coyo7e posted:So here's a request, anyone have recommends on fiction or non-fiction about nature, fishing, hunting, camping and the like? Something along the lines of A River Runs Through It would be most excellent, or perhaps some Steinbeck (although they seem to not be available for purchase on audible right now, which is a shame because I'd love to listen to Cannery Row or Travels With Charlie again). I'm trying to break the second or third inception level by going fishing and listening to a book about fishing and stuff. Sorry for the late recommendation, but have you read The Dog Stars? I just finished it last evening and enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a post apocalyptic story with a strong survival element, but there are no zombies or supernatural beings. The narrator has a deep love for the outdoors, especially fishing, and after finishing the book it's obvious the author does too. Parts of it really reminded me of camping in the forest campgrounds of upper Michigan. I spent a lot of time up there trout fishing with my granddad. Here's a quote, just because I like it. quote:If I ever woke up crying in the middle of a dream, and I'm not saying I did, it's because the trout are gone, every one. Brookies, rainbows, browns, cutthroats, cutbows, every one. If you do read it, let me know. There is one scene in the book that I think is loving horrible and I want to discuss it. Also know that there is quite a bit of violence.
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# ? Jul 11, 2014 23:04 |
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# ? May 14, 2024 22:41 |
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Kraps posted:The Goblin Emperor is on Audible, it's pretty great. I liked it. It was very, very slow up until the midpoint of the book, and I had trouble tracking the made-up fantasy terms and names in audio form for a bit, but I ended up feeling pretty satisfied with it in the end.
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# ? Jul 15, 2014 02:05 |
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Mr Underhill posted:P.S. Check out that cover! Yum. Not trying to be offensive but you're getting squishy over the Cover Art for a digital audiobook..!? And I wiolltotally check out dog stars asap,although I've been rereading the Vlad Taltos series lately off audibleand had forgot how fun they are..also wellnarratex, I'm looked forward to The Phoenix Guards and Five Hundred Years After. Edit sorry this tablet is acting weird tonight and I'm too hot and tired to give a poo poo. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 05:10 on Jul 15, 2014 |
# ? Jul 15, 2014 05:06 |
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What non-free audiobook sites besides Audible are there? I'm curious to see other sites' selections.
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# ? Jul 24, 2014 18:00 |
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Kraps posted:What non-free audiobook sites besides Audible are there? I'm curious to see other sites' selections. Other sites aren't going to have much of a different selection. Most of the publishers also have their own sites https://www.audiobooksnow.com/ http://www.downpour.com/
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# ? Jul 24, 2014 20:00 |
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coyo7e posted:Not trying to be offensive but you're getting squishy over the Cover Art for a digital audiobook..!? No lie; I've read and bought a lot of books because it was the cover that hooked me enough to read the blurb.
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# ? Aug 30, 2014 17:34 |
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I'm really enjoying the audio book of Storm Front (Harry Dresden book one). I've never read any of the series and it's great so far. The narrator does a good job as well. Not sure if it still is, but I picked it up on sale for like $5 earlier this week on audible.
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# ? Aug 30, 2014 19:08 |
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It's a guy from Buffy reading, he's really good. I had to stop the second book sometime around the fifth time they described his awesome duster though.
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# ? Aug 31, 2014 01:24 |
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Mister Macys posted:No lie; I've read and bought a lot of books because it was the cover that hooked me enough to read the blurb. I had the pleasure to work in a book store for a while, and the hiring occurred during the move from one store location to another building - literally less than 100 yards away in a strip mall-style location. We went through every shelf and packed all the hardcovers up carefully and inventoried them, and then every single paperback and periodical had its cover torn off and was thrown into a dumpster behind the building. I came back on my off hours in my little pickup, climbed in and literally just threw everything with a half-interesting title or read-summary into the truck - hundreds and hundreds of books of every type from romance to non fiction to well, poo poo I can't even begin to describe. Took me a full decade to get through them all and then to actually throw most (I kept a handful after using tape to "make" a cover since the paper texture felt nasty on my fingers) away. It did teach me to ignore cover art entirely whenever possible though - except when "collecting" a copy of a book I was particularly proud of, such as something I'd read many times, or something I would use as a "coffee table book." Interesting experience, and I also made the day of a half-dozen homeless people when they found my crates and crates of coverless paperbacks I'd left near the dumpster in my apartment complex when I finally got rif of the majority of those books a decade later. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Aug 31, 2014 |
# ? Aug 31, 2014 03:28 |
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coyo7e posted:My point was, how many audio books did you read the blurb because of the cover, though..? All of them except the audiobooks written by Orson Scott Card, Frank Herbert, and Robert E. Howard, since I knew what I was getting in those cases. And the ones that I bought because of the narrator. So... one hundred-plus? Mister Facetious fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Sep 1, 2014 |
# ? Sep 1, 2014 03:22 |
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Nevvy Z posted:It's a guy from Buffy reading, he's really good. The general advice is to start with the third book and once you know you are hooked to go back and read the first two. The first one isn't too bad, it's just obviously a first book by an inexperienced writer. The second book is pretty bad by most standards. Three is pretty good and from then on they get progressively better and better.
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# ? Sep 2, 2014 14:44 |
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Murgos posted:The general advice is to start with the third book and once you know you are hooked to go back and read the first two. The first one isn't too bad, it's just obviously a first book by an inexperienced writer. The second book is pretty bad by most standards. Three is pretty good and from then on they get progressively better and better. Don't think most people in the Butcher thread advise to start at book 3, more a "#3 is where they get good; try #1 & #2 but jump to #3 if you think #1 & #2 are too terrible to read."
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# ? Sep 2, 2014 22:11 |
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Yeah, I'm not going to advise someone to spend 30+ dollars on books they don't know if they like. Start with 3, if you like it then 1 and 2 can come later. e: Here is the advice from the OP quote:The first three books are somewhat amateurish. Books 1 and 2 establish the setting but are ultimately skippable in the grand scheme of things. Book 3 sets up the metaplot for the next nine or ten books. Murgos fucked around with this message at 23:12 on Sep 2, 2014 |
# ? Sep 2, 2014 23:10 |
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Anyone have Codex Alera on audiobook? I really liked reading them and am wondering if the audio versions are worth a repeat.
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 02:36 |
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Kraps posted:Anyone have Codex Alera on audiobook? I really liked reading them and am wondering if the audio versions are worth a repeat. I do. The reader is a woman and has a fairly resonant voice in the lower ranges so she did well with male voices. You won't notice book by book, but she actually changes her voice for Tavi from a higher pitched adolescent to an adult rather well over the series. Points to her for that. I wasn't actually a huge fan of the books, but I liked the narrator.
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 06:31 |
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Kraps posted:Anyone have Codex Alera on audiobook? I really liked reading them and am wondering if the audio versions are worth a repeat. I've bought and listened up to book 4. The narrator was alright. Couldn't bring myself to continue the story though.
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# ? Sep 3, 2014 21:50 |
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Captain Toad posted:"How Music Works" by David Byrne Months later but I gave this a listen. The narrator sounds very robotic to me. I understand that he is normally a popular reader (Chris Garman), but his delivery sounds to me as if an editor recorded each sentence separately and then chopped them all together. Also, it's strange to hear the narrator of a book about music mispronounce some musical terminology. The introduction is Byrne himself and it is good. Byrne's ideas range from really interesting to really ridiculous, so if you're a long time Byrne/Talking Heads fan you won't really be surprised.
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# ? Sep 8, 2014 21:00 |
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Just started listening to The Magicians Land by Lev Grossman, which is the last book in a trilogy starting with The Magicians. The guy who reads this (Mark Bramhall) is loving incredible. Some people who I listen to I barely remember afterwards, but this guy is awesome.
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 02:33 |
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Yarrbossa posted:Just started listening to The Magicians Land by Lev Grossman, which is the last book in a trilogy starting with The Magicians. The guy who reads this (Mark Bramhall) is loving incredible. Some people who I listen to I barely remember afterwards, but this guy is awesome. Everything about his narration is perfect except for Poppy. Bramhall cannot do an Australian accent to save his life. It kinda ruined my experience of the second audiobook.
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 12:57 |
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Hedrigall posted:Everything about his narration is perfect except for Poppy. Bramhall cannot do an Australian accent to save his life. It kinda ruined my experience of the second audiobook. I would agree with that assessment of Poppy. It wasn't ruining for me but still noticeable. I had actually forgotten all about his Poppy voice until you mentioned it.
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# ? Sep 10, 2014 14:58 |
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Kraps posted:What non-free audiobook sites besides Audible are there? I'm curious to see other sites' selections. I have also just discovered that Overdrive that a lot of local libraries use supports audio books, at least on the iPhone. Obviously the selection will depend on what your local library has decided to buy, but my local (small-ish UK city) library has a reasonable selection of popular titles, including the Dresden files ones. If you are only going to listen once, or are not sure enough to spend a valuable Audible credit on a book, then it's well worth checking out.
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# ? Sep 11, 2014 13:47 |
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Hedrigall posted:Everything about his narration is perfect except for Poppy. Bramhall cannot do an Australian accent to save his life. It kinda ruined my experience of the second audiobook. I think Mark knows this, though. It almost always seems like he tries to hurry through Poppy's lines or just otherwise kinda squeeze them in.
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# ? Sep 13, 2014 07:50 |
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langurmonkey posted:I have also just discovered that Overdrive that a lot of local libraries use supports audio books, at least on the iPhone. Obviously the selection will depend on what your local library has decided to buy, but my local (small-ish UK city) library has a reasonable selection of popular titles, including the Dresden files ones. If you are only going to listen once, or are not sure enough to spend a valuable Audible credit on a book, then it's well worth checking out. As a librarian for a system that uses overdrive lemme give you a tip: set your lending period to one week (or manually return your items after you download them so somebody else can pick it up straight away). Then after you download the MP3 versions just move the files out of the overdrive download folder into wherever you would otherwise keep your audiobooks and load them to your phone/device through itunes or what have you instead of playing them through the overdrive media console. Voila you own them forever. And don't forget that most library systems have reciprocity with their neighboring counties and will have different collections. For example I work for the Washington DC system and our users can also get cards for the local counties in Maryland and VA. Sure it's a pain to travel to sign up for cards in each county but some will let you register online or at least it's just a one time trip and you've got access to multiple collections. So as to add to the thread: I just grabbed Low Town by Daniel Polansky and it's great so far. It's like the fantasy companion to the Takeshi Kovacs books with great narration (gravelly voiced perfect fit for Noir).
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# ? Sep 13, 2014 07:57 |
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I am sure most of you have heard about xkcd's writers new book, What If?: Serious Scientific Answers to Absurd Hypothetical Questions. If not, it's a very good, funny science question and answer book. It's basically the same as the What if? website but there are new stories in it as well. The book is great, but the audiobook is quite good as well. Narrated by that smug prick Well Weaton (Shut up Wesley!), it translates to audio fairly well. The book is heavy on the cartoon stick figures, but for the audiobook book, they are either omitted or some what translated to audio. A good listen, but a better read due to the cartoons. I personally read about half then listened to the other half, and some of that was both listening and reading at the same time. Anyway, check it out.
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# ? Sep 13, 2014 09:28 |
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Anyone know if theres a way to transfer your Audible app stats between devices? Google isn't much help so far.
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# ? Sep 18, 2014 03:16 |
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Pretty much every youtube channel and podcast I watch/listen to is sponsored by Audible - decided to give it a shot. The combo subscription/pay-per-book model's kinda weird. Wouldn't it make sense to subscribe for a month, buy the books you want, then cancel the subscription? Subscribe again when you finish the books.
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# ? Sep 19, 2014 04:47 |
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Dominoes posted:Pretty much every youtube channel and podcast I watch/listen to is sponsored by Audible - decided to give it a shot. The combo subscription/pay-per-book model's kinda weird. Wouldn't it make sense to subscribe for a month, buy the books you want, then cancel the subscription? Subscribe again when you finish the books. If all the books you wanted were under $15 then yes, you could subscribe just long enough to grab them all.
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# ? Sep 19, 2014 05:33 |
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Dominoes posted:Pretty much every youtube channel and podcast I watch/listen to is sponsored by Audible - decided to give it a shot. The combo subscription/pay-per-book model's kinda weird. Wouldn't it make sense to subscribe for a month, buy the books you want, then cancel the subscription? Subscribe again when you finish the books. That said some of the not-huge books' cash prices are really low, and I make a point to spend $3 on a book if that's the price, rather than a credit which could buy me a GRRM novel (I recall one of those' cash price was like $55) or something. coyo7e fucked around with this message at 04:48 on Sep 20, 2014 |
# ? Sep 20, 2014 04:45 |
Pretty much the same boat as Coyo7e - I signed up due to the Hardcore history podcast with the intention of cancelling. Three years later, I've still not.
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# ? Sep 21, 2014 01:18 |
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tithin posted:Pretty much the same boat as Coyo7e - I signed up due to the Hardcore history podcast with the intention of cancelling. Three years later, I've still not. Same here. There are some surprisingly good audiobooks for less than $5 that come up in regular sales.
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# ? Sep 22, 2014 14:36 |
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Does anybody know how to buy from US audible store from the UK? I've tried VPN but that doesn't seem to be enough, I've read that if you put a US billing address on your amazon account it will work, but I'm not too sure how secure doing that would be.
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# ? Sep 22, 2014 16:20 |
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Tea Bone posted:Does anybody know how to buy from US audible store from the UK? I've tried VPN but that doesn't seem to be enough, I've read that if you put a US billing address on your amazon account it will work, but I'm not too sure how secure doing that would be. Seems like it would be relatively low-risk thing to kick around, and it's really simple to edit and add/remove billing locations at will.. You'd probably need to set a US address as your default temporarily. Then it would be just up to you whether or not it's worth the bother of being diligent about physical purchases made and where you send them.
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# ? Sep 22, 2014 16:40 |
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coyo7e posted:Yeah, it appears that if you're not logged in they go off of your IP address' regional location however, if you're logged in it goes by your amazon'com billing address, as you said. A thread on goodreads had one person mention that they did this and used an AUS credit card to buy stuff from the US store with no trouble. Thanks, I have a card that expires in a few days so I might set the billing address for the US on that, perhaps use the address of one of those mail forwarding companies. Edit, Incase anybody else is wondering I found a mail forwarding company which let me sign up for free and get a US billing address for my account. The libraries works fine on the android app, I just have to sign out then select "audible.com market palce" at sign in. The US store has so much more choice than the UK, already found 4 books I wanted which weren't on the UK store. Tea Bone fucked around with this message at 20:52 on Sep 22, 2014 |
# ? Sep 22, 2014 16:52 |
Once my credits come in for the month, I change my billing address to Beverly Hills 90210, buy the books I'm after, then change back to my normal address.
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# ? Sep 22, 2014 23:49 |
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Can anyone recommend me some good sci-fi audio books? Any sort of sci-fi would do really as long as it has a good narrator; I'm just getting a bit tired of reading about wizards.
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# ? Sep 28, 2014 17:45 |
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Apoffys posted:Can anyone recommend me some good sci-fi audio books? Any sort of sci-fi would do really as long as it has a good narrator; I'm just getting a bit tired of reading about wizards. I'm in the middle of Old Man's War and loving the hell out of it. The narrator is decent but reads quite slowly, I listen to it at 1.5x with no real "fast sound effect". The only thing sci-fi about The Martian is that it's about an astronaut left behind on a manned mission to Mars, but it's great anyway and R. C. Bray does good voicework.
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# ? Sep 28, 2014 18:22 |
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Apoffys posted:Can anyone recommend me some good sci-fi audio books? Any sort of sci-fi would do really as long as it has a good narrator; I'm just getting a bit tired of reading about wizards. Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle - The Mote in God's Eye Paolo Bacigalupi - The Windup Girl (needs 1.5x speed or such on narrator) Frank Herbet - Dune Aldous Huxley - Brave New World Arthur C. Clarke - Rendezvous With Rama Kim Stanley Robinson - Red Mars John Scalzi - Old Man's War Fredrick Pohl - Gateway Joe Haldeman - The Forever War John Varley - The Ophiuchi Hotline Neal Stephenson - Snow Crash Those should keep you busy, and if you like them check out more by the same authors. Most of those audio books have excellent readers, or at least excellent if you speed them up if they're too slow.
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# ? Sep 28, 2014 19:42 |
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Thanks, I'll give those a try.
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# ? Sep 28, 2014 19:45 |
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I find it quite effective to listen to NON-FICTION via audiobooks. Definitely not FICTION though -- I find it more enjoyable to slow read it because my brain is firing all my imagination circuits (which I believe is important for FICTION). Also, you can easily set the audiobook speed it 1.5x-2.0x to get through it faster without losing any comprehension. I dislike AUDIBLE because of the DRM(Digital Rights Management). Currently going through Biographies and a few Business related books.
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# ? Sep 28, 2014 21:22 |
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# ? May 14, 2024 22:41 |
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Apoffys posted:Can anyone recommend me some good sci-fi audio books? Any sort of sci-fi would do really as long as it has a good narrator; I'm just getting a bit tired of reading about wizards. The Rookie (series) - Scott Sigler. Can be found free online, as well s its sequels. Hero Quest meets interstellar football and organized crime. Author has a lot of experience reading and enjoys the poo poo out of narrating his own work - I learned to like football. The Half-Made World - Felix Gilman. Kind of an alternate-reality western, but not much swords or sorcery going on. Has a sequel. nearly anything by Iaian Banks. Vorkosigan novels by Lois McMaster Bujold. Miles is a fun and witty character although he wore thin on me after a few books. The Lost Fleet - Jack Campbell. This is a space battle series, pretty entertaining although it runs to repetitiveness after a couple books. I wouldn't recommend burning your last credit on them but if you can get em for a couple/few bucks you will get a lot of near-light-speed space battle for your 8-10 hours of listening. The Devil You Know - Mike Carey. Supernatural detective noir. I consider that to be "sci fi" and enjoyed it. There are several novels by now I think, I liked the first but never finished the second because I got distracted. Monster Hunter International - Larry Correia. Gun-nut wankery for people who want to read WEB Griffith novels except with zombies and werewolves to mount on the walls of their bro shack. This guy sells a lot, I wasn't impressed by his texan fetishism. Night Watch (etc) - Sergei Lukyanenko. There are a couple movies based on the "*Watch" series, which revolve around a unit of supernatural-powered mutant people who work for a supernatural detective agency. Also, it's Russian to the bone, so an audiobook allows you to not struggle through reading all the names. If you've seen "Night Watch" and "Day Watch", those two movies comprise approximately 2/3 of the first novel and I think there are 5 or more. Novelty points through the roof, imho. The Quantum Thief - Hannu Rajaniemi. Ultra-futurist sci fi heist thing. Very poetic, fun listen. Coyote - Allen Steele. American separatist rebels hijack a colony ship and then colonize a new world which is too far for earth to deal with for a couple generations. Several books in the series, as the colony evolves, renews contact with earth, etc. John Dies at the End - David Wong. The movie was only like 15% of the novel, and having the narrator enthusiastically belt out bad pro-wrestling puns goes a long way to making it a fun romp.
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# ? Sep 30, 2014 03:23 |