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Solaris by Stanislaw Lem. I was pretty unsure about this one until nearly the end, when it mostly clicked. It is almost like two different books: the main narrative revolving around the scientists and their experiences in the station, and the infodump parts where Kelvin describes the history of Solaristics (complete with many made up scientist names) and the weird structures the ocean makes. The latter is pretty jarring and incongruous with the story of the book. Much of the exposition eventually does end up having a significant place in why what happens in the narrative does, so when I realized that it made a lot more sense why its it's there. But still would be have been nice if it was better integrated into the rest of the book. Maybe some of this is due to the English translation I read, which is apparently not well-regarded (Lem himself did not approve). It's the one with Rheya and Snow instead of Harey and Snaut. It's definitely a thought-provoking and rather depressing story. I really liked the character-focused bits, the more sci-fi parts were ok. I haven't seen any of the film adaptations but I'm kinda skeptical that they could track very closely to the book at all?
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Aug 25, 2019 01:49
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my bony fealty posted:I haven't seen any of the film adaptations but I'm kinda skeptical that they could track very closely to the book at all? the 1972 film was by Tarkovsky, one of the greatest directors of the last century, and is itself probably one of the best and most well-regarded films of that century chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 06:09 on Aug 25, 2019 |
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Aug 25, 2019 06:06
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cool, I love Stalker so I'll probably dig it. dunno how I got this far without seeing it.
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Aug 25, 2019 18:04
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Wounds by Nathan Ballingrud. Unlike Lake Monsters, this is an interconnected series of short horror/dark fantasy stories that tie together a nice bit of world development. Chapters varied a great deal, with some stronger than others, some super funny, others emotionally loaded, still others very gory. The last story wrapped back to the first to tie it together. Very entertaining stuff!
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Aug 25, 2019 19:17
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Just finished Fourth of July Creek by Smith Henderson and hot drat I loved it. Cannot believe it's the first and only full length novel by this guy. The story is essentially about a child protection services worker in rural Montana trying to find 3 kids from 3 different backgrounds. It reminded me of Steinbeck a bit, with a lot of lines you have to read again just because they're that good and characters that feel so, so real. This one will stick with me for a long time.
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Aug 27, 2019 01:48
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Gotham: A History of New York City to 1898. Well structured and exhaustive. Maybe a bit too exhaustive, because the last third of the book was just alternating chapters about workers' rights and the excesses of the rich. The prose was ok but not great. One thing I really liked was that it didn't spend too much time covering events outside the city except when those events directly influenced something in the city itself, which I feel is a trap a lot of localized histories fall into.
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Aug 27, 2019 11:21
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kalthir posted:the last third of the book was just alternating chapters about workers' rights and the excesses of the rich. Don't ever read an in-depth
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Aug 27, 2019 11:49
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Recollections of Wittgenstein. Gives me the impression that Wittgenstein would have been a very interesting and exhausting person to know. The longest and best section was by Maurice O'Connor Drury, who also wrote The Danger of Words which I'm very interested in reading in the future if it's more stuff along the lines of what he wrote in this book.
mycophobia fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Aug 29, 2019 |
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Aug 28, 2019 22:26
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Eisenhorn Trilogy by Dan Abnett. Listened on audiobook after hearing it was being made into a series. Pretty good pulp action scenes, my favorite parts were when he was wandering an imperial planet explaining their local culture. First book with the weird aliens was the strongest, could have used more Orks. A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro. Excellent and unsettling about Nagasaki post war. Well crafted ending and characters, and a relatively quick read. Hyrax Attack! fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Aug 29, 2019 |
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Aug 29, 2019 19:47
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It can't happen here by Sinclair Lewis. So good. Incredibly relevant today, even though a tv adaption would be accused of simply copying the news. I especially liked the build up to the election and the description of the first couple of weeks. The reactions of characters from different backgrounds. Edit: Just found this: Inspired by the book, director–producer Kenneth Johnson wrote an adaptation titled Storm Warnings in 1982. The script was presented to NBC for production as a television miniseries, but NBC executives rejected the initial version, claiming it was too cerebral for the average American viewer. To make the script more marketable, the American fascists were re-cast as man-eating extraterrestrials, taking the story into the realm of science fiction. The revised story became the miniseries V, which premiered May 3, 1983.[27] Ha. Mr. Nemo fucked around with this message at 23:39 on Sep 1, 2019 |
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Sep 1, 2019 23:37
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Dune by Frank Herbert As mentioned a page or two back I was rereading this. Just finished it, and it was still fantastic from start to finish. There really wasn't any downtime throughout. It starts strong, and throws you right into the mix. Plots within plots is the endless theme here and it delivers. I never read beyond the first book. I'm not certain why. So I am now halfway through Dune Messiah and I'm enjoying this one quite a bit as well. If I don't burn out from all the sand in my hair, shoes, and clothes I'll take the forums advice of going four books in before moving on. I've never watched Godfather 3 before of the same sort of advice and I feel pretty confident the world at large agrees with it.
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Sep 1, 2019 23:51
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Electric Guitars: The Illustrated Encyclopedia by Tony Bacon et al. I know coffee table books aren't meant to be great literature but goddamn at least put the picture of the guitar you're talking about on the same page as the text describing it. Also I'm pretty sure some guitar designs were discussed in the text as being important/influential with out an accompanying photograph, almost like they couldn't get an image for some reason. Plus you can tell which of the major companies are more loved by the authors than others. I remember the Gibson section being particularly rosy which is doubly hilarious as this book is way out of date now having been published in 2000, and that company has had some recent major gently caress ups. Not recommended as I'm sure you could find a better book to cover the history of the instrument or a better collection of pictures.
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Sep 2, 2019 21:46
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Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert This book went a totally different direction than I was expecting. It was claustrophobic in every aspect. It had me captured all the way until the ending again. I am having a difficult time trying to decide if it was as good as the first or not because I really enjoyed the direction he went with, yet it wasn't what I had envisioned. I think that puts it as a yes? Philthy fucked around with this message at 04:45 on Sep 3, 2019 |
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Sep 3, 2019 04:43
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Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Incredibly ornate and claustrophobic.
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Sep 3, 2019 05:59
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Hyrax Attack! posted:A Pale View of Hills by Kazuo Ishiguro. Excellent and unsettling about Nagasaki post war. Well crafted ending and characters, and a relatively quick read.
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Sep 3, 2019 10:53
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The Hour of the Dragon, published as "Conan the Conquerer" by Robert E Howard. The only Conan novel Howard wrote and probably his best work. Differs from his other sword and sorcery stories by having the book begin and end with big epic battles, where Conan is very much king and military leader. You can really tell Howard was into medieval military history. The bulk of the book between that features Conan chasing the macguffin through various imagined-but-inspired-by-real lands. The highlight is the climax in Some racism, with one part where Conan plays white savior to a galley of enslaved oarsmen being particularly bad. Four villains from If you're a sword and sorcery fan then it's a no-brainer to read this one. The genre got a lot better later but Conan's adventures are foundational and this book is the best of them. I think Howard's influence on the fantasy genre as a whole is a bit underappreciated.
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Sep 3, 2019 15:56
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King: A Biography by David Levering Lewis. Picked this up as I didn't know much about MLK besides surface level stuff. Excellent read, detailed without going into tedium. Highlights King's accomplishments and put them into context with the larger Civil Rights movement. I didn't know King had gone to India or met the Pope. Interesting to learn about what worked in the Montgomery bus boycott, and about similar campaigns in Albany, Georgia that were ineffective. Jim Henson: The Biography by Brian Jay Jones. Enjoyable light read, I liked learning about Henson's early work in 1950s ads and how the Muppets gradually developed. However, the tone of the book was a bit too in love with "Saint Jim" and came across like he never made any mistakes. The author had extensive access to family and archives so probably didn't want to step on any toes, but this frustratingly makes Henson seem like an untouchable perfect benevolent genius, especially later in life. I'm not looking for a hit piece, but biographies shouldn't be written by authors who worship the subject. Still a good read! Geodesic Dreams by Gardner Dozois. Sci-fi short stories, some were outstanding such as The Peacemaker and One for the Road, and others like Chains of the Sea were ok but went too long. Après Moi was a neat bit of horror. Worth your time.
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Sep 4, 2019 21:20
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Ring by Koji Suzuki. The original basis of the famous movie franchise. Pretty gripping horror mystery, though I felt like the resolution was maybe a bit too backloaded. I knew the novels were quite different from the movies, but it was still a tiny bit disappointing that it went in more of a science fiction direction to the movie's pure ghost story and realizing most of the iconic imagery was invented by the movies. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'll probably check out the sequels in a bit and try to track down the movie.
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Sep 4, 2019 22:43
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Philthy posted:Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert Children of Dune is definitely more similar to Dune, in that the story is a bit more sprawling with several different plotlines. I think the general consensus is that Children is a good stopping point.
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Sep 5, 2019 15:56
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I did not finish God Emperor of Dune. The timeskip was too much for me, and I didnt connect to any of the new characters.
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Sep 5, 2019 16:27
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BananaNutkins posted:I did not finish God Emperor of Dune. The timeskip was too much for me, and I didnt connect to any of the new characters. you couldn't connect with an immortal psychic fish worm-man?
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Sep 5, 2019 19:33
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Waffleman_ posted:Ring by Koji Suzuki. The original basis of the famous movie franchise. Pretty gripping horror mystery, though I felt like the resolution was maybe a bit too backloaded. I knew the novels were quite different from the movies, but it was still a tiny bit disappointing that it went in more of a science fiction direction to the movie's pure ghost story and realizing most of the iconic imagery was invented by the movies. I still enjoyed it quite a bit, and I'll probably check out the sequels in a bit and try to track down the movie. the sequels get increasingly surreal and scifi. the second one leans very hard on the fact that sadako has balls for some reason. the third one is pure scifi. chernobyl kinsman fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Sep 5, 2019 |
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Sep 5, 2019 19:34
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TommyGun85 posted:you couldn't connect with an immortal psychic fish worm-man? That part was interesting, but not enough to keep me reading. Before the huge timeskip, Leto wasn't that interesting, and the transformation, and afterwards he was a totally different, basically unrelated being. Has anyone ever been a lengthy timeline jump that worked where the story returns to a character who has had tons of experiences off screen? I cant think of one.
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Sep 6, 2019 06:16
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BananaNutkins posted:Has anyone ever been a lengthy timeline jump that worked where the story returns to a character who has had tons of experiences off screen? I cant think of one.
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Sep 6, 2019 08:56
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BananaNutkins posted:That part was interesting, but not enough to keep me reading. Before the huge timeskip, Leto wasn't that interesting, and the transformation, and afterwards he was a totally different, basically unrelated being. I know of a series that should have had a timeskip and didnt and is awful because of it...
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Sep 6, 2019 12:49
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Wanderers by Chuck Wendig, because I wanted a big sci fi thing for a beach read. People are losing all sense of themselves and walking in a steadily growing pack. They don’t respond to stimuli and they can’t be stopped. There’s loved ones shepherding them to stop them being attacked, and doctors trying to figure out wtf. Stuff to do with public opinion and politics. Gets going well and introduces the various main characters at the kind of rate where you get to know one properly before it throws more at you. Overall I loved it for the first... third I guess. And it tailed off from there. Pacing felt off in the second half after being excellent. The plot’s twists and turns started to feel heavier or more contrived or whatever. Next (re-)read is gonna be Rebecca because it’s one of my all-time favourites and I only ever read it once
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Sep 6, 2019 15:39
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Philthy posted:Dune by Frank Herbert I just finished Dune earlier today and I have to say, I did not enjoy it. I just couldn't get into it, right from the start. The writing style just didn't grab me, the characters I couldn't connect to, the pacing was off. Sounds like from your other post Dune Messiah is quite a bit different. Would you recommend someone who didn't really enjoy the first one to read the second?
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Sep 6, 2019 23:25
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dune is a dumb persons idea of a book for smart people
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Sep 7, 2019 01:51
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chernobyl kinsman posted:dune is a dumb persons idea of a book for smart people
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Sep 7, 2019 02:46
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to be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Dune
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Sep 7, 2019 08:16
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my bony fealty posted:to be fair, you have to have a very high IQ to understand Dune I hope you are being sarcastic...
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Sep 7, 2019 15:35
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TommyGun85 posted:I hope you are being sarcastic... love to read Chapterhouse Dune while spinning the latest Tool LP Fear Inoculum
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Sep 7, 2019 15:47
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TommyGun85 posted:I hope you are being sarcastic...
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Sep 7, 2019 15:55
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Just finished Gestapo Mars by Victor Gischler. I picked it up for $3 from the clearance section mainly based on this cover. It's the kind of male fantasy you'd expect from the cover. A secret agent wakes from cryo-sleep and has to jet across the galaxy fighting aliens. Plenty of violence, sex, and goofy stuff like nazi's riding dinosaurs. It doesn't take itself seriously, and I had a few LOL moments about how ridiculous it was. My main complaint is about the nazi's... They just aren't that bad and in some cases you are supposed to be rooting for them. i.e. - What are you supposed to think when nazi's are fighting slime monsters who intend to wipe out the human race?
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Sep 8, 2019 17:08
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I read the second Expanse book Caliban's War. I have some thoughts about it and why it's bad and I will probably make an effort post in the genre bonfire thread about it. The major problems can be summed up as 1) it's a 200 page book stretched to 600 pages because of repetition 2) little or no character development, despite the writers beating you over the head with what's supposed to be development 3) internal inconsistencies abound 4) the plot is a boring retread of the first book 5) paper-thin antagonists who are barely characters at all 6) intriguing ideas are introduced and then instantly forgotten in favor of more sci fi action scenes. Surprisingly for a 600 page pop sci fi novel an excess of worldbuilding is not a problem - infact it is the opposite, where we learn almost nothing new about the fictional world than the first book told us. There's Earth, Mars, the Belt, and they all don't like each other. Yep.
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Sep 8, 2019 17:32
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Just finished The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami. I really enjoyed it, though it was horny as hell. Also near the end we get this big explanation of some of the central mysteries, and while I get why it's necessary, it's a weird choice for a six hundred-page novel to suddenly have a character just reveal stuff I've been wondering about the entire time thirty pages from the end. Loved the ideas presented, though. More than anything, it really inspired me to just think about things, related to the novel both directly and tangentially. I'm the kind of guy who's constantly sifting through ideas for stories from the media I consume, and I feel like this book had me much more focused on questions and themes than premises in that regard, which is nice.
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Sep 8, 2019 21:41
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I've been doing few re-reads, but the last new thing I finished was The October Man by Ben Aaronovitch. It's in the same universe/storyline as his Rivers of London series, but focuses on the "magic cops" in Germany. It wasn't bad, though I like the London setting and characters better. Still, we did get some... oblique references to London stuff. The books I'm really looking forward to are Jonathan Maberry's next in the Joe Ledger series, Rage (Nov. 5), the next Rivers of London by Ben Aaronovictch, False Value (Nov. 18). After that, I'm hoping we'll finally get to Jim Butcher's Peace Talks now that he's finished writing it.
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Sep 8, 2019 23:19
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I picked up A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine on a whim after seeing some people in the SFF thread talk it up. I don't remember why; the book was engaging enough but felt insubstantial and familiar. It's a book of political intrigue where the protagonist is thrown into the deep end on an unfamiliar planet and has to piece together the conspiracy already in progress. There's an interesting technological conceit, where she has her predecessor's mind implanted into her brain and has to merge personalities with him in exchange for all of his expertise. Said implant is on the fritz for most of the book so there can be suspense, so it has to cede focus to the cultural differences between the protagonist's home station and the planet where she's assigned, banter, and coded poetry, which is a neat idea that I also wish got a closer look. I've been rushing through Jerusalem by Alan Moore for the past couple of weeks and I'm glad to have experienced it and also gotten it off my chest. Ten years in the making, this book is over twelve hundred pages long, one of those massive books I get an urge to read every couple of years. Unlike Infiinte Jest, Gravity's Rainbow or other past candidates I've gotten through, I found this book much more memorable because of it has a clear, mostly episodic structure to it, though the second part of three has a more sustained narrative. The book starts with a look at Alan Moore's hometown through different points in time, then takes a tour through the afterlife people in that town experience, and ends by intermingling life and afterlife, as well as shifts in style from a chapter in verse to a chapter play form (presumably modeled after those of Samuel Beckett) to one in the prose style of Finnegan's Wake. Moore spares no detail in creating a mythology for the Boroughs and the lower classes who live there; the average paragraph size is ten to twenty lines, and the effect immersed me in this one poor neighborhood without dragging most of the time. Unfortunately, some of the content of the book includes a graphic sexual assault seen from multiple perspectives, and the aftermath of two other instances of sexual assault, and I'd honestly prefer those were reduced or dropped entirely. If that doesn't bother you, I highly recommend this book, and that people only one chapter a day; most of them are long and dense enough to satisfy by themselves, and I got tired often when I tried to go at a faster pace.
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Sep 9, 2019 01:13
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hahayup posted:I just finished Dune earlier today and I have to say, I did not enjoy it. I just couldn't get into it, right from the start. The writing style just didn't grab me, the characters I couldn't connect to, the pacing was off. Sounds like from your other post Dune Messiah is quite a bit different. Would you recommend someone who didn't really enjoy the first one to read the second? If you're not feeling connected to the world building that was done, then probably not. It's an extension of the Muad'Dib mythos mostly with a lot of internalizing from Paul's perspective. Can't really say too much about it without giving away anything. On the plus side, it's a short read if you still don't dig it.
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Sep 9, 2019 01:35
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Just finished Work Song by Ivan Doig. I'm pretty sure I bought it on a whim while going through a list of "best fiction about the labor movement" and so I didn't realize it's actually the second part in a trilogy  . But to be honest at no point while reading it did it feel like I was missing anything. Any relevant backstory is explained in the book, and there really isn't too much. The main character is a newcomer in 1919 Butte, Montana and is unwittingly dragged into the middle of a conflict between copper miners, the mining company, and the more extreme International Workers of the World. Anyways, it made for a good light read during a flight. The characters are realistic and likeable enough, the writing is solid, and my only complaint with the plot is that it tied up too neatly and quickly right at the end. Presumably there's more plot left to unfold in the third book so I might get that before my next flight. To be honest I was hoping for something a little more meaty so if anyone has recommendations for fictional stories about the labor rights movement I'd love to hear them. Also, it was totally unintentional that I ended up reading two unrelated books in a row that take place in Montana. I think I should find a third and make it a hat trick. bowser fucked around with this message at 03:14 on Sep 9, 2019 |
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Sep 9, 2019 02:59
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