor Hugo bores me. But I love Alexandre Dumas and I consider the Count of Monte Cristo one of the best books ever written

[Andorion]

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 09:31 PM, said:

Andorion, on 22 February 2016 - 04:11 PM, said:

Puck, on 22 February 2016 - 02:54 PM, said:

Not all classics are bad/unreadable.

But speaking of bad.. I'm currently reading Jealous Gods and Chosen People as my non-fiction intermezzo, and while the idea to draw connections between the mythologies of the Middle East and the area's tendency towards violence seems intriguing, this books so far does a bad job. Might as well be reading Wikipedia, for all the info and excitement. Can't recommend. It's only good point is that it's short (which may, in fact, be what keeps it from becoming good on the other hand).

Not all classics are bad. I am an enthusiastic proponent of Homer, Its just that the entire Victorian period is like this huge black hole which sucks up all my energy. Are people like Jack London, Jules Verne, Herman Melville considered classic authors? Because I like them.

Edit: Does the argument of your book hold up?

Yes, they are. As I said, not all classics are bad

And sadly, can't say. At three fourths through the book I've yet to see any of the advertised argument yet. It's also not very well written. The guy who wrote it seems to be the Sanderson of myth lit - lots of books and little substance I think I'm going to read Fields of Blood by Karen Armstrong next, who poses a similar argument though less focused on one area, but takes 500+ pages to properly analyze and likely refute it, knowing her style.

Weirdly enough this guy is an academic a Professor Emeritus at the University of Chicago. His field is literature though.

[EmperorMagus]

All I can say is that I've never read an English Classic written before 1940 and liked it. Even LotF is being read at the pace of one paragraph a day right now.
I also started rereading Blinsight. This book is an absolute masterpiece when read for the second time, I love Siri as a character and I adore Watts' weird descriptions.

[Baco Xtath]

EmperorMagus, on 23 February 2016 - 02:32 AM, said:

All I can say is that I've never read an English Classic written before 1940 and liked it. Even LotF is being read at the pace of one paragraph a day right now.
I also started rereading Blinsight. This book is an absolute masterpiece when read for the second time, I love Siri as a character and I adore Watts' weird descriptions.

Have you tried Watts's the Rifters series? Starts with Starfish. It's free online and is absolutely awesome.

[Abyss]

Baco Xtath, on 23 February 2016 - 03:15 AM, said:

EmperorMagus, on 23 February 2016 - 02:32 AM, said:

All I can say is that I've never read an English Classic written before 1940 and liked it. Even LotF is being read at the pace of one paragraph a day right now.
I also started rereading Blinsight. This book is an absolute masterpiece when read for the second time, I love Siri as a character and I adore Watts' weird descriptions.

Have you tried Watts's the Rifters series? Starts with Starfish. It's free online and is absolutely awesome.

Seconded. The whole Rifters trilo is available and pretty awesome.