"What are you reading?" thread.

GasBandit

Staff member
Started Fall of Giants by Ken Follett. Kind of interesting to read basically the beginnings of World War 1 told in a style reminiscent of Game of Thrones.
 

fade

Staff member
I just read The Dark Knight Strikes Again.

I wish I hadn't. This was just terrible. It's like they took out all the good parts of Dark Knight returns, and replaced them with amplified versions of the parts of DKR that were bad. They took Carrie Kelley, a reasonably sane, strong female character with brains and made her into a literal sex kitten on wheels, seemingly dumbing her down in the process. They stripped Batman of his strong morality in favor of some nihilistic anti-establishment mumbo jumbo. Overall, it's not recommended.
 
I'm currently reading Lamb: The Gospel According to Biff, as I needed something light after Children of the White Wolf. So far, it's hilarious, without being outright offensive.

As a bonus, Cryptonomicon is $1.99 on Kindle today, so I picked that up.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
I still need to buy the second omnibus of this series.
I read these books out loud to the little woman. We have a Ciaphas Cain drinking game.

Drink every time:

Ciaphas fakes something/tells a lie "with the ease of a lifetime's dissembling."
Jurgen's odor makes an appearance "shortly followed by Jurgen himself."
Jurgen is described as "unprepossessing."
Jurgen's driving habits are euphemized.
A large drop is described as "vertiginous."
Ciaphas bluntly foreshadows - "Of course I had no idea how wrong I was at the time/how badly this was going to turn out."
Ciaphas' palms begin to itch.
Ciaphas makes the sign of the aquila.
Ciaphas remarks on how thankful he is for the two augmentic fingers he has.
Ciaphas insinuates Jenit Sulla looks like a horse.
Amberley laments on Ciaphas' narrative habits and inserts a passage from another text to provide background.

We had to switch to water.
 
Picked up some Saga by Brian K Vaughn.

That's some enjoyable comic. I cannot wait to see where it goes.
 
They took Carrie Kelley, a reasonably sane, strong female character with brains and made her into a literal sex kitten on wheels, seemingly dumbing her down in the process.
I just want to point out, he's not exaggerating here. She's literally in a skin-tight cheetah print catsuit on rollerskates.

 

GasBandit

Staff member
Need to get more Ciaphas Cain. Have no desire to feed the Games Workshop/Black Library hyper-inflated eatbeast. What do?
Well, the omnibus volumes are usually pretty good deals (and I love that other people are picking up my eatbeast thing), though there's always the more unsavory options. Sometimes though the omnibus editions also include extra stories. I think they're worth it.
 
I have the first two omnis... just didn't want to wait for number 3...

And I still find "eatbeast" to be amongst the finest of linguistic artisanries
 
The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom by Evgeny Morozov. It argues that uncensored internet access could just as easily bolster an oppressive government as bring it down among other things.
 
The Net Delusion: The Dark Side of Internet Freedom by Evgeny Morozov. It argues that uncensored internet access could just as easily bolster an oppressive government as bring it down among other things.
Interesting... What is the main contention? I might have to pick that up; it's a topic that interests me.
 
Decided I'm going to finish Stephen King's Four Past Midnight even though I hadn't planned to read "Secret Window, Secret Garden" because (a) I've seen the movie and also know the differences between the novella and the movie, and (b) I kind of didn't want to touch the collection again after the tasteless and anti-climactic "The Library Policeman" (and I couldn't tell you which of those is more offensive to me as a reader). But what the hell, I bought it and I don't feel like dragging a non-Kindle book along with me right now.

So far, it's good, and it's neat to be able to piece together stuff already knowing the outcome of the mystery. I think it's been long enough since the movie (which I haven't seen since it was in theaters) that I don't have it all fresh, so it's not boring.
 
I've been blasting through Invincible to get caught up.

So, I left off around issue 80, 2 years ago. I was completely enthralled by the events all the way until 99-102 which brings us up to date. What the fuck Kirkman? They were rushed messes of comics. Does he give a fuck about Invincible anymore?
 
I've been blasting through Invincible to get caught up.

So, I left off around issue 80, 2 years ago. I was completely enthralled by the events all the way until 99-102 which brings us up to date. What the fuck Kirkman? They were rushed messes of comics. Does he give a fuck about Invincible anymore?
I wouldn't be surprised. The Walking Dead has turned into a franchise and he's busy managing that right now. However, it's only a matter of time until Invincible gets a cartoon or movie deal.
 
Zombo: Can I Eat You, Please? by Al Ewing and Henry Flint. The first collection of a 2000 AD series about a Half Zombie-Half Human creature created by the government (trust your government) to battle the Deathworlds, sentient planets who seek to wipe out human life. Utterly bizarre, over the top gore, and a great sense of self-awareness.
 
Whelp, now that summer's here, I finished reading the first book in The Hunger Games. Loved it. Can't wait to watch the movie. I also look forward to reading the other two books. Shouldn't take too long as it only took two days to get through the first one.

Then, it's time to get caught up on The Dresden Files.
 
Just read the first print issue of Adventures of Superman, 3 little one shot stories with varying creative teams, so it's impossible to recommend the title, but the first issue is worth picking up. Good, fun Superman tales.
 

GasBandit

Staff member
Startide Rising by David Brin. Well, re-reading it anyway. It's pretty good but man does it feel a little silly trying to read squeaky dolphin haikus out loud to the little woman.
 

figmentPez

Staff member
Startide Rising by David Brin. Well, re-reading it anyway. It's pretty good but man does it feel a little silly trying to read squeaky dolphin haikus out loud to the little woman.
I love the Uplift novels. Both trilogies are great, though Startide Rising is a favorite of mine, if for no other reason than it's the first I read from David Brin.
 
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