What book are you reading...

PlacidCasual said:
Salvation - Peter F Hamilton - another different take on wormhole society. Structure is a little different to some of his commonwealth novels but I'm enjoying it. It took me quite a while to get around the non-gendered pronouns for some of the characters who are legitimately genetically not male or female, but eventually I just skimmed over the words when those characters are in the chapter. Still it is nowhere as distracting as reading Feersum Enjin by Iain M Banks which remains firmly in the unfinished head **** category. Anyway the book has taken quite a while to get going it wasn't as immediately enticing as Pandora's Star or The Reality Disfunction but enjoying it now.
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IvanDobskey said:
I love most of Hamiltons books, I've read nearly all of them. I have tried to read Salvation twice now and just put it down at the same point. I just can't get into it. It seems much more generic in its characterisation and I just couldn't get on with the silly pronouns. Maybe there's a good story in there somewhere but I just couldn't be bothered to try and find it in the end.
:p
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The first book is really just setting the scene. The next two books have a more conventional structure and at that point the story really motors along as the future/past stories unwind and the connections between the two are revealed. I'd recommend persevering as it does get to the quality of the best of Hamilton's work.
 
Started listening to Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennett. It's been a year since I've read the final in the trilogy and decided to listen to it this time while in the car.

Should take about a 2 weeks to listen to the whole trilogy.
 
I finished The Square Root Of Man by William Tenn. More 50s sf short stories.

I didn't like it much. Two of the stories were good, the others read like generic 1940s pulp magazine stories and dragged.

I recently read three other books of his, which were much better.

Now reading Fairy Tale by Stephen King.
 
Just finished Fairy Tale by Stephen King. Not bad, but the ending was a bit flat- so classic King...

Next book is Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson. I must have read that as a kid, but am looking forward to it.
 
I finished Joyland by Stephen King last night- pretty good.

Now reading Zen And The Art Of Motorcycle Maintenance. I'm around 40 pages in and do not like the writer at all, he just seems an arrogant know-all. I suspect I will not finish it.
 
Steampunk said:
The first book is really just setting the scene. The next two books have a more conventional structure and at that point the story really motors along as the future/past stories unwind and the connections between the two are revealed. I'd recommend persevering as it does get to the quality of the best of Hamilton's work.
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I'm perservering. Actually the first book was great from about 1/3rd the way through and enjoying the second book immensely. Got some Waterstones vouchers so I'll be popping out to pick up the third soon I expect.

I do love Hamilton but these days I wait until the complete saga is finished before buying.
 
Legacy of the Brightwash - by Krystle Martar

Very good fantasy/scifi but also very grim. Loving it so far.

Reminds me a bit of Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
 
Two stinkers in a row.
"Engelstatt". Pretentious BS about an entire Austrian village that are secret Nazis and how they kidnap a group of American teens. There isn't interesting sounding threads aren't even pursued. Genuinely terrible.

"Hotel Miramar". A stupid tale about people on an Irish island that are slowly and willingly turning into crabs. Amazingly, it's even dumber than it sounds.

Both books were on Kindle Unlimited and could've been written by primary school kids. And not even talented ones. Thank goodness I got these on a free trial so I've only wasted time, not money on these garbage titles.
 
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Just finished the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell (The Winter King, Enemy Of God and Excalibur).

Essentially a retelling of the King Arthur story but in the down to earth realistic setting of the Dark Ages @480AD, when the Saxon invasion of Britain was ramping up and the (Celtic) Britons spent more time infighting than effectively countering the foreign threat. Some good characterisation particularly Merlin who, despite the real world basis. is still presented with some ambiguity particularly as regards the use of "magic" as is Nimue (who you will come to hate more than Brida in the Saxon Chronicles). The third book does an excellent job of recounting the Battle Of Badon Hill (here located on Solsbury Hill outside Bath, of Peter Gabriel fame); believe me you would not really have wanted to be front row in one of those shield walls.

Now looking forward (mostly) to the TV adaptation when it finally surfaces on ITVx.
 
Im really not a big reader/listener of audiobooks but

Ive started Project hail mary by Andy Weir, im not going to lie this is one of the best books ive read.
Its so easy to listen and it covers some pretty technical and heavier physics stuff but in such a way im actually laughing out loud.
Im guessing im about half way through.

I know its getting made into a film after the success of the martian (which its very similar in theme to)
Ill be extremely impressed if they can pull it off, especially...
"Rocky" and the squeezing/balancing time spent between out in space and back on earth. with the "prelude"
 
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Vern1961 said:
Just finished the Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell (The Winter King, Enemy Of God and Excalibur).

Essentially a retelling of the King Arthur story but in the down to earth realistic setting of the Dark Ages @480AD, when the Saxon invasion of Britain was ramping up and the (Celtic) Britons spent more time infighting than effectively countering the foreign threat. Some good characterisation particularly Merlin who, despite the real world basis. is still presented with some ambiguity particularly as regards the use of "magic" as is Nimue (who you will come to hate more than Brida in the Saxon Chronicles). The third book does an excellent job of recounting the Battle Of Badon Hill (here located on Solsbury Hill outside Bath, of Peter Gabriel fame); believe me you would not really have wanted to be front row in one of those shield walls.

Now looking forward (mostly) to the TV adaptation when it finally surfaces on ITVx.
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An absolutely cracking series of books, I must add them to my re-read list.
 
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