Nobody here is into any of those things. Those things are for nerds.
"What are you reading?" thread.
- Thread starter HoboNinja
- Start date
Slow down there girl you're gonna hurt something.
Tomorrow on my commute to work, I will be beginning "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss. I know literally nothing about it, my brother told me it was good and leant it to me. I finished A Dance with Dragons today, so here we go, I guess...
Dr. Faustus by Christopher Marlowe
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Like a million books on the Iran-Iraq War for a paper
Like a million books on Indo-Pakistani relations for another paper
The Idiot by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Like a million books on the Iran-Iraq War for a paper
Like a million books on Indo-Pakistani relations for another paper
Panzer Leader, by General Heinz Guderian
Finished The Name of the Wind last night. Pretty good. Its no ASoIaF but its good. I definitely need to read part two of the Kingkiller Chronicle. Stupid brother, introducing me to another series without telling me it hasn't been finished yet...
Today I'm starting on a book I've been wanting to read for a year or so, but have been waiting for paperback: The War For Late Night. I read the Late Shift earlier this summer, and this promises to be more of the same. But the late night comedy world is so different now from what it was when Johnny Carson retired, I'm really excited to see how Fergusson, Kimmel, Stewart, Fallon and Colbert all fit into the story of what happened between Conan and Jay Leno.
Today I'm starting on a book I've been wanting to read for a year or so, but have been waiting for paperback: The War For Late Night. I read the Late Shift earlier this summer, and this promises to be more of the same. But the late night comedy world is so different now from what it was when Johnny Carson retired, I'm really excited to see how Fergusson, Kimmel, Stewart, Fallon and Colbert all fit into the story of what happened between Conan and Jay Leno.
Forget that. Do Ray Bradbury's The Halloween Tree... or better yet, if you can find a copy, watch the awesome cartoon version they did that was narrated by Leonard Nimoy.
I liked Ready Player One, but I call bullshit on a pop culture puzzle on the internet going unsolved for 5 years. As long as I blocked that out it was fun.
C
Chibibar
I have been re-reading the Xanth series by Piers Anthony. I bought them in ebook form and reading them on my iPad. It is VERY nice to read with.
I saw a preview for that one recommended off of Neil Gaiman's twitter. Looked fascinating.
Just finished it up. For a first novel, it's most excellent and I definitely see why Mr. Gaiman gave it his approval: It's got a lot more horror in it than other YA fiction, yet still has that sense of wonder and mystery that Harry Potter did. It kinda feels like a more adult version of HP or Percy Jackson, where even the good stuff has some undertones of darkness in it (like the titular house and time loop it resides in). I'm glad Ransom Riggs has already announced he's doing a sequel (he got more photos to use back in August), because I can see this being the next big kid's series.
Also, 20th Century FOX apparently bought the movie rights... so considering the buzz the book is getting, we might be seeing a movie coming as well.
EDIT: Apparently they made a trailer for the book. It's pretty good... it has pictures that show up in the book too.
Started another book today called "Zombies: The Recent Dead". I've read two other anthology books of zombie short stories before, and fully expect this one to be just as bad, but I don't care. So far all I've read is the preface stuff all about the cinematic and literary history of zombie fiction, with a few analytical notes about the social commentaries within (Is there a book thats just on that? I'd love to read that).
I started reading The Last Wish... and now i came here to say this:
BUY THE ENGLISH TRANSLATION OF THE WITCHER SAGA ALREADY SO THEY CAN GET OFF THEIR ASSES AND TRANSLATE THE REST OF THE BOOKS......
Also, Shegs, you missed this:
GasBandit
Staff member
I've been reading "Soon I will be Invincible," by Austin Grossman. It's a novel about a genius supervillain breaking out of jail for the 12th time and making yet another attempt to conquer the world, but it's told in a similar vein to Watchmen, only not as dark.
While on the whole I do like it, it seems to me it's trying to fit too much into what is, actually, a fairly short novel. They try to touch on EVERY hero's origin story, and intertwine several of them (there's no less than 3 major plot twists), and as a result nothing really gets the depth or detail I think it deserves. It'd make a very good OUTLINE for 2 or 3 seasons of probably the most epic hero-based TV show since Justice League or JLU... but to cram it all into a 280 page novel means so much gets glossed over.
While on the whole I do like it, it seems to me it's trying to fit too much into what is, actually, a fairly short novel. They try to touch on EVERY hero's origin story, and intertwine several of them (there's no less than 3 major plot twists), and as a result nothing really gets the depth or detail I think it deserves. It'd make a very good OUTLINE for 2 or 3 seasons of probably the most epic hero-based TV show since Justice League or JLU... but to cram it all into a 280 page novel means so much gets glossed over.
I think your kinda missing the entire point of the book. It's a deconstructive look at the concept of Super Teams and Super Villians, with an emphasis on what would motivate these kinds of people. What is going on isn't really as important as why it's happening... half of the book is basically Dr. Impossible looking back at his life and wondering if he's made the best choices he could, until it finally becomes apparent why he does the things he does. I won't spoil the grand reveal, but it's one of the best parts of the book. Your going to be routing for him during the entire climax.
The other half is about Fatale, who basically does hero work to pay for the medical supplies that keep her alive (her immune system would reject her cyborg parts), as she joins a super team in the wake of another hero's death. Her story is more about her teammates, as she examines the kind of people they are when the cameras aren't looking, and Fatale looking at her own circumstances to decide if she's really cut out for this line of work. Her side of things both breaks down and rebuilds the entire concept of Super Teams, going through both the ups and downs of the business.
What you need to remember is that the entire point of the book is to tell both sides of the equation. Where Watchmen failed is that it never really took Villains into the account during it's story, so we never saw them be deconstructed. What Grossman ultimately decided is that Villains are the same as Heroes and that they operate for the same vain, selfish reasons... but that this trait alone does not define them. Throughout his life story, we see that Dr. Impossible is also capable of love, friendship, sorrow, depression, and regret... and that all of these things are what forged him into the driven man he is today. It all comes to a head in the climax though, were we ultimately see what his feud was about.
Honestly, I feel Soon I Will Be Invincible is a better look at the genre than Watchmen, even if it owes Watchmen a great deal. It's one of the most engrossing and intelligent stories I've ever read... but then again, this isn't surprising when you realize that Austin Grossman also wrote the story for the original Deus Ex.
GasBandit
Staff member
(I've finished the book, so I know what you mean about the "grand reveal.")
I get that the point was deconstruction, I'm just saying that there was actually enough real plot items in there for it to be both deconstruction AND a story in its own right. It was good, but it had the potential to be epic. It just felt like it was rushed. Or perhaps, abridged. I guess I'm just too used to reading 800+ page novels.
I get that the point was deconstruction, I'm just saying that there was actually enough real plot items in there for it to be both deconstruction AND a story in its own right. It was good, but it had the potential to be epic. It just felt like it was rushed. Or perhaps, abridged. I guess I'm just too used to reading 800+ page novels.
I have NEVER laughed so hard at a book as I did when Dr. Impossible starts rubbing his identity in the face of Corefire, who sheepishly has to admit that he has NO IDEA who Dr. Impossible is. It stops the entire scene and you can just feel Dr. Impossible's soul leave his body. But then when Lilly points out that he had what he always wanted and lost it because he was a jerk, you really feel for him.
Honestly, it's the best climax in any book ever.
Honestly, it's the best climax in any book ever.
Honestly, I felt the story was padded in some respects. The entire side story about the former hero that was basically a Take That towards parts of the Narnia series (about how the older girl was dropped for basically no reason) kinda shows that Grossman is better at commentary than actual storytelling.
GasBandit
Staff member
Yeah, I really liked that one too.. but I felt that the sub-reveals that Lily was actually Erica, and that Fatale was actually created BY Dr. Impossible, were sped past and forgotten almost as soon as they happened. If this were a George R. R. Martin book, or Heinlein, or even Raymond Feist, each of those developments could have been a book unto themselves. Yeah, I'm saying is that if it had been fleshed out, it could have been an epic trilogy instead of an entertaining light novel.
BananaHands
Staff member
Rum Diaries.
I know, I know. Sorry.
I know, I know. Sorry.
Finished reading World War Z. Awesome book. probably the most disturbing part of the book was what happened to north korea. *shiver*
Currently reading Dreadnought by Cherie Priest. On occasion she makes prose choices I find a little iffy, but overall I've enjoyed this so far, and Boneshaker before it. The advertising for it is basically that it's a steam-punk driven extension of the American Civil War, and while that's certainly the setting, it's really about a nurse trying to find what home is after her husband's death, and getting roped into different Civil War situations as she goes.
I'm so glad Cherie Priest made the main character a nurse. The first book's protagonist was essentially a housewife who'd had a rough past and so she reacted to all the wounds and death with the panic and upsetting nature you'd expect from someone not used to it. Mercy's been doing hospital work for a long time and so even though she's rattled at times, she's on the job and most comfortable when she's got a bloody mess in her hands that needs patching up. I am so grateful the author gave us someone who can just handle this shit so we don't have to waste time with her coping and can instead keep moving along, while at the same time being impressed with her resolve.
Then there's the little hints harkening back to Boneshaker's "zombie" problem and maybe it's just me, but what's going on with them in this book is far creepier and more insidious than the plight with them in the first novel.
If you choose to read Dreadnought, do not read the back of the book. I didn't until I was halfway through, and it pretty much gave away a large chunk of what I'd already read. Better to discover those things in reading than have the back cover summary catch you up to page 200 before you open the book.
I'm so glad Cherie Priest made the main character a nurse. The first book's protagonist was essentially a housewife who'd had a rough past and so she reacted to all the wounds and death with the panic and upsetting nature you'd expect from someone not used to it. Mercy's been doing hospital work for a long time and so even though she's rattled at times, she's on the job and most comfortable when she's got a bloody mess in her hands that needs patching up. I am so grateful the author gave us someone who can just handle this shit so we don't have to waste time with her coping and can instead keep moving along, while at the same time being impressed with her resolve.
Then there's the little hints harkening back to Boneshaker's "zombie" problem and maybe it's just me, but what's going on with them in this book is far creepier and more insidious than the plight with them in the first novel.
If you choose to read Dreadnought, do not read the back of the book. I didn't until I was halfway through, and it pretty much gave away a large chunk of what I'd already read. Better to discover those things in reading than have the back cover summary catch you up to page 200 before you open the book.
I just finished that too!
I loved the part about the guy in Japan escaping from his apartment.
Now I'm reading Darkly Dreaming Dexter. It's been a while since I've seen season 1 of Dexter so I've forgotten a good portion of what happens, and the writing is pretty fun.