Thread: What are you reading?

After tearing through Koontz's Life Expectancy, I now plunge into R.A. Salvatore's Neverwinter (The second book, not the series).

I've just started Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias trilogy, and am reading book 1, The Wild Shore.

I've ordered The Gold Coast (book 2), and Pacific Edge (3), which should hopefully arrive soon, as I am halfway through the first book.
wildshore.jpg
Although I'm reading the analogue versions of these books, I have been seduced by the digital world of literature, and now have around 2000 science fiction novels awaiting my perusal pleasure. I don't feel like I am depriving the authors of their hard earned cash, however, as if I enjoy a book, I will purchase it for my collection. And, I mostly buy my books secondhand anyway, so the authors don't see any of that money either. Or, if I enjoyed the book but either don't want a hard copy or I bought one secondhand, if the author has a donate button and I've pirated their book, I will donate an equivalent monetary value.

Any other sci-fi/spec-fic fans out there?

Have since read Neuromancer by William Gibson and loved it, and am currently reading The Synthetic Man by Philip K. Dick, and so far, it's awesome too!
neuromancer.jpgsynthetic man.jpg

I want to start the Neuromancer already, but since I plan to hear it through audiobook, still got to finish a few podcasts first! Grrrr if that review of Damasio's book wasn't so interesting, I'd skip it right away

Originally Posted by Zoth

Grrrr if that review of Damasio's book wasn't so interesting, I'd skip it right away

Antonio Damasio? Which book?

Originally Posted by BarefootDreamer

Antonio Damasio? Which book?

Self Comes to Mind. Must say, I really admire the him for changing his position (and admitting it) as new knowledge in the field emerges over time.

I am reading two books right now. I'm getting near the end of Snow Crash and I'm just starting Winter's Tale after seeing some of the endorsements from you all.

Snow Crash is awesome, it is already up there with my favorite ever SciFi novels. When choosing the next book to read, I try not to discover too, too much about it. Reading blurbs is a no-no for me. Usually I just pick books more or less randomly off of some favorites list written by someone whose taste I trust. Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading Snow Crash, but what I certainly did not expect was that it would be so dammed funny. And I'm not a fan of "funny books" but this is all deadpanned satire that is absurd but takes itself seriously. Do recommend.

My previous book was Lord of Light and that was magnificent, as well. It was a difficult read though, and I didn't realize for most of the book that everything between the first and last chapter was a flashback. If you read it, keep that in mind.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext

I am reading two books right now. I'm getting near the end of Snow Crash and I'm just starting Winter's Tale after seeing some of the endorsements from you all.

Snow Crash is awesome, it is already up there with my favorite ever SciFi novels. When choosing the next book to read, I try not to discover too, too much about it. Reading blurbs is a no-no for me. Usually I just pick books more or less randomly off of some favorites list written by someone whose taste I trust. Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading Snow Crash, but what I certainly did not expect was that it would be so dammed funny. And I'm not a fan of "funny books" but this is all deadpanned satire that is absurd but takes itself seriously. Do recommend.

My previous book was Lord of Light and that was magnificent, as well. It was a difficult read though, and I didn't realize for most of the book that everything between the first and last chapter was a flashback. If you read it, keep that in mind.

Hey, thanks for those recommendations! I too prefer to know as little as possible about a book before I begin reading it. I only like to know just enough to realise that it is in a genre that I enjoy. After a very brief glimpse at those 2 titles, I will have to add them to my 'to read' list. Sci-fi is my favourite genre, and as for sub-genres I am drawn to anything post-apocalyptic, androidy, metaphysical, philosophical, or genetic manipulationy. Well, basically anything except space opera type sci-fi.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring

I'm currently reading 'The Secret History of the World' by Mark Booth.

Kings Road by Mariella Novotny. It's a novel that was written in 1971 and tells "the full story of the wild lives of London's beautiful, turned-on people." (It sounds like the sort of book Austin Powers would have lying around in his bachelor pad.)

Dust by Joan Frances Turner. It's really decent book.

I finally finished The Sisters Brothers, which was a very cool part of my life for several months there. I put a good dent in Hyperion while staying with family the last couple days, and I'm on the last audiobook of Jim Butcher's Codex Alera, which has been a really solid fantasy series. I wouldn't rate it as high as Sanderson or Rothfuss (assuming he ever finishes his series), but certainly above Eddings or Jordan. I'd put it on par with the Coldfire Trilogy.

I'm excited about the next book of Sanderson's Stormlight Archives coming out, but I think I'm going to finish up my current crop, then read and listen to The Way of Kings again before I start the second book (reading and listening).

If simulation hypothesis interests you at all, check out "Off to Be The Wizard". It loses realism in how fast everything happens, but it is a pretty great story.

Mr. King's The Shining.

Finally got money to go get a copy, and it's quite enjoyable, though descriptive.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext

I am reading two books right now. I'm getting near the end of Snow Crash and I'm just starting Winter's Tale after seeing some of the endorsements from you all.

Snow Crash is awesome, it is already up there with my favorite ever SciFi novels. When choosing the next book to read, I try not to discover too, too much about it. Reading blurbs is a no-no for me. Usually I just pick books more or less randomly off of some favorites list written by someone whose taste I trust. Anyway, I didn't really know what to expect when I started reading Snow Crash, but what I certainly did not expect was that it would be so dammed funny. And I'm not a fan of "funny books" but this is all deadpanned satire that is absurd but takes itself seriously. Do recommend.

Neil Stevenson is my favourite author - I read all and everything of his - best besides Snow Crash are Anathem and The Diamond Age for scifi and I also love his historical trilogy around and about the flowering of "Natural Philosophy" - leading to modern Science as such in the 17th/18th century - Newton, Hooke, Leibnitz and and and.
Somewhere here is a post of mine, with my recommendations, almost all science fiction - its a lot - maybe I find it back.
I put the trailer to Winter's Tale the movie in the respective thread - still didn't take the book up once more..

Originally Posted by StephL

Neil Stevenson is my favourite author - I read all and everything of his - best besides Snow Crash are Anathem and The Diamond Age for scifi and I also love his historical trilogy around and about the flowering of "Natural Philosophy" - leading to modern Science as such in the 17th/18th century - Newton, Hooke, Leibnitz and and and.
Somewhere here is a post of mine, with my recommendations, almost all science fiction - its a lot - maybe I find it back.
I put the trailer to Winter's Tale the movie in the respective thread - still didn't take the book up once more..

Snow Crash was awesome, the ending was somewhat disappointing though. I'll definitely need to read more Stevenson.

I'm a bit more than halfway through Winter's Tale and have put it down for the moment. I thought it started very strong and then seemed to lose direction and start rambling, I have no idea where it's going. The prose is very pleasing to read though and the imagery is great. I'll get back to it soon and I hope it picks up a bit.

Originally Posted by DreamscapeGoat

After tearing through Koontz's Life Expectancy, I now plunge into R.A. Salvatore's Neverwinter (The second book, not the series).

RA Salvatore was my gateway drug into the Fantasy genre and when I read my first book of his, Sojourn, when I was 14 or so I was blown away, just totally sucked in. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book series as much as The Legend of Drizzt. I keep meaning to reread some of it but I'm afraid it will seem juvenile to me now.

Reading Harry Potter books again. I never get bored of 'em!

Anne Rice's Queen of the Damned.

I started my re-read-and-listen of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, planning to head straight into the second book that just came out. I'm feeling a bit of magic fatigue after wrapping up Codex Alera, though, so I might throw in a sci-fi or gen fic/lit fic secondary read. I have the mammoth Campbell Award nominees anthology handy, so maybe I'll just dive into that from time to time.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext

RA Salvatore was my gateway drug into the Fantasy genre and when I read my first book of his, Sojourn, when I was 14 or so I was blown away, just totally sucked in. I don't think I've ever enjoyed a book series as much as The Legend of Drizzt. I keep meaning to reread some of it but I'm afraid it will seem juvenile to me now.

I think a lot of fantasy series owe their popularity largely to that "gateway" effect. For me it was Terry Brooks' Shannara series. I gave the audiobooks a listen a couple years ago, and wow, Brooks is a bad writer. His main strength is getting the money shots right--he does a good job depicting battles and magic. The rest of the time, though, he's repeating every plot point and character trait six times in USA Today prose, and probably isn't familiar with the concept of an original idea. Still, when I was a kid those books were awesome and moving and compelling.

The Shannara 're-read' got me started on a fantasy audiobook habit and I tried a couple of other fantasy series that you hear people reminiscing fondly over: The Belgariad and The Wheel of Time. Blech. I dropped The Belgariad in the middle of book two, but later ended up finishing the first series because it was so good at putting me to sleep The Eddings' prose was better than Brooks', but all the description seemed really vague, and the characterization so lazy and built on stereotypes, and again it was such a retread of tropes from LotR that I had to wonder why anyone would bother writing it down. And Robert Jordan... all my life I've been seeing his books in used bookstores and every instinct tells me to back away. I can't say I got very far in WoT--maybe a couple scenes into the first book--before my brain wanted to throw up. The thing is, and why this conversation has been coming up a lot lately, he's one of my favorite author's favorite author. Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish WoT after Jordan's death, and is always expressing his love of the series, but for a lot of Sanderson's fans, we look at his work and we look at Jordan's, and we have to scratch our heads. It's like the Coen brothers saying their biggest influence in film was the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

The series I just finished up, Codex Alera, which Jim Butcher literally wrote on a bet with the premise of a society founded by a lost Roman legion who got Pokemon, blows any of the above (Brooks, Eddings or Jordan) out of the water. Salvatore's books, and Harry Potter for that matter, came out when I was already an adult and just struck me as YA. I can get into some superhero-ish YA like Jumper or Sanderson's Steelheart, but mostly I'll just hold out for the movies (Harry Potter, Hunger Games) or leave it be.

Originally Posted by Taosaur

I started my re-read-and-listen of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, planning to head straight into the second book that just came out. I'm feeling a bit of magic fatigue after wrapping up Codex Alera, though, so I might throw in a sci-fi or gen fic/lit fic secondary read. I have the mammoth Campbell Award nominees anthology handy, so maybe I'll just dive into that from time to time.



I think a lot of fantasy series owe their popularity largely to that "gateway" effect. For me it was Terry Brooks' Shannara series. I gave the audiobooks a listen a couple years ago, and wow, Brooks is a bad writer. His main strength is getting the money shots right--he does a good job depicting battles and magic. The rest of the time, though, he's repeating every plot point and character trait six times in USA Today prose, and probably isn't familiar with the concept of an original idea. Still, when I was a kid those books were awesome and moving and compelling.

The Shannara 're-read' got me started on a fantasy audiobook habit and I tried a couple of other fantasy series that you hear people reminiscing fondly over: The Belgariad and The Wheel of Time. Blech. I dropped The Belgariad in the middle of book two, but later ended up finishing the first series because it was so good at putting me to sleep The Eddings' prose was better than Brooks', but all the description seemed really vague, and the characterization so lazy and built on stereotypes, and again it was such a retread of tropes from LotR that I had to wonder why anyone would bother writing it down. And Robert Jordan... all my life I've been seeing his books in used bookstores and every instinct tells me to back away. I can't say I got very far in WoT--maybe a couple scenes into the first book--before my brain wanted to throw up. The thing is, and why this conversation has been coming up a lot lately, he's one of my favorite author's favorite author. Brandon Sanderson was chosen to finish WoT after Jordan's death, and is always expressing his love of the series, but for a lot of Sanderson's fans, we look at his work and we look at Jordan's, and we have to scratch our heads. It's like the Coen brothers saying their biggest influence in film was the Nightmare on Elm Street franchise.

The series I just finished up, Codex Alera, which Jim Butcher literally wrote on a bet with the premise of a society founded by a lost Roman legion who got Pokemon, blows any of the above (Brooks, Eddings or Jordan) out of the water. Salvatore's books, and Harry Potter for that matter, came out when I was already an adult and just struck me as YA. I can get into some superhero-ish YA like Jumper or Sanderson's Steelheart, but mostly I'll just hold out for the movies (Harry Potter, Hunger Games) or leave it be.

I had pretty much the exact same experience. I was already a bit older and well read in the genre when I read Sword of Shannara, and I did finish it (the main trilogy), but it started seeming like a chore quickly. The Belgariad I put down halfway through. I read the first half of the first Wheel of Time book and put it down. I''ve never gotten into a book about a mewling farmboy getting dragged around by a squad of unkillable allies, it just seems like such a weak premise but that's what half of fantasy is.

Brandon Sanderson is brilliant, I'll be getting my hands on Words of Radiance soon.

But my favorite books that I'm sure I still would like (too long since I've read RA Salvatore) is the Chronicles of Amber series by Roger Zelazny. It has some stylistic problems IMO but its creativity is what makes it the best.

Originally Posted by Whatsnext

Snow Crash was awesome, the ending was somewhat disappointing though. I'll definitely need to read more Stevenson.

I'm a bit more than halfway through Winter's Tale and have put it down for the moment. I thought it started very strong and then seemed to lose direction and start rambling, I have no idea where it's going. The prose is very pleasing to read though and the imagery is great. I'll get back to it soon and I hope it picks up a bit.

Ah - interesting - same thing happened to me - I absolutely loved the first part - and then it got boring and a bit too mystical, too.
No problem really, with the latter - I also like fantasy - but with the former. Zelany is one of the great ones!
You might like K. J. Parker:
http://www.dreamviews.com/artists-co...ree-story.html