What are we reading?

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

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Bison

Quote from: Staggerwing on January 12, 2013, 10:58:56 PM
Quote from: MetalDog on January 12, 2013, 10:48:23 PM
Quote from: Bison on January 12, 2013, 10:46:21 PM
Well except Cersei, she's just a bitch.


Yeah, but she likes to get down.

I haven't read that series yet but the name Cersei must be a reference to Circe, the sorceress from the Odyssey, no?

I don't know but she is a bitch.

MetalDog

She hasn't turned anyone into pigs, but she gave her son a Dog.  And she's a ferocious opponent.
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

Dog turned out to be quite the interesting character actually.

MetalDog

I liked his development as well.  He is internally consistent.
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

TheCommandTent

Quote from: Gusington on January 12, 2013, 10:11:22 PM
Agincourt is available for 0.01...I don't think I can go wrong. Unless I should just get a history of the battle instead...

Where did you see it for 0.1?
"No wants, no needs, we weren't meant for that, none of us.  Man stagnates if he has no ambition, no desire to be more than he is."

Shelldrake

Quote from: Gusington on January 12, 2013, 10:11:22 PM
Agincourt is available for 0.01...I don't think I can go wrong. Unless I should just get a history of the battle instead...

A pretty good read, although a bit slow at the start. I recommend it.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Shelldrake

Just finished Weber's Empire From The Ashes. Very enjoyable but a bid odd that the third book in the trilogy, which was the longest by far, seemed to wrap up too quickly. Still, Weber has yet to disappoint me.
"Just because something is beyond your comprehension doesn't mean it is scientific."

Dean Edell

Martok

Took a detour from Don Quixote to read Carl Sagan's Contact.  I'd always meant to get around to checking out the book after having seen the movie years ago, and am now finally doing so. 





Quote from: JasonPratt on January 12, 2013, 07:31:37 PM
Having heard good things about Sanderson's grand finale to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (and generally positive things about the books after Crossroads of Twilight, which is where I gave up on the series until I heard good things about the conclusion), I am starting the slow crawl to the end from Book 1, The Eye Of The World.

I haven't read through the series in at least ten years, so it's interesting to see how the first chapters (and the main protagonists in their first appearances) compare, even with where I last left them (having finished book 9, Winter's Heart), much moreso with the few spoilery things I've read about A Memory of the Light (or whatever it's called--I've heard so many versions of the title over the years I can't get my mind to nail down the final version. ;) )
Good luck sir!  I wish you a safe journey, especially as you slog through the morass that is books 7-10.  (Also, please feel free to share your thoughts on the three Sanderson-authored books once you're finished.)  8) 




Quote from: Gusington on January 12, 2013, 09:54:03 PM
Anyone here read Agincourt by Cornwell?
I own and enjoy it.  Cornwell does a great job of keeping the outcome from feeling inevitable, and that the events from that period are still very mutable. 




Quote from: Shelldrake on January 13, 2013, 11:18:30 AM
Just finished Weber's Empire From The Ashes. Very enjoyable but a bid odd that the third book in the trilogy, which was the longest by far, seemed to wrap up too quickly. Still, Weber has yet to disappoint me.
Wait -- Weber has actually finished a series he's started??  Surely not!  :o 

"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

Gusington

Thanks Martok. There are a ton of copies available on Amazon for 0.01, mostly hardcovers (which I prefer). So...3.99 for shipping and .01 for the book itself. :)


слава Україна!

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

-JudgeDredd

Martok

Heh, nice. 


I'll admit I like his Saxon Tales novels more, but Agincourt still holds up well as a standalone book. 

I think it helps that the latter is more grounded in historical fact.  In contrast, Cornwell has freely admitted to taking various "artistic liberties" with the Saxon Tales series (although he stays true to the overall course of events). 

"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: Martok on January 13, 2013, 12:46:53 PM
Quote from: JasonPratt on January 12, 2013, 07:31:37 PM
Having heard good things about Sanderson's grand finale to Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time series (and generally positive things about the books after Crossroads of Twilight, which is where I gave up on the series until I heard good things about the conclusion), I am starting the slow crawl to the end from Book 1, The Eye Of The World.
Good luck sir!  I wish you a safe journey, especially as you slog through the morass that is books 7-10.  (Also, please feel free to share your thoughts on the three Sanderson-authored books once you're finished.)  8) 

Yeah, that'll likely be several months from now. ;) (Less if I spent all my free time reading the series of course, but I do have other things to do.)

Fortunately, while I was increasingly disappointed with A Crown of Swords and then The Path of Daggers on my first reads through them, I was surprised to discover I actually liked ACoS (and even TPOD) more than I realized on rereads preparatory to Winter's Heart. Can't deny the books peaked before then (I'm one of those who think The Fires of Heaven was the high watermark, partly because of the action sequences with their tactics and strategies), but I'm more worried about slogging through WH again and then Crossroads of Twilight. {shudder}

Oh well. Authors of my generation can learn from his mistakes and try not to repeat them. :)
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MetalDog

Quote from: JasonPratt on January 13, 2013, 03:13:11 PM
Oh well. Authors of my generation can learn from his mistakes and try not to repeat them. :)


Or they can see the boatload of money and recognition he made from doing it that way and think it's ok for them to do it, too.
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

undercovergeek

holding off on the blood angels and ultramarine omnibuses until work starts and im sat on planes again - lithuania and istanbul up next! - until then im starting Clive Barker's Imajica for the eleventy millionth time - probably my favourite book - its missing a front cover and the back one doesnt have long but its has sentimental value

Gusington

I like it when writers take some liberties with history as long as they are not too ridiculous.

'Geek tell us why you like Imajica...


слава Україна!

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

-JudgeDredd

Martok

Quote from: JasonPratt on January 13, 2013, 03:13:11 PM
Fortunately, while I was increasingly disappointed with A Crown of Swords and then The Path of Daggers on my first reads through them, I was surprised to discover I actually liked ACoS (and even TPOD) more than I realized on rereads preparatory to Winter's Heart. Can't deny the books peaked before then (I'm one of those who think The Fires of Heaven was the high watermark, partly because of the action sequences with their tactics and strategies), but I'm more worried about slogging through WH again and then Crossroads of Twilight. {shudder}
Interesting, as my experience is virtually the same.  I actually didn't have a problem with ACoS or TPoD (despite the pacing noticeably starting to drag), but books 9 & 10 were very difficult for me to get through. 





Quote from: Gusington on January 13, 2013, 03:38:44 PM
I like it when writers take some liberties with history as long as they are not too ridiculous.

Then you should be just fine with Agincourt...especially at that price.  ;) 

"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