[Serenity]

 Tapper, on 26 October 2011 - 08:59 AM, said:

Feersum Endjinn.

As much as I enjoy Banks, and as much as I admire writing a quarter of the book in txtspk avant la lettre, Bascule's bits are giving me massive headaches.

Shame - that's my favourite Banks, and I found the Bascule sections to be laugh-out-loud funny at times



I'm reading Stoker's Dracula and have just read the first 100 or so pages of Michelle Paver's Dark Matter, which is really rather good. It's a long time since I've read a decent ghost story, so it's been quite refreshing.

[QuickTidal]

 Abyss, on 03 November 2011 - 04:25 AM, said:

Started Silva's KILL ARTIST and realized i had already read it. Hate it when that happens. Switched to another of his and am now halfway thru PRINCE OF FIRE now and totally engaged. Silva is really a master of the global spanning spy vs terrorist story.

I've considered reading this guy, but I never have. Worth it?

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 03 November 2011 - 03:41 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 03 November 2011 - 04:25 AM, said:

... Silva is really a master of the global spanning spy vs terrorist story.

I've considered reading this guy, but I never have. Worth it?

I'd say so. His Gabriel Allon books are brilliant. Allon's an ex-Israeli assassin become art restorer who keeps being pulled back into espionage. Silva does a nice job of developing out Allon and his often shfting supporting cast, and he does his research such that Vienna, Tel Aviv, Cairo, wherever, are well depicted.

He also does an admirable job of not falling into a trap of Israel Good vs Everyone Else Bad. There's a nice level of ambiguity and the wins are rarely clean or simple.

He's also one of those writers who incoporates history and information (ie: art restoration, spy craft, weapons...) in such a way that you may feel smarter for having read his books. There's a reason his books routinely hit #1 bestseller lists in hb.

THE KILL ARTIST was the first one and a good place to start, altho THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN or THE CONFESSOR also work in any order. After those three the books are slightly more connected and some of the minor references to earlier books make more sense if you've read them, but you could probably read any of them without difficulty.

Of his non-Allon stuff i've only read the WW2 set UNLIKELY SPY, which was just okay.

[QuickTidal]

 Abyss, on 03 November 2011 - 04:07 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 03 November 2011 - 03:41 PM, said:

 Abyss, on 03 November 2011 - 04:25 AM, said:

... Silva is really a master of the global spanning spy vs terrorist story.

I've considered reading this guy, but I never have. Worth it?

I'd say so. His Gabriel Allon books are brilliant. Allon's an ex-Israeli assassin become art restorer who keeps being pulled back into espionage. Silva does a nice job of developing out Allon and his often shfting supporting cast, and he does his research such that Vienna, Tel Aviv, Cairo, wherever, are well depicted.

He also does an admirable job of not falling into a trap of Israel Good vs Everyone Else Bad. There's a nice level of ambiguity and the wins are rarely clean or simple.

He's also one of those writers who incoporates history and information (ie: art restoration, spy craft, weapons...) in such a way that you may feel smarter for having read his books. There's a reason his books routinely hit #1 bestseller lists in hb.

THE KILL ARTIST was the first one and a good place to start, altho THE ENGLISH ASSASSIN or THE CONFESSOR also work in any order. After those three the books are slightly more connected and some of the minor references to earlier books make more sense if you've read them, but you could probably read any of them without difficulty.

Of his non-Allon stuff i've only read the WW2 set UNLIKELY SPY, which was just okay.

Cool, I'll add THE KILL ARTIST to my list as I need a new set of thrillers to get into. Thanks!

[Abyss]

Enjoy. It's not THE BREACH/GHOST COUNTRY level pacing and i find i prefer to read one every so often rather than in a row, but i think they're worth the eyetime.

[POOPOO MCBUMFACE]

Recreational reading has ground to a halt midway through re-reading Reaper's Gale because of uni. Doing a law degree really does suck all pleasure out of reading for enjoyment

[Abyss]

 POOPOO MCBUMFACE, on 03 November 2011 - 05:42 PM, said:

Recreational reading has ground to a halt midway through re-reading Reaper's Gale because of uni. Doing a law degree really does suck all pleasure out of reading for enjoyment

they has lawz in scotland????

[JPK]

Holy crap. I finally did it. I finished Evil for Evil by K J Parker. Glad to be able to put that back onto my shelves.

[Salt-Man Z]

Started in on the second book of the Night Angel Trilogy. It's been over two months since I finished the first book, so I had to skim the end of Way of Shadows to refresh myself, but otherwise it's been pretty easy sliding back into Midcyru.

[Morgoth]

Just bought REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. Looking forwards to another explosion of crazy ideas and mathematical revelations.

[POOPOO MCBUMFACE]

 Abyss, on 03 November 2011 - 06:59 PM, said:

 POOPOO MCBUMFACE, on 03 November 2011 - 05:42 PM, said:

Recreational reading has ground to a halt midway through re-reading Reaper's Gale because of uni. Doing a law degree really does suck all pleasure out of reading for enjoyment

they has lawz in scotland????

Consensus seems to be that nobody's sure. It just makes things more complicated.

[Salt-Man Z]

 Morgoth, on 03 November 2011 - 09:44 PM, said:

Just bought REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. Looking forwards to another explosion of crazy ideas and mathematical revelations.

Don't hold your breath!

[Dolorous Menhir]

 The Incredible Kitsu, on 03 November 2011 - 07:22 PM, said:

Holy crap. I finally did it. I finished Evil for Evil by K J Parker. Glad to be able to put that back onto my shelves.

Parker's an interesting one, isn't she? Technical skill, impressive knowledge and attention to detail. Able to create great characters - was particularly impressed with Duke Valens. Yet in the end, her trilogies grind you down with misery, disappointment, death, all round negativity.

[QuickTidal]

 Salt-Man Z, on 03 November 2011 - 10:18 PM, said:

 Morgoth, on 03 November 2011 - 09:44 PM, said:

Just bought REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. Looking forwards to another explosion of crazy ideas and mathematical revelations.

Don't hold your breath!

Yeah, from what I hear from Chris and others this is not your typical Stephenson.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 04 November 2011 - 12:33 PM

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 04 November 2011 - 12:32 PM, said:

 Salt-Man Z, on 03 November 2011 - 10:18 PM, said:

 Morgoth, on 03 November 2011 - 09:44 PM, said:

Just bought REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. Looking forwards to another explosion of crazy ideas and mathematical revelations.

Don't hold your breath!

Yeah, from what I hear from Chris and others this is not your typical Stephenson.

In the sense of good or bad?
I'm hearing generally positive about it...

[Salt-Man Z]

I really enjoyed Reamde. It starts out very Stephenson-esque (says the guy who's only read Crypto) and you get a lot about Richard Forthrast's family and background and the backstory behind his MMORG, T'Rain. Then "Reamde" rears its head, the plot kicks in, and it turns into 800+ pages of mostly-straightforward thriller, with spies and mobsters and terrorists and everything.

At about the halfway point, I was thinking, "What can he possibly do for the next 500 pages?" I was having a hard time bringing myself to pick the book up each night, even though once I did I found the story positively riveting.

But the day after I finished it I looked over to see it sitting on my nightstand, and was actually saddened that I wouldn't be reading it anymore. I'd spent so long with the characters (4 weeks reading, 3+ weeks in-story) that already I had started to miss them.

This post has been edited by Salt-Man Z: 04 November 2011 - 02:51 PM

[QuickTidal]

 Abyss, on 04 November 2011 - 01:42 PM, said:

 QuickTidal, on 04 November 2011 - 12:32 PM, said:

 Salt-Man Z, on 03 November 2011 - 10:18 PM, said:

 Morgoth, on 03 November 2011 - 09:44 PM, said:

Just bought REAMDE by Neal Stephenson. Looking forwards to another explosion of crazy ideas and mathematical revelations.

Don't hold your breath!

Yeah, from what I hear from Chris and others this is not your typical Stephenson.

In the sense of good or bad?
I'm hearing generally positive about it...

From what I heard, it is good, but is more of a straightforward thriller style narrative than something uber-thinky like the Baroque books or stuff like that. The general consensus is that it is very good, just that it is not his typical type of fare is all.

This post has been edited by QuickTidal: 04 November 2011 - 02:49 PM

[amphibian]

 Salt-Man Z, on 04 November 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

I really enjoyed Reamde. It starts out very Stephenson-esque (says the guy who's only read Crypto) and you get a lot about Richard Forthrast's family and background and the backstory behind his MMORG, T'Rain. Then "Reamde" rears its head, the plot kicks in, and it turns into 800+ pages of mostly-straightforward thriller, with spies and mobsters and terrorists and everything.

At about the halfway point, I was thinking, "What can he possibly do for the next 500 pages?" I was having a hard time bringing myself to pick the book up each night, even though once I did I found the story positively riveting.

But the day after I finished it I looked over to see it sitting on my nightstand, and was actually saddened that I wouldn't be reading it anymore. I'd spent so long with the characters (4 weeks reading, 3+ weeks in-story) that already I had started to miss them.

This is a fair description of REAMDE.

Without spoiling anything, the title REAMDE is probably what you think it is - a transposition of the "M" and the "D" in a README file.

I'd put it as a much closer to the real world hybrid of Snow Crash and Cryptonomicon, while being much more accessible to non-male geeks. It's as if Stephenson wrote his version of a Dean Koontz book. I like it quite a bit and although the badassery isn't quite the heights of his other books, it's perhaps a more fully realized world and the characters are vivid. As an added benfit, this book ends satisfactorily and is not a totally bizarre ending a la Anathem or The Baroque Cycle.

It's very Mid-Western common sense/Pacific Northwest theories on life in overall tone, despite taking place all over the Pacific Rim. Highly recommend for those who have enjoyed Stephenson in the past and even for those new to his writing style. Slow start to establish characters and world, plot kicks in and then thriller run all the way to the end.

[QuickTidal]

 Salt-Man Z, on 04 November 2011 - 02:47 PM, said:

At about the halfway point, I was thinking, "What can he possibly do for the next 500 pages?" I was having a hard time bringing myself to pick the book up each night, even though once I did I found the story positively riveting.

But the day after I finished it I looked over to see it sitting on my nightstand, and was actually saddened that I wouldn't be reading it anymore. I'd spent so long with the characters (4 weeks reading, 3+ weeks in-story) that already I had started to miss them.

Funnily enough this is nearly my exact feelings about the latest Murakami behemoth (900+pages) 1Q84, I also have a hard time picking it up, but every time I do I find that I am totally engrossed in the story and the characters, and I think I will be really sad when I finish it as well, since I won;t be spending any more time with those characters.

[Abyss]

 QuickTidal, on 04 November 2011 - 05:56 PM, said:

...nearly my exact feelings about the latest Murakami behemoth (900+pages) 1Q84, I also have a hard time picking it up, but every time I do I find that I am totally engrossed in the story and the characters, and I think I will be really sad when I finish it as well, since I won;t be spending any more time with those characters.

Am interested in reading what forumites think of that book.
Lots of hype but the reviews are all over the place.