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Verizian posted:Those books are pretty much lolbertarianism mixed with weird fetishes. What with all the anti-communist rants, pain dildos, and the "good guys" collecting severed ears because it disheartens the evil people from being quite so evil. But enough about ACTIVATE's private chat rooms. [e]: Three - the standard optimum number of books in a series, before quality and narrative tend to take a nose-dive in further related sequels. Pesky Splinter fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 13:56
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Mr Phillby posted:I'm currently nine books deep into Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series so any actual good fantasy recomendations would be very, very welcome. There's a scifi and fantasy thread in the book barn, check out the OP for a bunch of recommendations or they're normally pretty good if you ask for something.
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Sep 1, 2017 13:58
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Mr Phillby posted:I'm currently nine books deep into Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series so any actual good fantasy recomendations would be very, very welcome. I'd ask how you made it through nine books but unless the answer is "morbid curiosity" I'm sure I don't want to know. Also thank you for reminding me that there's a Let's Read thread for Sword of Truth that I need to catch up on.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:00
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big scary monsters posted:There's a scifi and fantasy thread in the book barn, check out the OP for a bunch of recommendations or they're normally pretty good if you ask for something. The book barn is so utterly depressing, it's just a giant circlejerk around Game of Thrones and bad fantasy / SciFi.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:02
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Junior G-man posted:The book barn is so utterly depressing, it's just a giant circlejerk around Game of Thrones and bad fantasy / SciFi. Yeah, UKMT is unironically way better for non-fiction recommendations. And seeing as bad fantasy/scifi & non-fiction are all I can be arsed reading now, I just end up re-reading Philip K Dick & Terry Pratchett & feel absolutely OK for it.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:05
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forkboy84 posted:Yeah, UKMT is unironically way better for non-fiction recommendations. And seeing as bad fantasy/scifi & non-fiction are all I can be arsed reading now, I just end up re-reading Philip K Dick & Terry Pratchett & feel absolutely OK for it. If you haven't read them yet and need some semi-trashy but still roughly accurate escapism I recommend Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It's seven historical novels that go from the before the fall of the Roman republic to the dawn of imperial Rome and Augustus. The last two books aren't as good, but the whole is very entertaining. And I agree; I've gotten many more worthwhile book recommendations from UKMT and USPol (when that was a thing) than I ever did from Book Barn.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:11
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hakimashou posted:I wish you British a good September, at least you don't have hurricanes. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Storm_of_1987
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Sep 1, 2017 14:12
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Mr Phillby posted:I'm currently nine books deep into Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series so any actual good fantasy recomendations would be very, very welcome. I prescribe a full course of Joe Abercrombie, First Law trilogy, stat!
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Sep 1, 2017 14:16
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Seveneves is outright bad in many places and needed to be about a third of the length but I still loved every page. And that's why I'm not going to do fiction recommendations because for reasons unknown to me I will put up with a lot of bulllshit I wouldn't tolerate in TV or a movie. gently caress, I even managed to finish clancy's bear and the dragon.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:17
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Speaking of non-fiction recommendations, the Kindle version of Lenin On The Train is £1.99 at the moment. The title alone contains two things UKMT loves, but if you want a precis, it's about how in 1917 Germany decided to stitch up Russia by facilitating Lenin's return from exile through Germany in a bid to destabilise Russia. Spoilers: it worked.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:18
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Junior G-man posted:The book barn is so utterly depressing, it's just a giant circlejerk around Game of Thrones and bad fantasy / SciFi. I don't know about the rest of the place but that particular thread normally has good recommendations.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:22
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Cultural Marxist posted:Speaking of non-fiction recommendations, the Kindle version of Lenin On The Train is £1.99 at the moment. Just read the Graun review of it and wow the reviewer doesn't like Lenin - https://www.theguardian.com/books/2016/oct/23/lenin-on-the-train-catherine-merridale-biography-review 'Catherine Merridale, an experienced and enthusiastic historian of Russia, has chosen the pivotal moment of Lenin’s slow and halting odyssey to hang her history of how this ruthless fanatic hijacked a revolution and refashioned it in his own cruel and grim image.' Might as well have been in the Daily Mail.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:23
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Renaissance Robot posted:I'd ask how you made it through nine books but unless the answer is "morbid curiosity" I'm sure I don't want to know. I had no idea about the author's political views untill the dedication to the American secret service at tge start of the 4th(?) book. The first one didn't seem so bad? Like it wasn't great but the worst bit was a way too long torture sequence. It's been steadilly downhill since then, and yeah i do sort of want to see where the rabbit hole goes. I like how the baddies don't just rape and pillage entire cities but also one time the entire army pooed everywhere too. Or the time the hero beheaded a fat woman (of course) for being an anti-war protester. Or the simple fact the Sword of truth powered by self rightous rage rather than truth or justice. I've been listening to the audiobooks while working and its nice because a) the unabridged versions are very, very long so they last a while and b) the writing is so repetitive that you don't really have to pay full attention. But yeah it's not healthy and I will listen to something good once i'm done.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:24
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Junior G-man posted:If you haven't read them yet and need some semi-trashy but still roughly accurate escapism I recommend Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It's seven historical novels that go from the before the fall of the Roman republic to the dawn of imperial Rome and Augustus. The last two books aren't as good, but the whole is very entertaining. Oh yeah, they were really enjoyable. I do have a guilty pleasure for some vaguely trashy historical fiction. Robert Harris's Cicero trilogy were also enjoyable. And I've quite liked Bernard Cornwell's Last Kingdom books all about King Alfred & the vikings & all that.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:26
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Mr Phillby posted:I had no idea about the author's political views untill the dedication to the American secret service at tge start of the 4th(?) book. You didn't notice the really awful gun-control analogy in the first book?
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Sep 1, 2017 14:33
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Mr Phillby posted:I'm currently nine books deep into Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth series so any actual good fantasy recomendations would be very, very welcome. Stormlight Archives (not Correct, but not awful) Malazhan books of the Fallen (more Correct, harder to read) anything by Ursula le Guin (Correct and awesome) everything by China Meiville (not all Fantasy, but very Correct, especially The Iron Council)
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Sep 1, 2017 14:33
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feedmegin posted:Just read the Graun review of it and wow the reviewer doesn't like Lenin - I know, the Guardian review really sold me on it to be honest.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:34
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Junior G-man posted:If you haven't read them yet and need some semi-trashy but still roughly accurate escapism I recommend Colleen McCullough's Masters of Rome series. It's seven historical novels that go from the before the fall of the Roman republic to the dawn of imperial Rome and Augustus. The last two books aren't as good, but the whole is very entertaining. My favourite books of the last couple of years!
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Sep 1, 2017 14:36
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Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover: CORBYN'S PRIVATE ARMY.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:39
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khwarezm posted:Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover: "Right-wing Leninists smashing up the state" I hate that words have no meaning any more.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:41
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khwarezm posted:Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover: "Enlightened thinking in dark times" 
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Sep 1, 2017 14:42
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Kokoro Wish posted:David Gemmell. Personal favourites are The First Chronicles of Druss the Legend, White Wolf and The Swords of Night and Day. Or the first three books of the Rigante series. What did you have against Stormrider?
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Sep 1, 2017 14:49
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Flatscan posted:You didn't notice the really awful gun-control analogy in the first book? Thanks for the recomendations everyone, the only other fantasy I've read before is Prattchet, so there's a lot to go through. Mr Phillby fucked around with this message at 15:00 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 14:51
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khwarezm posted:Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover: that's a 5 month old issue?
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Sep 1, 2017 14:52
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Cerv posted:that's a 5 month old issue? I know, still funny though.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:53
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Cerv posted:that's a 5 month old issue?
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Sep 1, 2017 14:57
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forkboy84 posted:"Right-wing Leninists smashing up the state" 
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Sep 1, 2017 14:58
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Ender's Game was cool and fun when I was a kid and then it later became apparent that Orson Scott Card is a dick (despite writing the sword-fighting insults for Monkey Island) and I was sad.
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Sep 1, 2017 14:59
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Renaissance Robot posted:Also thank you for reminding me that there's a Let's Read thread for Sword of Truth that I need to catch up on. Have you a link, please? khwarezm posted:Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover: 
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Sep 1, 2017 15:00
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I'm re-reading Children of Hurin at the moment and I forgot how much I enjoyed it when it came out 10 frickin years ago. A lot of people don't really dig Tolkien's more mythological stuff, but I adore it.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:04
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sebzilla posted:Ender's Game was cool and fun when I was a kid and then it later became apparent that Orson Scott Card is a dick (despite writing the sword-fighting insults for Monkey Island) and I was sad. Watch the movie. It's a deadpan Starship Troopers.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:04
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josh04 posted:It's a bit weird to talk about any huge cultural phenomenon as if it were self-evidently poo poo, imo. It's art, not crack, if people are flocking to it in hordes it must have some appeal, whether it's Harry Potter, Dan Brown, Oasis, Premier League Football or Jeremy Corbyn. I know this is a joke but Dan Brown is literal garbage art and while I don't think it should be banned or burnt or anything I think Channel 4 could have more usefully spent its time and money ten years ago making 12 minute documentaries in "why The Da Vinci Code is the junk food of books" rather than hour long credulous documentaries about conspiracy theories based on Brown's prologue "Fact: the Catholic Church exists, so the rest of this 350 pages of drivel should be taken seriously". The tremendous success of Ready Player One is also evidence that just because something is popular doesn't make it good. Oh, uh, as a non-fiction recommendation, I'd go with 9.5 Theses on Art and Class. I thought it was good. Igiari fucked around with this message at 15:12 on Sep 1, 2017 |
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Sep 1, 2017 15:07
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I'm 11 (out of 14) books into Wheel of Time and it's pretty great. Pratchett is always a good shout, and thanks for reminding me to pick up Iron Council!
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Sep 1, 2017 15:08
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khwarezm posted:Have people seen this NewStatesman's hilariously terrible front cover:
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Sep 1, 2017 15:14
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communism bitch posted:I'm re-reading Children of Hurin at the moment and I forgot how much I enjoyed it when it came out 10 frickin years ago. A lot of people don't really dig Tolkien's more mythological stuff, but I adore it. I saw a fan-made recut of all those silly hobbit movies that dumped all the stupid poo poo that wasn't in the book and edited all 3 movies down to like four, four and a half hours. That was thoroughly enjoyable, unlike that bloody trilogy. josh04 posted:Watch the movie. It's a deadpan Starship Troopers. Rewatched that a while ago and still love it, it's such a deadpan satire that I don't think half the people who watch it get it.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:17
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I liked Ready Player One. It appealed to my inner cliché nerd and inner actual nerd.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:23
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If you want some proper fantasy the Earthsea books are great. Thats a proper wizard, no expunge'anus wand poo poo going on there. Thought Ged does have a big fat white staff after he magics it from a twig, well jealous.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:24
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communism bitch posted:I'm re-reading Children of Hurin at the moment and I forgot how much I enjoyed it when it came out 10 frickin years ago. A lot of people don't really dig Tolkien's more mythological stuff, but I adore it.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:25
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Miftan posted:I'm 11 (out of 14) books into Wheel of Time and it's pretty great. Pratchett is always a good shout, and thanks for reminding me to pick up Iron Council! *tugs braid* *sniffs* Foolish man.
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Sep 1, 2017 15:31
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I quite liked Uprooted give that a read
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