[Use Of Weapons]

H.D., on 01 September 2010 - 09:05 AM, said:

Jit, that's a pretty nasty spoiler for anyone who hasn't read through the original Black Company.

Then they'll have to learn to deal with their disappointment. Given that the books have been available for a few decades now, I feel quite happy revealing their internal workings. Sheesh!

[HoosierDaddy]

jitsukerr, on 01 September 2010 - 09:31 AM, said:

H.D., on 01 September 2010 - 09:05 AM, said:

Jit, that's a pretty nasty spoiler for anyone who hasn't read through the original Black Company.

Then they'll have to learn to deal with their disappointment. Given that the books have been available for a few decades now, I feel quite happy revealing their internal workings. Sheesh!

So, just so I know, at what point in time do spoiilers become okay because of their date? Tolkien is obviously prefectly spoilerable now, considering people have obviously been sitting on their hands for the last 80 years just purposefully not reading it. New readers? Pssssh. No such thing. They should have read it before they were born.


MODGOD EDIT TO ADD - USE YOUR HEAD RE SPOILERS. JITS' ORIGINAL POST DOESN'T QUITE SPOIL THE ENDING OF SHE IS BUT CLOSE ENOUGH THAT A READER IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING SPOILED. BLOCKS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SPOILING POST.
BY THE WAY, DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER, VIRGIL IS KAIZER SOZE AND DIL HAS A PENIS.

This post has been edited by Abyss: 01 September 2010 - 01:43 PM

[Puck]

I agree with H.D. on the spoiler thing. It's not like there is no such thing as new readers, however old the books may be.

But as it is, I finished She is the Darkness just yesterday, and yes, I too would die to know how things go on, but I've sworn myself to not touch any Black Company book until I'll have finished my assignments for this summer. Thus, I'm reading on in Insomnia by Stephen King, which isn't thrilling enough so far to chain me to it like the Black Comapny stuff does; thus, a perfect 'ten pages before sleep' book.

[HoosierDaddy]

Puck: I've been watching your Insomnia progress through the thread. I absolutely loved the book, so my question is fairly obvious: What is slowing down the read?

Spoiler

Is it the old characters? The introduction of the Random and the Purpose? (I think those are their names.)

[Puck]

Mmh.. It's not that I don't like the book.. At first I thought it might be Ralph's age [that's not a spoiler, right? It's stated right on the first page], but characters' ages usually don't bother me.. In the end, I think it's just a Stephen King overdose. It's the ninth novel by Stephen King I'm reading this year [not including the Dark Tower graphic novels], and I'm determined to finish the Dark Tower series soon. Between starting Insomnia and resuming to read it yesterday I've read three other books and it looks to be working better; meaning I enjoy Insomnia more now that I've had a break. It's slow paced, but that's not bothering me anymore. Also, I like the DT references that have occured so far

This post has been edited by Puck: 01 September 2010 - 01:04 PM

[Slow Ben]

I want sooooo bad to finish the Black Company books. But i have at least 6 huge boxes full of books from the move and i cant seem to find the second to last one in the series. I'VE LOOKED SO MANY TIMES AND ITS NOT THERE!

The little brother gave me The Way of Kings today as a late birthday present, so i'm starting it tonight. This book is thick!

[Abyss]

modgod repost in case anyone doesn't look upthread

H.D., on 01 September 2010 - 09:39 AM, said:

jitsukerr, on 01 September 2010 - 09:31 AM, said:

H.D., on 01 September 2010 - 09:05 AM, said:

Jit, that's a pretty nasty spoiler for anyone who hasn't read through the original Black Company.

Then they'll have to learn to deal with their disappointment. Given that the books have been available for a few decades now, I feel quite happy revealing their internal workings. Sheesh!

So, just so I know, at what point in time do spoiilers become okay because of their date? Tolkien is obviously prefectly spoilerable now, considering people have obviously been sitting on their hands for the last 80 years just purposefully not reading it. New readers? Pssssh. No such thing. They should have read it before they were born.


MODGOD EDIT TO ADD - USE YOUR HEAD RE SPOILERS. JITS' ORIGINAL POST DOESN'T QUITE SPOIL THE ENDING OF SHE IS BUT CLOSE ENOUGH THAT A READER IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING SPOILED. BLOCKS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SPOILING POST.
BY THE WAY, DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER, VIRGIL IS KAIZER SOZE AND DIL HAS A PENIS.

[Use Of Weapons]

Abyss, on 01 September 2010 - 01:44 PM, said:

modgod repost in case anyone doesn't look upthread

H.D., on 01 September 2010 - 09:39 AM, said:

So, just so I know, at what point in time do spoiilers become okay because of their date? Tolkien is obviously prefectly spoilerable now, considering people have obviously been sitting on their hands for the last 80 years just purposefully not reading it. New readers? Pssssh. No such thing. They should have read it before they were born.


MODGOD EDIT TO ADD - USE YOUR HEAD RE SPOILERS. JITS' ORIGINAL POST DOESN'T QUITE SPOIL THE ENDING OF SHE IS BUT CLOSE ENOUGH THAT A READER IS GOING TO HAVE SOMETHING SPOILED. BLOCKS HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE SPOILING POST.
BY THE WAY, DARTH VADER IS LUKE'S FATHER, VIRGIL IS KAIZER SOZE AND DIL HAS A PENIS.

http://www.threadles...844/Spoilt#zoom

[Abyss]

jitsukerr, on 01 September 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

...
http://www.threadles...844/Spoilt#zoom

aw crap, i wish i hadn't clicked on that link, it spoils LIFE!!!

[MTS]

Abyss, on 01 September 2010 - 02:46 PM, said:

jitsukerr, on 01 September 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

...
http://www.threadles...844/Spoilt#zoom

aw crap, i wish i hadn't clicked on that link, it spoils LIFE!!!

That is an awesome shirt. Is it sad I'd seen all of those movies?

[Slow Ben]

MTS, on 01 September 2010 - 03:11 PM, said:

Abyss, on 01 September 2010 - 02:46 PM, said:

jitsukerr, on 01 September 2010 - 02:40 PM, said:

...
http://www.threadles...844/Spoilt#zoom

aw crap, i wish i hadn't clicked on that link, it spoils LIFE!!!

That is an awesome shirt. Is it awesome I'd seen all of those movies?

Yes

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Finished Hunter's Run by George R.R. Martin, Gardner Dozois and Daniel Abrahams. I liked it. The interactions between the main character and the alien were particularly interesting.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 02 September 2010 - 10:51 AM

[Harvester]

I am reading The Steel Remains by Richard Morgan.

[ansible]

stone monkey, on 31 August 2010 - 09:46 PM, said:

worrywort, on 25 August 2010 - 10:38 PM, said:

stone monkey, on 25 August 2010 - 07:47 PM, said:

Currently reading The Complete Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino

Whoa. I did not realize the version I have is "incomplete". I wonder what I'm missing!

This is the edition I have

That article also mentions George Perec's La Disparation, a novel which doesn't have a single occurance of the letter E, which was translated into English, still without the letter E, by Gilbert Adair as A Void (which some of my friends still refer to as "that weird book he read") - it's a deeply weird and frankly rather hilarious book btw; just seeing the knots he ties himself in by trying to avoid certain forbidden words made me giggle all the way through it. There's apparently a German translation too, still without the letter E, which I suspect would have to be seen to be believed.

Perec, presumably because he was insane or something, also wrote a novella called The Exeter Text where the only vowel he used was the letter E.

I first heard of these, it should come as no surprise, in Douglas Hofstader's wonderful book about translation (amongst other things) called Le Ton Beau De Marot (don't worry, it's not actually written in French). If you can find a copy (it took me a couple of years to finally get hold of it; pre-internet) you should have a look at it.

stone monkey - free associating...

I have read Perec's Things: A Story of the Sixties and A Man Asleep, but I had no idea he was also the guy who wrote a novel without the letter 'e'. I think I want to read that, now.

I liked Insomnia as well, but it's been awhile.

I accidentally started reading The Bonehunters and forgot about Night of Knives, so I paused to go back and read it. After tBH will come The Book of the Long Sun, I think.

[stone monkey]

Just finished The Futurological Congress by Stanislaw Lem - which is absolutely hilarious and When Life Nearly Died by Michael Benton (about the Permian Terminal Catastrophe), which was very interesting. The author plumps for the theory that the event that killed 80-95% of everything that was alive at the time (the largest Mass Extinction in history) was caused by the eruption of the Siberian traps approx 250 million years ago that led to a global warming event that melted the pre-existing methane clathrate beds and hence a further runaway global warming effect... Scary stuff.

This post has been edited by stone monkey: 02 September 2010 - 08:16 PM

[Dag]

I just finished Tchaikovsky's Salute the Dark and The Scarab Path in a record time, and... yes, prepare torches and pitchforks, folks... I liked them both. A LOT.

Tchaikovsky managed to entertain me and make me turn the pages frantically and stay awake just a biiiit longer then I usually do to squeeze in an additional chapter or two. And to all those people who complained about his reluctance to kill off his characters... well... after the carnage that was book 4, I kind of wish you had been right.

I don't feel like a better or richer person for reading these books and I do not think they will stay in my memory for too long, but they gave me entertainment and excitement I needed. Also, I would dare to state that his writing is improving and that his over-stereotyped characters have finally managed to gain more personality and individuality.

Needless to say, Tchaikovsky will continue to get a lot of attention - and money - from me in the future if he keeps it up this way.

[Use Of Weapons]

Have got Hawkwood and the Kings with me at the moment. Haven't unpacked any books after my move this weekend, so Water Sleeps is on hold until I find it.

[Erik Raditzky]

Just recently stumbled apon Neal Asher and his Agent Cormac series, been reading them past couple of days, then I think I'll be moving on to Raymond Fiest books, another one that I jsut stumbled across, funny that, since I also came across Eriksson by accident, as well as my fav band, Biffy Clyro (bought the vertigo of bliss album just coz I got a giggle at the cover art) It seems to me the things I like best are almost always impulse buys or accidental finds.

Oh, and as a matter of course I re-read the entire Dune Series once every year. Those books are awesome!

[Bauchelain the Evil]

Sword and Citadel which includes the last two books of the Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe. Some of the concepts are simply great, like the alzabo. I also wonder how in the future the story of Romulus and Remus gets mixed with the Jungle Book.

This post has been edited by Bauchelain the Evil: 07 September 2010 - 09:01 AM

[Abyss]

jitsukerr, on 06 September 2010 - 10:15 AM, said:

...so Water Sleeps is on hold until I find it.

Just started that. Three pages in and so far so good.

Just finished Rollins' MAP OF BONES (the 2nd Sigma Force book). WAY better than the first one. Rollins keeps the sci-fi to a workable minimum and his characters are less archetypal and more interesting in this novel. I was on the fence after SANDSTORM but i really enjoyed MAP. Solid fun series.

@Quicktidal, iirc, your Rollins reco makes us even for me sending you to Dresden.