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what are you reading?
Re: what are you reading?
I just read Double Star by Heinlein. It was a Hugo winner. Surprisingly, I had never read it before. My obsessive Heinlein phase, back in middle school, was mostly his more satirical later books. I never read a lot of his more “serious” work from his early years.
He/him/his
Re: what are you reading?
Does anyone know if Ursula Le Guin's Orsinia stuff is worth reading?
Best Comics of Week 2
X-titles: SWORD #2 by Al Ewing (1) and Valerio Schiti (1)
Non-X titles: King in Black Thunderbolts #1 by Matthew Rosenberg (1) and Juan Ferreyra (1)
In parentheses number of times creator has had best comic of the week this year
X-titles: SWORD #2 by Al Ewing (1) and Valerio Schiti (1)
Non-X titles: King in Black Thunderbolts #1 by Matthew Rosenberg (1) and Juan Ferreyra (1)
In parentheses number of times creator has had best comic of the week this year
- EvilMonkeyPope
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Re: what are you reading?
Angelmaker by Nick Harkaway is exquisite cogpunk!
I'm almost clever! https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/
- Spectral Knight
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Re: what are you reading?
Just started the Long Earth series by Pratchett and Baxter. Fifteen quid for all five books in the series was a steal I thought.
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Re: what are you reading?
Had a couple flights this past week, which gave me time to start and finish This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It's a romance told almost entirely through the letters of two opposed time-travelling agents from two mutually exclusive and—to us—largely alien futures. The sort of prose this deals in would normally be a little purple for me, but in the context of this story it serves to highlight the differences in perspectives not just between the protagonists, but between the societies that spawned them and our own as readers. There's more to unpack there than mere floridity—not that there's anything wrong with floridity if that's your jam—and said floridity enhances the sort of sci-fi worldbuilding that often feels like lifeless stalling in other, lesser stories.
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Re: what are you reading?
Just starting “The Burning White” which is the final pet of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.
It’s a really interesting take on magic (people produce a substance called Luxin based on various colours and light they can manipulate, how it shapes their personalities etc) and then politics and raising old gods and just READ THIS. The first one is slow to start, but it’s a great series
It’s a really interesting take on magic (people produce a substance called Luxin based on various colours and light they can manipulate, how it shapes their personalities etc) and then politics and raising old gods and just READ THIS. The first one is slow to start, but it’s a great series
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- tokenBG1009
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Re: what are you reading?
I'm about 2.5 books behind at this point so I get the joy of blazing through the last half of the series.das_boot wrote: ↑25 Oct 2019, 15:12Just starting “The Burning White” which is the final pet of the Lightbringer series by Brent Weeks.
It’s a really interesting take on magic (people produce a substance called Luxin based on various colours and light they can manipulate, how it shapes their personalities etc) and then politics and raising old gods and just READ THIS. The first one is slow to start, but it’s a great series
I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.
"Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" -Izuku Midoriya
Re: what are you reading?
... ok this sounds great, thanks for bringing it to my attention, I am so gonna look for itMajestic wrote: ↑22 Oct 2019, 17:09Had a couple flights this past week, which gave me time to start and finish This is How You Lose the Time War, by Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone. It's a romance told almost entirely through the letters of two opposed time-travelling agents from two mutually exclusive and—to us—largely alien futures. The sort of prose this deals in would normally be a little purple for me, but in the context of this story it serves to highlight the differences in perspectives not just between the protagonists, but between the societies that spawned them and our own as readers. There's more to unpack there than mere floridity—not that there's anything wrong with floridity if that's your jam—and said floridity enhances the sort of sci-fi worldbuilding that often feels like lifeless stalling in other, lesser stories.
Re: what are you reading?
Interesting, I liked Night Angel but it was also very rough in some places (expected for someone's first main work). Black Prism definitely feels more refined.tokenBG1009 wrote: ↑26 Oct 2019, 06:32I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.
That said, I found the fourth book to be a bit of a disappointment. But I believe he originally wanted to do 4 books, and realized he should split the last one into two, so hopefully the last one ties it all up nicely. Looking forward to getting into that one after Xmas.
- Gibbering Fool
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Re: what are you reading?
I'm currently reading Starsight by Brandon Sanderson. I really enjoyed the first book in the series Skyward, and hadn't realised the latest book was out. I've only just started it but I'm loving the mystery they're building with creatures that live in hyperspace and why the aliens are determined to wipe out humanity
- Spectral Knight
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Re: what are you reading?
About 100 odd pages into John Dies at the End by David Wong, and thoroughly enjoying the blend of dark humour, horror and general cynicism. Enjoyed Wong's Futuristic Violence and Fancy Suits, and it's much the same in terms of hitting the spot of very funny one-liners.
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- tokenBG1009
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Re: what are you reading?
Night Angel just hit for me. Ancient magical weapons, special abilities, sneakiness... it all resonates perfectly.Magnus wrote: ↑13 Dec 2019, 18:22Interesting, I liked Night Angel but it was also very rough in some places (expected for someone's first main work). Black Prism definitely feels more refined.tokenBG1009 wrote: ↑26 Oct 2019, 06:32I enjoyed the Night Angel trilogy more, but the Black Prism series is so damn good.
That said, I found the fourth book to be a bit of a disappointment. But I believe he originally wanted to do 4 books, and realized he should split the last one into two, so hopefully the last one ties it all up nicely. Looking forward to getting into that one after Xmas.
So, I'm jumping on the Witcher bandwagon. I've wanted to read them for a while now.
"Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" -Izuku Midoriya
- Spectral Knight
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Re: what are you reading?
False Values. The latest in the Peter Grant series.
It's great fun - typical Rivers of London magic / formulae genus locum type stuff, but with a sinister tech twist.
Oh, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references. So many HHGTTG references.
It's great fun - typical Rivers of London magic / formulae genus locum type stuff, but with a sinister tech twist.
Oh, and Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy references. So many HHGTTG references.
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- EvilMonkeyPope
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Re: what are you reading?
How To Invent Everything nearly lives up to it's title. It's by Ryan North, of The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl fame.
I'm almost clever! https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/
- Spectral Knight
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Re: what are you reading?
Just started The Psychology of Time Travel
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Re: what are you reading?
been reading during my lunch break at works some X-Files novels I got many moons ago that I haven't read in so long I forget basically all of the story. Except the nuclear bomb ghosts. That one is my favorite so far.
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- Spectral Knight
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Re: what are you reading?
The October Man by Ben Aaronovich
This is a spin off from the Peter Grant / Rivers of London books, but with a new cast. I've mentioned in the past how much I enjoy this series usually but on this I'm really struggling. It is a new cast, set in Germany, and I'm not feeling the new main character's voice yet. Toby Winter just feels much more artificial than Peter ever did, and uses that slightly comic approach of settings in non-native English speaking places, where it is mostly all in English except for a few choice terms that reminds you it's not, like "Frau" when dealing with a female character, and references to German behaviours as if he as a character isn't German, all of which is quite unnatural and throws me off why the first person narration seems to be inconsistent in this regard.
I think there's something in the setting though, the main series's principal London setting refers to lots of locales I know very well, where this obviously doesn't, so the real world grounding of the main Rivers books is almost a given which this feels a bit removed from. I'd imagine this would be less of an issue for readers a lot less familiar with London though as both the main series and the October Man would be places not really known to them.
EDIT: I should add on completion that actually it turned out to be a lot better than first impressions, once the scene setting was complete and the case was in full flow. It was an awkward few first chapters though.
This is a spin off from the Peter Grant / Rivers of London books, but with a new cast. I've mentioned in the past how much I enjoy this series usually but on this I'm really struggling. It is a new cast, set in Germany, and I'm not feeling the new main character's voice yet. Toby Winter just feels much more artificial than Peter ever did, and uses that slightly comic approach of settings in non-native English speaking places, where it is mostly all in English except for a few choice terms that reminds you it's not, like "Frau" when dealing with a female character, and references to German behaviours as if he as a character isn't German, all of which is quite unnatural and throws me off why the first person narration seems to be inconsistent in this regard.
I think there's something in the setting though, the main series's principal London setting refers to lots of locales I know very well, where this obviously doesn't, so the real world grounding of the main Rivers books is almost a given which this feels a bit removed from. I'd imagine this would be less of an issue for readers a lot less familiar with London though as both the main series and the October Man would be places not really known to them.
EDIT: I should add on completion that actually it turned out to be a lot better than first impressions, once the scene setting was complete and the case was in full flow. It was an awkward few first chapters though.
Last edited by Spectral Knight on 02 Aug 2020, 07:07, edited 1 time in total.
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- tokenBG1009
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Re: what are you reading?
Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.
It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.
It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.
"Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" -Izuku Midoriya
Re: what are you reading?
I just finised ready The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. Its a Hunger Games prequil and I enjoyed it alot. Next up is Ready Player One.
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X-Men: Magik|Cannonball|Psylocke|Thunderbird II|Gentile|Petra
All New X-Factor: Havok|Frenzy|Forge|Sunfire|Bloodstorm(Mutant X)|Wild Child|Cipher
X-Men: Magik|Cannonball|Psylocke|Thunderbird II|Gentile|Petra
All New X-Factor: Havok|Frenzy|Forge|Sunfire|Bloodstorm(Mutant X)|Wild Child|Cipher
Re: what are you reading?
tokenBG1009 wrote: ↑30 Jul 2020, 20:29Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.
It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.
TOKEN YOU READ DRESDEN
So glad we have a second novel this year after a LONG dry spell. This felt like a total return to form for Butcher after a couple of “meh” entries in the series, this is back to feeling like it fills the void left in the universe with the end of anything Buffy related that’s actually good.
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- tokenBG1009
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Re: what are you reading?
Ayyyy!das_boot wrote: ↑11 Aug 2020, 23:11tokenBG1009 wrote: ↑30 Jul 2020, 20:29Peace Talks by Jim Butcher.
It's been an extremely slow go as I haven't had much motivation to even sit and read lately, or listen in this case, but I'm loving it all the same.
TOKEN YOU READ DRESDEN
So glad we have a second novel this year after a LONG dry spell. This felt like a total return to form for Butcher after a couple of “meh” entries in the series, this is back to feeling like it fills the void left in the universe with the end of anything Buffy related that’s actually good.
It felt good to return to Chicago but I will say this felt very much like half a book. While I still enjoyed it I look forward to a reread write before Battle Ground when the story will hopefully feel more complete.
(I am now reading Shadows Rising the new World of Warcraft book by Madeline Roux)
"Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" -Izuku Midoriya
Re: what are you reading?
I just finished "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen and I wanted to write a quick note about it. It seems to be a quite popular novel, as I see copies regularly. It Is oddly endearing, witting, and humorously scathing. However, I haven't seen a book so unapologetically adopt the position that the human condition is one of mitigating misery to the extent you can and really only being able to do so with the benefit of hindsight. The character work is fantastic and I had a few audible gasp moments.
- EvilMonkeyPope
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Re: what are you reading?
Since I don’t know if or when Barkskins will resume, I got Annie Prolux’s novel from the library. ‘Tis quite like a James Mitchner book. It turns out that, despite having plenty of material to work from, 90% of the TV series wasn’t in the book. I really wanted to learn more about Monsieur Claude Trepagny’s sky-table! Whilst reading Barkskins on a rocking chair, a black beast leapt onto my lap. I had to rub her tummy with one hand & hold the hefty hardback aloft with the other. This forced me to learn how to turn pages with my nose!
I'm almost clever! https://mattthecatania.wordpress.com/
Re: what are you reading?
So, I’m about half way through Battle Ground (the second Dresden Files book this year) and just... no spoilers but
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- tokenBG1009
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Re: what are you reading?
I'm about a quarter of the way through currently and I can only imagine what's coming.
I do know Mr Butcher is tenderly stoking my love of the Batman/Catwoman dynamic though.
I do know Mr Butcher is tenderly stoking my love of the Batman/Catwoman dynamic though.
"Sometimes I do feel like I'm a failure. Like there's no hope for me. But even so, I'm not gonna give up. Ever!" -Izuku Midoriya