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Good books
Right now I'm reading Isaac Asimov's Foundation trilogy, and finding it very enjoyable. Anyone else have some good books they're reading right now?
Comments
Kidding... I'm reading "The Stolen Child" bu Keith Donahue.
It's not my normal cup of tea, but it got amazing reviews everywhere I turned. This guy is supposed to have a very promising future. I'm only about 50 pages into it, but it is proving to be an entertaining read.
It follows the life of a "changling" that takes the place of a boy - as well as following the life of the boy that is made to become a "changling."
Note: I was chemical bass but change my name.
I'm currently reading the 'Blood: The Last Vampire' novel by Mamoru Oshii. I am enjoying it, but at times it feels like I'm re-reading 'Mein Kampf'. It just has these massive rants, mostly about politics. So far Saya has been in it for about three pages, and I'm halfway through, which is disappointing, because Saya is teh awesomes. Where I'm reading, they have been talking about how to dispose of a corpse for a while. Its really quite an interesting read, but... its just so... unengaging (Not a word).
I just finished up "Thank You for Smoking". I saw the movie and didn't even realise it was an adaptation of a book. The movie was great, and the book, as these tend to be, is even better. Some of the satire flows better when being told (Timing is everything, and movies can have an advantage in how fast jokes are delivered.), but for the most part, the book is hilarious and biting.
I'm also in the middle of both "The Watchmen", one of the premier underwear pervert stories, and Breakfast of Champions by Kurt Vonnegut. The watchmen is well done and well illustrated, though I've no clue where the plot is going yet. Breakfast of Champions is pretty standard satire, and a bit tired, but only because of how oft imitated it is.
GeekNights book club? One day we'll beat Oprah
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Geeknights book club! We could all decided on a new book every couple months then have recorded skype conversations on the books and submit the best bits into a book club special at the end of every month!
^_^
For anyone who is a fan of fantasy/sci-fi, I cannot recommend the works of China Mieville highly enough. "Perdido Street Station" and "The Scar" are the best, but all of his stuff is good.
Oh, and I am also in the middle of Perdido Street Station; thus far I can vouch for its badassness.
Edit: Removed indiscriminate space.
Prior to that, I re-read "War of the Worlds" by HG. Wells and "The Panic Broadcast" by Howard Koch about the famous 1939 Orson Welles' radio broadcast of the story.
First off, if you liked Rym's description of The Difference Engine, you might also enjoy "The Baroque Cycle" (Quicksilver, The Confusion, The System of the World) by Neil Stephenson. It's a trilogy of books with vaguely cyberpunk and very modern themes, but set in the late 17th and early 18th century: the era often called the Enlightenment, when science was really starting to gain momentum in Europe. (William Gibson, Bruce Sterling, and Neil Stephenson are the holy trilogy of cyberpunk, and anything written by any of them is worth trying).
Secondly, Dan Simmons. He's written in other genres as well, but it's his science fiction works that I've read to date: a loose series called "The Hyperion Cantos"(Hyperion, The Fall of Hyperion, Endymion, The Rise of Endymion) and a duology with no series title I know: Illium and Olympos. Far future, crazy technology, more than a bit of transhumanism, and a lot of literary or mythological references (The Hyperion Cantos draw heavily on the unfinished epic poem "Hyperion", by John Keats, while Illium and Olympos involve the recreation of the Illiad by nanotech- and quantum-enhanced Greek gods.)
The Hyperion universe has the best logical extension of Internet culture I've ever seen: in addition to a vast information network, the central civilized worlds are connected by a vast network of teleportation devices, such that anyone can visit any of them pretty much at will. So if something interesting happens on one planet, they are quickly overwhelmed by billions of tourists from other parts of the Worldweb. It's the Slashdot effect, writ large and with physical travel.
Finally, I'm currently reading the Age of Unreason series by Greg Keyes (first book is Newton's Cannon), which is sort of alternate history/fantasy set in much that same period as The Baroque Cycle. Isaac Newton discovers working alchemy, which launches a "scientific" revolution that feels an awful lot like sorcery. No vast sociopolitical agenda here, but it's a fun read.
Pop trivia question! Rym can't answer and Using Google, Wikipedia, etc. is cheating.
What anime character is also known as "The Hawk of Endymion?"
It's pronounced "boss cone;" the "e" simply exists to make the "o" long.
I got the hawk of Endymion question, but I have never seen any of that series, so I had to cheat.
EDIT; Would it be possible to automatically set the input mode to HTML when you use the quote links?
EDIT: Crap, I can't find that settings page, but it's there somewhere.