What are you reading?

Discussion in 'Geek Cave: Computers, Tablets, HT, Phones, Games' started by OJneg, Sep 30, 2015.

  1. archer88

    archer88 Friend

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2020
    Likes Received:
    221
    Trophy Points:
    60
    Location:
    Texas, USA
    71fNP7F9p2L.jpg
     
  2. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8,802
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tejas

    Cool coincidental find in Stephenson’s Termination Shock yesterday - two characters referencing Asimov’s Foundation series which I happen to be concurrently reading!
     
  3. Boops

    Boops Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Nov 8, 2015
    Likes Received:
    3,179
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    New York
    Just finished Roadside Picnic. Really enjoyed it. Haven’t had any previous exposure to the Stalker games or movie. Recommended!
     
  4. billbishere

    billbishere Facebook Friend

    Joined:
    Dec 25, 2018
    Likes Received:
    186
    Trophy Points:
    43
    Location:
    Columbus ohio
    In the middle of "The End Is Always Near: Humanity vs the Apocalypse, from the Bronze Age to Today" By Dan Carlin

    I love his "Hardcore History Podcasts" So I am reading his book. I put it off for a long time but, once I finally started it's been great!

    [​IMG]
     
  5. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    [​IMG]

    Today I finished book 5 of Malayan Book of the Fallen, Midnight Tides. And similarly to book 4, House of Chains, it's not as good as Memories of Ice, book 3, but what is? Memories of Ice is one of the best books Ive ever read, and honestly on its own would be worth the price of admission for this series. But Midnight Tides was fantastic in its own right, and continued Erikson's roll of continuously introducing amazing new characters throughout the series. None of them are as amazing as Karsa Orlong, but no one could be, but Tehol Beddict and his manservant Bugg are amazing nonetheless.

    If you're into epic fantasy I can't recommend Malazan Book of the Fallen enough.
     
  6. Grattle

    Grattle Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 17, 2017
    Likes Received:
    995
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    USA
    upload_2022-4-21_19-32-37.jpeg
     
  7. Craigo

    Craigo MOT: Mage Audio

    Joined:
    May 3, 2017
    Likes Received:
    153
    Trophy Points:
    33
    Location:
    Raleigh, NC
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  8. Syzygy

    Syzygy Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Jun 13, 2018
    Likes Received:
    2,144
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    DFW, Texas
    Re-reading The Belgariad by David Eddings. Currently on book 3/5 The Magician's Gambit. Apparently they're making it into movies. These were the covers when I read them in the 80's.

    belgariad.jpeg
     
    • Like Like x 1
    • Epic Epic x 1
    • List
  9. Lyander

    Lyander Official SBAF Equitable Empathizer

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2017
    Likes Received:
    10,961
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Philippines, The
    Oh man. I got into this series when I was in primary school (says a lot about my development since I guess) and I've read them so often that the spines on CoW and MG are nearly pulp at this point. Amusingly I read the books out of sequence (4>3>5>1>2 over the span of a few years cuz... the books were hard to find) but I didn't feel that the earlier books lost much enjoyment despite knowing how things would end. Managed to follow along with the Malloreon in sequence and while it was fun, the original series was much more fun.

    Heard of the adaptation. Fingers crossed it'll be less Dragonball Evolution than Harry Potter.
     
  10. DigMe

    DigMe Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Aug 25, 2016
    Likes Received:
    8,802
    Trophy Points:
    113
    Location:
    Tejas
    i read them as a kid too. In retrospect Eddings is not a great author.
     
  11. bobboxbody

    bobboxbody Friend

    Pyrate BWC Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,465
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    GR, MI
    I consume a lot of books and forget to post, but I've gotten some great recommendations here, so trying to do my part to share. Here are the highlights since my last post:
    [​IMG]
    The Imperial Radch trilogy by Ann Leckie was pretty great, first person narrative from a ship's AI. Can't give too much more without some level of spoiler, but it's a much more engaging experience than that description implies.

    [​IMG]
    The Age of Madness trilogy by Joe Abercrombie is a follow up to all the books set in the world of The First Law. I reread those all first, and was glad I did because there's so much history and relevant characters that continue through. I didn't enjoy it as much as the First Law books, but it was still great.

    [​IMG]
    I loved the Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, it's still ongoing and I can't wait for more. I've never identified more strongly with a character than I have with Murderbot, which probably says some antisocial things about me. All of the characters are well written and developed despite the short format. All but one of the books so far are novellas.

    Also just finished Sleepwalk by Dan Chaon, which was a fun first person narrative. It's set in a near future dystopian USA, but the focus is on the main character and his relationships/history which you slowly discover over the course of the book. Another relatively short one.

    Edit: Forgot to add, the Red Rising Saga by Pierce Brown was pretty great, I read the first trilogy and am now waiting on the 6th book to be published before I start the 2nd. I just started the Commonwealth Saga by Peter F. Hamilton in the meantime.
     
    • Like Like x 6
    • Epic Epic x 1
    • Agreed, ditto, +1 Agreed, ditto, +1 x 1
    • List
  12. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    This sounds fantastic, im going to add it to the list.

    EDIT: Lol im sure its nothing like it, but this made me think of the Bobiverse books by Dennis Taylor

    Ive also been meaning to read these ever since I saw the first one in a book store several years back.

    I read The First Law and thought it was good enough, but nothing special. Id read the follow on if I ran out of other stuff, but there's always too many books and not enough time. Specially as Im still neck deep in Malazan, which will probably take me another year and a half to finish.

    Have you read The Licanius Trilogy by James Islington?
     
  13. bobboxbody

    bobboxbody Friend

    Pyrate BWC Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 6, 2016
    Likes Received:
    1,465
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    GR, MI
    Not familiar with Bobiverse, but definitely recommend Imperial Radch to anyone, same goes for Murderbot, probably my favorite sci-fi reads since the Expanse series. Radch takes the most brain processing power of those, but nothing compared to Malazan or similar. I liked the Licanius Trilogy pretty well, I don't remember it being groundbreaking in any way, but it was a well crafted story with good prose. One of my fantasy nerd friends loved it.
     
  14. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    478951.jpg

    Well, this morning I finished book 6 of Malazan Book of the Fallen, The Bonehunters, and holy shit what a book. Nearly as good as Memories of Ice was. The convergence is unreal in like the entire last third of the book. So much shit going down at once. Can't wait to start the next one. Malazan really is shaping up to be the best epic fantasy series ive ever read.
     
    • Like Like x 2
    • Agreed, ditto, +1 Agreed, ditto, +1 x 1
    • List
  15. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX

    Another update on Malazan, I finished book 7, Reaper's Gale.

    [​IMG]

    I think I would say this was the third best Malazan Book so far, behind only Memories of Ice and The Bonehunters. I continue to be nothing but impressed with Erikson's characters and writing. The scope of the story is staggering, and seeing all these disparate pieces come together is amazing.
     
  16. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,151
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Valencia, CA
    No way dude! I'm on page 520 right now. It's probably my second least favorite up to this point, even though I still enjoy it. Just a matter of rank. This is a life-consuming series. I ripped through the previous three books, and this one is taking me a little more time.
     
  17. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I try really hard to not judge books based on how much of a "page turner" they are. but I guess it also helps that its taken me months to read all of them, I don't read nearly as much as I should.

    I think my only complaint with Malazan so far is that ever since House of Chains, there is never enough Karsa Orlong. but I rest easy knowing there is an entire Karsa Orlong trilogy waiting for me at the end of this road
     
  18. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,151
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Valencia, CA
    Karsa Orlong is the man. That very focused first part of House of Chains was absolutely awesome character building: probably the best in the series.
     
  19. SoupRKnowva

    SoupRKnowva Official SBAF South Korean Ambassador

    Pyrate Contributor
    Joined:
    Sep 26, 2015
    Likes Received:
    4,249
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Austin, TX
    I was just thinking about Karsa Orlong again, and he's built up into basically a personification of occam's razor, his character cuts to the core of everything, both figuratively and literally.

    lol one of my favorite Karsa Orlong quotes was somewhere in The Bonehunters I think, when he's talking to the witch he's like "there is no armor that can defend from the truth"

    honestly, I think I like Karsa Orlong too much sometimes. He might not just be my favorite character in Malazan, he might be one of my characters ever.
     
  20. Mithrandir41

    Mithrandir41 Friend

    Pyrate
    Joined:
    Feb 4, 2016
    Likes Received:
    2,151
    Trophy Points:
    93
    Location:
    Valencia, CA
    My favorite trait is his willingness to accept new truths, and to express those to others, no matter how it may afflict them. As I've gotten older, self-reflection and the willingness not to be so precious about previous beliefs is something I appreciate
     

Share This Page