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Just finished up 2 of Robert Bevan's books, Critical Failures 1 & 2. The idea is these guys playing a D&D style game get sucked into said game and have to play it for real. Plot wise, it sounds like something that would not be far off from a saturday morning cartoon from when I was a kid. Honestly though, it's god damned hilarious. I'm loving the kindle unlimited setup. I just grabbed all the short stories and collections, and have a new author added to my "buy when new poo poo is available" list.
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Jul 26, 2014 05:57
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So I picked up this book Lord Of The Swastika from a thrift store, I'd heard the author's name a few times in passing but I never knew he won a Hugo award. I'm always in the mood for fun pulpy SF so I thought I'd check it out! It's not the greatest read - this Adolf Hitler guy has a really purple prose, and a fascination with phallic imagery (discussed in the surprisingly highbrow Afterword) and also RAD BIKER GANGS. There are a lot of weird racial politics in this though - obviously it's a pretty heavy-handed attack on communism, but there's a distinct lack of any decent characters of colour - I mean, Edgar Rice Burroughs did the "noble savage" thing all over the place, but at least they had names, y'know? Anyway, I'd give this book a solid three stars. Fun and pulpy, with plenty of gory violence, but the prose and vocabulary get a bit samey. Obviously, this was The Iron Dream. This is such an interesting idea. Norman Spinrad not only imagines an alternate timeline where Hitler emigrated to the US after the Great War and got into writing science fiction, but he wonderfully emulates the style and ethos of the Führer's writing (if anyone else has read Mein Kampf, or extracts from it, the self-important purple prose is excellently parodied). Coupled with the afterword, a dozen pages of pitch-perfect literary criticism from within the same universe, Spinrad not only explores our own relationship with extreme politics through fiction but also skewers cultural theory itself. A must-read, even if the actual novel is painful!
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Jul 26, 2014 22:17
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Just finished The Tower Lord, by Anthony Ryan. Really enjoyed it. - unlike the internet, I liked the shift from single to multiple POV. I thought it brought a lot more depth to the characters, and allowed him to tell a much more expansive story - that said, there should have been more Vaelin - yes, it starts a little slow. but it picks up rapidly. - Some of the names were a bit too similar. Not quite Fantasy Name Syndrome, but I definitely had to refer to the index a few times - Frentis storyline started off all kinds of awful/badass, kinda petered out by the end. I assume it's building up to something big. - Reva is either gifted or was power-leveling like a mofo while offscreen - Snowdance is the coolest - Note: Sherin Died On The Way Back To Her Home Planet Conclusion: if you liked Blood Song, ignore the internet's general 'but its not the same as the first book abloobloo' and pick it up. It's a great story. Next up: Hell House, California or Spaceman Blues. BrosephofArimathea fucked around with this message at 08:13 on Jul 29, 2014 |
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Jul 29, 2014 07:59
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Finished The Phoenix Conspiracy by Richard Sanders - one of those "first ebook in the saga is free" type things. Had it sitting on my Kindle for ages and well, it's pretty meh in every aspecy. Characters are dull, the only female character of any mention is beautiful and every wants her. The main character is probably a Gray Stu with a "flaw" that never really holds him back. It drags and there's no real big twist or surprise. It's not even trashy b-movie entertaining.
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Jul 29, 2014 14:40
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The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Cary. Amazing. Gripping, shocking, heart-rending. Surprises you with every chapter, hits you like a sledgehammer to the gut. Read it. Read it. Read it.
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Jul 30, 2014 00:13
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I finished 1Q84 by Murakami over the weekend. I really enjoyed it up until the end. I'm fine with not having all my questions answered and loose ends, and I don't need some epic conclusion but the ending just wasn't satisfying, especially considering it's nearly 1,000 pages and just seemed to end. Having said that, I love Murakami. The characters were great, his prose was beautiful as always, and the plot was really interesting.
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Jul 30, 2014 23:28
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Gertrude Perkins posted:The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Cary. Amazing. Gripping, shocking, heart-rending. Surprises you with every chapter, hits you like a sledgehammer to the gut. Read it. Read it. Read it. Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. A treasure. No, I never read "zombie" books. I hate zombies. I thiunk I might be part zombie. Or someting worse. But - The Girl With All The Gifts is magnificent.
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Jul 31, 2014 02:02
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I just finished Fourtunes favourites by Colleen McCullough. Its historical fiction and one of my go to books when theres nothing else to read. Its the third book in her of rome series im missing two to complete the whole story. Its soo good if you love roman history , (from Gaius Marius ' 7 councilships to Agustus) i highly suggest it
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Jul 31, 2014 09:50
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Gertrude Perkins posted:The Girl With All The Gifts, by M.R. Cary. Amazing. Gripping, shocking, heart-rending. Surprises you with every chapter, hits you like a sledgehammer to the gut. Read it. Read it. Read it. Then read The House of War and Witness, because it's better and isn't I Am Legend. Much as I enjoy Mike's R novels and collaborations with spouse and spawn, I do wish he'd get the thumb out and write the last Felix Castor book. Apparently that's on the cards after the next Mike R project.
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Jul 31, 2014 15:56
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I Am Hydrogen posted:I finished 1Q84 by Murakami over the weekend. I really enjoyed it up until the end. I'm fine with not having all my questions answered and loose ends, and I don't need some epic conclusion but the ending just wasn't satisfying, especially considering it's nearly 1,000 pages and just seemed to end. Having said that, I love Murakami. The characters were great, his prose was beautiful as always, and the plot was really interesting. Most of Murakami's stuff has left me with more questions than answers when I finished the books. 1Q84 has been one I've avoided for a while due to friends telling me it wasn't up to snuff.
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Jul 31, 2014 17:57
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I'm reading Bravo by Greg Rucka. It's a good book, and extremely fast paced. The plot was a little confusing at first, since it is the second book of the series after Alpha, but you can get the gist of things fairly easily. I'm now eagerly awaiting Charlie, book 3, which is probably coming up in a year. The characters are some new ones and some old. The main POV is Master Sergeant Jonathan "Jad" Bell from Alpha, but new major POV characters are Chief Warrant Officer Petra Nessuno, who's decompressing after having spent the better part of two years undercover sharing the bed of a criminal psychopath, and a woman who answers to the name Jordan Webber-Hayden who works for a terrorist facilitator-for-hire called the Architect. Of these two I think the former is executed better. Being American and not a terrorist I find it easier to sympathize with Petra, and she comes across as a fully formed person who is coming out of a very taxing period in her life. I really hope that we'll see more of her in Charlie in her professional capacity. In contrast, woman whose name is not Jordan doesn't really display the same kind of desires and motivations, and her true personality (not that of her covers) seems oddly infantilized. Actually, she reminds me a bit of the assassin of vampires from The Rhesus Chart by Charles Stross. I thought it was very interesting that a character from the first book, CIA officer Shoshana Nuri, who died in the climax of that book saving Jad's daughter from a terrorist gunman, is still very much remembered and remarked on in this book. Somewhat petty complaint, but I did have a problem with the callsigns of Bell's teammates (Chaindragger, Steelriver, Ball-something or other), which just seemed utterly ridiculous (although possibly in a thought-up-over-lots-of-alcohol way). Especially when compared to Jad and Petra's (Warlock and Blackfriars respectively).
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Aug 1, 2014 01:38
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Finally finished up my Mary Renault run with The Mask of Apollo and The Praise Singer. Fairly good but I wouldn't say they're her best, my favorites of hers were probably The Last of the Wine and her Alexander the Great trilogy. Then I shifted into some early Jonathan Lethem, which was an unexpected delight for me since I'd only read one of his later novels and it didn't really hold me. Anyway, I read and quite enjoyed Gun, With Occasional Music and Amnesia Moon, both felt very Philip K. Dick influenced in different fun ways. I've just now finished Ryzard Kupuscinski's Shah of Shahs, I remember reading questions on its accuracy or integrity somewhere but regardless it's a fairly entertaining intriguing quick read with some poetic touch.
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Aug 1, 2014 02:12
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rufius posted:Most of Murakami's stuff has left me with more questions than answers when I finished the books. 1Q84 has been one I've avoided for a while due to friends telling me it wasn't up to snuff. 1Q84 seemed like Murakami was just going through the motions. Not one of his better ones, imo. But I guess that's sort of unavoidable with the type of author who keeps retreading the same ground.
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Aug 1, 2014 07:28
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Finished The Darwin Elevator by Jason Hough, and I'm a little ways into the second book, The Exodus Towers. Just a little fast food reading, but it's surprisingly well-written, and as long as you don't think about it, pretty good. The pacing is lightning fast, and the author certainly isn't afraid to chase his protagonists up a tree and then cut it down...
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Aug 1, 2014 15:51
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Just finished Gun Machine by Warren Ellis of Transmetropolitan fame and it was a pretty good little noir crime novel. Based on the plot synopsis I expected it to be a bit crazier, something like Clive Barker's Midnight Meat Train but it turned out to be pretty straightforward but still enjoyable.
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Aug 1, 2014 17:02
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I've been on a bit of a frenzy this week. The Quantum Thief by Hannu Rajaniemi - Stupendous fun. High-concept, far-future sci-fi, full of posthuman weirdness, great characters and impeccable pacing. I'm becoming a real sucker for cat-and-mouse detective-versus-master-criminal stories, and I've already got my copy of the second book The Fractal Prince on my shelf. Bed, stories by Tao Lin - Sometimes sad, sometimes weirdly poignant, this is mostly a collection of character portraits and explorations of wistful and alienated states of being. It's very Tao Lin, with his typical dreamlike mumblecore style, but of course that means every now and then he hits you full in the chest with a phrase or a sentence that resonates beautifully. Robin Ince's Bad Book Club by Robin Ince - Hilarious from the first few pages. English stand-up comic Robin Ince describes his journey through the obscure, infuriating and baffling world of literature. Exclusively bought second-hand (or in one case, found in a skip) he catalogues a wide range of titles, from Guy N. Smith's Crabs series (about giant, murderous crustaceans) to the literary offal of Ann Coulter and Richard Littlejohn. I work in a bookshop myself, and was strangely intrigued to find we had a few of the titles he covers in stock. Ella Minnow Pea by Mark Dunn - An island community called Nollop (named for the fictional creater of the pangram 'The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog') goes through a crisis when individual letters of the famous phrase start falilng, one by one, from the statue in town. As each letter falls, the island council bans its use, and things start to spiral out of control. Fun and a breeze to read through, and I ended up feeling pretty smart towards the end of it.
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Aug 2, 2014 10:48
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BrosephofArimathea posted:Just finished The Tower Lord, by Anthony Ryan. Really enjoyed it. I just finished it and found it a bit of a jarring change, but it picked up as you say. I don't think it gave enough time to the characters for proper growth, most notable example being Reva, but it was a really fun book nonetheless.
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Aug 3, 2014 09:38
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Finished a re-read of The Black Company by Glen Cook. I've re-read this book and series multiple times and it's always amazing. He has a very unique writing style, and I definitely enjoy the evolution of the characters.
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Aug 3, 2014 16:29
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Finished The Divine Comedy recently. It was hella cool seeing how Dante ripped several popes a new one by placing them in different circles of Hell plus a well-placed fart joke in the middle of Inferno. 
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Aug 3, 2014 20:33
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Finished The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman, enjoyed it and as the final book in the series it tied things up pretty well. There were a few parts of the story I wish had gotten more attention, and it just started to feel a bit rushed towards the end. Still very solid and probably my favorite of the trilogy.
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Aug 5, 2014 19:43
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vandiar posted:Finished The Magician's Land by Lev Grossman, enjoyed it and as the final book in the series it tied things up pretty well. There were a few parts of the story I wish had gotten more attention, and it just started to feel a bit rushed towards the end. Still very solid and probably my favorite of the trilogy. I read the first book and have a copy of the second but I just felt that the ending of the first felt so complete and he sacrificed it all just to have a sequel.
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Aug 6, 2014 16:31
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Poutling posted:I read the first book and have a copy of the second but I just felt that the ending of the first felt so complete and he sacrificed it all just to have a sequel. I felt the same way, but was happy to be wrong- the second book is much better in my opinion.
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Aug 6, 2014 16:50
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White Noise by Don DeLillo - Even though I am not the largest fan of postmodern writing (e.g. Pynchon), this was a super fast read for me. Without giving much away, it tells the story of Jack Gladney, a professor of Hitler studies and his extreme fear of death. Sure, one of the underlying themes in the book is the negative influence mass media has on society, but it doesn't feel too dated, as the issue is still relevant today. The prose is interesting and easy to comprehend, so don't be put off by the branding of "postmodern". Definitely want to check out his other works out now. Less Than Zero by Bret Easton Ellis - Bret's first novel, set in the 80s in the heart of LA. Criticized at its release for being "unrealistic" and the characters "fake", I would say the stereotypes of the rich, drug-addled youth up to no good have materialized and become a commonplace element of Californian culture. I wouldn't call it overly vulgar or extreme, but for a 19 year old's first novel it provides an interesting, albeit unfulfilling look in the hypothetical life of degenerate youth in the 80s (and 80s it is, as the writer felt the need to plug either TaB or MTV in almost every second page). Mike Cartwright fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Aug 6, 2014 |
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Aug 6, 2014 18:04
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Mike Cartwright posted:Don Delillo Didn't finish it (as far as I got I sort of think it starts on a high and goes downhill), but man, the first passage of Underworld by Don DeLillo (at the baseball game) is one of the best things I've ever read.
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Aug 6, 2014 19:11
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Read In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. Nightlife guide in Japan who specializes in the red light district meets a potential psychopath. Could've done without the last third of it where all this improbable poo poo starts happening, and it gets needlessly gruesome at some parts, but it was still an enjoyable read. I kind of wish Ryu would go back to the kind of prose he invoked in Almost Transparent Blue, because his new stuff just feels really stiffly written in comparison. Gertrude Perkins posted:
How do Lin's short stories compare to his more long-form stuff? I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the guy's work after reading Shoplifting (hated it), but I can probably see his style being more effective in small doses.
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Aug 6, 2014 20:24
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xian posted:Underworld by Don DeLillo Yeah, that's the next DeLillo I want to read, heard a lot of good things about it. Going to order it in after I've finished the rest of the things on my list.
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Aug 7, 2014 10:24
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Finished The Rifters Trilogy (Starfish, Maelstrom, and Behemoth) by Peter Watts. I really liked both Starfish and Maelstrom but Behemoth was kind of a lovely ending to the trilogy. It felt like two or three unfinished books were mashed together and the resolution to the plot just happens because it was the end of the book. You have the whole Atlantis plotline that just gets dropped a third of the way in and then it gets blown up, the new virus thats better than Behemoth and may be transforming life on Earth into some never seen before form, or maybe it just evaporates, Achilles as he becomes a one-dimensional comic book supervillian, and the whole thing with the Lenies in cyberspace that doesn't really go anywhere. And then the plot resolves in three pages. what the gently caress Also read The Atrocity Archives by Charles Stross. I went into it thinking I'd hate it because I don't really like Lovecraftian horror or nerd humor, but I ended up enjoying it. I don't think I would've bothered if I didn't like A Colder War as much as I do.
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Aug 7, 2014 19:19
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shuiromahou posted:I just finished Fourtunes favourites by Colleen McCullough. Its historical fiction and one of my go to books when theres nothing else to read. Its the third book in her of rome series im missing two to complete the whole story. Its soo good if you love roman history , (from Gaius Marius ' 7 councilships to Agustus) i highly suggest it I finished that recently too but now Amazon took the Kindle books away so I can't finish the series.
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Aug 8, 2014 02:40
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Mira posted:Read In the Miso Soup by Ryu Murakami. Nightlife guide in Japan who specializes in the red light district meets a potential psychopath. Could've done without the last third of it where all this improbable poo poo starts happening, and it gets needlessly gruesome at some parts, but it was still an enjoyable read. I couldn't disagree more about the last third of the book. I think it really crystallised the psychological shock of Frank's rampage coupled with his over-eager friendliness with Kenji. The book has a great symmetry to it: the first third with Kenji's growing suspicion, the creeping sense of dread, culminating in the restaurant massacre. And then afterwards, them holed up together, just sharing stories, the anticipation for Kenji to run, to call for help, or anything. That slowly dissipates into grim acceptance as the Stockholm Syndrome sets in and Frank ends up walking out of his life. quote:How do Lin's short stories compare to his more long-form stuff? I have kind of a love/hate relationship with the guy's work after reading Shoplifting (hated it), but I can probably see his style being more effective in small doses. Difficult to say. His online short story collection, Today The Sky is Blue and White with Bright Blue Spots and a Small Pale Moon and I Will Destroy Our Relationship Today, has a lot of different styles and concepts, from the mundane to the really strange. When Bed was published, it came out at the same time as Lin's debut novel Eeeee Eee Eeee. All his weirdness went into the novel, and the short stories are more down-to-earth portraits of disaffected, scared and listless people. My recommendation for Tao Lin would be to check out his second novel Richard Yates, which blends his strange sense of humour with his ability to lull you into a dreamlike state and then rabbit-punch you in the brain.
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Aug 8, 2014 10:09
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Finished up Broken Souls by Stephen Blackmoore. If you liked Dead Things, you will love this book. It's the second book in the series, so you kinda need to read the first one to really follow the plot or know what's going on because the author does not believe in rehashing poo poo for newcomers. That being said, it's pretty awesome. It came out Tuesday and I started reading it tonight and literally read the whole thing in 2 sittings. Basic plot, necromancer Eric Carter is trying to figure out a way to get out of a deal with a rather large and powerful entity, and bad poo poo happens. Batshit crazy soon follows, and then there's a few emotional gut punches and then an ending that kinda came out of nowhere to make me go "WHOA gently caress". Go buy this book if you liked the first one. I wouldn't recommend it to new readers as a starting point, as I mentioned the plot is kind of carried over from the first book and you will be wondering who some people are. Great read though.
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Aug 8, 2014 10:11
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Oh yeah, books I finished: Chain Of Events, the debut novel by veteran screenwriter Fredrik T. Olsson. It's a fast-paced, high-concept thriller. Kidnap, codebreaking, disaster, a threat to all humanity, that kind of thing. It reads like a blend of modern Scandinavian noir and classic thrillers (I was particularly reminded of Michael Crichton), and I thought it was pretty fun. Occasionally things get a little nebulous and confusing but it's definitely worth checking out. Story Of The Eye by Georges Bataille. A classic subversive piece of erotic fiction, this novella is a grim and frantic exploration of three teenagers' sexual exploits as they grow increasingly dark and unhinged. The story itself is a blend of visceral metaphor and stark pornography, but ultimately a little shallow. Much more interesting, however, are the two essays included with my edition (the Penguin Classics release), by Susan Sontag and Roland Barthes. Their analysis (in particular Sontag's discussion of pornography as an art form) is really interesting, and a great addition to the original text. Sandman vol. 7: Brief Lives by Neil Gaiman et al. I'm working my way through Sandman for the first time, and I think this volume might have left the biggest impression on me so far. It's focused on Delirium (my favourite of the Endless) and explored a lot of great in-universe mythology. It feels like things are starting to gain momentum, and I'm looking forward to getting into book 8!
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Aug 8, 2014 12:58
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I recently finished Wool by Hugh Howey - the novelized collection, not just the short story. It was all right. It started out odd and disjointed, jumping around between a few characters before getting to the protagonist Jules. I guess this was because it was originally separate shorts, later stuck together into the novel. As post-apocalyptic novels go, it was not bad, but the characters were hard to empathize with and felt poorly developed. I suppose this could be intentional considering where/how they live and they had no knowledge that other silos existed. The world Howey created is very imaginative, though.
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Aug 8, 2014 13:52
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Ayem posted:I recently finished Wool by Hugh Howey - the novelized collection, not just the short story. There are two sequels (novelized collections in the same manner) that are also decent.
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Aug 8, 2014 21:06
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I just finished The Cuckoo's Calling and The Silkworm by Robert Galbraith aka J.K. Rowling. Overall I thought they were quick entertaining murder mystery's, not great but not bad.
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Aug 9, 2014 00:11
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I just finished Kafka On The Shore by Haruki Murakami. I feel like it is the perfect book of Murakami's to start with before you delve into the broader texts of his; like IQ84 orThe Wind Up Bird Chronicle. It deals with some of the classic Murakami style (Norwegian Wood) which is what made him popular in Japan back in the late 80s' and early 90s'; and that is his combination of spirituality & existential / philosophy with protagonists who are dealing with challenging turning points of their life. Kafka On The Shore is an incredibly beautiful story, filled with characters that are so well-developed that they feel alive. The mysteries associated with the plot are intriguing, and I find them organized in a way which compliments Murakami's "big-picture" quite well. So far this is easily my favorite of his books, I still have a couple more to try out but this has a strong lead that will be hard to beat.
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Aug 9, 2014 07:11
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Today I finished: Cat's Cradle by Kurt Vonnegut. A goon favourite or so I'm led to believe, and I can see why! First Vonnegut I've read properly (apart from short stories) since I vaguely remember doing Slaughterhouse 5 at school. This is really great! It's satirical without being heavy-handed, the characters are all great, the plot trundles along and then things go crazy. Will be re-reading Slaughterhouse 5 again soon I think, as well as picking up pretty much any other Vonnegut I get the chance to. Sandman vol. 8: World's End by Neil Gaiman et al. After the adventure that Brief Lives was, this felt a little disappointing. I liked the concept (all these individuals stuck in a tavern sharing stories from their respective worlds) but I only really engaged with a couple of the tales. Next is volume 9, which is twice the size, so let's see how things go! Gertrude Perkins fucked around with this message at 19:53 on Aug 9, 2014 |
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Aug 9, 2014 19:49
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Just finished The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls. Instant favourite, I couldn't put it down. I think the highest compliment I can give is that in many ways it's like a modern day Grapes of Wrath.
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Aug 10, 2014 03:14
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Will be re-reading Slaughterhouse 5 again soon I think, as well as picking up pretty much any other Vonnegut I get the chance to. I highly recommend Mother Night and Breakfast of Champions. 
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Aug 10, 2014 05:33
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Gertrude Perkins posted:Sandman vol. 8: World's End by Neil Gaiman et al. After the adventure that Brief Lives was, this felt a little disappointing. I liked the concept (all these individuals stuck in a tavern sharing stories from their respective worlds) but I only really engaged with a couple of the tales. Next is volume 9, which is twice the size, so let's see how things go! You missed the theme of World's End, I think. Every story told at the inn is a story about someone else telling their own story to the storyteller. At the end Charlene chooses to stay at the inn because she believes she has no story of her own, and in doing so she becomes a fictional character in Brant's story - which in the framing story he is also telling in a drinking establishment. This is mirrored by Petrefax, who in his story of the air burial had said almost exactly the things Charlene says when he was asked to tell a tale but at the end chooses to go with Chiron to acquire a story of his own. My condolences on the terrible art you are about to suffer. Happily the last volume more than makes up for it.
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Aug 10, 2014 12:30
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You know what, that really does make sense in hindsight. Maybe it's because I didn't read the whole of 8 in one sitting - usually I'm quite good at catching that kind of symmetry. I'm halfway through 9 right now, and cripes, you're right about the art. Sometimes it really works (Lyta's breakdown), but for the most part it just feels lazy. Morpheus looks like someone's Jhonen Vasquez fan-character.
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Aug 10, 2014 13:42
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