What are we reading?

[Emeraldlis]

Each to there own I suppose . But I'm with you and I'm sticking to my guns !!  Realistically I should try to read it to see for myself ...will I ...probably not   :) although I like his writing style so I may do , I dunno , I'm a female , I'm indecisive !!  :D

[Nefaro]

Been planning to read Dan Simmons' (now classic) Hyperion Cantos again very soon.  Was hoping to find the whole set a bit cheaper, or maybe even in real book form (lost/loaned mine long ago) so I've been on the prowl.


Been quite awhile since I last read the series but it was some pretty amazing stuff.

This was the other modern series I wanted to see translated into a high quality movie series years ago, along with Game Of Thrones.  The latter is obviously being done now, but the Hyperion series would probably be even more costly & difficult to do with such a wide range of sci-fi scenes and prose to translate.  So I don't expect to see a decent treatment of it on film anytime soon, despite some rumored attempts.

[Staggerwing]

I can only imagine what it would take to bring Simmons' Ilium/Olympos books to the silver screen. Those things cover an astounding number of locales that vary between benthic environs with derelict sunken Caliphate submarines (equipped with micro-singularity warhead missiles) to an entire robot civilization that bootstrapped itself into existence from asteroid mining equipment.

And then there is the inclusion of Shakespeare's 'the Tempest' and the famous seafarer and adventurer Odysseus starting a resistance movement among the idle rich in a future false utopia...

Whew!

[bob48]

I'm now 75% through 'Collision of Empires' and really enjoying it. Next up will be a re-read of all the Patrick O'Brian books. This is what happens when you talk to panzerde on Steam at stupid o-clock in the morning............

[Martok]

Maybe these books have been mentioned , so I apologize if I'm repeating what's been said  :-\

Last year I read the coolest four books ever . The author is Brandon Sanderson and the series is called mistborn .
Book one - final empire , mistborn
Book two - the well of ascension
Book three-the hero of ages
Book four -the alloy of law : mistborn

I promise they are not girly books !!  They are set in a fantasy world and some of the people there have developed special skills called "coin shots" , they basically swallow different metals and burn them , and each metal gives them a special power , like seeing a situation in slow motion makes them able to fight there way out of trouble . It deals with the collapse of one over all ruler like a dictatorship , to a more conventional government with a king .
I started reading them on holiday , and spent most of my time "trying" to turn my kindle on my iPad off to get on with my holiday , and mostly failing !!   :)

I've lavished praise on Sanderson's Mistborn novels earlier on in this thread as well.  I do feel he has a general problem with pacing in most of his books, but there's nothing wrong with his overall storytelling abilities.  I definitely like him as an author. 

Well, there are a couple of fellows here who happen to think that Eye of the World is pretty good.  They acknowledge that there are some slow bits, but, overall, it was good and Sanderson did an admirable job filling in.  I don't subscribe to that theory.  So there's that.

It's The Wheel of Time series, you benighted cretin (of which The Eye of the World was merely the first book).  Get it right!  (Also, you didn't even get far enough into the series to read the Sanderson-authored novels, so it's not like you'd know.)  :P 


As you may have already surmised, Emeraldlis, I'm one of the fellows here MD is referring to who's an aficionado of the WoT novels.  :)  The series obviously isn't for everyone, but for those who are fans of the fantasy genre, I do recommend at least reading the first couple books (Eye of the World and The Great Hunt) to see if they like it. 

[MetalDog]

You are correct, Martok.  I should have known better and called it by its proper name, A Sorry Excuse For Destroying Trees, or What I Looked Like Before I Became Toilet Paper. ;)

[Emeraldlis]

i]Mistborn[/i] novels earlier on in this thread as well.  I do feel he has a general problem with pacing in most of his books, but there's nothing wrong with his overall storytelling abilities.  I definitely like him as an author.

Well, there are a couple of fellows here who happen to think that Eye of the World is pretty good.  They acknowledge that there are some slow bits, but, overall, it was good and Sanderson did an admirable job filling in.  I don't subscribe to that theory.  So there's that.

It's The Wheel of Time series, you benighted cretin (of which The Eye of the World was merely the first book).  Get it right!  (Also, you didn't even get far enough into the series to read the Sanderson-authored novels, so it's not like you'd know.)  :P 


As you may have already surmised, Emeraldlis, I'm one of the fellows here MD is referring to who's an aficionado of the WoT novels.  :)  The series obviously isn't for everyone, but for those who are fans of the fantasy genre, I do recommend at least reading the first couple books (Eye of the World and The Great Hunt) to see if they like it.

It's great to meet a fellow fan of Sanderson , Martok . I'm sorry I re-covered  your topic , but there's over 600 pages in this thread !! Phew....that's a novel in itself   :o  I'm always on the look out for my next book to read though , and recommends are the best , so I'm sure I'll get around to reading all those pages eventually :)

Oops MD you got called out  !!


Ok Martok in the spirit of fair play and all , I'll give that series a go :) I do love his take on story telling and I thought mistborn was a really good concept , so I'm intrested to know if this series grabs me . If it doesn't though ..well , I discovered your fear of spiders somewhere around here , I'll just have to join up with MD and see what arachnids can be thrown in your general direction   

[Emeraldlis]

You are correct, Martok.  I should have known better and called it by its proper name, A Sorry Excuse For Destroying Trees, or What I Looked Like Before I Became Toilet Paper. ;)

THAT was a great come back , lol ,  ;D time will tell if I find myself agreeing with your sentiments  ???

[Martok]

You are correct, Martok.  I should have known better and called it by its proper name, A Sorry Excuse For Destroying Trees, or What I Looked Like Before I Became Toilet Paper. ;)

Ouch!  Normally I'd threaten to sic Bawb on you for that, but admittedly I probably deserve that for the "benighted cretin" comment.  :D 

It's great to meet a fellow fan of Sanderson , Martok . I'm sorry I re-covered  your topic , but there's over 600 pages in this thread !! Phew....that's a novel in itself   :o  I'm always on the look out for my next book to read though , and recommends are the best , so I'm sure I'll get around to reading all those pages eventually :)

Oh, no apologies necessary at all.  Due to the length of the thread, sheer Law of Averages dictates that various works (both fiction and non-) get mentioned on repeated occasions.  No one's expected to go back and dig through all that! 

Ok Martok in the spirit of fair play and all , I'll give that series a go :) I do love his take on story telling and I thought mistborn was a really good concept , so I'm intrested to know if this series grabs me .

Cool!  I hope you'll enjoy it...and if it turns out you don't, I'll certainly understand.  ;) 

Just bear in mind that Robert Jordan wrote the first 11 (out of 14) books in the WoT series, so the writing style is different through the early & middle parts of the series.  Sanderson only wrote the final three novels (with the assistance of Jordan's widow, and using his notes as a guide). 

Also, a number of people find the first novel (The Eye of the World) difficult to get through, which is why I typically recommend reading the second book (The Great Hunt) as well.  I know of at least a few folks who weren't enthused with the first book, but then got hooked onto the series with the second one.  (FWIW, I personally never had this problem, but different strokes for different folks.) 

If it doesn't though ..well , I discovered your fear of spiders somewhere around here , I'll just have to join up with MD and see what arachnids can be thrown in your general direction   

Well you're welcome to try.  O:-)  While I'm by no means over my phobia, hanging around these guys the last few years has made somewhat...inured to the creatures.  ::) 

[undercovergeek]

Loved the mist born books

Yet to start my first WoT book - it's next

[MetalDog]

You have been warned...

[Mr. Bigglesworth]

The first WoT book was probably the best, IMO. It was about the transition from a normal life to that of hunted, broken families, to warriors fighting back. Nothing wrong with that psychological fiction. I think it had more meaning in human terms, than the rest of the books.

[Nefaro]

I can only imagine what it would take to bring Simmons' Ilium/Olympos books to the silver screen. Those things cover an astounding number of locales that vary between benthic environs with derelict sunken Caliphate submarines (equipped with micro-singularity warhead missiles) to an entire robot civilization that bootstrapped itself into existence from asteroid mining equipment.

And then there is the inclusion of Shakespeare's 'the Tempest' and the famous seafarer and adventurer Odysseus starting a resistance movement among the idle rich in a future false utopia...

Whew!

Yes, yes.  You know of what I speak.  ;D

[JasonPratt]

Without arguing the relative merits (and problems) of the first two WoT books, I definitely agree that Book 2 shifts its style significantly compared to Book 1. I wouldn't recommend going to Book 2 if Book 1 didn't at least prompt some interest in how the overall story is going to go (and various plot threads turn out); but I'd warn someone who adored Book 1 that Book 2 might be too prosaic (in a way), and I'd recommend someone lukewarm about Book 1 who finished it to at least try Book 2 and see if the difference makes a difference (so to speak). There are libraries and super-cheap used copies around after all.

Then I'd warn them that Book 3 isn't going to be much about its title character at all. ;)

Then I'd warn them that Book 4 changes the plot structure again pretty significantly; but that a lot of people like it as the best book.

Then I'd warn them that a lot of people regard Book 5 as when the plot creep started seriously affecting the story, even though a lot of people like it as the best book (myself marginally included).

Then I'd warn them that Books 6 through 11 should probably have been 2 books, and that while most fans (myself included) don't find them as annoying on subsequent reads, they can be increasingly disappointing on first reads. And that nothing can salvage Book 10 which even by the characters' in-story standards is mostly a giant waste of time.

But if they can somehow persevere through Book 10 (though I recommend a good summary on the internet somewhere, preferably with humorous comments), Book 11 (mostly) nicely recovers, and the final three books get increasingly better again.

Then I'd remind readers that the series is fourteen very large books (plus a fairly pointless yet still sizeable prequel), and caution them that they could probably spend their time more entertainingly in other ways, since we're talking about no less than three months solid reading at least.

[JasonPratt]

Meanwhile, I'm not far from catching up on re-reading Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality, having finished what is effectively Book 5 and starting Book 6. Loving it just as much or more than on my first read-through, since in hindsight I'm better able to spot foreshadowings and keep them in mind. Whether it can stick the landing in Book 7, I still don't know, but even if it doesn't the author has created a work of admirable literary genius in honor (and some criticism) of Rowling's original series.