[worry]

Yah the movie is based on the first book, but at least from the trailer it seems to be a bit more self-contained. At least I'm not expecting there to be a movie trilogy.

[Andorion]

Macros, on 28 December 2017 - 08:50 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 27 December 2017 - 01:29 AM, said:

Macros, on 26 December 2017 - 06:20 PM, said:

Nearly finished children of dune.
It's better than Messiah but still nowhere near as good as dune.
I can see me struggling to be bothered to read god emperor even though I have it sitting waiting.

It's totally different than any of the first 3 books; I'd say give it a try. (And then 5-6 are still quite different again.)

Just finished children of dune.

I'm curious enough now to see where Leto's story goes to read god emperor

Hey Macros, whatever you do, only read the Frank Herbert Dune books. The stuff that his son and Anderson pulled out are not even worthy of the book name.

[Sheve]

almost anything i can find in /reddit/HFY

There are some really good stores to be found

This post has been edited by Sheve: 29 December 2017 - 01:51 AM

[Mentalist]

Last commute of the year, finished War Factory / Poor

Spoiler

Sverl. Though I don't really believe he's dead, because his AI crystal should still be intact

Very interesting Polity sub-series this is turning out to be.

Next for commute, I'll probably finish off Stephen Hunt's "Far-Called" trilo with Stealer's War

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 29 December 2017 - 06:55 PM

[Macros]

Yeah I've heard nothing but criticism of the sons Dune novels, basically spitting on his memory bad, so I don't see me ever reading them.
Started god emperor last night.

[acesn8s]

Macros, on 26 December 2017 - 06:20 PM, said:

Nearly finished children of dune.
It's better than Messiah but still nowhere near as good as dune.
I can see me struggling to be bothered to read god emperor even though I have it sitting waiting.

I burned out on God Emperor, never finished it.

[Salt-Man Z]

The first DUNE is a masterpiece, but I think books 4-6 actually grabbed me more.

I've only read the HOUSE TRILOGY of the KJA books, and it's entertaining enough on its own merits, but otherwise reads like really bad Dune fanfic. (Throwing in things that won't be seen again in-universe for 1,000 years, destroying the mystique of the Ixians, etc.)

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 29 December 2017 - 02:51 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Hamilton's Fallen Dragon has a lot of cool ideas, but the first 500 pages of the book could be cut in half by a decent editor. The last 1/4 is moving at a brisker pace so far.

[acesn8s]

About 20% of the way through Tyrant's Throne and I'm loving it. de Castell's banter is second only to Eddings, IMO.

[Macros]

I'm fairly sure De Castell should feel insulted if he hears that "praise"

[Macros]

Just finished God Emperor. A lot better than Messiah and a right bit better than Children.
Definitely enough of a departure and improvement to spur me to ordering Heretics and Chapterhouse.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Briar King, on 29 December 2017 - 05:52 PM, said:

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 29 December 2017 - 05:50 PM, said:

Hamilton's Fallen Dragon has a lot of cool ideas, but the first 500 pages of the book could be cut in half by a decent editor. The last 1/4 is moving at a brisker pace so far.

Is that a Commonwealth book?

Nope, it's set in an entirely different universe. In this universe, they don't have widespread, cheap wormholes; instead, wormholes are exorbitantly expensive and one-time use. Space exploration is dwindling as it's not financially favorable. The only real interstellar expeditions are corporate fleets that raid far-flung colonies and steal all their hard-earned resources and tech to bring back to Earth.

[QuickTidal]

Got my hands on Dan Abnett's latest Gaunts Ghosts, THE WARMASTER, so I'm going to crack into that bad boy!

[Macros]

Just finished Stephen Frys "Mythos"

I had picked it up quite a while ago and only read the introduction really.
Started it last night after finishing up with God Emperor of Dune.

On one hand, it was enjoyable, and very informative, the origins of then gods, their war with the titans and all the glorious swans fucking goats it entailed was something I didn't know an awful lot on and always wanted a rough outline of it all. And I could almost hear Fry's voice in my head as I read it, dictating in the delightfully irreverent tone that the book is pitched in.
On the other, it was a lot longer than I thought due to the text being considerably denser than I expected. There were definitely a few stories that could have been shortened or removed. But eh, I'm not an editor, what do I know?

He took the approach of trying to simplify the tales with more modern language (not to the detriment of important linguistics essential to the stories) and tried to bring some semblance of order to the chaotic nature of the Mythos of ancient Greece. However somewhat paradoxically, whilst he does lift the narrative above the dry, at times mind numbing, litany of names and places that some of these 'histories' can be, it still becomes bogged down in the minutiae at times.

It's a minor enough complaint as he does manage to cover from creation to the origins of the Heroic age quite well, without succumbing to the lure of diving into the mortal heroes tales that are 'commercially successful' (in that I mean they are known to the modern world via a Disney film or the like)

So we get the curse of Prometheus for example, but not the tale of his freedom (mythology spoiler!)

Knowing Fry's opinions on Christianity he keeps the sly digs at the Bible's stories similarities to basically every other religion that followed the language trail out of India/mesopotamia to a minimum (although if he did a book on that I'm sure it would be wonderful) and really only mentions a few because the similarities jump off the page at you anyway.

In short, if you have a deep or even reasonable knowledge of the mythology of the Olympians, don't read this to learn more, read this if you want to hear an amusing (at times) and irreverent take on the stories. If the etymology of the word narcissistic and basically every other negative or indeed positive trait we humans possess interests you, Then definitely read this as one thing Fry does exceedingly well is short, pertinent footnotes whenever a new (relevant) character appears.

If you know nothing about how the Olympians spent most of their time being a bunch of randy, petulant, violent...you get the point. Pick it up at some stage as it's a lot more digestible than trying to slog through a textbook or some of the ancient poetry.

This post has been edited by Macros: 01 January 2018 - 11:30 AM

[Macros]

Started Sebastian de Castells "Spellslinger" last night.
Over halfway, quite predictable so far, it's quite YA, I'm away all day today so probably won't get it finished until tomorrow, will hold off picking apart what annoys me about it till then, he still has 150 pages to save it

[Macros]

Finished.

I'd say he pulled it back together, it definitely lost its YA edge, although it's still there. It becomes darker very quickly in the second half, I stopped like 2 pages too early last night.
It's not grimdark by any means (I still hate that term) the violence is still....somewhat sanitised for the audience. But it takes the characters to good places (logical, correct, not GOOD) to make their pivotal decisions.

Overall I'd say it's light enough fare, enjoyable in its way and an interesting world. But Im glad I got it second hand, I would have been annoyed if I'd paid full hard back price for it

This post has been edited by Macros: 01 January 2018 - 11:31 AM

[Macros]

Started the invisible library.
first book of the year
setting my good reads challenge at a more attainable 60 this year. I probably could have hit 60 this year barring the 2 summer months when I barely turned a page.

[worry]

Macros, on 01 January 2018 - 12:14 PM, said:

Started the invisible library.

This seems like cheating. You can just say you read it and nobody will be able to prove otherwise.

[Aptorian]

What is the invisible library about?

I finished Deadhouse Landing during the weekend. Esslemont has done a great job of reinvigorating my love of the Malazan Universe. The book has flaws (and massive timeline inconsistencies) but I enjoyed the book from start to finish. Can't wait to read more.

Currently reading the Delirium Brief the latest instalment in the Laundry Files. Great to have Bob Howard back as the protagonist. Enjoying his new power upgrade greatly. Stross still writes Howard as a distracted, very unsuitable super spy secret agent cum civil servant but Howard can now hit back and it makes me immensely satisfied.

I remain utterly frustrated with the usual bureaucracy of the stories. It's sort of just a part of the whole thing but I refuse to believe that if this was "real" there wouldn't be a metaphorical magical sword that would cut straight through any and all qualms about the Laundry's spending or their powers of privilege. But eh, it's just a characteristic of the books by now.

This post has been edited by Alternative Goose: 01 January 2018 - 07:29 PM

[Abyss]

Finished PERSEPOLIS RISING... I think we have a dedthread so i’ll just say ‘damn that was good’ for now.
On to OATHBRINGER.