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What Are You Reading?

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    #5402
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    keane2097 wrote: »
    Anyone read Annihilation?

    About half way through it at the moment, enjoying it. It's creepy.
    I was all up for this until I found out it's written in the first person, which always puts me off. Hmmm.


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    #5403
    keane2097
    Registered Users Posts: 17,771 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    Dades wrote: »
    I was all up for this until I found out it's written in the first person, which always puts me off. Hmmm.

    Read more of it last night - it's very good. Haven't highlighted so many passages in a long time. It's very short too, give it a spin imo.


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    #5404
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,413 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    Thinking about diving into the Xeelee world from Stephen Baxter, Raft, Timelike, Flux, Ring are available in an omnibus, and he's just released the 2nd last in the series (Vengenge).

    Has anyone read this? What did you think?

    🎙️ The Recognized Authority Podcast



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    #5405
    Nody
    Moderators, Category Moderators, Arts Moderators, Business & Finance Moderators, Entertainment Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 18,307 CMod ✭✭✭✭Nody


    Finished off book 3 and 4 in the Quantum Gravity series and enjoyed them in the very unique worlds built... Started up now on Fatherland as preparation for Wolfenstein 2 :P


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    #5406
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Trojan wrote: »
    Thinking about diving into the Xeelee world from Stephen Baxter, Raft, Timelike, Flux, Ring are available in an omnibus, and he's just released the 2nd last in the series (Vengenge).

    Has anyone read this? What did you think?
    Have a look 3 posts back:D

    Baxters other stuff is not to be missed either, Evolution and few other standalones, also the Manifold series:

    https://www.goodreads.com/author/list/20295.Stephen_Baxter


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    #5407
    Trojan
    Registered Users Posts: 16,413 ✭✭✭✭Trojan


    Thargor wrote: »
    New Xeelee book by Stephen Baxter released!
    Trojan wrote: »
    Thinking about diving into the Xeelee world from Stephen Baxter
    Thargor wrote: »
    Have a look 3 posts back:D

    Argh, I can't believe I did that. It was your post that made me look it up, and then I promptly forgot where I heard it :)

    🎙️ The Recognized Authority Podcast



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    #5408
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Loved the Time Odyssey series with Arthur C CLarke, and also the Flood and Ark novels.

    SF that's hard as nails!


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    #5409
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Yeah I love the way he takes things to their conclusion unlike a lot of authors, like you'll often get an epilogue set 100k years after the events of the novel showing how things panned out for humanity or else the plot will randomly jump forward a few centuries, that kind of thing. Evolution should be read by everybody. I nearly let out a whoop in the Dubrays when I saw he was still doing Xeelee.

    He also wrote The Long Earth series with Arthur C Clarke aswell which is another series that really stuck in my head and I think of a lot, Im saving The Long Cosmos for my holiday this year, he's a seriously high quality author.


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    #5410
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    Oh yeah and if you're getting into Xeelee dont forget the Destinies Children series, it properly fleshes out the war between Humanity and the Xeelee:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xeelee_Sequence

    You can read Ring and Raft and the rest first I think.


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    #5411
    OwaynOTT
    Registered Users Posts: 10,556 ✭✭✭✭OwaynOTT


    Thargor wrote: »
    Yeah I love the way he takes things to their conclusion unlike a lot of authors, like you'll often get an epilogue set 100k years after the events of the novel showing how things panned out for humanity or else the plot will randomly jump forward a few centuries, that kind of thing. Evolution should be read by everybody. I nearly let out a whoop in the Dubrays when I saw he was still doing Xeelee.

    He also wrote The Long Earth series with Arthur C Clarke aswell which is another series that really stuck in my head and I think of a lot, Im saving The Long Cosmos for my holiday this year, he's a seriously high quality author.

    Was the long earth series not with Terry Pratchett?


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    #5412
    Manach
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 9,711 Mod ✭✭✭✭Manach


    David Gemmell books are being released now on audio. So listening to Legend on the commute to work while working out how to defend the train from Nadir raiders.


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    #5413
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,993 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    63% into Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky. It's a nice light novel featuring a spider (of course) turned into a man who could help fight the Dark. The plot's pretty straight forward but the pacing is good, the characters enjoyable and there's a good dash of humour. Reminds me a little of how Steven Erikson wrote the Korbal and Bauchelain novellas in between his bigger projects.


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    #5414
    Thargor
    Registered Users Posts: 17,935 ✭✭✭✭Thargor


    OwaynOTT wrote: »
    Was the long earth series not with Terry Pratchett?
    Oh crap of course it was sorry.


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    #5415
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    Started "Pandemic" by A.G. Riddle a few night ago. Enjoying it so far. Long book though, so it'll be doing well to keep me till the end.


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    #5416
    Kiith
    Moderators, Computer Games Moderators Posts: 23,172 Mod ✭✭✭✭Kiith


    I'd forgotten how violent Memories of Ice can be. The Tenescowri bits make for some bleak reading.


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    #5417
    smacl
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,752 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Dades wrote: »
    Half way through Scalzi's "The Collapsing Empire".

    Quite enjoying it, though as The Stranger says in The Big Lebowski... "do you have to use so many cuss words?"

    One of the character swears so much it's grating.

    Just finished it. Found it very entertaining like most Scalzi stuff I've read so far without being anything special. Fast moving and good fun, like a good action movie with a large portion of buttered popcorn. Expletives didn't bother me so much, very much part of the theme.


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    #5418
    Dades
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 25,558 Mod ✭✭✭✭Dades


    ^^ I was nearly finished and got sidetracked. I will do though. Let us know how the next book goes if you start it.


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    #5419
    smacl
    Moderators, Society & Culture Moderators Posts: 15,752 Mod ✭✭✭✭smacl


    Dades wrote: »
    ^^ I was nearly finished and got sidetracked. I will do though. Let us know how the next book goes if you start it.

    Don't think he's written any sequels yet but the ending certainly leaves it open form them.


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    #5420
    mcgovern
    Registered Users Posts: 4,267 ✭✭✭mcgovern


    I thought the start of Children of Time was stronger than the ending but overall it was very good and I would definitely buy a sequel if there ever was one.
    I'm know reading The Queen of the Tearling by Erika Johansen. It's ok, every second page reminds us that the Queen is not the best looking. Some of the characters are not very consistent and some of the others are very tropey, but I'm interested to see how it ends.


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    #5421
    Fian
    Registered Users Posts: 2,192 ✭✭✭Fian


    Kiith wrote: »
    I'd forgotten how violent Memories of Ice can be. The Tenescowri bits make for some bleak reading.

    Reading dust of dreams atm. The "ribby snake" sections are incredibly bleak. Remind me of "the road".


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    #5422
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,993 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    keane2097 wrote: »
    Anyone read Annihilation?

    About half way through it at the moment, enjoying it. It's creepy.
    About half way through it now myself - I had bought back in December 2014 in a sale and you prompted me to finally read it.
    I agree - there's a good sense of tension and I genuinely amn't sure what's going on. Anonymising characters just adds to it.


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    #5423
    keane2097
    Registered Users Posts: 17,771 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    ixoy wrote: »
    About half way through it now myself - I had bought back in December 2014 in a sale and you prompted me to finally read it.
    I agree - there's a good sense of tension and I genuinely amn't sure what's going on. Anonymising characters just adds to it.

    There are two further books apparently also. Report back when you finish, would be interested to hear what you think.


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    #5424
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,993 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    keane2097 wrote: »
    There are two further books apparently also. Report back when you finish, would be interested to hear what you think.
    Yeah, I got book two at the same time although I might wait and read 'The Unholy Consult' first (R. Scott Bakker's latest).

    The Southern Reach trilogy is being filmed currently by the same director who gave us the excellent 'Deus Ex Machina' with Natalie Portman in the lead role.


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    #5425
    keane2097
    Registered Users Posts: 17,771 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    Didn't see that one. I'm hoping they try to recreate the creepy atmosphere of the book rather than go the easier route of 'build tension and have something jump out from behind a tree'.


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    #5426
    ixoy
    Moderators, Entertainment Moderators Posts: 17,993 Mod ✭✭✭✭ixoy


    14% into "The Unholy Consult" by R. Scott Bakker, the fourth book in his Aspect-Emperor series and the one that's also wrapping up the events of the previous trilogy.

    It's excellent so far - very very bleak though. Bakker has some beautiful turns of phrase and again his philosophical insights are strong (which they'd want to be given how core they are to the entire series!). The sense of epic scale in this is as grand as any series I've read and really hope the conclusion pays off after over a decade in the world.


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    #5427
    Heffoman
    Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭Heffoman


    ixoy wrote: »
    14% into "The Unholy Consult" by R. Scott Bakker, the fourth book in his Aspect-Emperor series and the one that's also wrapping up the events of the previous trilogy.

    It's excellent so far - very very bleak though. Bakker has some beautiful turns of phrase and again his philosophical insights are strong (which they'd want to be given how core they are to the entire series!). The sense of epic scale in this is as grand as any series I've read and really hope the conclusion pays off after over a decade in the world.

    Echo all the above. Just started into it last night. One of the best series of books I have ever read. Some of the characters in it are just masterful.
    A series that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.


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    #5428
    machalla
    Registered Users Posts: 1,523 ✭✭✭machalla


    Heffoman wrote: »
    Echo all the above. Just started into it last night. One of the best series of books I have ever read. Some of the characters in it are just masterful.
    A series that doesn't get the recognition it deserves.

    I'd never heard of it before. Where do you start? From what I can see you need to read the prior series, the Prince of Nothing?


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    #5429
    Heffoman
    Registered Users Posts: 63 ✭✭Heffoman


    machalla wrote: »
    I'd never heard of it before. Where do you start? From what I can see you need to read the prior series, the Prince of Nothing?

    Yes the two series are linked only separated by a few years. They arguabley are the same series in eight books.

    Be warned though it is heavy going at times and its not for everyone. It is also incredibly bleak and violent. But not gratuitous.

    For me I love the prose at his turn of phrase. And the battle scenes when they do occur are suitably epic and colossal in scale.


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    #5430
    keane2097
    Registered Users Posts: 17,771 ✭✭✭✭keane2097


    That sounds like it could be my cup of tea.


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    #5431
    Fian
    Registered Users Posts: 2,192 ✭✭✭Fian


    Heffoman wrote: »
    Yes the two series are linked only separated by a few years. They arguabley are the same series in eight books.

    Be warned though it is heavy going at times and its not for everyone. It is also incredibly bleak and violent. But not gratuitous.

    For me I love the prose at his turn of phrase. And the battle scenes when they do occur are suitably epic and colossal in scale.

    I picked up the first in my brother's place a while back and enjoyed it, though i hadn't finished. Seemed very epic and also well written. I have the first trilogy in my calibre library, keep meaning to get to them. A few books on my list to get through before i start them though.


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