What book are you reading...

aardvark

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neviditelny said:
Last night I did finish "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell" by Susanna Clarke. A book about English magicians in the beginning of the 19th century. A quite book even though it was a bit on the slow side.
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i couldn't get into that book -it was so dry and boring i lasted about 100 pages and gave up. I think its only the 2nd book in my life that i haven't finished.

Anyway, i've just finished the passage trilogy by justin cronin - really liked it. Bit slow in parts, especially mid way through the first one, and they are all very long, but i recommend them.

Started the witcher books (i have all but the newest one which is a prequel anyway)
 

No1newts

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I enjoyed the first but after that I found them really bitty and not very well written..could be horrific editing but I found the story really stopped flowing and whilst I (eventually) finished the third I've no desire to read anymore which is a shame as the first was great.
 

neviditelny

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aardvark said:
i couldn't get into that book -it was so dry and boring i lasted about 100 pages and gave up. I think its only the 2nd book in my life that i haven't finished.

Anyway, i've just finished the passage trilogy by justin cronin - really liked it. Bit slow in parts, especially mid way through the first one, and they are all very long, but i recommend them.

Started the witcher books (i have all but the newest one which is a prequel anyway)
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The Passage I've read already, got the last book signed by Cronin as well when he did a signing tour a few years back. Nice guy :)
 

SixTwoSix

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Steampunk said:
Richard Morgan's Takishi Kovacs books, starting with "Altered Carbon".
Peter F Hamilton's Mindstar books, starting with "Mindstar Rising".
Jack McDevitt's Alex Benedict books, starting with "A Talent For War".
Iain M Banks Culture books, starting with "The Player Of Games".
Dennis E Taylor Bobiverse books, starting with "We Are Legion (We Are Bob)"

Also look at Neal Asher (particularly the Agent Cormac and Spatterjay books), Charles Stross (Singularity Sky and Laundry books)
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So mis read this post a little and ordered The Soldier by Neal Asher, I remembered the author and just impulse ordered something well regarded late one night a couple of weeks ago.

I'm about 150 pages in and feel like i'm stuck in the middle of a grander epic. A friend at work popped in and echoed what you said that I should stop reading and go back to Agent Cormac.

I do like the style a lot and again it feels vastly different to anything i've read before.
 

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SixTwoSix said:
So mis read this post a little and ordered The Soldier by Neal Asher, I remembered the author and just impulse ordered something well regarded late one night a couple of weeks ago.

I'm about 150 pages in and feel like i'm stuck in the middle of a grander epic. A friend at work popped in and echoed what you said that I should stop reading and go back to Agent Cormac.

I do like the style a lot and again it feels vastly different to anything i've read before.
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Yes, Neal Asher has written a great big sci-fi opera epic, all set in the same universe. Some of them are little trilogies set off by themselves but set in the same universe (such as the Spatterjay or Transformation books) which cross over into the main universe. Some such as Brass Man or The Technician are sort of standalone tangents that explain more about the main storyline. Some like Prador Moon are like a prequel that explains the war. I'd certainly go with the main Agent Cormac series to start with. I have that down as starting with Gridlinked, The Line of Polity, Brass Man, Polity Agent, Line War. I'd also recommend the Spatterjay books as they are pretty standalone, though they take place in the same universe.

The only one of Asher's novels I'd leave till later is the Owner series. They are not in the Cormac universe, and I don't think they work as well.

In general I'd describe Asher's Polity books as kind of like Ian M Banks' Culture, but less esoteric and philosophical, more action orientated, and on a very big canvas. It's full of really fun characters, lots of interesting environments, big space opera battles on a planetary scale. It's not deep and thoughtful, it's not going to make you think about the world differently, it's going to wow you with sheer scale and imagination, explosions and battles between the good guys and the bad guys. It's a lot of fun with the sci-fi turned up to maximum.
 

SixTwoSix

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Steampunk said:
In general I'd describe Asher's Polity books as kind of like Ian M Banks' Culture, but less esoteric and philosophical, more action orientated, and on a very big canvas. It's full of really fun characters, lots of interesting environments, big space opera battles on a planetary scale. It's not deep and thoughtful, it's not going to make you think about the world differently, it's going to wow you with sheer scale and imagination, explosions and battles between the good guys and the bad guys. It's a lot of fun with the sci-fi turned up to maximum.
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I think after my last two books Revelation Space/Children of Time this is exactly what I need right now :)

BTW...really appreciate the effort you put into your posts and the depth you go to describing these book series, you've helped shaped my reading quite a bit recently, thanks.
 

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IvanDobskey said:
I've read all Iain M Banks and most of Alastair Reynolds now, so looking for another sci-fi author to binge :)

Any suggestions? Also enjoyed children of time and children of ruin.
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Richard Morgan, Charles Stross, Neal Asher, Larry Niven (if you fancy a bit of retro), Dennis E Taylor, Jack McDevitt, Peter F Hamilton, Neal Stephenson.
 
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ThePainBarrier

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IvanDobskey said:
Cheers for the list.

I have tried the first ringworld book and was a little disappointed. Been eyeing up Peter F Hamilton's books for a while, so maybe go there next.
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If you fancy something out of the main stream, you could try Michael R. Hicks (In Her Name series) or anything by M.R.Forbes. Some great story telling from both authors and all books free on Kindle Unlimited!
 

2013

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Could anyone recommend me a good fantasy audio book or two ? ive not really look into books for ages unless something huge pops up and everyone knows about it so I dont really know what to checkout

I have a free trial with audible but I dont know what to check out.

please not harry potter or LOTR i have see all the movies a number of times,
 

Thekwango

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just finished the Passage trilogy. 1st 2 books were very good i thought (2nd waivered a bit) The 3rd however was a bit of a let down. felt as though Cronin either lost interest or decided to shoehorn a load of guff in to finish it. too much focus on uninteresting parts of the story and not enough on other more relevant facets. also the writing (imo) seemed to deteriorate.

just over half way through One Second After - thoroughly enjoying it thus far. brutal, terrifying and sad in equal measure
 

sHo0sH

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2013 said:
Could anyone recommend me a good fantasy audio book or two ? ive not really look into books for ages unless something huge pops up and everyone knows about it so I dont really know what to checkout

I have a free trial with audible but I dont know what to check out.

please not harry potter or LOTR i have see all the movies a number of times,
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Red Rising - there's 5 books out now and they are outstanding.
 

melmac

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Supercow said:
Jeez, so much reading just to stop. Might as well go through Daniel Green's youtube channel where he summarises each book, and finish it off :)
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LOL, yeah I might do that. But, the Asteldian quote below sums up my feelings on the books by the time I finished book 8.

You can let me know what you think when you reach that far :p

asteldian said:
Think I got to 8 or 9 before I lost the will to live. 1-5 is a worthwhile read, then make up your own ending :p
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I felt the same way!! Never use 1 word where a 1000 will do. So much filler and repetition.

I made up my own ending, They all died of boredom from excessive monologues.
 

asteldian

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melmac said:
LOL, yeah I might do that. But, the Asteldian quote below sums up my feelings on the books by the time I finished book 8.

You can let me know what you think when you reach that far :p



I felt the same way!! Never use 1 word where a 1000 will do. So much filler and repetition.

I made up my own ending, They all died of boredom from excessive monologues.
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I always assumed the main characters suffocated having been smothered by the overwhelming number of 'who the **** are you' characters that seemed to increase with every book
 
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