Book Recommendations?

Just finished The Gods Themselves by Isaac Asimov. It was just a random pick from the library, but holds up surprisingly well!

The plot stems from the discovery of an "infinite" source of free energy, that could plausibly end up destroying the universe, but that won't stop us using it, because hey, free energy It was written in 1972 but the motivations of the scientists and politicians still ring true today.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Something unexpected happened.

I enjoyed The Iliad more than The Odyssey. The latter contained all the interesting mythological bits, right? Gods, monsters, heroes, myths... Except all the parts that interested me most lasted a page, maybe a page and a half. Homer's Odyssey is actually kind of dull. All of these interesting mythological bits last a whole page, page and a half.

Anyway, onwards! I'm now reading The Aeneid.

Which is both the Roman Odyssey and the Iliad in one volume.

Natus wrote:

Which is both the Roman Odyssey and the Iliad in one volume.

Yeah, Virgil is quite the thief!

It's a shame the translation doesn't use the original Greek pantheon names too.

Lies Sleeping, Ben Aaronovitch's new Peter Grant/Rivers of London book. Excellent as always. This book marks a major milestone for the series, with the main plot arc of the preceding books - the Faceless Man, Lesley May, and Mr Punch - brought to a reasonably satisfactory conclusion. We also find out a bit more about the supernatural history of London, and about the alternate world of fairyland, and there's a pretty significant development on the Peter X Beverley front.

(minor spoilers)

Spoiler:

There are still a few loose ends that may be picked up in future books (and it's clear that there will be future books, this isn't the end of the series, just its first plot arc). At least one major antagonist is still at large. There are pretty clear hints that the mystery of the origin of Abigail's friends the talking foxes is going to be an important thread going forward. And it's made clear that there is an actual in-world reason (not just plot convenience) why magic somehow manages to remain secret despite the number of people who know about it by now, but no details are forthcoming yet...

(BTW, for readers who don't know: the Rivers of London comics are officially canon, and events from them are frequently referred to in the recent books.)

Ack! Please put the spoilers behind spoiler text. It's not published here until Tuesday! (I'm waiting on my preorder.)

Sorry, I forgot this forum had a spoiler feature.

Our library has the Rivers of London comics available on hoopla so I've been able to catch up on them and I've enjoyed them a good bit as well.

I'm a little put off by the glossy/shiny art style... Does it get messier or is that just the look?

I think it's just the look. The stories are completely different than the books though and they really do go together.

Oh! ...Well that puts a different complexion on it entirely... Thanks!

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Natus wrote:

Which is both the Roman Odyssey and the Iliad in one volume.

Yeah, Virgil is quite the thief!

It's a shame the translation doesn't use the original Greek pantheon names too.

Simon Callow read a very animated version for Audible. I was playing this with interjected annotations for my son, whose name is Aeneas.

CaptainCrowbar wrote:

(BTW, for readers who don't know: the Rivers of London comics are officially canon, and events from them are frequently referred to in the recent books.)

Huh. I'd assumed it was an adaptation.

Yay, something else to read!

Katy wrote:
CaptainCrowbar wrote:

(BTW, for readers who don't know: the Rivers of London comics are officially canon, and events from them are frequently referred to in the recent books.)

Huh. I'd assumed it was an adaptation.

Yay, something else to read!

Seems like they're more the stories that are too short to be novels.

Not surprisingly, Virgil includes some new anachronisms to the Heroic Age, such as mail and steel.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Not surprisingly, Virgil includes some new anachronisms to the Heroic Age, such as mail and steel.

I admit I hadn't noticed that at all.

I noticed it because I've been doing a lot of research on Greek bronze age weapons & armor. Mail was introduced later, into the iron age.

Now iron was used some in the bronze age, generally only in 2 forms: meteoric iron naturally alloyed with other metals like nickel, and wrought iron. The forges of the era weren't hot enough to melt iron ore, so the only way to get useful iron was to heat it and hammer it a bunch to beat out most of the impurities ("wrought" means "worked). It was a lot of work for something softer than bronze, so wrought iron was mostly used in tools where the more brittle bronze might shatter.

Because trade routes were disrupted in the Greek dark age (~1200 BCE), Greek craftsmen no longer had easy access to tin to make bronze. So they started using iron more and finally began to research it and experiment with it.

I'm going to London for the first time next month, so Rivers of London seems like it might be a fun novel to read before/while I'm there. I've reserved the first novel in the series at the library. Where do the comics fit in? Should I read the first novel first? Can I start with the comics?

Hangdog wrote:

I'm going to London for the first time next month, so Rivers of London seems like it might be a fun novel to read before/while I'm there. I've reserved the first novel in the series at the library. Where do the comics fit in? Should I read the first novel first? Can I start with the comics?

The comics are all set further into the series... Starting after novel 4 or 5 or so?

I would suggest beginning with the first novel.

The first graphic novel (body work) comes after book 4.
Wiki has order listed and no spoilers if you only look at reading order at right

I'm enjoying graphic novels on hoopla app from library. I can enlarge panels and that's far too helpful now.

I would NOT start with the comics. I'd think you'd be lost.

It should be said: the collection of comics on Hoopla is amazing.

To avoid spoilers, make sure you read at least as far as Broken Homes (book 4) before you start on the comics, because most of them spoil the Big Shock Twist at the end of Broken Homes.

Hangdog wrote:

It should be said: the collection of comics on Hoopla is amazing.

Monstress is really a nifty one. I've gone ahead and subscribed to it after reading the first 3 books on hoopla.

Have you read "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters"? That's amazing.

Hangdog wrote:

I'm going to London for the first time next month, so Rivers of London seems like it might be a fun novel to read before/while I'm there. I've reserved the first novel in the series at the library. Where do the comics fit in? Should I read the first novel first? Can I start with the comics?

I read these in London when I was there for several months. I can also recommend Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman as a good one to read for its tie-in to physical London.

A lot of folks might recommend Kraken by Meiville, but I had a hard time getting into it, even living in London.

I loved Kraken, and I've only been to London once. Maybe it's more of a Mieville thing.

Robear wrote:

Have you read "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters"? That's amazing.

Have you read "There's a Monster at the End of this Book"?

Quintin_Stone wrote:
Robear wrote:

Have you read "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters"? That's amazing.

Have you read "There's a Monster at the End of this Book"?

There's also a sequel to that one.
It has Elmo.

Robear wrote:

Have you read "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters"? That's amazing.

Not available on hoopla, but our library has a print copy.
I've put it on hold.

Just started The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle because of this thread as well. (Thanks, Katy!)
You guys are supposed to be enabling my gaming, not my reading!

Quintin, I... Sesame Street? Compared to Emil Ferris? ...Eh?

MathGoddess wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:
Robear wrote:

Have you read "My Favorite Thing Is Monsters"? That's amazing.

Have you read "There's a Monster at the End of this Book"?

There's also a sequel to that one.
It has Elmo.

Sequels are rarely as good as the original.