Public Forums => Banter and Chit-Chat! => Topic started by: Blackthorne on June 23, 2014, 01:38:14 PM
Title: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on June 23, 2014, 01:38:14 PM
Currently, I'm reading one of my favorite novels again - this being Frank Herbert's "Dune".
I first became aware of this when I was 6 - the film came out that year, and the look of it fascinated me, so I sought the book out. Half of it made little sense, but I slugged through it - and loved the imagry. I've read this book probably 20 or more times in my life, and I often like to revisit it because it's so inspiring to me. It's just an amazing intersection of science-fiction, philosophy, language and religion. It's a masterpiece and influenced countless other science fiction and fantasy authors. (It's clear that this book influenced George Lucas quite a bit when writing Star Wars!)
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Lambonius on June 23, 2014, 01:49:12 PM
Dune is awesome. It's been ages since I've seen the movie, but it's got such a classic look to it. You ever play the old adventure/strategy game?
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Sven_Q45 on June 23, 2014, 06:31:06 PM
I´m reading Darth Bane right now.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on June 23, 2014, 07:10:00 PM
Dune rocks. What a great book. I'm reading book 13 in the wheel of time. It's long and boring, but occasionally something really cool happens and you want to keep reading. This has been my problem since book 1.
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Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Corrigan on June 23, 2014, 08:46:32 PM
I'm currently reading the fourth Gotrek and Felix omnibus, so book 10 in the series. It switched writers halfway through the third set of books, and it's amazing how well the new author has captured the style and mood.
You'd think ten books of bar brawls, grumbling and trudging about mines and dungeons might get boring eventually, but it hasn't yet!
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: DrSlash on June 24, 2014, 05:01:10 AM
I'm studying for philosophy exam at the moment, so I mostly read stuff by Freud, Weber and Marx lately. Apart from that, I've read a short story "Guts" by Chuck Palahniuk not so long ago (it was both shocking and awesome, to say the least). I'm probably going to finish reading my Jules Verne collection this summer.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on June 24, 2014, 07:19:55 AM
Oooh! I know "Guts"! That is a classic... heh. Birth of an urban legend right there, that is.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: chucklas on June 24, 2014, 07:58:39 AM
Last book I read was "Dad is Fat" by Jim Gaffigan. Totally hilarious. Any father should read it.
As for other stuff, I most recently reread a bunch of the Ender's Game series after finally watching the movie recently.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: nidoking on June 25, 2014, 10:07:11 PM
When I don't have any unread manga handy and can't be bothered to go buy more, I'm reading through "Raising Steam", the latest Discworld novel. You can't go wrong with Terry Pratchett, unless you've got one of those painful physical conditions where it hurts to laugh. Then you'd probably better read something else.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on June 25, 2014, 10:36:43 PM
That's a good call - when I finish Dune, I'm going to read some Terry Pratchett.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on June 26, 2014, 05:37:00 AM
He's got altzhimers you know? When he was diagnosed he wrote out treatments for a stack of future novels so he'd remember all his ideas and has been working on them progressively since.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: sickfiction on June 26, 2014, 07:21:37 AM
Finished it a while back but the last thing I read was "surely you're joking Mr feynmann" brilliant biography about the super cool drummer/quantum physicist. Guy had a crazy life
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: s_d on July 14, 2014, 01:20:13 AM
Last I finished was The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, probably his worst effort (which isn't saying much because I quite liked it). I'd like to think of it as a window into the culture of 1960's southern California, complete with psychadelics, sexual liberation, and socialist revolutionaries. It's insane, and pretty funny.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Corrigan on July 14, 2014, 11:50:38 AM
Oh I enjoyed that one as well, S_D, a very wacky treasure hunt of a tale. Short too, you could blast through it in a day at the beach :)
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Chadly on July 14, 2014, 01:29:17 PM
I just finished the Wheel of Time series by Robert Jordan/Brandon Sanderson. Execellent series if you like fantasy and medevil type books. However the series is over 13 books long and an average of 800 pages plus. I have been reading the series for 20 years. A good read and compelling characters and story all round. :)
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Shadolyst on July 14, 2014, 03:11:45 PM
On the fun side: I've been reading the H.G. Wells novels (The Time Machine, War of the Worlds, etc.), as well as the old Oz books by L. Frank Baum.
One the serious side: I've also been studying some heavy theological books and the Christian Bible, I like to be balanced in my reading :)
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Corrigan on July 14, 2014, 03:44:41 PM
I love H.G. Wells! Have you read any John Wyndham, Jon? If not I highly recommend, similar style and very thought provoking social commentary in a sci-fi setting.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Shadolyst on July 14, 2014, 05:11:29 PM
I love H.G. Wells! Have you read any John Wyndham, Jon? If not I highly recommend, similar style and very thought provoking social commentary in a sci-fi setting.
I have not, but I'm always looking for interesting fantasy/scifi novels. Thanks, Jen! :)
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on July 14, 2014, 08:39:19 PM
Hey Chadly, you didn't find the last few books really drawn out? I like em too and have been reading them on and off the last few years but damn, I get bogged down a lot.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: s_d on July 14, 2014, 09:13:57 PM
Klytos, it's taken me so long to chug through them that I've plum forgot the first five books or so. The task of re-reading 4500 pages just to remember why I'm supposed to care about a specific character or event is incredibly daunting. Worse, what if I reread the first part, only to find that I've forgotten more than I thought, and must reread the rest for context?!
I own the Sanderson novels in hardcover, but literally haven't so much as glanced at a word of Wheel of Time since Knife of Dreams almost a decade ago :-[
Currently I'm working my way through an e-book version of the complete works of H.P. Lovecraft, weighing in around 1100 pages, which frankly feels like a bit of light reading, in comparison.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: chucklas on July 15, 2014, 04:01:05 PM
Going back to Bt's first post, I just saw a documentary last night called Jodorowski's Dune about a movie back in 1975 that never was completed. You can see a number of ideas from his movie/script that were taken and put into other movies. Pretty awesome. If you have not seen it, totally worth watching.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on July 15, 2014, 04:50:33 PM
I have it, going to watch it soon!
Right now, I'm reading "Remember The Time: Protecting Michael Jackson" written by his former bodyguards. And interesting look at the man's life - it's really kind of sad.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Lambonius on July 15, 2014, 07:25:30 PM
I don't read anything except shitty internet forums.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on July 15, 2014, 09:17:11 PM
I'm reading Jermaine Jackson's book about his brother Michael. Just finished the Console Wars Sega v Nintendo.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Ilyich on July 16, 2014, 02:53:30 AM
+1 on that Jodorowsky's Dune recommendation - an excellent watch! Of course, as someone who adores The Holy Mountain and Incal I'm somewhat biased, but even 84 years old Jodorowsky is still a whirlwind of charisma and creativity, and a very interesting man to listen to.
More on topic - recently finished reading China Mieville's Bas-Lag books and loved all of them - if you're interested in ambitious and unusual fantasy fiction - I can't recommend them enough!
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on July 16, 2014, 07:41:16 AM
El Topo is rad too. I also just read Console Wars! Great read.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Chadly on July 16, 2014, 02:11:32 PM
@Klytos Yes the books are long and drawn out. Too many plot threads to keep track of. One unanswered question i have is who killed Asmodean? After Jordan died Sanderson just doesnt have the style of writing to keep things exciting i found. Altho Towers of Midnight and A Memory of Light were pretty well written.
What did you think of Feist's Magicians End?
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on July 17, 2014, 05:05:06 AM
I enjoyed Magician's End a lot. It was good to finally resolve the stories of Pug and Tomas. I actually really loved how they dealt with Pug in the end. I actually thought his final trilogy was excellent, easily the best since the Serpentwar Saga. The only thing I disliked was I didn't think the star elves were really finished up, storywise.
As for the Wheel of Time. I just think the whole series is way too drawn out. I can deal with that but then he names a lot of his characters similar names, Elaida, Elayne, Egwene - in particular Elayne and Egwene I get confused sometimes because they've so similar. And on the same theme the name of objects also has the same problem, angreal / sa'angreal / ter'angreal as an example. If these things only happened in one place that'd be fine, but because he makes this mistake over and over I became quite confused a lot of the time.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Chadly on July 17, 2014, 10:06:11 AM
Feists got a new series coming out next year. According to him its going to be like Game of Thrones series by George R.R. Martin. Which is an Execelent series to read. Very graphic with good plots, characters, well written.
The Wheel of Time was too long. Originally it was supposed to be six books and went to fourteen! By the time i got to book six I was ready for it to end, but Jordan is like the Energizer bunny he kept writing and writing......
Feist's Magician series with Pug and Tomas was quite possibly the best written fantasy series i have ever read. Seeing it come to an end made me sad but satisfied.
Try Terry Goodkinds Sword of Truth Series. Execelent story very graphic, with a fine line between good and evil characters.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: nidoking on July 17, 2014, 08:21:34 PM
Agreed with Wheel of Time being too drawn out. I really enjoyed it early on, but then it seemed like entire books went by and nothing happened, largely because there are too many main characters in too many places, so you only get a chapter or two of action with each of the many plot threads. I thought the end of book... nine? was an amazing moment, and then book ten consisted almost entirely of every character in the series reacting to that and then maybe delivering one other line of dialogue or talking about how they didn't have a plan for doing whatever they'd be doing in book eleven.
I finished Raising Steam (highly recommended, perhaps even more than most previous Discworld books) and have moved on to my backlog of children's books - plowed through the latest Dork Diaries this morning, and now I'm putting off the new Lemony Snicket anthology and starting the Percy Jackson series to check out The School for Good and Evil. It's already got a sequel, so a lot will depend on how much I enjoy it. It's pretty good in the first few sections - the protagonist is pretty dislikeable, which is clearly intentional and a very good sign.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Klytos on July 17, 2014, 11:21:47 PM
Interesting you said kids books Nido, I've just finished reading the Magic Faraway Tree series by Enid Blyton not too long ago. It was a series I absolutely LOVED as a child and I was nervous I'd ruin the childhood memory of it by reading it as an adult, but you know they really hold up. I know Blyton cops a fair amount of criticism for various things (mostly sexism) but really, in the context of when they were written they're perfectly fine.
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on July 18, 2014, 07:21:21 AM
I absolutely love Tom Robbin's work, so I'm re-reading "Even Cowgirls Get The Blues" again. I'll follow that up with one of my favorite novels of all time, "Fierce Invalids Home From Hot Climates". His work is just so funny, philosophical and rambling - it's a delight. I should probably throw "Still Life with Woodpecker" in there somewhere, too.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Kaldire on July 28, 2014, 05:49:53 AM
Im a huge dune fan, but its strange if one watches the movie how vastly it differs. Love the books, and would suggest to all to read the series not just dune!
currently I am reading "The ill made mute" the author Cecilia Dart-Thornton (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cecilia_Dart-Thornton) there is her wiki has been inspired by lore and games like KQ series lore great book and series, she even sent me a signed copy all the way from aussie land
also I cant put down my lawrence watt-evans books "mis-enchanted sword" suggest all who dig this stuff to check em out if ya havent read em!
great taste all ya! love it, "I HUNGER!" feed me more! (sinistar quote there) haha :P
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: chucklas on December 01, 2014, 10:11:54 PM
I just finished Dune for the first time. I think I enjoyed it much more as an adult than I would have if I had read it when I was younger.
So, do I continue in the series? Not sure if the sequels live up to the first, etc. Thoughts?
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Kaldire on December 01, 2014, 10:40:21 PM
well
if you must know, almost all the characters from the first DUNE, arent in any of the other books (at least not for long) dont want to spoil it but its kinda about the next gen
AND YES I recommend reading them to find out what HAPPENS!
I just got done reading Below the root again, since zilpha passed in November I recommend the greensky trilogy.
and yes yes read the other books in the dune series, they arent as... good buuuuuuut they do give in depth details on what happens afterwards then after that!
full circle baby
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Blackthorne on December 01, 2014, 11:28:50 PM
Dude, all of the characters from the first Dune Novel are in Dune Messiah and Children of Dune, the next two direct books.
I'd read those; they're enjoyable.
I like the further book, God Emperor of Dune, as well - but that is as far as I'll read in the series.
Bt
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Kaldire on December 01, 2014, 11:57:40 PM
i dont want to spoil it for him
ill have to go re read them again but as far as I remember ahem ahh I dont want to spoil it..ive said to much
also there are 2 much later works, that should be read also Hunters of dune and sandworms of dune
ahh nuts I think i spoiled this now
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: Kaldire on December 02, 2014, 12:01:09 AM
Quote
I like the further book, God Emperor of Dune, as well - but that is as far as I'll read in the series. Bt
I read emp of dune but then tried to read chapterhouse and couldnt get into it leeto isnt in that book from what i remember... and I never read heretics of dune either but i own em all
Title: Re: Wot I'm Reading - The Book Thread
Post by: chucklas on December 02, 2014, 01:14:40 PM