[Andorion]

Briar King, on 24 June 2017 - 04:21 PM, said:

I can see the need to play an RTS for sure!

What specific page are you on? The book is right here in a box.

I am still in Part 1

Spoiler

Aurelia has just arrived at Sulla's camp

[Chance]

Finished up Red Sister and must say this is a good book and really it shouldn't be it is one of the basic fantasy book 1 in a trilogy. I've read this story half a dozen times at least but this is good. In some ways I want to critique it that it is so very close to Blood Song in so many ways but just like with that book it makes for a very fine tale.

Next up City of Stairs which I got some serious expectations on.

[Macros]

Briar King, on 24 June 2017 - 03:56 PM, said:

1-7 straight through and no other distractions like I have been doing this yr by reading 3 different series a day.

Damy but your recall is impressive. I really couldn't call what book a given scene was from, unless it was something really obvious like a cleopatra scene that HAD to be from Anthony and cleopatra

[Macros]

Just finished Kings of the Wyld.

Fun fun book, doesn't take itself seriously at all, but still packs in a few emotional punches too. Punches to the dick.


Starting Nod now

[Morgoth]

Almost done with Ninefox Gambit following polishgenius's recomendation. It's very enjoyable and weird in all it's weird little ways.

[Tsundoku]

"The Rise and Fall of the Second Largest Empire in History - How Genghis Khan's Mongols Almost Conquered the World" by Thomas Craughwell.

Entertaining history-lite. Could use a few more specific maps though.

[Andorion]

About 25% into Masters of Rome 3: Fortune's Favourites.

Also 7 chapters into Osman's Dream: A History of the Ottoman Empire by Caroline Finkel.

18 chapters into Master and Margarita.

[Kruppe of Darujhistan]

Finished Stephenson's Seveneves. Not his strongest book, but the usual grand ideas and it's still better than 90% of everything else.

Going to give Readme (or whatever it's called) yet another try. Haven't been able to get more than a few pages into it on several prior occasions. Not sure why, since I love Stephenson and I haven't read enough of this one to even know what it's about.

[Mentalist]

Macros, on 20 June 2017 - 07:34 PM, said:

Andorion, on 20 June 2017 - 05:36 PM, said:

Briar King, on 20 June 2017 - 04:06 PM, said:

Did you ever read that one I can't remember if you joined Ment, Ando and me in the series?

End of Disc One, on 20 June 2017 - 05:28 PM, said:

I think he's talking about Shadows of the Apt and no, Children of Time does not take place in the same world.

Different world Bk.

But Tchaikovsky has a thing for bugs. After the insect Kinden in Apt, we get sentient insects in Children of Time and Spider PoV in Spiderlight (which also is awesome)

I have yet to read his Guns of the Dawn, or his Echoes of the Fall series, but I saw somewhere the tribal totems of the Fall series reminded them of the Apt.

think it was me said this regarding goD

enjoyed Guns of Dawn, but I really got the vibe off the enemy that they were Ant-Kinden and the main characters people were of a non apt kinden

Nah, the good guys were more like Beetles. The bad guys were like extra dumb-Mantids, if anything.

Guns of Dawn drew on the same Industrial Revolution tropes, but it was pretty pure musketpunk.

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Finished Stephenson's Seveneves. Not his strongest book, but the usual grand ideas and it's still better than 90% of everything else.

Going to give Readme (or whatever it's called) yet another try. Haven't been able to get more than a few pages into it on several prior occasions. Not sure why, since I love Stephenson and I haven't read enough of this one to even know what it's about.

It's an action thriller much more than anything SFF. The MMO stuff's cool, but it's just a plot device, and there's much less info-dumps than usual.

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 26 June 2017 - 03:54 PM

[Kruppe of Darujhistan]

Mentalist, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Finished Stephenson's Seveneves. Not his strongest book, but the usual grand ideas and it's still better than 90% of everything else.

Going to give Readme (or whatever it's called) yet another try. Haven't been able to get more than a few pages into it on several prior occasions. Not sure why, since I love Stephenson and I haven't read enough of this one to even know what it's about.

It's an action thriller much more than anything SFF. The MMO stuff's cool, but it's just a plot device, and there's much less info-dumps than usual.

Yeah, I'm about 5% into it and I can sense the Action-Techno-Thrills looming on the horizon.

TBH, when I got to the first mentions of WoW and MMOs I groaned a bit. Not my cup of tea gamingwise. Stephenson somehow always makes the virtual/real financial and economic stuff interesting though, as it is in this one so far.

Aw, I love Stephenson's info-dumps. Hope he hasn't been influenced by the critics, who are ignorant and tend to dislike them enough to make a point of mentioning them.

[polishgenius]

There's a lot to like in Reamde, but Stephenson is open about the fact that it was originally going to be two separate books that his publisher persuaded him to smoosh together because his books sell better if they're over a certain length.

It really shows, and I really wish he hadn't because I found the MMO-connected stuff a lot more interesting than the other angle (despite or perhaps because of not playing MMOs myself).

This post has been edited by polishgenius: 26 June 2017 - 09:08 PM

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

Just finished Children of Time, and I really, really enjoyed it. Highly recommend to lovers of: evolution, empathy, alien thought processes, novel biotech, thousand-year voyages, SF that is not constantly whacking you in the face with eight-legs-worth of dystopia and darkness.

The parallel storylines of the spiders' cultural rise from the dirt and the humans' cultural descent into that same dirt worked well — like a double helix of DNA, rotating around each other.

Also, to those of you who disliked the ending — why?

Spoiler

It's nice to have some spec fic that has an optimistic ending, with polar opposites coming together in a common purpose and in compassion. Messenger knows, we surely have enough that ends in death, darkness, and annihilation. And it's not like the spiders' choice was a complete surprise; looking back, Tchaikovsky talks about their relationship with other species and with each other a lot. Even framing their science within the idea that everything in the universe is connected, nodes and strands of a great web. Tug on one end, and another comes undone.

I think I'm going to give his Shadows of the Apt books another go. I think I'd read one or two years ago, but stopped for some reason.

This post has been edited by Whisperzzzzzzz: 26 June 2017 - 09:40 PM

[Mentalist]

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 08:45 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Finished Stephenson's Seveneves. Not his strongest book, but the usual grand ideas and it's still better than 90% of everything else.

Going to give Readme (or whatever it's called) yet another try. Haven't been able to get more than a few pages into it on several prior occasions. Not sure why, since I love Stephenson and I haven't read enough of this one to even know what it's about.

It's an action thriller much more than anything SFF. The MMO stuff's cool, but it's just a plot device, and there's much less info-dumps than usual.

Yeah, I'm about 5% into it and I can sense the Action-Techno-Thrills looming on the horizon.

TBH, when I got to the first mentions of WoW and MMOs I groaned a bit. Not my cup of tea gamingwise. Stephenson somehow always makes the virtual/real financial and economic stuff interesting though, as it is in this one so far.

Aw, I love Stephenson's info-dumps. Hope he hasn't been influenced by the critics, who are ignorant and tend to dislike them enough to make a point of mentioning them.

If "Seveneves" is any indication, Stephenson will be Stephenson

[amphibian]

Reamde is probably his third best book, even if he hates how it's two books smushed together.

[Chance]

Whisperzzzzzzz, on 26 June 2017 - 09:34 PM, said:

Also, to those of you who disliked the ending — why?

Spoiler

It's nice to have some spec fic that has an optimistic ending, with polar opposites coming together in a common purpose and in compassion. Messenger knows, we surely have enough that ends in death, darkness, and annihilation. And it's not like the spiders' choice was a complete surprise; looking back, Tchaikovsky talks about their relationship with other species and with each other a lot. Even framing their science within the idea that everything in the universe is connected, nodes and strands of a great web. Tug on one end, and another comes undone.

I disliked the ending sequence strongly, not for the story but the way he handles technology which really only becomes blatant in the last part. Tchaikovsky like in his earlier work uses technology esthetically and thematically appropriate instead of technology that makes sense and that just make me unable to take it seriously. He can speak all he wants about how their technology works and way some things are harder then other but when your building rings around planets you have no problems with anything humanity could currently build. The overall story was fine not especially surprising ending wise. Still it is a decent book.


Currently reading City of Blades after City of Stairs which was possibly a bit preachy depending on how you read Bennett, it could even be interpreted as very preachy if you put it into a modern day perspective as a discussion about religious fanatism, modernization and hegemony. While a bit irritating occationally a solid book.

This post has been edited by Chance: 27 June 2017 - 03:49 AM

[Andorion]

Mentalist, on 26 June 2017 - 10:16 PM, said:

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 08:45 PM, said:

Mentalist, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Kruppe of Darujhistan, on 26 June 2017 - 03:48 PM, said:

Finished Stephenson's Seveneves. Not his strongest book, but the usual grand ideas and it's still better than 90% of everything else.

Going to give Readme (or whatever it's called) yet another try. Haven't been able to get more than a few pages into it on several prior occasions. Not sure why, since I love Stephenson and I haven't read enough of this one to even know what it's about.

It's an action thriller much more than anything SFF. The MMO stuff's cool, but it's just a plot device, and there's much less info-dumps than usual.

Yeah, I'm about 5% into it and I can sense the Action-Techno-Thrills looming on the horizon.

TBH, when I got to the first mentions of WoW and MMOs I groaned a bit. Not my cup of tea gamingwise. Stephenson somehow always makes the virtual/real financial and economic stuff interesting though, as it is in this one so far.

Aw, I love Stephenson's info-dumps. Hope he hasn't been influenced by the critics, who are ignorant and tend to dislike them enough to make a point of mentioning them.

If "Seveneves" is any indication, Stephenson will be Stephenson

Seveneves was so strange. The last part felt like he had taken a sequel, smushed it into 30% of the book and tacked it on.

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

I started The Gray House on my commute to work this morning, and am reading it now on the commute home. An hour and a half, but only 27 pages read...

This is going to be a tough one. I'm so fucking confused, and this school/house/place is an enigma. Talk about in media res.

That said, I think I'll like this (even if I'm as confused throughout it as I was through Stand On Zanzibar, which I ended up loving).

[Whisperzzzzzzz]

The Gray House requires too much attention to read on my commute. It's now a home read, and I'm going to read Greg Egan's Diaspora on the train.

[Mentalist]

Well, that certainly didn't take long. Finished "Traitor's Blade", and I want MOAR.

Next for commute I guess I'll try "Magic Rises", the next Kate Daniels book

This post has been edited by Mentalist: 29 June 2017 - 02:47 AM

[Coco with marshmallows]

Mentalist, on 29 June 2017 - 02:46 AM, said:

Well, that certainly didn't take long. Finished "Traitor's Blade", and I want MOAR.

As i believe i may have mentioned, all 4 are great reads.

personally plowing through the rise and fall of DoDo, but got the sequel to Waking Fire by Anthony Ryan edging into view on the bookshelf every now and then. May make that my commute read.