What are we reading?

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

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Gusington

Greybriar I loved Fred Andersen's previous book on the French and Indian War...one of the best books I have ever read.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

Greybriar

It looks like I've found a couple of winners then, Bob and Gus.
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.

bob48

Certainly the R.Scott.Bakker books are epic in scale and should keep you busy for a while - enjoy 'em Greybriar!
'We few, we happy few, we band of brothers'

'Clip those corners'

Recombobulate the discombobulators!

Gusington

Fred Anderson's Crucible of War that I mention above was also one.of the longest books I have ever finished at close to 1000 pages IIRC.


слава Україна!

We can't live under the threat of a c*nt because he's threatening nuclear Armageddon.

-JudgeDredd

JasonPratt

^^ Speaking of long books, I'm up to the end of Book 4 of WoT now (again), The Shadow Rising, in my year-long reread. TSR may be the highest wordcount of the series; if not it's close. The first three books I finished in a month each, but this one is taking me an extra week or two, throwing me off schedule.

Fortunately, TSR is regarded by many fans as the high watermark of the series for good reasons, although (also fortunately) I do think The Fires of Heaven tops it overall, and I'll be getting to that next of course.

(And then the downward slog begins for a long, lonnnnnng time. ;) )
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Martok

^  Good man.  Nice to know I'm not the only masochist around here.  :P 


I'm trying very hard to hold off on rereading WoT myself until A Memory of Light is available in paperback.  Gah! 

"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

JP & Martok, except for being able to say that you finished it, why on God's green Earth would you bother?!?!?  Thick books and high word counts don't bother me, but, gratuitous padding and a story that runs like tar is just, well, masochistic! What that series REALLY needs is an editor.  Somebody to go in and tidy the 52 books in to a more readable six or seven.  THEN you would have a series!
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

Martok

What part of "masochist" is unclear to you?  :P 

"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

Quote from: Martok on May 06, 2013, 07:16:44 PM
What part of "masochist" is unclear to you?  :P

I saw that, but my unending and undying hatred for the extraneous crap he stuffed his books with makes me wonder why nominally sane people would subject themselves to that torture, masochist or not!  :)
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

Martok

All right, Valley of Fear is done; only a few more stories left to go through.  I've had a blast rereading The Complete Sherlock Holmes so far; remind me not to wait over ten years before reading them again! 



I've decided I'm going to reread the Star Trek Rihannsu/Bloodwing novels by Diane Duane.  Of all Trek book series I've experienced thus far, this one has to be my favorite -- and one of the relatively few Trek novels I feel warrants a yearly reread. 

That's pretty impressive when you consider that I'm generally a much bigger fan of The Next Generation TV show than The Original Series (which the series is set in), and that I'm usually more interested in the Cardassians & Klingons than the Romulans.  On the other hand, Duane is one of my two favorite Star Trek authors (the other being Keith R. A. DeCandido), so it's really not surprising I enjoy these books so much. 

Also, prior to Nemesis and Enterprise, the Romulans get featured so rarely, whether in books, movies, or TV, it's kind of a treat to see them receive an in-depth exploration for once.  Duane really delves into their history, psychology, cultural mores, etc., dating all the way back their roots on Vulcan prior to Surak and the Reformation and their subsequent exodus to (the worlds that would be eventually be known as) Romulus & Remus.  It's unfortunately non-canon (as anyone who's seen the aforementioned Nemesis and/or Enterprise can attest), but it's still a great read. 





Quote from: MetalDog on May 06, 2013, 07:24:52 PM
Quote from: Martok on May 06, 2013, 07:16:44 PM
What part of "masochist" is unclear to you?  :P

I saw that, but my unending and undying hatred for the extraneous crap he stuffed his books with makes me wonder why nominally sane people would subject themselves to that torture, masochist or not!  :)
I'm flattered you consider me even nominally sane.  You're most kind, sir.  ;) 

"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

JasonPratt

Quote from: MetalDog on May 06, 2013, 07:08:30 PM
JP & Martok, except for being able to say that you finished it, why on God's green Earth would you bother?!?!?  Thick books and high word counts don't bother me, but, gratuitous padding and a story that runs like tar is just, well, masochistic! What that series REALLY needs is an editor.  Somebody to go in and tidy the 52 books in to a more readable six or seven.  THEN you would have a series!

I'll most likely skim over the most offending books in the late-middle portion and pick back up with KoD.

While I was disappointed in both ACoS and TPoD originally, on rereads I found to my surprise I enjoyed them much more than I originally had. Going in with adjusted expectations helped a lot I guess. (LoC was a slight disappointment after TFoH but I always enjoyed that book from my first read of it; in fact I got on the series when Lord of Chaos had just been released; I can remember seeing it splattered in stores all over the local malls, and having no idea what it was and no inclination from the cover to find out. ;) But a friend at work lent me the first book.)

I can't imagine I'll enjoy Winter's Heart, but I couldn't imagine I'd enjoy the prior two either. I never did read Crossroads of Twilight, and again I can't imagine enjoying it, but I've heard from several reliable sources (including one of my best friends, whom I met as fans of the series back in the late 90s) the story picks up dramatically for the final four books, so I may just read Leigh Butler's semi-official WoT notes instead. (TOR, who has never been afraid of making money, is actually selling her re-read notes in volumes on Amazon!  ::) Leigh ran the Usenet WOTFAQ for several years, and I enjoy her composition style a lot; I'm following along on her chapter commentaries as I go, though not her summaries since I already read the chapters recently. She's almost finished with Memories of the Light now.)


I sure wouldn't expect anyone who bowed out around or before LoC to try a reread, of course. But I still like and even love more of the books than I don't, so it isn't masochism for me. :) I won't start to feel sloggy at all until somewhere in ACoS.
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

JasonPratt

#836
Quote from: Martok on May 06, 2013, 05:52:16 PM
^  Good man.  Nice to know I'm not the only masochist around here.  :P 


I'm trying very hard to hold off on rereading WoT myself until A Memory of Light is available in paperback.  Gah!

By the time you catch up, some time next year, it'll be out, surely. ;)


Incidentally, I rebought my WOT books on Kindle (and then onward past the books I already had), and I'm looking for a good home for my physical copies. Books 1-5 are in paperback, Books 6-9 are in hardback with the original dustjackets. (All have the generally laughable original Darryl Sweet artwork unfortunately.  :P ) I don't have Book 10, Crossroads of Twilight, as I gave up on the series after Book 9, Winter's Heart, until I saw reliable evidence RJ (or his heir Sanderson as it happened) was finishing out strong.

Since they can be bought for dirt-cheap used, I might as well give them away for free, but I sure wouldn't mind if someone reimbursed me on the shipping. I'd send them by UPS in one box. (Our family company is also the local UPS pick-up station.)

Different people think the slog starts at different places; some people gave up after only Book 3!--but most people started giving up around Book 6 or later. So I can't promise where anyone's tolerance will give up; however, as noted above Leigh Butler's summary commentaries are accurate and detailed and (in the commentaries) humorous and sympathetic to people struggling with the series, so you can always use her as a crutch once the books themselves start giving you fits.


(I've heard that burning the books feels very therapeutic, too.  ;D )

If I have room in the box, I'll throw in an autographed hardback copy of my own fantasy novel Cry of Justice, which I can promise avoids the problems with WOT. I might as well try a bit of promotion while I'm at it.  8)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Toonces

I'm interested, Jason, but I'm afraid shipping to Hawaii might be prohibitive!

I'm 3/4 of the way through the Sailing to Sarantium series; Guy Gavriel Kay has not disappointed yet.  What an outstanding author!

And, concurrently I'm reading a physical copy of The Bruce Trilogy by Nigel Trantor about Robert the Bruce's rise to power in Scotland.  It has me pretty fired up to start CK2 back up again!
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs

JasonPratt

Indeed; I should have added "continental US only". ;)
ICEBREAKER THESIS CHRONOLOGY! -- Victor Suvorov's Stalin Grand Strategy theory, in lots and lots of chronological order...
Dawn of Armageddon -- narrative AAR for Dawn of War: Soulstorm: Ultimate Apocalypse
Survive Harder! -- Two season narrative AAR, an Amazon Blood Bowl career.
PanzOrc Corpz Generals -- Fantasy Wars narrative AAR, half a combined campaign.
Khazâd du-bekâr! -- narrative dwarf AAR for LotR BfME2 RotWK campaign.
RobO Q Campaign Generator -- archived classic CMBB/CMAK tool!

Toonces

Dude, don't discriminate just because I'm in one of the freak states.  >:(
"If you had a chance, right now, to go back in time and stop Hitler, wouldn't you do it?  I mean, I personally wouldn't stop him because I think he's awesome." - Eric Cartman

"Does a watch list mean you are being watched or is it a come on to Toonces?" - Biggs