[Imperial Historian]

Recent reads:
The first 5 craft books by max Gladstone as the collection was cheap. Enjoyable but ultimately forget able probably won't be picking up anymore.

Kings of the Wyld, good fun fantasy read.

Spirit ring by Lois mcmaster bujold. Some of her early work and it shows a little but still highly enjoyable

This unfinished self published novel https://m.fictionpre...her-of-Learning which is a sort of fantasy version of live. Die. Repeat. Not high art and a rough beginning but entertaining.

Parable of the sower and talents by octavia butler, creepily prophetic at times, great read will be picking up more butler, any recommendations?

Assassins fate. The latest Hobb, if you like Hobb you'll probably love this. Fitting end? To the series tying together all the previous series.

[Baco Xtath]

Finished City of Miracles yesterday. Fantastic book. The whole series was amazing and this final book was a proper finale. Also finished Gamehouse #3 - great series of novellas. Definitely recommend both series to anyone that enjoys good things.

[Andorion]

Started Tigana again, and this time I got past the part which had always thrown me off before. After that things really smoothed out. I am 7 chapters in and enjoying the ride.

Also reading the Divine Comedy. I finished the Inferno portion which was great. Very graphic, and so very political. Purgatory in contrast is rather bland and boring.

[Aptorian]

Just finished Ready Player One. An interesting book certainly but nowhere as good as I had been led to believe by the buzz some years ago.

The book is described as hard sci-fi but it reads as a Young Adult novel. There's some pretty heavy subjects taking place around the story's plot but so much of it is never really explored or just glossed over. There's a ton of stuff about the MMO Virtual Reality and the actual reality that gets hand waved that I found it sort of off-putting, like the idea that we as a society apparently didn't create any new media or art after 2012 if you go by the narrators POV. Or that we for some reason apparently run out of basic resources and run into an energy crisis 30 years from now (a preposterous notion).

But all the 80s stuff is fun. The book gets nerdy in an American Psycho sort of way at times, just with less cutting hookers in half with chainsaws. If and when the movie adaption comes out it will be fun to see what they do with all that 80s nostalgia. How many cameo's and homages will they fill the film with I wonder?

EDIT: I'm waiting for the first book in the Dark Tower series to arrive at the library. I think I might start reading The Expanse series in the meantime. The first book has been sitting on my shelf for ages.

This post has been edited by Seduce Goose: 07 May 2017 - 06:55 PM

[worry]

Who the hell described it as hard sci-fi? Give em a smack. It's just a pretty entertaining pop culture nostalgia fest, like Wreck It Ralph.

The movie is in production right now, directed by Spielberg, so it's not an "if" -- and that's someone who can draw all the cameos he wants, but maybe isn't inclined to do that kind of thing, so it's still an interesting question.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 08 May 2017 - 12:34 AM, said:

Ando I have just finished ch 3. Have I gotten to the part you had trouble with yet?

So far I'm enjoying Tigana very much.

Yup. You have crossed it.

It wasn't something super huge, just rather annoying.

Spoiler

When Devin and Catriona have random sex in that secret room, given their interactions before that moment, and the situation outside - it was so utterly stupid I just stopped reading.

Luckily later portions more than make up for it and there is even a half explanation.

[Abyss]

worry, on 07 May 2017 - 07:41 PM, said:

Who the hell described it as hard sci-fi? Give em a smack. It's just a pretty entertaining pop culture nostalgia fest, like Wreck It Ralph.

The movie is in production right now, directed by Spielberg, so it's not an "if" -- and that's someone who can draw all the cameos he wants, but maybe isn't inclined to do that kind of thing, so it's still an interesting question.

Curiously in a couple of interviews Spielberg mentioned he would avoid refing his own work even tho some of it appears in the book.
And yeah, RP1 is about as hard sf as your average episode of Paw Patrol.

Finished RED RISING and GOLDEN SON in earbook, went straight into bk 3. Solid series so far, I enjoyed the change in tone and scope from bk 1 to 2, and 2 even managed some fun space opera / mil sf moments.

[Andorion]

Briar King, on 08 May 2017 - 03:01 AM, said:

Ah I suspected that was it.

Its a small thing, but it can really throw you off.

[Macros]

It was the start of my dislike of Tigana.
It just slid downward from there

[QuickTidal]

worry, on 07 May 2017 - 07:41 PM, said:

Who the hell described it as hard sci-fi? Give em a smack. It's just a pretty entertaining pop culture nostalgia fest, like Wreck It Ralph.

This.

Whoever the eff told you it was hard sci-fi was not only lying to you, they were trolling you HARD. It's exactly what Worry says it is....a moderately YA pop culture nostalgia fest.



------

I'm now almost 300 pages into RIVER GOD by Wilbur Smith, and it's still fantastic and compelling!

In fact, BK I think you'd really like this series!

[End of Disc One]

Started The Great Ordeal. Damn, these What Has Come Before sections are always so enjoyable to read. Even though I remember most of it, there are some clarifications of things I may not have caught before, and they just reinforce how compelling the story is.

This book seems to be everyone's least favorite or favorite in the series, so we'll see where I land.

[Aptorian]

Instead of reading the Expanse as I was intending, I stumbled upon an online version of Peter Watts' "Blindside".

http://www.rifters.c.../Blindsight.htm

When I cam upon the link I thought it was a short story. Before I knew what had happened I'd read 30 pages and was sucked into the narrative. I'm still not sure what the hell is going on but apparently the protagonist is some kind of brain damaged savant on a space ship on its way to some alien signal, meanwhile there is a continuous info dump going on about a late 21st century Earth where faster than light travel is possible, we have 3D replicators, semi-sentient AI, people ascending into a machine cloud, aliens visiting us and scaring the crap out of everybody, oh and apparently Vampires are real and are just walking around... not sure what that is about yet.

I haven't been reading a ton of books these past 5 years but it's really fun to run into a hard sci-fi book that is so far up its own ass that you're not exactly sure what is going on half the time. Some of the techno-philosophical-science stuff Watts is dumping on me is going straight over my head. It's refreshing to read some fiction that makes you feel dumb.

[Andorion]

11 chapters into Tigana.

Things just took a sharp left turn.

Spoiler

Random kinky sex break followed with random ghost fighting sub plot that may not be a sub plot.

I am really not sure about this book. When its good its good. But its also very random.


Also listening to Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. So far it seems to be about miserable people going into a death spiral.

[Andorion]

End of Disc One, on 08 May 2017 - 01:24 PM, said:

Started The Great Ordeal. Damn, these What Has Come Before sections are always so enjoyable to read. Even though I remember most of it, there are some clarifications of things I may not have caught before, and they just reinforce how compelling the story is.

This book seems to be everyone's least favorite or favorite in the series, so we'll see where I land.

I am very eager about starting the Aspect Emperor series but I am holding off as I want to start reading in such a way that I can go directly from Great Ordeal to Unholy Consult.

[QuickTidal]

Andorion, on 08 May 2017 - 05:32 PM, said:

Also listening to Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. So far it seems to be about miserable people going into a death spiral.

Ah yes, the genre that GONE GIRL inexplicably created. That of miserable-ass normal people being miserable, evil, and conniving (not in that order) and lying about it. Can't stand it...nor the fact that one such a BAD book/movie has begotten an entire genre of copycats....like it's Twilight or 50 Shades....ugh.

[polishgenius]

Andorion, on 08 May 2017 - 05:32 PM, said:

11 chapters into Tigana.

Things just took a sharp left turn.

Spoiler

Random kinky sex break followed with random ghost fighting sub plot that may not be a sub plot.

I am really not sure about this book. When its good its good. But its also very random.


Also listening to Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins. So far it seems to be about miserable people going into a death spiral.

Random kinky sex breaks are pretty common in Kay's books, it's ridiculous but I've come to accept it as a price of entry... I think Tigana's is the most egregious, though.

[Abyss]

End of Disc One, on 08 May 2017 - 01:24 PM, said:

Started The Great Ordeal. Damn, these What Has Come Before sections are always so enjoyable to read. Even though I remember most of it, there are some clarifications of things I may not have caught before, and they just reinforce how compelling the story is.

This book seems to be everyone's least favorite or favorite in the series, so we'll see where I land.

In case anyone was wondering, I'm STILL VERY FUCKSTARSING ANGRY at everyone who convinced me to read ORDEAL and blame them for the brutal wait for the next book.

Seduce Goose, on 08 May 2017 - 04:09 PM, said:

Instead of reading the Expanse as I was intending, I stumbled upon an online version of Peter Watts' "Blindside".

http://www.rifters.c.../Blindsight.htm

When I cam upon the link I thought it was a short story. Before I knew what had happened I'd read 30 pages and was sucked into the narrative. I'm still not sure what the hell is going on but apparently the protagonist is some kind of brain damaged savant on a space ship on its way to some alien signal, meanwhile there is a continuous info dump going on about a late 21st century Earth where faster than light travel is possible, we have 3D replicators, semi-sentient AI, people ascending into a machine cloud, aliens visiting us and scaring the crap out of everybody, oh and apparently Vampires are real and are just walking around... not sure what that is about yet.

I haven't been reading a ton of books these past 5 years but it's really fun to run into a hard sci-fi book that is so far up its own ass that you're not exactly sure what is going on half the time. Some of the techno-philosophical-science stuff Watts is dumping on me is going straight over my head. It's refreshing to read some fiction that makes you feel dumb.

It's a brilliant brilliant book. You will feel both smarter and stupider as you read it.

Andorion, on 08 May 2017 - 05:32 PM, said:

11 chapters into Tigana.

Things just took a sharp left turn.

Spoiler

Random kinky sex break followed with random ghost fighting sub plot that may not be a sub plot.

I am really not sure about this book. When its good its good. But its also very random.

Also, crap.

polishgenius, on 08 May 2017 - 07:04 PM, said:

Random kinky sex breaks are pretty common in Kay's books, it's ridiculous but I've come to accept it as a price of entry... I think Tigana's is the most egregious, though.

Which one?

Briar King, on 08 May 2017 - 07:12 PM, said:

I like random kinky sex myself.

Sure... but

Spoiler

with your sister?

.

[Kruppe of Darujhistan]

Abyss, on 08 May 2017 - 07:31 PM, said:

It's a brilliant brilliant book. You will feel both smarter and stupider as you read it.

Welp, you're half right. Latter was easy. Former not so much.

[Tiste Simeon]

Abyss, on 08 May 2017 - 07:31 PM, said:

Briar King, on 08 May 2017 - 07:12 PM, said:

I like random kinky sex myself.

Sure... but

Spoiler

with your sister?

.

He is from the South in the US...

[Earl of Sandwich]

Tiste Simeon, on 08 May 2017 - 08:57 PM, said:

Abyss, on 08 May 2017 - 07:31 PM, said:

Briar King, on 08 May 2017 - 07:12 PM, said:

I like random kinky sex myself.

Sure... but

Spoiler

with your sister?

.

He is from the South in the US...

Can't speak for him, but I recommend it. Sex with his sister, I mean.