What Are You Reading?

Fian

Thargor wrote: »

I absolutely love generation ships, Ship of Fools by Richard Paul Russo and Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson were two good ones I read recently, any others suggestions welcome, Ive read all the Ramas obviously.

Maybe try wool. Not a generation ship, rather a generation Silo/bunker, but still is effectively the same structure, people confined in a tin can for generations.

machalla

Fian wrote: »

Maybe try wool. Not a generation ship, rather a generation Silo/bunker, but still is effectively the same structure, people confined in a tin can for generations.

The early books were better than the later ones from what I can remember. Probably too much of the mystery revealed at that point or I just got sick of them as I read them all in one go.

I felt it drifted into an American right wing libertarian fantasy by the end but that might just have been me inferring things.

Still worth a look as they had some good moments.

Thargor

Yeah Ive read Wool, I suppose I enjoyed them but they were a bit of a slog.

keane2097

Wool was kind of a series of short stories wasn't it? I remember enjoying them although can only really remember the one with the female lead character.

david75

Just started the Inheritance trilogy by Nk Jemesin. Someone here recommended it.

Gave up on Joe Abercrombie's the blade itself. Just couldn't get into the parliament/military college storyline but the other storyline was great.

machalla

david75 wrote: »

Just started the Inheritance trilogy by Nk Jemesin. Someone here recommended it.

Gave up on Joe Abercrombie's the blade itself. Just couldn't get into the parliament/military college storyline but the other storyline was great.

I loved Abercrombie's series. It was described to me "Imagine if Gandalf had no morals or qualms, just power for his own purposes". Bayaz is quite a character.

Each to their own but its one of my favourite fantasy series in recent years. The 2nd book was a bit weak but the third redeems a lot of flaws. And the ending certainly did..

That reminds me also of Richard Morgans A land fit for heroes

It had a lot of the flavour of Moorcock's Elric. Both series I would recommend.

His Takashi Kovacs series - Altered Carbon was also good if bleak.

I see its well on its way to being made into a TV series now but it sounds like they have changed a lot of the fundamentals from the books.

david75

The endless court etiquette and council blabber literally turned me off. And I tried.

Is it worth keeping at it?

machalla

david75 wrote: »

The endless court etiquette and council blabber literally turned me off. And I tried.

Is it worth keeping at it?

For me it was but if a book literally annoys you to read it then what book is worth it?

I forced my way through one of the worst written series I've had the misfortune to read and I'm never getting that time back to read something more worthwhile.

Jack Campbells : The Lost Fleet

Others seemed to love it.

Dades

Ha! I enjoyed the first one. Never got around to other ones.

Thargor

Reading the Fireman by Joe Hill, thought it was going to be good, a spore epidemic is wiping out humanity by causing spontaneous combustion in its victims but its really not, Ive come to the opinion that he's just not a very good writer and I wont be bothering with him anymore, dont want to keep comparing him to his father seeing as he writes under a pseudonym but he's just too soft compared to Stephen King, books like this and NOS4A2 should be absolutely brutal but he writes them like they're young adult "horror" for some reason and they're absolutely riddled with text speak and current pop culture references that will be extremely dated in a year or two whereas Kings books are timeless, its a real pity because the ideas are good, you just end up thinking how great it would be if Stephen King had written them instead.

Also The Fireman is 800+ pages long and so repetitive, the same scenes and conversations seem to keep popping up over and over again, literally 50% of the book could have been cut away without losing anything, for example one main character lost his wife and I swear the same conversation where another main character almost gets them to tell the story before they clam up and stomp off in a huff happens at least 10 times, loads of similar annoyances like that.

Dades

^^ Well that one is off the reading list!

Really enjoying Children of Time. Would love more reading time to give it.

Glebee

Just finished up the Fist Law series and really enjoyed it. I a way kind of disappointed to be finished as i was really enjoying the characters (except Bayaz) . Taking my first attempt to read Robin Hobb with the Farseer Trilogy, dont know what to expect.

machalla

Glebee wrote: »

Just finished up the Fist Law series and really enjoyed it. I a way kind of disappointed to be finished as i was really enjoying the characters (except Bayaz) . Taking my first attempt to read Robin Hobb with the Farseer Trilogy, dont know what to expect.

Some of the standalone books that are based after the triology were good and expanded that world nicely. Plus as they are based after the trilogy you get an idea of how things play out.

Best Served Cold was good and The Heroes had some interesting moments. Red country was a bit weak. I see theres another book only out in April so thanks for making me look

A land fit for heroes is another series probably worth a look for gritty fantasy with some odd quirks to it.

shootermacg

david75 wrote: »

The endless court etiquette and council blabber literally turned me off. And I tried.

Is it worth keeping at it?

Yeah, the foppish behaviour is later contrasted during the war, some of the nancy boys come good and are changed irrevocably into more practical men and some of them break. I found it annoying too, their petty ****e, but its actually there for a reason and does actually reflect reality to a certain extent.

It was the bleakness of the books that got to me, leaving me a little depressed while reading them, but memories of those books have stuck with me more than most. If I were you I'd keep reading.

kirk buttercup

Thargor wrote: »

Yeah Ive read Wool, I suppose I enjoyed them but they were a bit of a slog.

Just finishing the first wool book after what seems like a long slog. its not that I didn't enjoy it , but hasn't exactly blown my socks off (in other words im not in a rush to run out and buy the second part straight away). thinking of children of Time next... unless someone has a recommendation?

david75

Glebee wrote: »

Just finished up the Fist Law series and really enjoyed it. I a way kind of disappointed to be finished as i was really enjoying the characters (except Bayaz) . Taking my first attempt to read Robin Hobb with the Farseer Trilogy, dont know what to expect.

Farseer trilogy is such a brilliant and immersive and absorbing read. Would love to be just discovering them for the cost time. And you have two trilogies after it with the same characters.

shootermacg

david75 wrote: »

Farseer trilogy is such a brilliant and immersive and absorbing read. Would love to be just discovering them for the cost time. And you have two trilogies after it with the same characters.

Its not brilliant by any means once you distill the story down to what's happening. Very dragged out with Fitz being an absolute manic depressive. But I finished it and started The Tawny Man, which is, pretty much more of the same.

I'm still of the opinion that each book could easily have lost a hundred pages. Not great at all, but certainly not bad.

david75

As with all things it's subjective. Like the story or not she writes better than any amount of fantasy writers I can think of. But again that's just my opinion. You may not agree.

Want to talk about a writer who is vastly overrated and could do with cuttin hundreds of pages per book? George rr Martin.

machalla

david75 wrote: »

As with all things it's subjective. Like the story or not she writes better than any amount of fantasy writers I can think of. But again that's just my opinion. You may not agree.

Want to talk about a writer who is vastly overrated and could do with cuttin hundreds of pages per book? George rr Martin.

Tolkien also perhaps? Its been so long since I revisited the books though, I can't say for sure.

The Thomas Covenant Chronicles from Stephen Donaldson? Which I will bring myself to read again someday despite the infuriating lead character. Brilliant, if hard going at times.

david75

machalla wrote: »

Tolkien also perhaps? Its been so long since I revisited the books though, I can't say for sure.

The Thomas Covenant Chronicles from Stephen Donaldson? Which I will bring myself to read again someday despite the infuriating lead character. Brilliant, if hard going at times.

I gave up on Thomas covenant. Needed a dictionary beside me to check every few sentences 😂😂

OwaynOTT

machalla wrote: »

Some of the standalone books that are based after the triology were good and expanded that world nicely. Plus as they are based after the trilogy you get an idea of how things play out.

Best Served Cold was good and The Heroes had some interesting moments. Red country was a bit weak. I see theres another book only out in April so thanks for making me look

A land fit for heroes is another series probably worth a look for gritty fantasy with some odd quirks to it.

What book is out in April?

jacksie66

This post has been deleted.

donegal_man

OwaynOTT wrote: »

What book is out in April?

"Sharp Ends" was released in April this year. It's a short story collection set in the First Law universe. After being sorely disappointed by "Red Country" I'm in two minds.

shootermacg

+1 for the heroes. A really good book!

ixoy

donegal_man wrote: »

"Sharp Ends" was released in April this year. It's a short story collection set in the First Law universe. After being sorely disappointed by "Red Country" I'm in two minds.

Ah but just £0.83 currently on Amazon.co.uk which should help you make up your mind..

OwaynOTT

donegal_man wrote: »

"Sharp Ends" was released in April this year. It's a short story collection set in the First Law universe. After being sorely disappointed by "Red Country" I'm in two minds.

Oh yeah. I actually have that, i thought there was a new one coming out next March that I haven't heard about.

Dades

kirk buttercup wrote: »

Just finishing the first wool book after what seems like a long slog. its not that I didn't enjoy it , but hasn't exactly blown my socks off (in other words im not in a rush to run out and buy the second part straight away). thinking of children of Time next... unless someone has a recommendation?

If the first book didn't float your boat then don't bother. I read them all with decreasing interest. Have to say I did enjoy them though.

jacksie66 wrote: »

Bought Leviathan Wakes. Been keen to read it for a long time.

Loved it and the second book. Third book and the characters started to emerge as somewhat two dimensional, so I lost interest. YMMV.

dudara

I've finished Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald recently, which I enjoyed. Looking forward to the next one.

Also finished Europe in Autumn by Dave Hutchinson. I didn't feel it for a lot of the book, but it picked up towards the end.

ixoy

dudara wrote: »

I've finished Luna: New Moon by Ian McDonald recently, which I enjoyed. Looking forward to the next one.

And I'm currently 11% through it! Enjoying it - I was looking for some sci-fi that wasn't anything to do with alien artifacts or the standard space opera. This is fitting so far.

mcgovern

I was away for a week so got a decent bit of reading done.
Read Salute the Dark, it was good, series is keeping up the early promise.
Then read Nexus by Ramaaz Naam, its near future sci-fi. Really enjoyed this, one of the best I've read in a long time. Lots of good ideas, just wish we were a little closer to some of it
Then went to The Destroyer by Michael Scott Earle as recommended by a few here. It was good, but I don't think it was unique enough for me to go back to the series, in the short term at least.
Now about 50% through Revenger by Alastair Reynolds. It's an interesting story and universe, but I can't help but wish it wasn't aimed at YA audience, too much of it is dumbed down for my liking.