What book are you reading...

[Cap]

Just finished reading Tower Lord by Anthony Ryan and thought it was good though felt a bit too long and some characters started to become unbelievable (Yeah I know it's Fantasy!)

Now reading Half a King by Joe Abercrombie

Just finished Dust of Dreams - dat Nah'ruk battle

Onwards to the Crippled God

I really need to get back into Malazan, read up to Reapers Gale so far.

 

[scorchisio]

anyone have any good sci fi action books to reccomend please? last one i enjoyed was the electric church by jeff somers couple of years ago.

 

[tres]

The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

An incredible book. Thought I'd read it as it's number 5 in the New York Times bestsellers list, and has been in the list for 315 weeks!

A short book, took me a few hours to read it, but fits so much in. Highly recommended. Now to find another book that leaves me so satisfied.

 

[Pighardia]

Just started Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner.

I'm 100 pages in and I'm slightly overwhelmed tbh. It is incredible.

 

[No1newts]

Just started Stand on Zanzibar by John Brunner.

I'm 100 pages in and I'm slightly overwhelmed tbh. It is incredible.

Sounds really good.

However I find it frustratingly ironic that this book and other SF classics like Ringworld which are/were edgy scifi and predicting the future are stuck in print editions only and not available in e-format

 

[Glaucus]

dark Tourist by Dom Joly. Had no idea who he was untill he says in the book. Not far in, but really enjoying it.

Ever since he can remember, Dom Joly has been fascinated by travel to odd places. In part, this stems from a childhood spent in war-torn Lebanon, where instead of swapping marbles in the schoolyard, he had a shrapnel collection - the schoolboy currency of Beirut. These early experiences left Dom with a profound loathing for the sanitized experiences of the modern-day travel industry and a taste for the darkest of places. And in this brilliantly odd and hilariously told travel memoir, Dom Joly sets out on a quest to visit those destinations from which the average tourist would, and should, run a mile.

Funny and frightening in equal measure, this is a uniquely bizarre and compelling travelogue from one of the most fearless and innovative comedians around.

From the author: 'I'm so excited to have my own audio book out- I listen to loads of them while travelling the world- they are often my only companion, a little voice of sanity in scary situations...'

 

[tres]

just started Seeker by Jack McDevitt after a recommendation here.

Oh, and my book is free on kindle for today and tomorrow if anyone fancies it!

 

[LiE]

Echo people's thoughts on Half a King - very mediocre. The biggest twist in the entire book was something I'd guessed the moment the character was introduced.

 

[Glaucus]

Ok I want some more travel based books, anyone got any recommendations. Not guide books. But storey based travel books, from odd places, big adventures(be it some big hike, cycling/motorbike some huge route), unusual destinations etc?

Really liked dark Tourist by Dom Joly which I've almost finished now.

 

[Meridian]

Sounds really good.

However I find it frustratingly ironic that this book and other SF classics like Ringworld which are/were edgy scifi and predicting the future are stuck in print editions only and not available in e-format

SF tends to go out of physical print very quickly - few books stay on the shelves more than a couple of years. Just about the only way to read all the good stuff is by haunting second-hand shops or hoping that Gollancz re-issues them (pretty much anything on the Gollancz "classic" re-issues is required reading for a proper SF fan).

And yes, Stand on Zanzibar is a true classic, much respected by writers, but not that well selling at the time.

 

[No1newts]

SF tends to go out of physical print very quickly - few books stay on the shelves more than a couple of years. Just about the only way to read all the good stuff is by haunting second-hand shops or hoping that Gollancz re-issues them (pretty much anything on the Gollancz "classic" re-issues is required reading for a proper SF fan).

And yes, Stand on Zanzibar is a true classic, much respected by writers, but not that well selling at the time.

I agree, just find the irony of it all vaguely amusing.

Will be looking at this Zanzibar book, sounds very good.

 

[Cap]

Echo people's thoughts on Half a King - very mediocre. The biggest twist in the entire book was something I'd guessed the moment the character was introduced.

Yep finished it last night and didn't really feel like Joe Abercrombie even if it is YA. The pacing was good at least lol.

Started to read Toll the Hounds by Steven Erikson

 

[tres]

The Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Really enjoyed this one, one of my favourite genres, future development and exploration.

 

[Steampunk]

The Seeker by Jack McDevitt

Really enjoyed this one, one of my favourite genres, future development and exploration.

All of Jack McDevitts "Alex Benedict" books are in the same genre ie sci-fi archaeology adventure. If you liked Seeker, you will like the others too. I think the best is still the first one, "A Talent For War".

 

[tres]

Oh brilliant, I had no idea there were more.

A Talent For War shall be tomorrow's start!

 

[No1newts]

Just finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Heard a lot about it but it wasn't very impressed, found it rather poor to be honest, all these grand themes people mention he touched on them but seemed afraid or unwilling to really engage beyond some shallow parallels and rather lame comparisons.

For me he suggests a lot but the novel doesn't tackle anything of substance, it strikes me as one of those classics it's "cool" to love and everyone being chick intelligentsia to get on board with this.

If it was a modern novel it wouldn't even be published.

The one positive was some of his prose was beautiful, though the beautiful moments were sadly butchered by the horribly stodgy word play that dominated the majority of the novel.

On a positive note though it clears the decks for Assail tomorrow

 

[Steampunk]

Oh brilliant, I had no idea there were more.

A Talent For War shall be tomorrow's start!

McDevitt has also got a series which is similar, the Academy or Priscilla Hutchins books. It takes place at an earlier time, and there's a bit of a technology disconnect he explains away by the diaspora and some technology having been lost by Alex Benedict's time.

I think the Alex Benedict books are better sf/archaeology mysteries, but the Hutchins books have some great ideas too. They are a bit formulaic in that the various characters make the same mistakes that get them into trouble, but it's the getting them out of trouble that's interesting, along with the background settings and ideas.

McDevitt also has some standalone books that have a very similar feel, though a completely different setting (such as Ancient Shores).

 

[fez]

Just finished reading The Drowed World by J G Ballard and it was quite rubbish in general. I dont know if it was in this thread that it was recommended or a sci-if must read list somewhere but it was dull, pedestrian and never got going. There was no real point to any of it. None of the plot had any real purpose or relevance to the message of the book.

 

[Meridian]

Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. It's a great change to read a fantasy that isn't essentially Christian in origin, and this (as the author's name should make clear) is based on Arabic myth. The only other books I remember coming from that tradition are some of Tanith Lee's (I woefully underestimated writer) books, starting with the genuinely great Night's Master.

The only downside of Throne is realising that it's the first of a series. Meaning that by the time book two comes out I will have forgotten book one. My usual strategy is to only buy series when all are in print. That way if I like the first I can keep going to the end. Naturally, some publishers refuse to say how many books are in a series until the last one is out.

 

[Random Guy]

Just finished Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Heard a lot about it but it wasn't very impressed, found it rather poor to be honest, all these grand themes people mention he touched on them but seemed afraid or unwilling to really engage beyond some shallow parallels and rather lame comparisons.

For me he suggests a lot but the novel doesn't tackle anything of substance, it strikes me as one of those classics it's "cool" to love and everyone being chick intelligentsia to get on board with this.

If it was a modern novel it wouldn't even be published.

The one positive was some of his prose was beautiful, though the beautiful moments were sadly butchered by the horribly stodgy word play that dominated the majority of the novel.

On a positive note though it clears the decks for Assail tomorrow

Seriously? SERIOUSLY?

HOD is not a novella you read once. It is not one you read twice even - but if you want to understand the fundamental nature of man, and the fundamental nature of what Africa means in the context of British/European Colonialism, and what it means to those who benefit from its exploitation versus those who are actively engaged in it, and how it changes them...well to me this is a quintessential African book from a Westerners perspective. Invaluable in the insights it provides, and a lot of reflection on the protagonists actions. I loved it.