I've been meaning to see what he has done with the books. His other works are interesting, if a little predictable, with some cool ideas. It will be interesting to see the difference in writing styles between the two. Having said that the Wheel of Time is a mother fucker to get into.
put this on my list of books to read.
Do it. Neverwhere is a nice quick read that leaves you wanting more. The setting draws you in to the extent where you want it to be real. Coupled with some strong characters it makes the book really stand out.
Brandeis sent me Fun Home for their freshmen forum thing. We're supposed to read the comic and discuss it, except it's depressing as hell. It's about this girl analyzing the relationship between her and her asshole father, who may have killed himself. So yeah. Great thing to send the incoming students.
Brandeis sent me Fun Home for their freshmen forum thing. We're supposed to read the comic and discuss it, except it's depressing as hell. It's about this girl analyzing the relationship between her and her asshole father, who may have killed himself. So yeah. Great thing to send the incoming students.
One of the best comics of recent years. Sounds like you picked the right school.
Okay, just finished Fun Home. Actually not a bad read, I'd recommend it. I think the beginning was a little off-putting cause it suckered me into a certain mindset, but by the end I was out of it.
Just Amazoned "Scott Pilgram Vol. 1", "The Watchmen", and Artie Langes' "Too Fat to Fish." And picked up a used copy (no CD) of Neil Gaiman's "The Sandman: Preludes & Nocturnes" at a local bookstore. I can't wait until my box arrives later next week. Hopefully Neil can suffice until then.
Edit: Neil only lasted 2 days. I ended up buying Vol. 2 for double the Vol. 1 price. At least now I'll have something to read over the weekend.
On a whim, I did a comment search for "Tanith Lee" to find zero results. This saddens me. She is, in fact, my favourite author. Specifically, the flat earth series.
I re-read that series every 2-3 years.
I was reminded by the most recent Geeknights, I think Scott said something like "exploring immortality" and what that means. This is exactly what the book Deaths Master does (and I assume many other books besides) but Deaths Master always was the best portrayal of that concept to me.
Brandon Sanderson interviewed at SD ComicCon 2011, he talked quite a bit about his work on The Wheel of Time as well as his own book series' (Mistborn series mainly):
Finally finished The Darkness that Came before today. Yes, I know, I'm a slow reader, and lazy. Sue me. It was however an excellent read, and I will probably pursue the rest of the series when I have time. However, I started on Cosmos today, which I hadn't read for the book club. After that I have a german book on my plate. Also, still got Snow Crash in my queue. Plus I want to continue reading the rest of the Foundation series.
Finished A Dance with Dragons. It was better than the 4th Song of Ice and Fire book, but not as good as the first 3. I'll still read books 6 and 7 whenever they come out to finish the series though. I think Dance just didn't completely deliver on what it promised. Books 4 and 5 where subject to some incredibly difficult rewrites and each took about 6 years to write. Basically, Martin got himself in a big mess, created too much of a world, and needed to split the cast of characters in half. Books 4 and 5 run simulatenously, with Book 4 covering events surrounding the characters I don't give two shits about, and Book 5 covering characters I love. The first few hundred pages of Book 5 were bliss b/c I missed those characters so much and they finally got new chapters, but then it started to drag. Martin also promised that about 2/3 of the way through the book, the casts would reunite into one solid timeline. This built up the expectation of huge events in my mind, but it never delivered. In the end I don't think enough ground was covered in the series given the incredible length of a GRRM book.
My wife came to me and suggested we start our own mini book club, where once every so often, we both just read the same book and talk about it. Since I have a million hobbies that don't involve her, who am I to say no? She picks first, so I will now be reading The Help. Can't say I would have ever read this but maybe it's good to get outside your comfort zone? Also, I've always loved that she refuses to watch a movie without reading the book it was based on, so I'm not gonna discourage that.
I'm thinking of starting either Shadow of the Wind, which is a Spanish novel about a disappearing book, or The Far Pavilions, which is an epic about a boy growing up in India. I just finished the first volume of No. 6 in Japanese, and am reading 10,000 Leagues under the Sea on my droid. My time is being taken up quite a lot by studying, though. I must press all the kanji into my mind before December!
I've been rereading Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy over the last week or so. I'm looking forward to The Night Circus, which comes out next month. I have it preordered on my kindle already.
Finished A Dance with Dragons. It was better than the 4th Song of Ice and Fire book, but not as good as the first 3. I'll still read books 6 and 7 whenever they come out to finish the series though. I think Dance just didn't completely deliver on what it promised. Books 4 and 5 where subject to some incredibly difficult rewrites and each took about 6 years to write. Basically, Martin got himself in a big mess, created too much of a world, and needed to split the cast of characters in half. Books 4 and 5 run simulatenously, with Book 4 covering events surrounding the characters I don't give two shits about, and Book 5 covering characters I love. The first few hundred pages of Book 5 were bliss b/c I missed those characters so much and they finally got new chapters, but then it started to drag. Martin also promised that about 2/3 of the way through the book, the casts would reunite into one solid timeline. This built up the expectation of huge events in my mind, but it never delivered. In the end I don't think enough ground was covered in the series given the incredible length of a GRRM book.
SAME.
He does the tempting epic fantasy bait and switch waaaaaaaaaaaaay too often.
Now I'm re-reading Inherent Vice. It's making a lot more sense this time through. I should probably re-read gravity's rainbow again, hopefully some of the coherence will transfer.
I just read Moneyball, which is about Baseball (booooo) and statistical analysis (zzzzzz) and it's totally good (huaaahh?). While on the surface it is about two boring things, it is actually about a modern day battle of science vs. mysticism, reality vs. fantasy, "playing to win the game" vs. "playing to the spirit of the game".
In the late 90's and early 2000's the Oakland A's were simultaneously one of the poorest teams in Major League Baseball and one of the most successful in the regular season. In 2002, with a $40 million team, they had 103 wins in the regular season, a feat matched only by the New York Yankees who spent $126 million and exceeded by no one. This is a league where the owners released a study warning that money was destroying the sport because it was the only way to win.
So how did they do it? Well, for a start, they built a team based on stats that actually impact winning the game of baseball. The thing about pro ball is that it is run more like an organized religion than a business; those who run the teams base their decisions on gut feelings and folk wisdom and an understanding of "how things are done" and those decisions cannot be challenged except by stepping outside of canon and marking yourself as a heretic. The A's successfully brought the cold efficiency and emotional detachment of science to this spiritual gathering and, through their success, threatened the very way of life established by 160 years of tradition.
The book is a series of profiles of misfits and oddballs who exemplify this reality based approach to baseball and who, to a man, were judged worthless by everyone else in the MLB. I know fuck nothing about baseball outside of playing a single season of softball when I was 8 years old and I have no problem recommending it to anyone.
Reading The Child Thief</> by Brom. He's an excellent illustrator, but the story is lacking something so far. Can't put my finger on it. It's not bad by any stretch, but so far it's an average dark fantasy.
Comments
This is really useful information! I'm a fan of both series and did not know a lot of it, mainly because I don't care enough to go research it.
God, No!: Signs You May Already Be an Atheist and Other Magical Tales
And yes, Scott, Brandeis was the right school.
Edit: Neil only lasted 2 days. I ended up buying Vol. 2 for double the Vol. 1 price. At least now I'll have something to read over the weekend.
I re-read that series every 2-3 years.
I was reminded by the most recent Geeknights, I think Scott said something like "exploring immortality" and what that means. This is exactly what the book Deaths Master does (and I assume many other books besides) but Deaths Master always was the best portrayal of that concept to me.
It was however an excellent read, and I will probably pursue the rest of the series when I have time. However, I started on Cosmos today, which I hadn't read for the book club. After that I have a german book on my plate. Also, still got Snow Crash in my queue. Plus I want to continue reading the rest of the Foundation series.
He does the tempting epic fantasy bait and switch waaaaaaaaaaaaay too often.
In the late 90's and early 2000's the Oakland A's were simultaneously one of the poorest teams in Major League Baseball and one of the most successful in the regular season. In 2002, with a $40 million team, they had 103 wins in the regular season, a feat matched only by the New York Yankees who spent $126 million and exceeded by no one. This is a league where the owners released a study warning that money was destroying the sport because it was the only way to win.
So how did they do it? Well, for a start, they built a team based on stats that actually impact winning the game of baseball. The thing about pro ball is that it is run more like an organized religion than a business; those who run the teams base their decisions on gut feelings and folk wisdom and an understanding of "how things are done" and those decisions cannot be challenged except by stepping outside of canon and marking yourself as a heretic. The A's successfully brought the cold efficiency and emotional detachment of science to this spiritual gathering and, through their success, threatened the very way of life established by 160 years of tradition.
The book is a series of profiles of misfits and oddballs who exemplify this reality based approach to baseball and who, to a man, were judged worthless by everyone else in the MLB. I know fuck nothing about baseball outside of playing a single season of softball when I was 8 years old and I have no problem recommending it to anyone.