What Are You Reading?

Kovu

Going through all of Clive Barkers' Books of Blood at the moment. Likable enough, apart from when I'm reading them late at night and the cat starts banging on the window to get in. :pac:

wyrn

Finally finished reading The Lead Cloak by Eric Hanberg. It's currently free on Amazon at the moment. It's part 1 of a trilogy.

It took me a while to get into the book but once I got about 20% through I flew through it. It's in the same category as Minority Report. There's a machine called the Lattice in the Nevada desert and it can show you the past and present. It's technology was discovered when the inventor was studying gravitational wave and realised that his prototype was pulling in more info that he expected. Anyway, basically there's no privacy whatsoever in this universe.

So the main character, Byron Shaw is a military man who is in charge of looking after the safety of the Lattice. Life is pretty boring so he likes to jump into the minds of civil war soldiers to pass the time until one day a raid on the Lattice is far too close for comfort. His task is then to hunt down these new sophisticated raiders, the likes of which no one has ever seen before.

It's kinda cool in a way that the main character is military because he's like us (the reader) so when he asks the scientists for their view on the Lattice and the raider technology, we get an insight and to an extent the science somewhat holds up (a bit like in The Martian). He obviously finds out about the raiders and they then challenge his own views on society and the Lattice. Imagine a world with no privacy, literally. People are able to view your most intimate or personal moments - there's absolutely no boundaries or Magnetos special helmet. Your boss can read your thoughts on what you really think of them and their job...

Anyway, I thought it was a fantastic, thought provoking book. I loved the premise of this trilogy and found the decisions the main character, Shaw had to make as intriguing. Not sure what I would have done in his shoes. Loved that this book made me thinking about my decisions, if I had been there. Lots of moral and ethical issues for society throughout the book. I really like (and was also frustrated) that the issues Shaw faced weren't black & white, that is to say, who is right and who is wrong.

Not bad for a free book Although it wasn't free when I went to buy the book, typical!

Thargor

Finished Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, very good, could have done with a bit more detail about the culture that launched the ship in the first place but it was okay. Pleasantly surprised after the boring grind that was The Years of Rice and Salt. Im a sucker for generation ships though.

kirk buttercup

Going on holidays soon so any suggestions would be appreciated. Only started reading sci fi again so loads I havent read. So recommend the coolest ( i probably haven't read it)

Buford T. Justice XIX

Thargor wrote: »

Finished Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, very good, could have done with a bit more detail about the culture that launched the ship in the first place but it was okay. Pleasantly surprised after the boring grind that was The Years of Rice and Salt. Im a sucker for generation ships though.

I stopped reading after a week when I realised I had no idea what I had read the day before.

Iirc, it was about rebirth or something like that?

Thargor

I honestly cant remember, dont think I finished it now that I think, it was just a bland pointless story from what I do remember.

GhostMutt30

Just finished reading the Foundation series. Absolutely loved it

wyrn

GhostMutt30 wrote: »

Just finished reading the Foundation series. Absolutely loved it

I found it tough, only got half way through the first one. Every time I was just getting in to it, it moved on in time. Must give it another go seeing as I bought the whole series and it's just a dust collector at the moment

GhostMutt30

wyrn wrote: »

I found it tough, only got half way through the first one. Every time I was just getting in to it, it moved on in time. Must give it another go seeing as I bought the whole series and it's just a dust collector at the moment

I found the jumps forward a bit hard to get used to at first alright, but as soon as I got into it I couldn't stop reading, it gave the overall story a much more interesting slant I thought

GhostInTheRuins

I finished Robin Hobb's Farseer trilogy last week. Great read. I really enjoyed it, apart from what I'd consider a very slightly disappointing ending.

I half considered moving straight on to the Tawny Man trilogy after hearing mixed opinions about the Liveship Traders. I'm glad I didn't though because I'm half way through Ship of Magic and so far it's great. On paper the whole premise of the Liveship Traders is just so ridiculous but somehow she makes it work.

Paddy Samurai

Part 3 (The Faithful and the Fallen)

Finished it last week ,a brilliant top notch fantasy series IMO.Can't wait for part 4.

About 30% into Liar's Key by Mark Lawrence.Enjoying it so far .More of the same.

kirk buttercup

Has anyone read Ready Player one? Its a toss up between this and wool for me next. which would people recommend

OwaynOTT

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Has anyone read Ready Player one? Its a toss up between this and wool for me next. which would people recommend

Ready Player One would be my choice but Wool wouldn't be too far behind. The only thing I didn't like about it, was the time shifts.

keane2097

They are both very good.

shrapnel222

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Has anyone read Ready Player one? Its a toss up between this and wool for me next. which would people recommend

Ready Player one is a great read (especially if you enjoy video games).

His latest one "Armada" is woeful.

Rights to both have been bought by Spielberg and i believe they are currently filming the first one.

Adventagious

Just about to kick off a new author and can't decide between Brent Weeks and Melanie Rawn...any recommendations?


Also - I thought Ready Player One was pretty poor actually. I'm a huge video game fan and as much as i enjoyed the references to nerd culture initially the amount of them becomes obnoxious fast. The clunky writing means everything gets shoehorned in, and the reader is just bombarded with nostalgia. I wouldn't mind if they were oblique references, winks and nudges etc, but it's more like the author constantly shoving things in your face shouting "remember that thing we like!? It's here!".

The main character was really unlikable, self satisfied and one dimensional. The other characters barely reached one dimension, seemed to exist to pat the protagonist on the back or mirror his opinions. The one female character may have well ended up being a clone of the protagonist in a wig for all she had to say for herself.

Overall it felt immature, like a teenager wrote it and lazy adult edited it.

Read what you want to read, like what you want to like, but I wouldn't encourage anyone to buy it.

Thargor

Adventagious wrote: »

Overall it felt immature, like a teenager wrote it and lazy adult edited it.

My thoughts exactly, so much sci-fi and fantasy are like this these days, theres no craft in 90% of the writing anymore, its just churned out like pop music. The main character is always the same smug cnut these days aswell.

ixoy

Adventagious wrote: »

Just about to kick off a new author and can't decide between Brent Weeks and Melanie Rawn...any recommendations?

Well admittedly I only read one Brent Weeks novel but I thought the writing was flat out bad so if that's an issue for you...

Also - I thought Ready Player One was pretty poor actually. I'm a huge video game fan and as much as i enjoyed the references to nerd culture initially the amount of them becomes obnoxious fast. The clunky writing means everything gets shoehorned in, and the reader is just bombarded with nostalgia.

I agree. It seemed more like a series of homages than a proper novel. It's not a bad book as such but I found it very forgettable.

Has anyone read Ready Player one? Its a toss up between this and wool for me next. which would people recommend

Well my opinion of 'Ready Player One' is above but I actually quite enjoyed 'Wool'. I cared about the characters, I liked the various ways the plots unfolded and thought Howie quite a decent writer.

Adventagious

ixoy wrote: »

Well admittedly I only read one Brent Weeks novel but I thought the writing was flat out bad so if that's an issue for you...

Well then Melanie Rawn it is. I've a long list to be getting through so I'll drop Weeks down towards the bottom unless someone chimes in with an impassioned defense.

Manach

I've read only one Rawn book, and that was one too many.

Currently re-reading King David's Starship by Jerry Pournelle, who it was announce today won the Heinlein award recently : http://blog.nss.org/acclaimed-science-fiction-author-dr-jerry-pournelle-wins-the-national-space-society-robert-a-heinlein-award/

Adventagious

Manach wrote: »

I've read only one Rawn book, and that was one too many.

CRAP

Also have Michel Scott and Robin Hobb to get through. Hobb is meant to be reputable, right?

I'll read all this stuff eventually, i just really want the next series to get into to be a winner. The last few have been disappointing.

mcgovern

Adventagious wrote: »

CRAP

Also have Michel Scott and Robin Hobb to get through. Hobb is meant to be reputable, right?

I'll read all this stuff eventually, i just really want the next series to get into to be a winner. The last few have been disappointing.

Only read Hobb's first one but it was very good.

On a unrelated note (but this reminded me as I just bought book 2 + 3), does anyone buy ebooks from Play store? I have some 3 credit to use up, and had planned to get some books, but they seem to be always more expensive than Amazon, and you never get the 99/1.99 sales.

Zapp Brannigan

Finished The Tawny Man reread I was doing. I'm going to wait for the whole of the next trilogy to be written before reading it.

So I began reading The Red Knight by Miles Cameron after seeing it be recommended on the Fantasy subreddit.

shootermacg

Zapp Brannigan wrote: »

Finished The Tawny Man reread I was doing. I'm going to wait for the whole of the next trilogy to be written before reading it.

So I began reading The Red Knight by Miles Cameron after seeing it be recommended on the Fantasy subreddit.

Enjoyed The Red Knight, but the follow-up wasn't great to be honest.

ixoy

27% into "Dark Intelligence", the first book in Neal Asher's Transformation trilogy. Back to the Polity after the disappointing Owner trilogy and it's got everything I want: rogue AIs, Prador, crazy alien physiologies. Enjoying it a lot so far.

mcgovern

ixoy wrote: »

27% into "Dark Intelligence", the first book in Neal Asher's Transformation trilogy. Back to the Polity after the disappointing Owner trilogy and it's got everything I want: rogue AIs, Prador, crazy alien physiologies. Enjoying it a lot so far.

It was a real return to form, and the sequel is out in about 2 or 3 weeks.

Trojan

ixoy wrote: »

Well admittedly I only read one Brent Weeks novel but I thought the writing was flat out bad so if that's an issue for you...

Adventagious wrote: »

I'll drop Weeks down towards the bottom unless someone chimes in with an impassioned defense.

I thought Weeks' Night Angel series had a lot of potential in concept, but it just wasn't well put together.

Recently I tried the first book in his second series, Lightbringer: The Black Prism, and it's a whole different ballgame. There seem to be some parallels with Mistborn, most notably the depth and consistency of the magic system. Characterisation and pacing are far superior to his first series. I highly recommend giving it a go. (I'm now on book 3.)

Fian

Trojan wrote: »

I thought Weeks' Night Angel series had a lot of potential in concept, but it just wasn't well put together.

Recently I tried the first book in his second series, Lightbringer: The Black Prism, and it's a whole different ballgame. There seem to be some parallels with Mistborn, most notably the depth and consistency of the magic system. Characterisation and pacing are far superior to his first series. I highly recommend giving it a go. (I'm now on book 3.)

I'm on book two and enjoying it. I read night angel trilogy recently and enjoyed that too, though I was definitely in the mood for something "light" and unchallenging.

ElWalrus

Finished off the Revelation Space trilogy, "Redemption Ark" and "Absolution Gap" following on from "Revelation Space" which I thoroughly enjoyed. Like many others, I loved the 'gothic' feel of Alistair Reynolds future, the big ideas, and grand scale of the universe, however I felt it just ended on a bit of a flat note.

"Absolution Gap" was definitely the weaker of the three novels and I get the feeling that the author seemed to fall into the trap of having built such a fantastic universe and carefully orchestrated history, only to find himself having to wrap things up rather abruptly and/or introduce new elements at the end that didn't fit in with the previous two and half books.

Still enjoyed the series overall, just felt it deserved a bit more of a proper ending imo. :pac:

Trojan

I read a lot of Alastair Reynolds stuff but never really got hooked like I did with Banks.

Finished the 3rd in the Lightbringer series from Brent Weeks, thoroughly enjoyable - chomping at the bit waiting for the fourth (and final afaik) book in November or so.