[Use Of Weapons]

Am taking a break from fiction at the moment. Read Dawkins's The Greatest Show On Earth, and next up is Noam Chomsky's Manufacturing Consent: The Political Economy Of The Mass Media.

[D'iversify]

Defiance, on 26 October 2010 - 08:44 PM, said:

I started when 10 or 11 books were out. Despite some slow parts, I enjoyed the first 6. 7 was okay. Then I started 8 and I only got 150 pages in before I gave up, because it was so excruciatingly slow.

I read the first 200 pages in a day. Not really an achievement considering that I was 12/13, it was a weekend and I didn't really do much on weekends at the time then except read WoT. But I've never understood why The Path of Daggers is so pilloried. It felt a little less substantial than the preceding books and its follow-up, Winter's Heart, is better, but its still very enjoyable and the big Rand army & Asha'man/Seanchan bust-up is great. Crossroads of Twilight genuinely sucked though - does anything really happen in that book at all?

Not reading anything that isn't academic at the moment but trying to work out when I'll have a couple of free-ish weeks to read Dust of Dreams - might wait until Christmas holiday tbh (by which time I'll have owned the book for a year!).

[Abyss]

D, on 28 October 2010 - 02:27 PM, said:

... trying to work out when I'll have a couple of free-ish weeks to read Dust of Dreams - might wait until Christmas holiday tbh (by which time I'll have owned the book for a year!).

HERETIC!!!!!!

- Abyss, means that in a nice way. with fire.

[Flawed]

Currently reading Karen Millers " The Awakened Mage ".

I'm a little on the fence about it really. I've started the series now tho so I will see it through to the end. Some really Funny bits and some boring ones too. I've read most of what's currently available in my local shopping centre so it was a case of this will do for now.

Score 6/10 ish

[QuickTidal]

Having been absolutely annoyed, and ultimately put off by Paolo Bacigulpi's borefest THE WINDUP GIRL...I settled back into Sullivan and I am reading the third Riyria book now NYPHRON RISING!

[Tapper]

Heroes Die, by Matthew Stover. Mostly due to Abyss' Caine is Wolverine's little brother campaign.

This post has been edited by Tapper: 29 October 2010 - 07:32 PM

[Abyss]

Tapper, on 29 October 2010 - 07:32 PM, said:

Heroes Die, by Matthew Stover. Mostly due to Abyss' Caine is Wolverine's little brother only meaner and without the wussy healing factor to fall back on campaign.

Fixed for accuracy.

[Obdigore]

I was going to pick up Heroes Die, but read the blurb and it seems so stupid. Has anyone who isn't an abyss-ite read it and have an opinion?

[End of Disc One]

Obdigore, on 29 October 2010 - 07:56 PM, said:

I was going to pick up Heroes Die, but read the blurb and it seems so stupid. Has anyone who isn't an abyss-ite read it and have an opinion?

I haven't read it but I've seen several recommendations. I can tell you that Stover has given some of the best treatment to the Star Wars universe.

[QuickTidal]

End of Disc One, on 29 October 2010 - 08:43 PM, said:

Obdigore, on 29 October 2010 - 07:56 PM, said:

I was going to pick up Heroes Die, but read the blurb and it seems so stupid. Has anyone who isn't an abyss-ite read it and have an opinion?

I haven't read it but I've seen several recommendations. I can tell you that Stover has given some of the best treatment to the Star Wars universe.

Seconded.

I have a copy og HEROES DIE in my TBR pile..but haven't got to it yet. But Stover's REVENGE OF THE SITH novelization makes the movie look like super crap, as it was actually really cool!

Also, Abyss champions it every chance he gets...and he usually knows of what he speaks.

[Salt-Man Z]

If you haven't read Heroes Die yet, stop reading this post right now and go start. SERIOUSLY.

Caine doesn't need a healing factor. That's what willpower is for. ("I WILL MOVE MY FUCKING LEGS")

Crap. I had to look the quote up in Google Books, and started reading... I am going to have to read these again very soon. Right now, actually. Dang.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 30 October 2010 - 05:35 AM

[Morgoth]

So, writing Star Wars novels is a sign of quality now?

[QuickTidal]

Morgoth, on 30 October 2010 - 10:27 AM, said:

So, writing Star Wars novels is a sign of quality now?

No, taking a Star Wars novel based on the mostly crappy Prequels, and turning it into something fairly awesome and kickass is the quality.

[D'iversify]

Abyss, on 28 October 2010 - 02:50 PM, said:

D, on 28 October 2010 - 02:27 PM, said:

... trying to work out when I'll have a couple of free-ish weeks to read Dust of Dreams - might wait until Christmas holiday tbh (by which time I'll have owned the book for a year!).

HERETIC!!!!!!

- Abyss, means that in a nice way. with fire.

Why of course - the Inquisition's only here to save the poor misguided souls, and if they don't repent, it will have to be fire that purifies them.

To quote a certain Arnaud Amalric circa AD 1209: 'Kill them all. God shall know his own'.

This post has been edited by D'iversify: 30 October 2010 - 01:17 PM

[Salt-Man Z]

Morgoth, on 30 October 2010 - 10:27 AM, said:

So, writing Star Wars novels is a sign of quality now?

No, but writing the four best SW novels ever written might be a sign of some ability.

Anyway, no thanks to you guys I started Heroes Die for the third time last night. Hopefully I can get through all of the Acts of Caine before I start my annual Book of the New Sun reread in December.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 30 October 2010 - 03:23 PM

[Tapper]

Morgoth, on 30 October 2010 - 10:27 AM, said:

So, writing Star Wars novels is a sign of quality now?

He also wrote Magic: The Gathering novels. Which is surely a sign of ehm... quality? Ehm, no, not that.


That being said, Heroes Die is so far fairly well written and most certainly entertaining.

[amphibian]

Salt-Man Z, on 30 October 2010 - 03:23 PM, said:

No, but writing the four best SW novels ever written might be a sign of some ability.

Better than the Zahn books?

Tapper, on 30 October 2010 - 05:40 PM, said:

He also wrote Magic: The Gathering novels. Which is surely a sign of ehm... quality? Ehm, no, not that.

I read the Urza's saga, which was excellent, and the first couple books of the Kamahl-Mirari series and those were decent. And I read a Tetsuo Umezawa one, which was not as good, but still ok. Those Magic books are probably way better than Star Trek and the vast majority of Star Wars books. More freedom in the writing, perhaps.

[End of Disc One]

amphibian, on 30 October 2010 - 07:28 PM, said:

Salt-Man Z, on 30 October 2010 - 03:23 PM, said:

No, but writing the four best SW novels ever written might be a sign of some ability.

Better than the Zahn books?

I'd say yes for the most part, except I like Vision of the Future more than all of them.

[polishgenius]

Heroes Die is ace. It's like something Richard Morgan might have written, except better.

I can't get hold of the second book though.

[Salt-Man Z]

Tapper, on 30 October 2010 - 05:40 PM, said:

He also wrote Magic: The Gathering novels. Which is surely a sign of ehm... quality?

I hear some guy named Michael Moorcock is writing a Doctor Who tie-in. Must be a hack.