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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:No idea about Pratchett's literary estate. Pterry left Rhianna the Discworld in his will. She's said she will develop new stories and adapt old ones for film and other media, but will not write further novels. She's also a successful writer in her own right; she did the scripts for Mirror's Edge and the reboot of Tomb Raider.
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Jun 19, 2019 13:16
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Sock The Great posted:Just finished Dune by Frank Herbert. Liked it a lot, but the end felt a little rushed and unfinished. The general thought is that quality diminishes across the series, so if you want to read sequels just go until you hit your personal line on that, knowing that the followups are not any better.
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Jun 19, 2019 15:20
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Jedit posted:Pterry left Rhianna the Discworld in his will. She's said she will develop new stories and adapt old ones for film and other media, but will not write further novels. She's also a successful writer in her own right; she did the scripts for Mirror's Edge and the reboot of Tomb Raider. She's a Brian Herbert level writer, tbh, but at least she knows she can't do her dad's writing justice.
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Jun 19, 2019 20:08
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Begone the Raggedy Witches by Celine Kiernan: I know this book is meant for kids/teens but holy poo poo did I love it. Top-notch worldbuilding, a young protagonist that's naive but not stupid, a plot that just had me by the throat and made me go 'oh no!' and 'oh yeah!' several times... and man, did I mention the deep themes hidden underneath this super fun fantasy story? Seriously, at one point they started talking about how some people are okay with living under a tyrannical government and I was like 'what the gently caress, this is great'. Really recommend.
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Jun 19, 2019 21:45
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i'm going to name my children and grandchildren after my characters to ensure they hate my books so much they're not tempted to continue them after i die of natural causes
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Jun 20, 2019 00:43
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stratofarius posted:and man, did I mention the deep themes hidden underneath this super fun fantasy story? Seriously, at one point they started talking about how some people are okay with living under a tyrannical government and I was like 'what the gently caress, this is great'. Really recommend. wow thats really deep
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Jun 20, 2019 22:08
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chernobyl kinsman posted:wow thats really deep Hey, I didn't expect a children's book to talk about it. Snuck up on me.
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Jun 20, 2019 23:10
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Finally got around to reading the 4th Raksura series book, The Edge of Worlds, by Martha Wells. Very engaging book, finished it in one sitting/4 hrs?. Moon is slightly less feral in the 4th book, existing side characters of the earlier Raksura books + new characters of the 4th book all got a chance to shine in Edge of Worlds. The only power creep I've been able to detect in the Raksura series is kind of hilarious. Every character has remained at the same power level they were introduced at, while the airboats have been getting bigger and more complex in the followup Raksura books. Seriously expecting to see a aircraft carrier sized airboat/helicarrier show up soon in the series.
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Jun 21, 2019 03:45
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nankeen posted:i'm going to name my children and grandchildren after my characters to ensure they hate my books so much they're not tempted to continue them after i die of natural causes
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Jun 21, 2019 22:49
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NoNostalgia4Grover posted:Recently finished The Tango War: the struggle for the hearts, minds, and riches of Latin America during World War 2 by Mary Jo Mcconahay. Thanks for recommending, I just picked this up from the library
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Jun 22, 2019 19:19
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Hyrax Attack! posted:Thanks for recommending, I just picked this up from the library Cool. Give your thoughts on it when you're finished reading it. The super-hosed up super-duper illegal pre-WW2 extraditions in Tango War definitely gave me flash-forwards to the nearly identical Global War of Terror's super illegal CIA extradition sites/Guantanamo Bay detention camp. Time is a circle, the sins of the past, etc.
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Jun 23, 2019 01:45
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Bilirubin posted:Binti by Nnedi Okorafor. A short sci fi novella about leaving home and discovering your potential. Also stopping a cross species war. Fun book by a writer whose voice and perspective I love, significantly less dark than Who Fears Death Much of the Binti trilogy was nerve-wracking to read, so now I'm curious to see how Who Fears Death fares in comparison.
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Jun 23, 2019 03:42
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A People's Future of the United States edited by Victor LaValle and John Joseph Adams is veeeery hit and miss. There's some really good stories here and there's some stories I skipped only two to three pages in. The fact I took a huge two week break in-between each half of the book certainly doesn't help and I think is indicative of the wildly varying qualities. However I really gotta give it to one particular story, that went from funny wish fulfillment to the stupidest thing I have ever read in my entire life all in the span of a couple of pages. (For those interested, it's a story where Trump authorizes the development of a gene bomb capable of 'erasing' non-white genes, but it instead ends up erasing white genes and rewriting history. In a case of 'overstaying its welcome', it just keeps going and getting more ridiculous until the end, when Trump turns into a trans person and I just about wanted to throw my tablet at the wall.)
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Jun 25, 2019 19:38
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Just wrapped up The Chronicles of Prydain by Lloyd Alexander. Ho-lee poo poo. I cried out loud when Fflewder threw his harp on the fire. A very good series that doesn’t get nearly the recognition it deserves.
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Jun 26, 2019 09:48
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It is excellent and my go-to example for "good fantasy" (although I have not gotten around to Gormenghast).
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Jun 26, 2019 14:42
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A few more novellas. Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire is a welcome return to form after its disappointing predecessor. Another in a series of books about children who are coping with being on Earth instead of the magical worlds they found doorways to, this one features a quest to some of those worlds to resurrect someone who died in the first book and prevent a time paradox. I have a better idea of what I'm supposed to take away from this series now, so I found this book's blend of adventure and unnerving implications about how everything in this universe works pretty effective. My only problem is that it's a bit too self-aware at times; the characters comment on how crazy it is that they're in this candy world one too many times, which kind of dampens the wonder. Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor finally cuts its protagonist a break after what felt like years of getting kicked around by the world. I kind of like that even though the large-scale conflict that starts here is left open after Binti tried her best to resolve it, she's still allowed to live her own life and not feel obligated to clean up other people's horrible messes. The reversal of a bunch of horrible things that happen near the start of the book might seem cheap to some people, but I thought it was earned after two books of Binti's life being a raw nerve of anxiety. Definitely worth finishing the trilogy out. Gods, Monsters and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson is something I'm still on the fence about after finishing. It has some interesting ideas, like time travel being ruined by capitalism, which sadly still exists after the ecological apocalypse, but as of now I'm only seeing a small corner of the world it presents and it left me wanting more. The interpersonal drama between the members of a team traveling back to gather data on the Tigris and Euphrates rivers circa 2000 BCE left an impression on me at the time, but the details have faded from memory pretty quickly. I do remember some interesting stuff done with cybernetic parts designed after animals instead of humans, though. The ending is another thing I have a hard time making my mind up with; in retrospect I can see how someone can call it ahead of time with how hard it's telegraphed, but it got me because I'm not that great at seeing things coming. It's a harsh, abrupt ending and I honestly don't know if it'll be followed up on in a sequel, and which option I'd prefer. So far, out of all the novellas on the Hugo ballot, this is the one I think takes the most chances, for good or ill.
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Jun 26, 2019 18:08
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Finished George Orwell's Homage to Catalonia last week. Really interesting and surprisingly emotionally affecting. I've seen a lot of reviews with people complaining about Orwell's description of the political backstabbing among the Republic forces being boring, but as someone interested in the history of left politics, I thought that stuff was fascinating. The ending is also genuinely unsettling because it shows the mix of dread and denial that many people had about the impending Second World War.
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Jul 8, 2019 16:20
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Just got through Red Dragon and SotL and moved onto Hannibal. Holy gently caress. I was expecting a drop in quality but this feels like it was written by a different person. And that person spent a decade getting really angry at POC, immigrants and the mentally ill.
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Jul 8, 2019 16:44
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Re-visited the Amber series by Zelazny. Always good when i'm out of new stuff to read
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Jul 10, 2019 09:20
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Read Harry Harrison! Harry Harrison!: It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time by Harry Harrison + his daughter Moira Harrison. It was a book containing many contrasting things. Standalone essays about John Campbell, Stainless Steel Rat, Esperanto, Bill the Galactic Hero, etc. Anecodotes about his fellow Scifi writers + friends. (Best anecodote in book for me was James Blish writing letters to the editor ripping apart a 3 month old positive book review of a controversial book in a scifi magazine. Blish had written that positive book review, and had changed his mind about the quality/contents of the book after the book review was published.). Advice for selling (+ RECLAIMING) stuff at pawn-shops. Anecdotes about Brian Aldiss and what a good friend/co-book editor Brian Aldiss was, while also skirting around the actual quality/content of Brian Aldiss's writing. Friendship with Gerry Davis(creator the World Passport) being a cheat-code for travelling/networking in 1950s -1970s Europe. Why it seemed like a good idea at the time to uproot + move the entire family to: [Italy, Denmark, Mexico, Ireland] on a whim multiple times. Slams against other scifi writers writing Porn stories ("the Silverbergs and Malzerbergs"), then 11 pages later discusses a softcore porn one-shot adult comic he collaborated on (Planet Story). Knowledge of Esperanto being a godsend in 1950s-1970s Europe. Why John Campbell's "Harry, have you ever thought of war pigs?" was responsible for the book MAN FROM P.I.G. and the long-running porcuswine thing in Harrison's Stainless Steel Rat series. quantumfoam fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jul 17, 2019 |
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Jul 11, 2019 05:01
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Deathworld by Harry Harrison Wasn't too bad. Definitly went a different way than I thought it would. Nice short read though. Thanks Project Gutenburg!
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Jul 12, 2019 19:08
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Radicalized by Cory Doctorow. I hadn't heard much about Doctorow but this looked interesting. It's a fantastic four story collection. The first story is about appliances such as ovens & dishwashers in a subsidized apartment that stop working, so tenants begin jailbreaking and make them much better but this puts them at risk of eviction. Second story is what if Superman got involved in Black Lives Matter, third story is people denied healthcare in America retaliating against insurance companies, last is a rich guy prepping a bunker for society collapsing. All are highly recommended, wouldn't be surprised if the first gets adapted. The Tango War: The Struggle for the Hearts, Minds and Riches of Latin America During World War II by Mary Jo McConahay Excellent, well researched look at what was going on in Latin America during WWII. Author skillfully packs in lot of content without being jumbled, and I learned a ton. I did not know Orson Welles tried to make a pro-Brazil movie during the war that was buried for being too inclusive. Wounds & North American Lake Monsters by Nathan Ballingrud. Short fiction horror stories. I liked Wounds for the interconnected stories and interesting new mythos, especially the ghouls who rule a small town, and the pirates who make a poorly thought out trade mission to hell. North American Lake Monsters was also good, although it felt a bit more like a new author finding his footing. The last story was my favorite.
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Jul 16, 2019 23:53
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Just finished Book Twelve of The Wheel of Time. My third time reading the series... Up next: All the Dune books, 1st Edition. I have not ever read them.
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Jul 17, 2019 21:27
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Ivoryman posted:Just finished Book Twelve of The Wheel of Time. My third time reading the series...
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Jul 18, 2019 02:25
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bowmore posted:why would you read all those books so many times Sometimes a series is worth revisiting, it's comforting, like an old friend. You notice new details you missed the first go 'round.
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Jul 18, 2019 16:46
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Black leopard, red wolf Took it one or two hundred pages to get going, but then I couldn't put it down. I don't know if I have anything new to say. The world building is cool, learning about african myths is certainly something fresh. Funny. I woulnd't say I'm squeamish at all, but it certainly pushes some boundaries getting raped by hyenas doesnt sound fun at all. One part really dragged for me Leopard being angry at tracker, then friendly, then angry. It was clear that there was something going on, but I was hoping for a much better explanation than "anally insterted poison". The sequel concept sounds interesting, but I wouldntve minded something more straightforward, there's certainly a big hook for that. If you like fantasy then certainly go for it.
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Jul 19, 2019 00:27
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Oops wrong thread. But since I am here I have almost finished the anniversary version of The Souls of Black Folks by WEB du Bois. Every American should read this. More once I finish the final essay.
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Jul 19, 2019 06:09
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StrixNebulosa posted:Sometimes a series is worth revisiting, it's comforting, like an old friend. You notice new details you missed the first go 'round. I can definitely relate to this. Especially when it comes to wheel of time. The first time I read the series was some 20 years ago (even before the author finished writing all he wrote by the time he croaked) and I had mixed feelings about the whole thing. Then I re-read the whole series last year, and had a completely different experience (and realization that Sanderson is not a bad author at all) On topic: Powering through the Amber series by Zelazny. Currently on book 8. Later on in the queue: Re-read of complete Malazan book of the Fallen
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Jul 19, 2019 11:02
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Just finished The Book of Collateral Damage by Sinan Antoon. This is the second book I've read by an Iraqi author about the invasion, the other being Hassan Blasim's The Corpse Exhibition--as it turns out, they have the same translator. Corpse Exhibition is a short story collecton steeped in psychological horror, gallows humor, bits of magical realism, and an overwhelming sense of the world devouring itself all around you. You want to stop reading and look away, but you feel like an rear end in a top hat for doing so. Not to mention the writing's pretty solid. Save for a couple of duds, it's a strong read. Collateral Damage is more soberly written, although it has moments of hallucinatory horror and despair. It's composed of two narratives--one within another, each meant to complement the other. The first is from the perspective of Nameer, a guy who fled during the Gulf War and is getting his PhD at Harvard. Not unlike the author himself--and fair, you write what you know and all. He ends up in Iraq in 2003, translating for a documentary on the invasion. There, he meets a bookseller named Wadood, who's writing a catalogue of all that has been destroyed in the war. Not just people, but also an ancient manuscript, a stamp album, a rug, birds, an old lote tree, and so on. From there, the book is half Wadood's stories and half Nameer's life in the states. Have a sample. quote:The minute will be a three-dimensional space. It will be a place where I snipe at things and souls as they move. The juncture where they meet before disappearing forever, without saying goodbye. Humans say goodbye only to those they know and those they love, whereas things say goodbye to each other and to humans too. But we rarely hear their voices, their whispers, because we don’t try. We rarely notice things smiling. Yes, things have faces too, but we don’t see them. Those who do see them, after making an effort and training themselves to do so, and those who talk to them are labeled mad by your standards. Suffice to say, the book's pretty bleak. Both guys are dealing with deep psychological problems, but Wadood's been in an agonizing feedback loop of severe PTSD, paranoia, and hallucinations for years long before the invasion. Nameer, at least, can afford therapy. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to read good literature from Iraq and also experience the literary equivalent of being punched in the stomach repeatedly.
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Jul 20, 2019 14:19
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StrixNebulosa posted:Sometimes a series is worth revisiting, it's comforting, like an old friend. You notice new details you missed the first go 'round. This. I first read the series as they came out, and that was painfully slow. The 2nd time I read them as a continuous epic story just like people binge watching a tv series. Now, I am reading them slowly. It is amazing how much I missed the first 2 times. I have done the same with David Eddings' The Belgariad and The Malloreon. Next up is The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkin, for the third time. Ivoryman fucked around with this message at 12:39 on Jul 21, 2019 |
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Jul 20, 2019 22:42
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Ivoryman posted:Next up is The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkin, for the third time. Some annotations for you, you crazy bastard.
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Jul 20, 2019 23:08
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Bilirubin posted:Oops wrong thread. The final essay was a criticism of the colonial factors underlying the first World War. This book is as relevant now as it was in 1903 when first published. Are you curious about black history? Read this. Want to understand how race relations have gotten to where they are now? Read this. Understand why white supremacy is back among us--it has always been among us. However, by understanding we can undo it
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Jul 20, 2019 23:10
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Ivoryman posted:Next up is The Sword of Truth series, by Terry Goodkin, for the third time. why, why would you do this to yourself Recently read The Pastel City by M John Harrison for the second time. The sparse writing really came through this time. He's very good at creating vivid scenes and suggesting great lengths of imagined histories with few words.
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Jul 21, 2019 16:16
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The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette De Bodard and The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark both felt pretty rote despite having some unique aspects to the set dressing. De Bodard's book is one of those Sherlock-derived stories where two people have to solve a mystery and one of them is irritating and doesn't get along well with other people, but set in an Asian-themed sci-fi universe with the role of Watson played by a spacheship AI. Clark's is an adventure story where the heroes have to stop the bad guys from using a macguffin, but in an alternate-universe New Orleans where it's the only free city in a still-Confederate South. I don't have that much to say about these ones, which is a shame since I liked the "Nine Negro Teeth" story Clark wrote quite a bit. The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino is a book I'll probably have to revisit later. It's an exercise in whether you can tell coherent stories based on drawing cards from a Tarot deck, and though many of the stories started to run together and had the same medieval flavor to them, I'm still impressed at how much extrapolation Calvino put into his diagrams. This one's been on my radar for a while now, since I'm also curious about the storytelling potential of the Tarot, but since I read it in haste I didn't learn much in the way of specifics from it. Unfortunately this one's not on Kindle, probably because it relies so heavily on visual aids.
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Jul 23, 2019 09:23
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Solitair posted:The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette De Bodard and The Black God's Drums by P. Djeli Clark both felt pretty rote despite having some unique aspects to the set dressing. De Bodard's book is one of those Sherlock-derived stories where two people have to solve a mystery and one of them is irritating and doesn't get along well with other people, but set in an Asian-themed sci-fi universe with the role of Watson played by a spacheship AI. De Bodard, on paper, has an eye for interesting premises and worldbuilding, but the stuff of hers I've tried just completely fails to live up to its initial promise. Her writing manages to suck every ounce of excitement out of it.
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Jul 23, 2019 12:15
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Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho" was the first Harold Schechter book I've read, and it really makes me hungry for more. He has a string of books that are similarly titled (Deviant, Deranged, Depraved, Bestial, Fiend, Fatal, etc.) that are about various serial killers. His writing style straddles the line really well between conversational and historical fact. All the facts are there, but his storytelling is really strong, and manages to end every short (usually 3-4 pages) chapter with a cliffhanger, so it's really easy to bang this one out in a week. I'm excited to read his Albert Fish (Deranged) and H. H. Holmes (Depraved) books! (Re-read) The Colour of Magic: Discworld Book 1 - I remember reading this at least a decade ago, and I remembered it being good. I... don't know where I got that memory from because this book is really by-the-numbers, and all three of the distinct "parts" of this book feel like carbon copies of each other (Rincewind/Twoflower get in a jam based on a fantasy trope, and then get out of it and continue on). I know that this is touted as one of the weaker Discworld books, and I'm willing to give The Light Fantastic and Equal Rites a shot since I own those as well. But by the end of this one I was just kind of skimming it to jog my memory so I could move on to something else.
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Jul 24, 2019 15:08
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COOL CORN posted:Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original "Psycho" was the first Harold Schechter book I've read, and it really makes me hungry for more. He has a string of books that are similarly titled (Deviant, Deranged, Depraved, Bestial, Fiend, Fatal, etc.) that are about various serial killers. His writing style straddles the line really well between conversational and historical fact. All the facts are there, but his storytelling is really strong, and manages to end every short (usually 3-4 pages) chapter with a cliffhanger, so it's really easy to bang this one out in a week. I'm excited to read his Albert Fish (Deranged) and H. H. Holmes (Depraved) books! You are better off going straight to Guards! Guards!. I love Pratchett but the first few books in Discworld are weak.
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Jul 25, 2019 01:34
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xcheopis posted:You are better off going straight to Guards! Guards!. I love Pratchett but the first few books in Discworld are weak. Pratchett should be read by 'theme' whether it's witches, guards, wizards, death ... First few books are definitely weak, and as you move forward in time they get better and better. My personal rating of the books is as follows: * The Colour of Magic - meh * The Light Fantastic - meh * Equal Rites - meh * Mort - not bad * Sourcery - not bad * Wyrd Sisters - amazing * Pyramids - amazing * Guards! Guards! - amazing * Eric - decent * Moving Pictures - funny * Reaper Man - great * Witches Abroad - amazing * Small Gods - amazing (among the best) * Lords and Ladies - decent * Men at Arms - hillarious * Soul Music - amazing * Interesting Times - sort of meh * Maskerade - same as above * Feet of Clay - amazing * Hogfather - not so amazing * Jingo - amazing * The Last Continent - not as good as other wizard books * Carpe Jugulum - almost good * The Fifth Elephant - amazing * The Truth - brilliant * Thief of Time - not amazing but still good * The Last Hero - funny * Night Watch - amazing (among the best) * Monstrous Regiment - probably the best * Going Postal - amazing and different * Thud! - amazing * Making Money - amazing and different * Unseen Academicals - funny * Snuff - amazing * Raising Steam - amazing I didn't include the books for younger readers since I never really liked them too much
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Jul 25, 2019 08:17
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adary posted:Pratchett should be read by 'theme' whether it's witches, guards, wizards, death ... much like the word "literally", the word "amazing" is used almost always entirely wrong having the exact opposite meaning to its intended meaning.
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Jul 26, 2019 17:29
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My recommendation, to anybody who might be picking up Discworld for the first time, is that you probably shouldn't listen to anybody when they tell you which books are good and bad, with the exception that Guards Guards is a good first book because it drops a lot of the boilerplate fantasy tropes and actually does something interesting, and that the first few Rincewind books aren't very good, and are kind of downright bad by modern standards. I definitely disagree with a lot of those ratings, like for example I thought Pyramids was a boring one-note joke that leaned heavily on taking pot-shots at a very dated new age belief and didn't have enough else going on to make it very readable. But someone else reading it for the first time might have found it brilliant. I also thought Moving Pictures tried way too hard to be funny and if you're not a big fan of classic movies a whole lot of the jokes fall flat on their face. But that said, that's all preference-- I was unlikely to enjoy either of those books walking into them because I just don't care for the books where Pratchett picks one thing to make a load of jokes about, as opposed to the ones that are more plot- or character-focused (as much as they ever are)
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Jul 26, 2019 17:50
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