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TommyGun85 posted:Theres no ebook version? This is the official omnibus edition, as far as I can tell: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005ISOYLK
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Apr 26, 2021 16:02
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Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation by Dan Fagin. In depth look at industrial pollution dumping in New Jersey and the impact on a small town. Expertly researched and well presented. At times felt a bit academic and it was hard to keep track of all the chemical names and legal proceedings, but definitely a recommend if interested in subject matter. Shatterday, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Paingod and Other Delusions by Harlan Ellison. I had heard a lot about Ellison for years and had high hopes that his short stories would be a goldmine. I was disappointed, the heavy hitters like Jeffty Is Five or Paingod were fine but not amazing, and many others felt like mid to low-tier sci-fi. From Ellison's reputation I had been expecting quality similar to early George RR Martin or Stephen King like Sandkings or the Jaunt, but Ellison's talent isn't close to that level. His characters felt too generic. The chapter introductions where he would brag about how many awards a story won or how fast it was written got old fast.
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Apr 26, 2021 16:19
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Megazver posted:This is the official omnibus edition, as far as I can tell: Awesome, thanks. LOL, the paperback is $300...
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Apr 26, 2021 16:39
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The language of thieves : my family's obsession with a secret code the Nazis tried to eliminate by Martin Pulcher. This book is about Rotwelsch a germanic style language mostly used by underclasses and german criminal elements. The stuff about Rotwelsch and it's roots from various other languagers was good, the majority of the book however was taken up by the author coming to terms with his grandfathers glossed over Nazi roots. Which came as a complete surprise to the author... <sarcasm>because Nuremberg, Germany where his family has lived for generations has no Nazi affiliated history at all</sarcasm>.
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Apr 26, 2021 16:41
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quantumfoam posted:The language of thieves : my family's obsession with a secret code the Nazis tried to eliminate by Martin Pulcher. This book is about Rotwelsch a germanic style language mostly used by underclasses and german criminal elements. The stuff about Rotwelsch and it's roots from various other languagers was good, the majority of the book however was taken up by the author coming to terms with his grandfathers glossed over Nazi roots. Which came as a complete surprise to the author... <sarcasm>because Nuremberg, Germany where his family has lived for generations has no Nazi affiliated history at all</sarcasm>. Dang, that's no good. An author discussing how a topic relates to their family can be hit or miss, but when it misses hoo boy. I read a book about the history of grocery stores and how items are sourced and layouts set up was fascinating. The parts about the author exhaustively describing how his recently deceased father would shop for groceries, and exactly what eulogy was delivered, felt like stuff the editor should have told him to cut.
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Apr 26, 2021 16:54
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TommyGun85 posted:Theres no ebook version? It's available in ebook form on Kobo US - https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-chronicles-of-master-li-and-number-ten-ox Only on the US store - I had to go through some gift card region switching nonsense to get it. Discovered this after I'd read about a third from a  version I downloaded because I couldn't find it legally here new, but I loved it so much I felt compelled to buy it by any means necessary.nonathlon posted:That whole series is awesome. Just a perfect little creation dropped into our hands. I assume that it didn't do well at the time of release, or we'd be seeing Volume 17 and spinoff series. Yeah, reading about it is a bit sad - apparently the author initially planned to do seven books in the series but got so fed up of publisher incompetence that he gave up on it (although he did later say he'd pretty much written all he could of it and just had no other big ideas). Bridge of Birds won the world fantasy award, which is something I guess. Just a shame its remained a cult classic all this time and that the series are the only books Barry Hughart wrote - the prose and storytelling is just so utterly beautiful and effortlessly charming it really feels like it should be a total standout, and I would've loved to see what else he could do. As it is he only ever wrote the three books in the series and he died in 2019, so this is all we'll ever get 
Not the Messiah fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Apr 26, 2021 |
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Apr 26, 2021 18:09
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Shatterday, I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, Paingod and Other Delusions by Harlan Ellison. I had heard a lot about Ellison for years and had high hopes that his short stories would be a goldmine. I was disappointed, the heavy hitters like Jeffty Is Five or Paingod were fine but not amazing, and many others felt like mid to low-tier sci-fi. From Ellison's reputation I had been expecting quality similar to early George RR Martin or Stephen King like Sandkings or the Jaunt, but Ellison's talent isn't close to that level. His characters felt too generic. The chapter introductions where he would brag about how many awards a story won or how fast it was written got old fast. Man, I remember picking up an Ellison anthology out of curiosity because one of my favourite authors loved his stuff. Like you, I was disappointed. Most of the stories were on the same level as a middling episode of the Twilight Zone. Some were just outrageously bad. The worst was probably a 'story' about gargoyles coming to life and killing and maiming everyone. There was no character, no plot, just descriptions of people being brutally murdered in gory fashions. I suspect it was written as a middle finger towards someone, although I have no idea who. I couldn't even finish Book of Lamps and Banners by Elizabeth Hand. I liked the first two books in this series, but the third was disappointing and this one was just dull. Prose was boring, dialogue was bad, story was meandering. I got about 140 pages into it, mostly by skimming, before giving up out of disinterest. Also gave up on Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke. Maybe I'm just in a peculiar mood, I don't know. This book was fine but I just don't care about the detective character, or the mystery.
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Apr 28, 2021 16:32
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Sisal Two-Step posted:Man, I remember picking up an Ellison anthology out of curiosity because one of my favourite authors loved his stuff. Like you, I was disappointed. Most of the stories were on the same level as a middling episode of the Twilight Zone. Some were just outrageously bad. The worst was probably a 'story' about gargoyles coming to life and killing and maiming everyone. There was no character, no plot, just descriptions of people being brutally murdered in gory fashions. I suspect it was written as a middle finger towards someone, although I have no idea who. A mild defence of Ellison - his work is very much of a period, maybe the 1970s and a certain angry young man attitude. A lot of it is middling and best enjoyed if you're an angry young man too. At a different time and age - perhaps not so good. And Dangerous Visions? That's flat out awful
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Apr 28, 2021 17:08
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Temple of the Golden Pavilion by yukio mishima all of his books are about psychopaths obsessed with ideals and they're great. some of his logic is difficult to follow just because of how esoteric it is but i think part of that is intentional on mishma's part. you aren't supposed to be able to empathize with someone obsessed with a temple, or maybe you are?
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Apr 28, 2021 20:56
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Sisal Two-Step posted:Man, I remember picking up an Ellison anthology out of curiosity because one of my favourite authors loved his stuff. Like you, I was disappointed. Most of the stories were on the same level as a middling episode of the Twilight Zone. Shatterday was an episode of the 1985 Twilight Zone. Bruce Willis was the main character. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owr6FvvEeY0
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Apr 29, 2021 01:03
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The Farthest Shore by Ursula Le Guin. This is my first time reading the series beyond the first book and I really am enjoying each book more than the last. The prose and worldbuilding is really outstanding.
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May 3, 2021 12:23
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On the Road by Jack Kerouac. Maybe its popularity would make more sense if I was a restless young man, or if I knew anything about the people the characters were based on. Whatever, I didn't enjoy it. At least it was short.
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May 3, 2021 18:59
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Not the Messiah posted:Just finished Bridge of Birds Just finished this and it was one of the most fun and imaginative books Ive ever read. Fantastic.
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May 4, 2021 19:01
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Just finished The Memory Police by Yoko Ogawa and liked it a lot, but hoo boy, despite that ending seeming inevitable, it was still crushing to read.
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May 6, 2021 23:13
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Ivanhoe by Sir Walter Scott. I read it as a kid, and on rereading I didn’t care for it. The most interesting part was the scholar’s notes at the beginning describing the historical context and impact of the novel.
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May 7, 2021 22:55
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Finished Elantris by Brandon Sanderson. I heard a lot of cautioning about this book going in and warnings that it was not up to snuff with his later works. I found it mostly pretty good outside of some weird meandering character moments and a little bit too much of the plot being based around people not being willing to tell each other things. I really like Hrathen as a character, and his arc was great. Similarly, Sarene’s sections were my favorite parts and seem almost like a prototype of the thief crew stuff in the first Mistborn book. Another high point is the whole final quarter of the book which is about a hundred times more insane than any other Sanderson books I’ve read and is basically a daisy chain of insane stuff being pulled out of everyone’s rear end all at once. It came off as a little contrived in sections but was exciting and occasionally amusing enough to keep me happy I also finished Sherlock Holmes and the Shadwell Shadows by James Lovegrove. Like Elantris I was cautioned about this book but more people saying it was outright horrible. I didn’t really think so but it definitely wasn’t the most amazing thing in the world. As Lovecraft pastiche it is middling and doesn’t really use the mythos very well, and as a Sherlock pastiche it’s much the same because although it captures Watson and Holmes fairly well there’s not much of an overriding mystery to be solved that the reader can’t instantly put together. It was ok but I got it for free, and it didn’t grab me enough to seek out paying for any of the sequels.
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May 8, 2021 07:19
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Finished The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen. It was...okay? Enjoyable enough and I had a good chuckle in places, but didn't really do much for me really. Felt quite academic/overwrought in prose sometimes in a way I find hard to verbalise. Lil bit disappointed as I was hoping for great things, but hey ho!TommyGun85 posted:Just finished this and it was one of the most fun and imaginative books Ive ever read. Fantastic. It's just so fun and lovely 
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May 9, 2021 22:38
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The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. Published in 1946, only translated in English recently. Locked room mystery. 30's Japan. Newlywed couple found slashed to pieces in closed-off building. Introduces a large cast of characters at the start, but given the short page-time and the focus on mechanics over motive none of them are interesting. The detective feels very stock: a genius youngster who dresses like a hobo. Everyone praises his rear end before he does anything, and he doesnt even show up until the mid-point. Okay book, but don't feel like like reading the 70 odd sequels.
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May 10, 2021 12:47
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Inspector Gesicht posted:The Honjin Murders by Seishi Yokomizo. Published in 1946, only translated in English recently. I suspect this article about the genre this spawned is more interesting than the book itself: https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/apr/27/honkaku-a-century-of-the-japanese-whodunnits-keeping-readers-guessing
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May 10, 2021 18:55
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Megazver posted:I suspect this article about the genre this spawned is more interesting than the book itself: Yeah, thats where I heard it from. I prefer Poirot since it's less about rube goldberg machines and more about reading between the lines in testimonies.
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May 10, 2021 20:30
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A Memory Called Empire, by Arkady Martine. Really enjoyed this - a fun read that was surprisingly breezy to get through while still having enough good political intrigue and space drama to keep me invested! I kept getting a kick out of Teixcalaan being very aztec influenced - makes a fun change from space empires always being imperial rome/space Democracy flavoured. Definitely not as ~serious~ as I was expecting it to be, but it's nice having a 'fun' space opera - kind of Culture-y in a way.
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May 12, 2021 19:01
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Candide by Voltaire, translated by Henry Morley. Another book I read when I was younger. I enjoyed it a second time around, unlike Ivanhoe. As a work of comedy I liked it, but I lack any familiarity with the works of Leibniz so I can’t grade it as a satire.
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May 13, 2021 21:09
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The Martian, by Andy Weir. I enjoyed this a fair bit more than I was expecting! Really easy to read through and the tone is fairly light throughout - felt kind of trashy/pulpy in a way since everything is made incredibly explicit - no subtext allowed. If I wanted to put on my critic hat the lack of any real characterisation beyond the main character is a bit meh - everyone else seems pretty interchangeable, and you don't get a real sense of who the characters are beyond their name and a single identifying trait. Given the kind of book it is, I didn't find it too much of a problem though!
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May 14, 2021 14:42
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Not the Messiah posted:The Martian, by Andy Weir. I just read Project Hail Mary and the narrative voice is just about identical. Totally worth the quick read.
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May 15, 2021 04:57
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Just finished re-reading The Black Company by Glen Cook, due to an impending quiz night with my partner's family. Hopefully I know it well enough, as it'smy chosen topic.  drat though...I've got a whole (ever-growing...) stack of books I need to read, but now I'm tempted to read the next few of Black Company books...
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May 16, 2021 06:14
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Major Isoor posted:Just finished re-reading The Black Company by Glen Cook, due to an impending quiz night with my partner's family. Hopefully I know it well enough, as it'smy chosen topic. Always worth it. The traditional stopping points are after "The White Rose" (ends the books of the North) after "The Silver Spike" (ends the books of the North plus additional coda), after "Dreams of Steel" (ends the books of the South), or after "Soldiers Live" (you're all in at that point). Side Note: "Port of Shadows" does not exist. Ignore anyone who tells you otherwise.
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May 17, 2021 00:25
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tetrapyloctomy posted:I just read Project Hail Mary and the narrative voice is just about identical. Totally worth the quick read. I was going to say the same thing. I just read them back to back. The main character in The Martian might as well be the same person in Hail Mary.
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May 17, 2021 04:38
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Just finished Dune. I liked it a lot, it was an approach to sci-fi that I hadn't seen before. A large galactic civilization where the protagonist never leaves (well, after the beginning) the one planet. All the activity comes to him due to other circumstances. Being purposely vague because I think it's a really cool story. It's maybe a little dated but still a really good read. Wondering now if I should continue with the other books. I hear Prophet of Dune is good at the very least.
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May 17, 2021 14:24
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PantsBandit posted:Just finished Dune. I liked it a lot, it was an approach to sci-fi that I hadn't seen before. A large galactic civilization where the protagonist never leaves (well, after the beginning) the one planet. All the activity comes to him due to other circumstances. Being purposely vague because I think it's a really cool story. You should read the next three. I think they're 'Dune Messiah', 'Children of Dune' and 'God-Emperor of Dune'. If you read 'Heretics of Dune', ye've gone too far
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May 17, 2021 14:37
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Major Isoor posted:You should read the next three. I think they're 'Dune Messiah', 'Children of Dune' and 'God-Emperor of Dune'. Thanks this is exactly what I wanted to know. How far to read that it's a satisfying, coherent story without getting into indulgent BS territory.
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May 17, 2021 14:39
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PantsBandit posted:Wondering now if I should continue with the other books. I hear Prophet of Dune is good at the very least.
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May 17, 2021 18:20
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Also, there's a thread for Dune.
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May 17, 2021 21:18
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PantsBandit posted:Just finished Dune. I liked it a lot, it was an approach to sci-fi that I hadn't seen before. A large galactic civilization where the protagonist never leaves (well, after the beginning) the one planet. All the activity comes to him due to other circumstances. Being purposely vague because I think it's a really cool story. There are 2 things to remember about continuing with Dune books. 1. Ignore the books written by Brian Herbert and Kevin Anderson. They do not exist. See also https://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2003/10/15/honesty-time 2. When you get to a book that you thought was "meh", stop. The quality never includes, with the one exception that some people like God-Emperor of Dune more than Children of Dune.
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May 18, 2021 12:38
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Firewalkers, by Adrian Tchaikovsky A novella that I found a pleasant way to spend a few hours reading, but I have very mixed feelings about it. The premise and setup is pretty strong and the first half or so of the book is a fun enough apocalyptic road trip, and then the second half and the ending in particular is just...weird? Abrupt? I'm not sure why exactly teaming up with an evil AI to mass murder rich people and colonise space was a way for the story to end, especially as it was all over and done with in 2 chapters when that feels like a lot more ground to cover But hey, it was interesting enough while it lasted and the prose itself was engaging! tetrapyloctomy posted:I just read Project Hail Mary and the narrative voice is just about identical. Totally worth the quick read. ScottyJSno posted:I was going to say the same thing. I just read them back to back. The main character in The Martian might as well be the same person in Hail Mary. Cheers! Yeah I read the excerpt from Artemis (his middle novel I guess) at the end of the book and again the tone/voice was v much the same. Might keep Project Hail Mary in the back pocket for when I'm in the mood for some fun schlock! My current struggle is that I'm trying to read more ~literary~ stuff, but sci-fi/fantasy is just more fun to decide to read. 16 books in this year, gotta get something of note in there at some point 
Not the Messiah fucked around with this message at 21:47 on May 19, 2021 |
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May 19, 2021 01:08
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Blinding: Volume 1 by Mircea Cartarescu. Wildly imaginative, vivid dreamscapes of Bucharest, this coming of age story and memoir of life in just pre and post WWII Romania ends in a surrealistic cum mystical meditation on memory and creativity. The book takes you by the hand and drags you along with it. Very evocative and good, while also terrible at the same time. Highly recommended. Just sucks the other two volumes aren't yet translated into English.
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May 19, 2021 22:08
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The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough, by David Chandler. Despite its name it's mostly focused on tactical and organizational developments in European armies from 1688-1748 instead of covering the whole breadth of warfare in the period, so look elsewhere if you want a focus on grand tactics and strategy. Regarding the topics it does cover it was very interesting to learn more about a period that's mostly seen as a prelude to Frederick the Great and Napoleon. I don't think a novice military history reader would enjoy the book much because of how specialized the topic is, and that the author assumes the reader has a basic understanding of the period already so he throws names around without giving much context. If you want to know more about the period then you should definitely read the book.
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May 20, 2021 00:56
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Recently finished the penguin classics print of the first edition of Leaves of Grass as a first exposure to Whitman. Loved it. I'm a sucker for works that seem like they could be ridiculously heady on description but that end up overcoming that. Admittedly, I'm not a huge fan of the tendencies some authors or poets have to list things or people in the middle of a work, and some of the poems fall into that tendency. I'M NOT WORRIED ABOUT IT THOUGH, and it's reputation as a classic was pretty obvious. Excited to read eventually read a latter edition, as the first one misses out on some famous poems.
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May 22, 2021 19:55
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the prisoner, the fifth volume of In search of lost time (which is a standalone volume in my language’s translation) even when being the first unfinished volume of the novel, the prose and its flow really is something else (and credit to the translator as well).
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May 22, 2021 22:39
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I think To the lighthouse for sure is a novel that needs to be revisited again.
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May 26, 2021 14:43
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Add me to the list of people that just finished Project Hail Mary. It was a quick, easy, fun read. I think it could translate well in to another movie, similar to The Martian.
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May 27, 2021 19:01
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