Need a new read
Wednesday, January 15th, 2003 - 9:19pm
With another semester of school rapidly approaching, I've got to find a new reading list for the daily 2-hour bus commute. I polished off about 7 books last semester, including reading The Lord of The Rings for the first time (finally got around to that amazing read), and David McCullough's amazing biography of John Adams.
I'm open to suggestions of all genres.
- Elysium
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Right now I am reading several series...
Star Wars: New Jedi Order - still waiting for the newest book to get on the shelves
Area 51 - got parts 1-5 and 7, still, the series is pretty intriguiing, especially if you are a fan of the theorist, Sitchin
Legend of the Five Rings - based on the card game from Wizards of the Coast, which is based on the real book, Legend of the Five Rings, intriguing and suspenseful series depicted in feudal Asia
Otherworld - series by Tad Williams, each volume of this four part series seems to dwarf the Lord of the Rings in matters of page numbers, character developement, and attention to detail
Dark Tower - we all know Stephen King, but not many know of this series by the popular author
Empire - Isaac Asimov classic series depicting a ravaged earth and its inhabitants struggle to reach the stars
Uplift Sagas - David Brin at his finest, what would happen if mankind evolved dolphins, chimps, and gorillas, what price would be paid
Shadow series - fans of Orson Scott Card and Ender''s Game will really appreciate this new series based around the events of Enders Jeesh and what happens after Battle school (Ender''s Shadow, Shadow of the Hegemon, and Shadow Puppets)
That''s it for now...
There are 10 Types of people in the world...
Those who understand Binary...
And those who don't...
As an avid reader of Military History, I can easily recommend two books:
[/][]
Chickenhawk
Four Hours in My Lai
[/:u:b9e6704b03]
Both are incredibly riveting books.
Another good one is
- Marine Sniper
- Silent Warrior
Two books about the real life Vietnam Marine sniper with 93 confirmed kills
Also, There is the whole SEALS series as well
There are 10 Types of people in the world...
Those who understand Binary...
And those who don't...
Blade of Tyshalle - A cool blend of Fantasy and Sci Fi. Takes place in a dystopian future where they have discovered how to travel between dimensions. They find a dimension that is essentially a perfect fantasy world and do what any greedy soul less society would do... make it into a reality TV series. Human actors train how to blend in their society and then go have adventures in this world and whatnot. Its a very very cool book, basically deals with how humans can go and ruin essentially anything they touch.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
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The Scar by China Mieville is great so far. Probably helps if you''ve read some of his other books.
I''m also plowing through Robert Jordans 10th f*cking book, The Crossroads of Twilight. I''m about half way through, and he still dosen''t seem to be advancing the story a whole hell of a lot!
And someone over at the Quater to Thre forums recommended The Threatening Storm by Kenneth M. Pollack that I just finished up. A very interesting and informative read on Iraq, and the case for invading.
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
2 books by edmund morris
Rise of Theodore Roosevelt
and
Theodore Rex
Good books, good pacing and an interesting character.
(and on a lighter note George RR Martins Songs of Ice and Fire series is really good)
How was the john adams book?
SteamId = RevenantKel
Yes I highly recommend the Song of Ice and Fire series. Honestly the best books I have ever read. I love the feeling of danger in his books. He pulls no punches and no characters are safe so you never know what to expect. A rare feeling these days.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
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Another good one is R.A. Salvatores new Thousand Orcs , part 1 of the Hunter''s Blade trilogy.
There are 10 Types of people in the world...
Those who understand Binary...
And those who don't...
I''m also trying to plow my way through the latest Jordan book... when I don''t have baby-duty that is. In other words, I have had the book a week and I might be 20 pages into it.
Definitely! Easily my favorite fantasy series. Can''t wait for the next one later this year.
It''s a damn shame that people look at it as a chore to read his books now. The first two or three started out so promising, that I could not put them down. I don''t know what happened to him but he definately lost direction somewhere.
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
This sounds really cool... I did a quick look at Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0345421434/qid=1042688632/sr=8-1/ref=sr_8_1/104-3993358-9811942?v=glance&s=books&n=507846) and am even more intrigued. Thanks Sinatar!
I wouldn''t call it a chore... although I''ll concede that it can be a little overwhelming. There are a lot of characters/events/etc. to keep track of after nine books. Whenever I get the latest Jordan book... I have to fight the urge to re-read all the previous books to get caught up.
The George R.R. Martin books are much tighter and I think a lot better... although there have only been three so far.
Never read Jordan, and by the sound of things, I''m not exactly regretting the decision. I''ve always preferred sci-fi over fantasy for my genre fiction, though if it''s well written and engaging I''m happy to read a cook book.
I had a brief Neil Gaiman kick. Read American Gods, then Neverwhere, and then his short stories, but kinda lost interest. I''ve had a lot of that type of fiction lately.
Actually I''ve been half-reading ''Catch Me If You Can''. I enjoyed the movie, and the book is capably written, but pretty interesting just for the material. I''ve noticed those Roosevelt books a couple of times, and seriously considered them. There''s also a Ben Franklin bio I want to pick up. I''ve also been meaning to dig into the newer Shadow books for the Ender series. I read the original series, but haven''t tried the newer stuff yet.
- Elysium
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Ah, Hyperion. Just an amazing series. I''ll probably re-read it soon. I highly recommend it to anyone looking for great sci-fi.
- Elysium
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
Read them immediately!
- Elysium
"I think Elysium has the right of it" - Certis
I actually enjoyed the Endymion books more then the Hyperion ones. They are much more epic and imo interesting.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
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Just the 4. There really isn''t room to take it much furthur after The Rise of Endymion, it finishes it off quite nicely.
My days of not taking you seriously have certainly come to a middle.
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If you haven''t read it yet; Joseph Heller''s Catch 22.
Reading it for the second time now, even though I read it for my literature list I was really poised to read it again. Great book and recommended for everyone who likes old-fashioned satire.
Do you know what "nemesis" means? A righteous infliction of retribution manifested by an appropriate agent. Personified in this case by an 'orrible c*nt... me! - Brick Top
Yeah, the Hyperion books are great. The two Endymion books were great, but the first two will always be my favorite.
One of my favorite SF books of all time: Steel Beach by John Varley. (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0441785654/qid=1042726779/sr=12-1/102-6265202-6463363?v=glance&s=books) If you find this book, it''s definitely worth a read!
I simply cannot recommend enough the Fire and Ice series by R.R. Martin.
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0553573403/qid=1042751722/...
I''m a sci-fi fan (the hard core stuff like Brin, Niven, etc) but this series, which is quasi-fantasy, is simply amazing. I couldn''t put anyone of the 3 out so far down. Read the reviews and all the glowing write-ups on it are true. The next book, A feast for crows, is out in April and I''m going through withdraw to get it. So do yourself a HUGE favor and start this series,the characters are what makes it and you go chapter from chapter just wanting to know what happened to them.
Yeah, it has my endorsment too. After only three books, I would say it is one of my top two fantasy series ever. You can probably guess what the other is.
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
Anything by Ian M Banks,especially Use of weapons totally awesome sci fi, and for humour anything by P.J. O''rourke.
MUST...STOP ...PLAYING ....SWG! MUST GET REAL LIFE BACK AGAIN!
I''ve been wading through the Wheel of Time series these days. Just started ""A crown of swords"" (Book 7). So far I find Jordan''s work to be 25% Plot advancment, 30% room descriptions, 30% angsty whining (a variation of the line ""I hate men! They are sooo dumb!"" has to come atleast twice in every chapter) and the remaining 15% is some pretty good fantasy action. The battle at the end of book 6 was terrific.
Jordan can learn a thing or two from George R.R Martin when it comes to fleshing out characters and showing brevity when describing scenery. It''s sad especially considering that WoT actually has a very good overarching plot and some pretty interesting concepts.
Enough about WoT though. Some books I''d recommend are:
[]Anything by Terry Pratchett. His books are comedy incarnate. Very good light reading.Doughlas Adam''s ""The hitchhiker''s guide to the Galaxy"". I bet most of you folks have already read it though.
R.A Salvatore''s ""The Dark Elf Trilogy"". Heck anything of his set in The Forgotten Realms is good. The books are not particularly original but they sure are fun. Salvatore just has a way of describing battle scenes perfectly and I love Drizzt as a character.[/:u:15b93f9ba1]
[/]Sometimes, when I get bored, I put a little cape on my penis, and we fly around solving mysteries.
If you haven''t already, find Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson. Or any of his other stuff for that matter.
"Anakin, as embodied by [Hayden] Christensen, is the kind of needlessly moody kid you might see getting punched out in a Dairy Queen parking lot."
"”Paul Tatara on SW:Episode II
George RR Martin''s books are excellent. One series I really like is Stephen Erickson''s Malazon series. Really tremendous fantasy, very clever and original. Too bad you can''t get most of the books on this side of the pond...
I really like Geroge RR Martin''s series, but you practically have to wait for an eternity between each book.
For something of a different read, I''ve been reading Wayne Johnston''s books. Great Canadian author. Human Amusements, Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Navigator of New York. Great books, highly recommended for Canadians and non-Canadians alike.
no particular interest, no particular talent
I''m curious anyone finish (or even start) the new WOT book? What is that 11? Anyway I have read them all but with the new one I was thinking I would wait until paper back since the last few have moved so dam slow. I theorized to some friends that jordon was trying to invent a type of time flow forcing all things in his books to take place in real time
. Anyway I''m hoping that the new one will be good and start to actually have some closure, anyone know?
-Griffon
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
As to the latest WOT book, I''ve thought about picking it up, but my mind has been changed. It''s got a 2 out of 5 star rating based upon 400 customer reviews on Amazon, and that''s pretty bad. All the reviews talk about how the book doesn''t move anywhere. After 600 pages, you''re still in the same spot you were before. No thanks.
As to good reads, in Sci-Fi:
Larry Niven''s Ringworld series. I loved those books
Arthur C. Clark - 2001 (A classic) and 2010, which I''m currently reading.
It''s a fast read, 2010, and its got a lot of interesting ideas in it. I''m curious about the rest of the series, and will be picking those up shortly.
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I finished it up last weekend. What can I say? It still dosen''t seem to go much of anywhere. Nothing is resolved. It''s so damn bloated, I have a hard time remembering who everyone is and what they''re supposed to be doing. I just don''t care that much about the characters anymore! I''ll see this series through to conclusion, but only because I''ve invested so damn many hours into it at this point, not because I really give a sh*t anymore. I''d give it 2 1/2 stars out of 5.
"Beer is proof that god loves us and wants us to be happy." - Benjamin Franklin
Wow ok harsh, I guess I''ll wait for this one trickly out in paperback. Sad I was realy hoping he start the wrap up and stop milking it. Ah well, plenty of other good reads out right now.
-Griffon
Did Samurai Jack ever get back to the past?
If you liked Hyperion and Endymion give his horror books a try. I 1st read Carrion Comfort about 8 years ago and it''s still a great read. The rest of his novels are just as good except for one i can think of offhand A Winter''s Haunting (sequel to Summer of Night) which i thought was complete trash.