[Tiste Simeon]

So I finished one of the most challenging and unique books I've ever read, HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z Danielewski. It is weird to say the least and one that could never be captured on audiobook or even ebook. I dunno if any of you have read it but I found it quite a challenging read but very rewarding and I really got into it. Despite the academic style the main thrust of the book is written in, I think it'll stick with me for a while...

Since I managed to pick up the entire Raven's Shadow trilogy for £2 (not each, that's the whole shebang!) I've started on that.

[Traveller]

Finished Project Hail Mary.

Good book, very similar to The Martian in many ways. It got a bit heavy with the problem solving towards the end - and I would have preferred it to have ended about a chapter earlier than it did, but if you liked The Martian then you'll enjoy this one.

Reading Lord Fouls Bane now. Liked the start - then it got weird, then it got dark, and now it's a more familiar 'we're off on a quest' story but with a dubious main character.

[Tiste Simeon]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 October 2021 - 07:08 AM, said:

So I finished one of the most challenging and unique books I've ever read, HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z Danielewski. It is weird to say the least and one that could never be captured on audiobook or even ebook. I dunno if any of you have read it but I found it quite a challenging read but very rewarding and I really got into it. Despite the academic style the main thrust of the book is written in, I think it'll stick with me for a while...

Since I managed to pick up the entire Raven's Shadow trilogy for £2 (not each, that's the whole shebang!) I've started on that.

Disregard that! My wife has just surprised me with THE LAST GRADUATE by Naomi Novik, the sequel to A Deadly Education. Very excited to read this and it has jumped straight to the top of my trp.

[Abyss]

Just Finished audible's SANDMAN ACT 2.
It was stunning. There are moments of sheer horror and absolute wonderment. The voicecast is perfect. The adaptation of a comic into a soundstage production is... words fail me at describing how well they did this. And keep in mind, i've read the comics, i knew what would happen next most of the time, i knew how the various stories ended... still stunning.

This Act covered the Season of Mists (Morpheus goes to Hell on a rescue mission, ends up owning real estate... and the first Dead Boy Detectives story), A Game of You (girl has personal dreamland, must save it, things go... very very wrong), and a few one-floppy tales (a Russian werewolf story and a beautiful Persian myth).

If you liked ACT 1, you need this.
If you liked the comics, you need this.
If you have not read the comics but just feel like hearing an amazing story told in audio, you need this (but maybe start w ACT 1).

Utterly worth the audible credit.


Now... back to the Lot Lands for more Orc Sons of Anarchy on war pigs w Jonathan French's FREE BASTARDS.

[Macros]

Finished Queen of Storms.

Builds well on the first. Definitely Feist dialed to adult, some of his idiosyncrasies still run through the work (his love of blacksmiths for one) but first two books of King of Ashes are immeasurably better than the tail end of the Midkemian cycle.

[Macros]

Think I'm gonna pick up Abercrombies latest, get it read so I can drop it down to da

[JPK]

Macros, on 05 October 2021 - 08:07 PM, said:

Think I'm gonna pick up Abercrombies latest, get it read so I can drop it down to da

Reminds me that I need to get back to those. I only got through the first of the newest trilogy and decided to wait on the second until the third dropped. That one came out about a month ago, right?

[Zeto Demerzel]

Just finished:

• First Empire (LotFE) 2 - Age of Swords. Loved it. Quite different from book 1 in that we are less in the characters' heads and more into some relatively meaty events. Lovely stuff.
• Golgotha 2 - The Shotgun Arcana. Just wasn't for me (err pretty much despised it). I'll go no further with this series.

Reading:

• Siege of Terra 6 - Warhawk. Early days yet but is off to a better start than the previous book (Mortis).
• Star Wars Aftermath 1 - Aftermath. Not the best and I'm limping through, trying to just get it over with.

[Abyss]

Zeto Demerzel, on 06 October 2021 - 04:07 AM, said:

...Golgotha 2 - The Shotgun Arcana. Just wasn't for me (err pretty much despised it). I'll go no further with this series.

...

Am curious. What did you despise?

[QuickTidal]

Zeto Demerzel, on 06 October 2021 - 04:07 AM, said:

[*]Star Wars Aftermath 1 - Aftermath. Not the best and I'm limping through, trying to just get it over with.[/list]

Do NOT waste your time with the rest of them. They only get worse in the other two.

Wendig was the wrong choice, and the idea that the main post-ROTJ trilogy we should focus on no one we've ever heard of....fighting...no one we've ever heard of..., and only Wedge is the connective tissue? Nah.

[Abyss]

QuickTidal, on 06 October 2021 - 05:42 PM, said:

... the idea that the main post-ROTJ trilogy we should focus on no one we've ever heard of....fighting...no one we've ever heard of..., and only Wedge is the connective tissue? Nah.

I don't even need to read the book to know that was a bad idea.

[Raymond Luxury Yacht]

Norrell/strange is better but still a struggle. I feel like I’m going to be in trouble with my English lit teacher though if I don’t finish it.

[JPK]

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on 06 October 2021 - 07:08 PM, said:

Norrell/strange is better but still a struggle. I feel like I’m going to be in trouble with my English lit teacher though if I don’t finish it.

I understand the "gotta finish this" mentality, but there are too many books out there to spend time slogging through one you're not enjoying. I struggled with the physical book as well, and couldn't finish it until I tried it as an audiobook.

How far in have you gotten?

[James Hutton]

JPK, on 06 October 2021 - 07:22 PM, said:

Raymond Luxury Yacht, on 06 October 2021 - 07:08 PM, said:

Norrell/strange is better but still a struggle. I feel like I'm going to be in trouble with my English lit teacher though if I don't finish it.

I understand the "gotta finish this" mentality, but there are too many books out there to spend time slogging through one you're not enjoying. I struggled with the physical book as well, and couldn't finish it until I tried it as an audiobook.

How far in have you gotten?

I didn't finish it either. Life's too short!

[worry]

QuickTidal, on 06 October 2021 - 05:42 PM, said:

Wendig was the wrong choice

Yah it's weird hearing Star Wars characters calling their enemies "douchenapkins" and "vuvuzelian dingo dango buttwhistles" or whatever.

[Tsundoku]

worry, on 06 October 2021 - 08:47 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 October 2021 - 05:42 PM, said:

Wendig was the wrong choice

Yah it's weird hearing Star Wars characters calling their enemies "douchenapkins" and "vuvuzelian dingo dango buttwhistles" or whatever.

???

Finished Whispers Under Ground. Quite good, but felt a bit like a "joining" book, rather than being in and of itself.
But I guess being part of a series you're going to get some like that and some that stand a bit more on their own.

On to Broken Homes.

[QuickTidal]

Tsundoku, on 07 October 2021 - 09:27 AM, said:

worry, on 06 October 2021 - 08:47 PM, said:

QuickTidal, on 06 October 2021 - 05:42 PM, said:

Wendig was the wrong choice

Yah it's weird hearing Star Wars characters calling their enemies "douchenapkins" and "vuvuzelian dingo dango buttwhistles" or whatever.

???

He's not kidding. Wendig for example describes the Bounty Hunter Dengar...as wearing space diapers on his head.

I wish I was kidding in fact.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 07 October 2021 - 12:18 PM

[Morgoth]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 October 2021 - 07:08 AM, said:

So I finished one of the most challenging and unique books I've ever read, HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z Danielewski. It is weird to say the least and one that could never be captured on audiobook or even ebook. I dunno if any of you have read it but I found it quite a challenging read but very rewarding and I really got into it. Despite the academic style the main thrust of the book is written in, I think it'll stick with me for a while...

Since I managed to pick up the entire Raven's Shadow trilogy for £2 (not each, that's the whole shebang!) I've started on that.

I love that book. I’ve read everything he’s written since on the strenght of House of Leaves alone

[Tiste Simeon]

Tiste Simeon, on 05 October 2021 - 02:06 PM, said:

My wife has just surprised me with THE LAST GRADUATE by Naomi Novik, the sequel to A Deadly Education. Very excited to read this and it has jumped straight to the top of my trp.

Oh man, THE LAST GRADUATE was everything I hoped it was going to be able more. It takes the incredible donation of the first book and really runs with it. I dunno how many she has planned but I finished it a couple of minutes ago and my heart is pounding. Honestly the best series I've read in a long time!

[Tiste Simeon]

Morgoth, on 07 October 2021 - 07:40 PM, said:

Tiste Simeon, on 05 October 2021 - 07:08 AM, said:

So I finished one of the most challenging and unique books I've ever read, HOUSE OF LEAVES by Mark Z Danielewski. It is weird to say the least and one that could never be captured on audiobook or even ebook. I dunno if any of you have read it but I found it quite a challenging read but very rewarding and I really got into it. Despite the academic style the main thrust of the book is written in, I think it'll stick with me for a while...

Since I managed to pick up the entire Raven's Shadow trilogy for £2 (not each, that's the whole shebang!) I've started on that.

I love that book. I’ve read everything he’s written since on the strenght of House of Leaves alone

So weird but worth the effort!