What are we reading?

Started by Martok, March 05, 2012, 01:13:59 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 2 Guests are viewing this topic.

MetalDog

Quote from: bob48 on December 06, 2012, 04:31:43 PM
I'm just about to start R.Scott.Bakker's 'The White-Luck Warrior', which is book 2 in the 'Aspect-Emperor' set.

Bakker is a fantastic author!  I would recommend him to anyone.  And all you sophisticated fantasy readers, if you have not heard of, or read, Bakker, you should correct that immediately.  It's VERY intense reading, so be prepared to use your grey matter


Quote from: Martok on December 06, 2012, 11:51:18 AM
Tolkien's Silmarillion.  This is only my second time reading it, and I'm noticing a lot more things now.

Martok, The Silmarillion is a source of great joy and great consternation for me.  To see what the master had in mind.  To have fleshed out thousands of years of history that was only hinted at in LotR and the Appendices is a dream come true.  To have the ring tied to the Two Trees and the gods of Middle Earth is  too cool for school.  The problem is, there are giant holes in the narrative.  The pacing is uneven and it appears that some stuff is just papered over.  So, I love the book, I just overlook the flaws.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

Greybriar

I am currently reading The Wandering Fire, the second book of The Fionawar Tapestry trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay.
Regardless of how good a PC game may be it will always have its detractors and no matter how bad a PC game may be it will always have its fans.

Martok

Quote from: MetalDog on December 06, 2012, 08:31:55 PM
Quote from: bob48 on December 06, 2012, 04:31:43 PM
I'm just about to start R.Scott.Bakker's 'The White-Luck Warrior', which is book 2 in the 'Aspect-Emperor' set.

Bakker is a fantastic author!  I would recommend him to anyone.  And all you sophisticated fantasy readers, if you have not heard of, or read, Bakker, you should correct that immediately.  It's VERY intense reading, so be prepared to use your grey matter
Duly noted.  I shall add him to my (ever-growing!) list. 




Quote from: MetalDog on December 06, 2012, 08:31:55 PM
Quote from: Martok on December 06, 2012, 11:51:18 AM
Tolkien's Silmarillion.  This is only my second time reading it, and I'm noticing a lot more things now.

Martok, The Silmarillion is a source of great joy and great consternation for me.  To see what the master had in mind.  To have fleshed out thousands of years of history that was only hinted at in LotR and the Appendices is a dream come true.  To have the ring tied to the Two Trees and the gods of Middle Earth is  too cool for school.  The problem is, there are giant holes in the narrative.  The pacing is uneven and it appears that some stuff is just papered over.  So, I love the book, I just overlook the flaws.
Yeah, you can definitely tell it wasn't completely finished, and that Christopher cobbled it together the best he could.  I ignore the flaws & continuity errors as well. 

I wanted to read The Silmarillion ever since I saw that mention of Gondolin in The Hobbit and references to ages long past.  However, it took me over ten years after reading Hobbit and the LotR trilogy before I actually picked it up, as I was intimidated by almost-universal accounts about how much denser and harder to get through The Silmarillion was compared other four books.  I'm very glad I did, though! 


"Like we need an excuse to drink to anything..." - Banzai_Cat
"I like to think of it not as an excuse but more like Pavlovian Response." - Sir Slash

"At our ages, they all look like jailbait." - mirth

"If we had lines here that would have crossed all of them. For the 1,077,986th time." - Gusington

"Government is so expensive that it should at least be entertaining." - airboy

"As long as there's bacon, everything will be all right." - Toonces

MetalDog

The densest part, in my opinion, is the beginning.  Once you get past that, it's all gravy.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

Hiimori

I interrupted my Horus Heresy marathon to read "Ambush: The War between the S.A.S. and the I.R.A." by Anthony Bainbridge, Robin Morgan, and James Adams (Author). It's was written in 1988, and offers interesting background information and insights into organization, structure, and tactics both of the SAS and the IRA.
Homefront Wargame Center - supporting our hobby!

www.homefrontcenter.de

Staggerwing

Interesting. I might have to add that one to my wishlist. Thanks for letting us know about it.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Arctic Blast

I'm about 320 pages in to Napoleon Bonaparte by Alan Schom. Good so far.

Silent Disapproval Robot


Staggerwing

What about in the graphic novel?
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

Is that the one where they ret-conned him and made him a Parkour specialist with twin Uzis that allowed him to take Moscow via the cunning use of sweet jumps and circle kicks?

Staggerwing

No. I'm referring to the one where he is turns out to be a Cyberdyne Systems T-triple-eight.
Vituð ér enn - eða hvat?  -Voluspa

Nothing really rocks and nothing really rolls and nothing's ever worth the cost...

"Don't you look at me that way..." -the Abyss
 
'When searching for a meaningful embrace, sometimes my self respect took second place' -Iggy Pop, Cry for Love

... this will go down on your permanent record... -the Violent Femmes, 'Kiss Off'-

"I'm not just anyone, I'm not just anyone-
I got my time machine, got my 'electronic dream!"
-Sonic Reducer, -Dead Boys

Silent Disapproval Robot

Oh yeah.  No, he still dies in the end of that one.  I think he comes back as a cross dressing vampire or something.

MetalDog

Quote from: Arctic Blast on December 09, 2012, 06:34:12 PM
I'm about 320 pages in to Napoleon Bonaparte by Alan Schom. Good so far.

I enjoyed that book.  I learned quite a bit about Napoleon that way.  I asked an opinion of the book of one of the Napoleon honks over at ACG and he basically said the book was lies and half truths.  That the author had some axe to grind.  Whatever.  I still liked it.
And the One Song to Rule Them All is Gimme Shelter - Rolling Stones


"If its a Balrog, I don't think you get an option to not consent......." - bob

Bison

Well I've finally managed enough man time to finish No Easy Day.  Not sure what's up next on the throne reading list.

GroggyGrognard

Quote from: Greybriar on December 07, 2012, 06:49:09 AM
I am currently reading The Wandering Fire, the second book of The Fionawar Tapestry trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay.

My father read this trilogy years and years ago; he thoroughly enjoyed it. I haven't gotten to it, yet. I read Kay's Tigana some years back. Great fantasy book.

Groggy
"Strong prejudices in an ill-formed mind are hazardous to government."
-Barbara W. Tuchman, The March of Folly: From Troy to Vietnam

"The owners of this country know the truth: it's called the American Dream because you have to be asleep to believe it."
-George Carlin