What book are you reading...

Big Horn Legacy by W. Michael Gear.

A wonderful western where 6 separated siblings come together after their fathers murder to search for a treasure that he has left to them all. About 20% in and it's a really fun read. Gives me Red Dead Redemption vibes crossed with the TV show Justified.
 
Shamikebab said:
I decided I need to read more Science Fiction so I started a series that has long been on my to read list, Consider Phlebas by Iain M. Banks
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opethdisciple said:
I am keen to know what you think of it, as I am currently rereading the Wasp Factory which is a great book by him also.
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Consider Phlebas is the start of Banks' "Culture", which ranges from "not enough Culture" to "amazingly remarkable". Banks is one of the big eighties wave of UK sci-fi authors who redefined the genre with seminal works of giant space opera that somehow still manages to have great characters at the centre of the story. The books don't have to be read in order, as although they occupy the same fictional universe, the stories don't follow on from each other and only occasionally does a known character (fleetingly) show up more than once.

The Culture are a hugely advanced, space-faring AI run society where anything is possible for the human-like creatures that are a part of it. Contact are the diplomatic arm, and Special Circumstances are their shadowy sub-section that deals in espionage, which is often where the bleeding edge of the Culture is portrayed in Banks' books. My personal favourites are "The Player of Games" and "Excession", but they are all good books played out against the background of the Culture. The ship names and the way they talk to each other are a favourite of mine.

Consider Phelbas takes place during a war the Culture are fighting with the Iridians, and concerns a Shaper spy (who can biologically change his body) working on the enemy side to try and reach a crashed ship Mind/AI before the Culture can retrieve it. A Special Circumstances agent is working against him, but for the most part the story follows the Shaper agent. Like most of the Culture books, the Culture is more a backdrop than the main story, which allows Banks to concentrate on the characters, rather than getting lost in too much of the techno-porn that other authors can fall into. There's lots of world building, lots of sci-fi tech, lots of action, a portrait of the alien society Special Circumstances are operating in, but with Banks the core is always the character.

Banks' other non-Culture sci-fi books are also worth reading, but they don't take place in the Culture universe. They are all books that I've read several time over, and each time I manage to find new things in them. Banks' was a bit of a sci-fi story-telling genius, and when the news was released that he was dying at the relatively young age of 59, I lamented all the stories he was never going to be able to tell had he lived another 20-30 years.

There are none of his sci-fi books (monikered as Iain M Banks, rather than Iain Banks for his non-scifi books) that aren't worth reading more than once. Iain Banks' sci-fi novels are pretty much required reading for anyone into the genre, and you can see where so many other authors have been inspired by his work.

Once you've finished Banks' work, you can draw a hereditary line straight to the more kinetic and action packed books of Neal Asher's Polity universe.
 
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Finished Consider Phlebas. It wasn't bad but I didn't think it was particularly good either. Kind of by the numbers plot. Main character was interesting but most of the side characters were very underdeveloped. Conclusion was pretty unsatisfying. I'd heard going in that this was one of the weaker Culture books (the Culture are barely in it for starters) and the Idirans who were in it more were incredibly 'generic honourable warrior' aliens. I'll definitely keep going and see how the next few are.

6/10
 
Shamikebab said:
Finished Consider Phlebas. It wasn't bad but I didn't think it was particularly good either. Kind of by the numbers plot. Main character was interesting but most of the side characters were very underdeveloped. Conclusion was pretty unsatisfying. I'd heard going in that this was one of the weaker Culture books (the Culture are barely in it for starters) and the Idirans who were in it more were incredibly 'generic honourable warrior' aliens. I'll definitely keep going and see how the next few are.

6/10
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This is my biggest gripe with the Culture books - not enough of the Culture! That's something that Neal Asher's Polity books deals with much better, because you are totally immersed in the universe, not just using it as a backdrop to the central characters.

The ending is sort of desolate and desperate, and you do feel it's a little bit of a cheat to end the way it does, but really the story is about the journey, not the destination. You say the plot is "by the numbers" but it was the likes of Banks that helped initially developed those tropes of the modern, techno-space opera and anti-hero back in the eighties. I would kind of agree with your score that it's a middling Banks book, a couple of the others are a bit less satisfactory, and couple the same, but half I found much better.
 
Just finished The Woods by Harlan Coben.

It was laughably bad. The characters were all annoying and the plot was dreadful. I jokingly suggested a ridiculous twist to.my wife when I was about a quarter through, and it duly appeared.

I can't see I need to read any more of his.
 
I started a thread a while back asking for suggestions as someone that wanted to get into reading. As part of that I have just finished reading the green mile. I have to say it was a great read, loved the pacing and style. And if I hadn't seen the film I think it would have been an absolutely magical, amazing read.

I'll definitely take a look at some other Stephen Kings books.

I'm currently on J.B. Turner "Hard Road"
 
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tangey said:
I started a thread a while back asking for suggestions as someone that wanted to get into reading. As part of that I have just finished reading the green mile. I have to say it was a great read, loved the pacing and style. And if I hadn't seen the film I think it would have been an absolutely magical, amazing read.

I'll definitely take a look at some other Stephen Kings books.

I'm currently on J.B. Turner "Hard Road"
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I strongly recommend King's short stories books. There are a dozen or so books, and they are all excellent.

Try Night Shift and see what you think.

Avoid his Dark Tower books at all costs!
 
Shamikebab said:
Finished the second Culture book 'The Player of Games'. Absolutely loved this one! Gripping plot, interesting characters and far more Culture 9/10
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One of my favourites. It's amazing as the clash between two star faring empires comes down to a game between two men - all to send a message. Some good twists at the end as well.

The next book (Use Of Weapons) has a lot of Wasp Factory style, as the story is played out alternately in the present and in the past to show how the main protagonist gets to where he is today. The "only man to outsmart a knife missile". It's not quite so satisfying as a purely Culture book compared to Player Of Games, but there are (as usual) some great twists, and the past storyline is suitably unsettling, and sometimes downright horrifying, that boost it up as a sci-fi story.
 
Just read Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel - one of the best books I have ever read. Nominally a sci-fi about a pandemic that kills most of the world's population, but through the perspective of a few individuals connected to a Shakespeare production held on the eve of the pandemic. The timelines jump and stories meander, but all contribute to the story. Not since The Road by Cormac McCarthy has a book left me with such emotion.
 
Shamikebab said:
Finished Consider Phlebas. It wasn't bad but I didn't think it was particularly good either. Kind of by the numbers plot. Main character was interesting but most of the side characters were very underdeveloped. Conclusion was pretty unsatisfying. I'd heard going in that this was one of the weaker Culture books (the Culture are barely in it for starters) and the Idirans who were in it more were incredibly 'generic honourable warrior' aliens. I'll definitely keep going and see how the next few are.

6/10
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It's the weakest Ian M Banks book by a long shot. It's a shame really that it's the entry point for many people.

Look To Windward
The Player Of Games
Excession
The Algebraist
Surface Detail
Matter
The Hydrogen Sonata
Use Of Weapons

There isn't really a weak one, apart from Consider Phlebas!

On a related note, I finally got round to starting Alastair Reynolds. Finished Revelation Space a few weeks ago....definitely scratched that space opera itch, not quite as flowing and well paced as Banks, but a really interesting universe he creates. On the second book now.

8/10
 
Apologies if already asked a million times in here but who uses what kindle, and why.
Looking at them as ebooks are often cheaper but I think I prefer paper. Need convincing to spend money as the cost of kindles seems extortionate.

Following recommendations here I have just ordered:
I am pilgrim.
80K.

Ordered without recommendations:
the satsuma complex.


Recently read:
Tattooist of Aushwitz trilogy
Grapes of wrath
Of mice and men
The great Gatsby
Catcher in the rye.

Started Tess of the D'urbervilles but I wasn't enjoying it so stopped.

Quite like a good auto/biography and keen for recommendations.
Read:
Bruce Dickinson
Guy Martin
Damon Hill
Michael Dunlop
Bob Mortimer


I know this may offend some folk... I fold the page corners.
:D
 
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Sandycheeks said:
Apologies if already asked a million times in here but who uses what kindle, and why.
Looking at them as ebooks are often cheaper but I think I prefer paper. Need convincing to spend money as the cost of kindles seems extortionate.
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Kindle Paperwhite, latest or near latest generation, it's my third kindle, had the original with the keyboard which I broke, replaced that with a paperwhite 2nd gen which I gave to my mother when hers started having battery issues and replaced it with the newer slightly larger one. As for why, I love having my books in a nice compact device that rarely needs charging, has it's own light and isn't horribly awkward to hold like a lot of books, not to mention the shelf space that isn't required or the fact that I can pick the typeface, font size, line spacing, margin widths and other settings that I am comfortable with.

I've never paid more that a couple of quid for an eBook either, most of mine are purchased via kindle daily deals and the monthly selection so usually 99p, 754 books in my library according to amazon which have been collected over 13 years since getting my first kindle. Absolutely zero regrets purchasing one whatsoever and I'd recommend one to anybody who likes reading.
 
Currently reading the Broken Empire Series by Mark Lawrence. I like it so far. It feels like he's onto something, but the occasional clumsy phrasing annoys me. He's no Patrick Rothfuss, but I'm liking it so far.
 
regulus said:
Currently reading the Broken Empire Series by Mark Lawrence. I like it so far. It feels like he's onto something, but the occasional clumsy phrasing annoys me. He's no Patrick Rothfuss, but I'm liking it so far.
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He actually finishes series. I'll take a good author who has written multiple quality series over a great author who has yet to finish one.
 
opethdisciple said:
I just reread "The Wasp Factory". Excellent book.

Currently reading "Dying of the Light" by George R. R. Martin which I have to say I am pretty disappointed with.
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It's a book of its time. I re-read it a few years ago and enjoyed it enough second time around to keep it. But it's certainly not a classic. Of the stand-alones, Martin's best book is Fevre Dream.
 
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