Just finished Seveneves, by Neal Stephenson. Amazing book from start to finish. This is a return to form from Stephenson after the somewhat disappointing Reamde. At his best, Stephenson is able to be tackle big ideas and inform the reader while also writing an engaging and enjoyable book. He manages to straddle the line between "throwaway" fiction and "deep literature" perfectly.
I'm going to take a break from the "realistic scifi" genre for a book or two, but The Martian is definitely near the top of my list. Already bought it and can't wait to read it!
STP: A Journey Through America With The Rolling Stones is amazing. Everyone should read it. It astoundingly captures the craziest rock n roll tour of all time. Riots, arrests, Playboy Mansion parties -- it's got everything.
After playing all the games fairly rigorously, 150+ hrs in each, I decided to read the Witcher series novels. I'm almost finished with the first one, which is more or less a collection of retellings of beauty and the beast, sleeping beauty and etc. all with the overarching theme of destiny. The style can be a little heavy-handed and inconsistent (throughout the entire book there isn't any heavy narration, and suddenly there are two paragraphs of narrative exposition in the middle of a high-tension scene). Still, you can see the influence the games take from the books in the characters and stories, where it performs particularly well.
Oh good God, Star Wars: Aftermath is so baaaaaaaaaaaaad. I will elaborate more later, but wanted to see if anyone else is subjecting themselves to this thing, in hopes of learning what happens between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens.
The Martian was a great little book. Between this and Seveneves, I'm on a real hard scifi kick lately. I know I shouldn't get my hopes up, but I really hope the movie will do the book somewhat justice.
Finished the Shepard's Crown the other day. Its a good book and leave things in sort of a good place, but you can see where there are gaps that were meant to be filled. It lacks the polish of the other books, and its understandable why, so it comes across a bit rushed. Still I had a warm feeling at the end, then sadness as I realised that it was the last.
Reading The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson, author of the Mistborn series. So far the book is engaging like his first Mistborn novel, but the Mistborn books lost momentum by the end, and the writing is okay but not stellar. Still, I'm interested in finishing this book, and might pick up the next if it keeps it's pace.
Finished reading Nemesis Games from the The Expanse series. It's science fiction largely based within our solar system (no FTL). More human drama than in typical science fiction.
The first novel Leviathan Wakes, is probably the best one so far. If you're looking for a new series to read, check it out.
Ploughed through a ton of books recently, top amongst them is the Traitor Baru Cormorant. Although not the best written it has a gripping story and great characters. Baru literally twists and turns like a twisty turny thing and the cast around her are all worth paying attention to. The book wraps up in a nice self contained way, but leaves a lot unanswered. The hope is for a squeal. The downside of this book is that it has been hyped to shit with so many reviews being pushed months before it was up for release.
Also read Six of Crows. Its a safe YA (thought I don't think it was meant to be written that way) crime/heist story which is a bit flat. The main character is an omnipotent super being and master thief, and rather dull. Thankfully its easy to push him to the back as the rest of the crew is really worth it. They range from the religious zealot to the which he hunts, to the assassin and sharp shooter. The cast is interesting and has room for some cool development. That said it could go down the shitter quite easily.
Started on Air Awakens as a way to gird my loins for Forge of Darkness. Also everyone read the Malazan book of the Fallen it is so god dam good.
I know the guy who wrote Traitor Baru Cormorant, Seth Dickinson. I met him playing Netrunner in NYC. He moved away to be a writer for Bungie. I assume he was working on Destiny, but that had all sorts of drama involved in the writing department, I'm curious how he was involved. I think he quit there since the book thing worked out well enough. Haven't read it yet. I think it was hyped so much because he had connections in the book industry and an agent that helped get the ball rolling, which is sort of necessary for a new author.
Thats cool man, he seems pretty down to earth in interviews. Its worth a read, like I said the writing isn't suuuuper amazing but the story more than makes up for it.
Edit; Along with you know, a load of gender and sexuality stuff but its fed in so naturally you don't seemed shocked by it.
Thats cool man, he seems pretty down to earth in interviews. Its worth a read, like I said the writing isn't suuuuper amazing but the story more than makes up for it.
Edit; Along with you know, a load of gender and sexuality stuff but its fed in so naturally you don't seemed shocked by it.
Looks like Locke Lamora: Forever's release date has been set back again to early 2016. I've reread books one and two in prep, and I'm now contemplating rereading the third, but I know it's just going to break my heart again...
I've been re-reading the Prince of Nothing. Well, re-listening to it on Audible, which has the added benefit of (finally) learning the pronunciation of many of the Proper Nouns in the series.
I've been re-reading the Prince of Nothing. Well, re-listening to it on Audible, which has the added benefit of (finally) learning the pronunciation of many of the Proper Nouns in the series.
Its really interesting how much more you pick up on a listen through after a read through. I'm working my way back through the Malazan books and gaining a lot more.
Re-read, it has been an age, the junior officers' reading club. Its a pretty interesting view of a guy who leaves Uni, joins the Grenadier Guard and goes to Afghan. He was an English student at uni so its a bit easier to get through, but still gets across how it changes you. Al in all 8/10 would live vicariously though again.
I've been re-reading the Prince of Nothing. Well, re-listening to it on Audible, which has the added benefit of (finally) learning the pronunciation of many of the Proper Nouns in the series.
Its really interesting how much more you pick up on a listen through after a read through. I'm working my way back through the Malazan books and gaining a lot more.
Re-read, it has been an age, the junior officers' reading club. Its a pretty interesting view of a guy who leaves Uni, joins the Grenadier Guard and goes to Afghan. He was an English student at uni so its a bit easier to get through, but still gets across how it changes you. Al in all 8/10 would live vicariously though again.
It's nice to see that someone else has read the Malazan books. I feel like I've been talking about this series for years but no one else has even heard of it, let alone read it. I have one more book to go before I'm done with it, but I keep putting it off because I don't want it to end.
Its an amazing series I really love it. The world is masterfully crafted and the characters really compel you to follow their story. Both the Erickson and Esslemont books are brilliant. The expanded books catch a bit of flack, some deserved some not, but over all its solid all round. About to start on the The Kharkanas Trilogy, the preluded a couple of hundred thousand years before the start of Gardens of the Moon.
I finished reading the Player of Games by Ian M. Banks. It was definitely better than Consider Phlebas, but I was left strangely underwhelmed considering the amount of praise it gets on this forum. Also, the book took way too long to get its main plot going.
For some reason, the names that Banks uses for the characters just really annoy be because they all tend to be long and nonsensical. I don't know why the names he uses are any worse than made-up names in other generic fantasy or science fiction settings, they just are.
Finally, I think the Culture is a really interesting setting in concept, but as the basis for a series of novels, it's... boring. The Culture is almost too perfect. Nothing is really a threat, nothing really goes on, there's no upheaval or change or anything like that. Maybe the later books change this, but setting a series of books in an almost Utopian society doesn't really give you good conflicts (whether military, philosophical, cultural, etc).
Overall, I enjoyed it, but feel no real desire to read any more of Banks's books.
That is why, with one specific exception, none of the Culture books actually take place within the Culture. They're all about the Culture interacting with others.
That is why, with one specific exception, none of the Culture books actually take place within the Culture. They're all about the Culture interacting with others.
That is a good point, but even so, at no point in the Player of Games was I even a little bit worried about Gurgeh. The Culture's technology is so superior that even a sadistic culture like the Empire of Azad couldn't really harm him. Additionally, I didn't really care if Gurgeh won the very Game itself. There were no consequences to him losing or even winning. It's not until the very end of the book that you realize what's been going on the whole time, but even so, I let out a collective "meh" because the societal and social upheaval that's alluded to at the end of the book is almost an afterthought and all takes place "offstage."
Even if most of the other Culture books take place outside the Culture, the Culture is so advanced that it's never really threatened. Again, it's just boring when the outcome is never in question, and I don't mean the actual game, but the conflict between the Culture and the Empire of Azad.
Look to Windward takes place within the Culture, and deals with a threat to it. But more importantly, it's a counterpoint to Player of Games.
Both works address the Culture, an overwhelmingly powerful force, interfering with a far weaker civilization. Player of Games is the story of the Culture succeeding. Look to Windward is the aftermath of the Culture failing utterly.
Excession follows the Culture Minds facing an actual threat to the Culture: something more advanced and powerful than them. Not the best Culture book, as it has a good deal of Ship fanservice.
So while on vacation I was looking through my Kindle books and remembered I'd gotten Bakker's standalone books some time back. Started with Disciple of the Dog and just finished Neuropath. Neither one holds a candle to Prince of Nothing or Aspect-Emperor. I did end up liking Neuropath more, but only because it was somewhat more relatable. Both of them feel like they lack substance, especially in the main characters, who are more or less just pulled along for the ride rather than having a real impact on the story. I get the feeling from these books that Bakker isn't great at focusing on one character for a whole story. He does so much better with pacing in his other work.
About to finish Neuromancer. It's a solid story. I can tell a lot of netrunner and android and other cyberpunk stuff pulls a lot of concepts from this book.
Recently finished a sci-fi novel called The Quantum Thief, which was, well, unimpressive. Although the endpoints of the plot are fairly different, I felt like I was just reading a version of Neuromancer updated for a more modern post-singularity setting. The book has the opportunity to explore interesting questions of identity and the "self" in the post-singularity setting, but passes those up for a sci-fi romp. Coupled with a standard issue snarky-guy-with-secret-pain main character and a cast that largely wasn't that interesting, and I found it just uncompelling.
Kind of a shame, too - the setting seems to have a bunch of facets that could be really interesting, but the interesting bits feel sort of glossed over in the name of keeping to the plot. There's a sequel, but I'm not sure I'll even bother to read it.
Edit: oh look, Luke reviewed it on his podcast back in 2013. Might give that a listen.
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius is kind of like reading an ancient version of today's self-help books. That is, it takes him 100 pages to say what could've been said in 10. Aside from that though, lots of people could take a few lessons from what he does actually say.
Comments
I'm going to take a break from the "realistic scifi" genre for a book or two, but The Martian is definitely near the top of my list. Already bought it and can't wait to read it!
I mean "Mars". Otherwise known as Wadi Rum or the Valley of the Moon, exterior shooting location for The Martian (and many other Mars movies):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wadi_Rum
The first novel Leviathan Wakes, is probably the best one so far. If you're looking for a new series to read, check it out.
Also read Six of Crows. Its a safe YA (thought I don't think it was meant to be written that way) crime/heist story which is a bit flat. The main character is an omnipotent super being and master thief, and rather dull. Thankfully its easy to push him to the back as the rest of the crew is really worth it. They range from the religious zealot to the which he hunts, to the assassin and sharp shooter. The cast is interesting and has room for some cool development. That said it could go down the shitter quite easily.
Started on Air Awakens as a way to gird my loins for Forge of Darkness. Also everyone read the Malazan book of the Fallen it is so god dam good.
Edit; Along with you know, a load of gender and sexuality stuff but its fed in so naturally you don't seemed shocked by it.
Re-read, it has been an age, the junior officers' reading club. Its a pretty interesting view of a guy who leaves Uni, joins the Grenadier Guard and goes to Afghan. He was an English student at uni so its a bit easier to get through, but still gets across how it changes you. Al in all 8/10 would live vicariously though again.
For some reason, the names that Banks uses for the characters just really annoy be because they all tend to be long and nonsensical. I don't know why the names he uses are any worse than made-up names in other generic fantasy or science fiction settings, they just are.
Finally, I think the Culture is a really interesting setting in concept, but as the basis for a series of novels, it's... boring. The Culture is almost too perfect. Nothing is really a threat, nothing really goes on, there's no upheaval or change or anything like that. Maybe the later books change this, but setting a series of books in an almost Utopian society doesn't really give you good conflicts (whether military, philosophical, cultural, etc).
Overall, I enjoyed it, but feel no real desire to read any more of Banks's books.
Even if most of the other Culture books take place outside the Culture, the Culture is so advanced that it's never really threatened. Again, it's just boring when the outcome is never in question, and I don't mean the actual game, but the conflict between the Culture and the Empire of Azad.
Both works address the Culture, an overwhelmingly powerful force, interfering with a far weaker civilization. Player of Games is the story of the Culture succeeding. Look to Windward is the aftermath of the Culture failing utterly.
Excession follows the Culture Minds facing an actual threat to the Culture: something more advanced and powerful than them. Not the best Culture book, as it has a good deal of Ship fanservice.
I'll probably get around to Idoru next.
Kind of a shame, too - the setting seems to have a bunch of facets that could be really interesting, but the interesting bits feel sort of glossed over in the name of keeping to the plot. There's a sequel, but I'm not sure I'll even bother to read it.
Edit: oh look, Luke reviewed it on his podcast back in 2013. Might give that a listen.