[BOOKS] what are you currently reading / have just read

[Ringthane]

Well, I've just read this page of posts. So there's that.

[Orby]

Just started re-reading book three of the Wheel of Time: The Dragon Reborn, I started re-reading the Wheel of time books in January to remember them, as its been over 20 years since I read the books. Or at least book 1 - 5. I had finished the whole series by 2015. lol.

Thought I'd get back to reading the books after the Amazon show. And now after reading the first two books again I have come to the realisation of how much I hate the TV series even more lol. Man they really messed up. I had thought nostalgia was clouding me memory of the books, but man there is so much improvised on in the TV show that the books and the TV show feel like completely different entities :P

One nit pick about the books I have come to find out that I wasnt aware as a kid, was the amount of exposition these books have, I totally forgot lol.

[molliewoof]

The atlas six - Olivia Blake.

I'm audiobooking this, it seems a little expositiony for me, the entire first chapter is just telling you how the world works for maybe 30 pages.

It has done one thing right that I think a lot of ABs get wrong though, it has multiple voice actors. Hearing one voice actor trying to do twenty characters is difficult a lot of times.

Will carry on with it, it may just not be my type of book, will also add to this once I've finished

[Ihavewaffles]

Recently finished Death's end, last book of cixin liu's 3 body prob trilogy, does it get better after 1st book? Well 2nd n 3rd book are very frustrating as its more about science theories n very little character developments.
Honestly it should have been 2 books, not 3...I had to trudge through that swamp...but the good parts were really good, the wall facers, the dark forest, the spell, and australia. It became also harder n harder to empathize with humanity as they became more naive n childish (stupid)..


Now started with book Rendezvous with Rama (Arthur c.clarke) Apparently Rama isn't some asteroid from our solar system but some rogue dead star with a neutronium core, or at least that's the theory for now. But if it is, that's some serious bad news...

Recently heard about neutronium n someone thought it be fun to figure out what a bomb of the stuff would do to the world.
Apparently a marble sized piece of neutronium if detonated wouldn't have a mushroom cloud as the energy wouldn't release all at once but in waves, 16 times over 4-5 hours.
Everything the blast wave reaches would be like inside the ground-zero of a nuclear weapon. Problem is that the blast wave would cover the entire earth within 1 second n roll around the planet, then there's 15 another waves to come.
So basically it's irrelevant where it would be detonated, it's a suicide weapon.

A dead star with the stuff would prob wreck the whole solar system...it exists only in core of giant stars..

Myself I have wondered what would happen if a rogue planet with a dead civilization came n was added to our solar system. Also if it would move earth's trajectory closer or further from the sun, or remain unchanged.
Would be an interesting sci fi story.

[molliewoof]

Recently finished Death's end, last book of cixin liu's 3 body prob trilogy, does it get better after 1st book? Well 2nd n 3rd book are very frustrating as its more about science theories n very little character developments.
Honestly it should have been 2 books, not 3...I had to trudge through that swamp...but the good parts were really good, the wall facers, the dark forest, the spell, and australia. It became also harder n harder to empathize with humanity as they became more naive n childish (stupid)..


Now started with book Rendezvous with Rama (Arthur c.clarke) Apparently Rama isn't some asteroid from our solar system but some rogue dead star with a neutronium core, or at least that's the theory for now. But if it is, that's some serious bad news...

Recently heard about neutronium n someone thought it be fun to figure out what a bomb of the stuff would do to the world.
Apparently a marble sized piece of neutronium if detonated wouldn't have a mushroom cloud as the energy wouldn't release all at once but in waves, 16 times over 4-5 hours.
Everything the blast wave reaches would be like inside the ground-zero of a nuclear weapon. Problem is that the blast wave would cover the entire earth within 1 second n roll around the planet, then there's 15 another waves to come.
So basically it's irrelevant where it would be detonated, it's a suicide weapon.

A dead star with the stuff would prob wreck the whole solar system...it exists only in core of giant stars..

Myself I have wondered what would happen if a rogue planet with a dead civilization came n was added to our solar system. Also if it would move earth's trajectory closer or further from the sun, or remain unchanged.
Would be an interesting sci fi story.

I really enjoyed rendezvous with Rama. When I read it, it was released in a classics of sci fi collection. Another from it was the forever war that I really enjoyed.

Currently on shadows linger, the second book of the black company. Had to quit the atlas six, just not for me

[Ihavewaffles]

I really enjoyed rendezvous with Rama. When I read it, it was released in a classics of sci fi collection. Another from it was the forever war that I really enjoyed.

Currently on shadows linger, the second book of the black company. Had to quit the atlas six, just not for me

I read that Denis Villeneuve was going to make a movie about r.w. rama after dune franchise, got my interest to get book n read it

[molliewoof]

I read that Denis Villeneuve was going to make a movie about r.w. rama after dune franchise, got my interest to get book n read it

oh thats really good, i loved the new dune, suppose its years off though

[Orby]

Malazhan Book of the Fallen.... damn...

I don't know why i haven't read that earlier. Amazing book. Like truely truely a masterpiece.

Edit: I just answered without reading the first post... well... awkward... besides this i have also read RedRising which is also quite interesting.

aw man, I still got to get around that that. Next up my docket is the The Faithful and the Fallen series by John Gwynne, but after that I got Malazhan. I hear nothing but good things

[jonnysensible]

working my way through this list :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SF_Masterworks

think ive read all the Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, HG Wells etc. The mainstream ones.

Anyone see anything that they have read and think is worth reading on it?

My favorite is Roadside Picnic, i read it every few years.

[Grimbold21]

Finished The Black Company

Was looking for more fantasy, so now reading The First Law series.

[molliewoof]

working my way through this list :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SF_Masterworks

think ive read all the Philip K. Dick, Ursula K. Le Guin, Kurt Vonnegut, HG Wells etc. The mainstream ones.

Anyone see anything that they have read and think is worth reading on it?

My favorite is Roadside Picnic, i read it every few years.

From the picture I recommend the player of games, admittedly it is in the side bookcase but imho banks would be in that collection were it remade now.

Back to the question though, the forever war is really good ( it's weird I mentioned it a post or two earlier and I think you've linked the collection I read it from).

Also the mote in god's eye. It's sensibilities are dated but if you can get past that it's great

[Raetary]

A few days ago i finished Ahren, book 1 of the 13th Paladin series.
A german epic fantasy.

If the other books are anything like book 1, i'm definitely not continuing it.
The book was very boring, the pacing was incredibly slow and at times reading it felt like watching paint dry.
Lots of unnecessary exposition dumping, about ~1/3 of the book could be cut out without it having any impact on the story, there was only a single character in the entire book that was even remotely interesting and the worldbuilding felt very shallow and utterly failed to hold my interest.

Right now, i'm about a third into the second book of the Lunar Chronicles.
Except for the bits mentioneing wolf hierarchy (which makes me wanna puke), i'm enjoying it so far.

Afterwards i'm gonna continue with the second half of Words of Radiance.

[Finlandia WOAT]

A short story collection of Ernest Hemmingway and yeah...his ability to convey a point and character info and emotional depth with as little description as possible is....refreshing? It feels like every other book before this one treated it's audience like an idiot, somewhat.

[molliewoof]

kings of the wylde

really enjoying this, a group of old mercenaries go on a quest.

The story isnt complicated but it is a lot of fun to read, im not sure there are many other fantasy comedies and he does it really well.

will have finished it in the next few days, moving straight onto the next one

[dextersmith]

I started House of Leaves 3 months ago and am finally on chapter 4. I don't know how it's so acclaimed as it's total garbage. It's a long book because most paragraphs are almost entirely bibliography references. It tells you random anecdotes (turns out to be made up too) for almost a chapter without context nor perspective. The style and story telling is shit. I don't know how this guy got a book deal.

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Just finished the dark forest, that was some spell! Have begun on death's end..

Who is it by and what is it about?

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Re-reading House of Leaves.

What do you like about it? When does it get not crappy?

[melodramocracy]

I started House of Leaves 3 months ago and am finally on chapter 4. I don't know how it's so acclaimed as it's total garbage. It's a long book because most paragraphs are almost entirely bibliography references. It tells you random anecdotes (turns out to be made up too) for almost a chapter without context nor perspective. The style and story telling is shit. I don't know how this guy got a book deal.

I mean, it isn't for everyone. To me it's one of the best horror-esque works of fiction I've ever read, and the approach it takes to telling its story is pretty unique. I've bought it for a few other people, and most of them couldn't deal with it.

*shrug*

[Ihavewaffles]

Who is it by and what is it about?

Cixin Liu is the author.
It's book two of a trilogy. Story is about some madwoman angry at humanity, who seeks vengeance by contacting an alien hostile civilization that starts a Voyage towards earth and the books are about how it impacts the world as a result cuz the news gets out. Due to the aliens not having lightspeed tech, it takes a few centuries for them to get near, but they do send out devices to...influence things. I don't want to say too much..

I'm going to start reading some other book influenced by the trilogy, by another author, the redemption of time by Baoshu

[dextersmith]

I would really like to read Homer, Hesiod, etc. Does anyone know of a modern interpretation? I can't stand poetry and the only modem interpretations I can find is copied verbatim but in paragraph form.

[Grimbold21]

On the 3rd of the First Law series. I dunno what it is - or isn't - but something about this series fails to really ensnare me .

[MoeSzyslak]

On the 3rd of the First Law series. I dunno what it is - or isn't - but something about this series fails to really ensnare me .

Yes, had the same feeling. Yes he can write snarky characters but the rest is relatively standard fantasy. Nothing to write home about.
And if I read one more time that someone is "sucking his gums" I will fcking loose it!

Currently reading the last Expanse book. Really solid science fiction with a superb world building and eye for details in it.