EDIT: Not that I am a fan of Jefferson, but Foner also points out that at one point TJ proposed that the government grant every citizen 50 acres of land, which I will be sure to bring up the next time some Rep/Lib says that the Founding Fathers were opposed to the gov't doling out wealth and property.
How are you tonight, Samnell?
** spoiler omitted **
How are you tonight, Samnell?
Ok.
All good points, Doodlebug Anklebiter. I'll have to revise my views.
I have made very little progress with Foner and Paine, but I did read all of Conan the Freebooter.
All good points, Doodlebug Anklebiter. I'll have to revise my views.
Nobody talks crap about Paine when Doodlebug Anklebiter's on the job!! ;)
Finished A Storm of Swords last night and started in on A Feast for Crows. I'd forgotten the thing opens with a block of brand new POVs. I hadn't forgotten hating all of them except Sam's. I know that the way things went meant that FfC was going to be a weird hybrid half-done affair, but going from the relatively graceful phasing in of new POVs in the past books to the sudden shot of a bunch at once and most of them for not very interesting characters was less than fun.
Finished Foner. Poor Tom. :(
A short version of Melmoth the Wanderer by Charles Robert Maturin thus far:
** spoiler omitted **
In annoyance, I put it down and read a good chunk of Exodus.
When Cameron was in Pharoah's land, let my Cameron go.
Time to finish this f%##er off.
When last we left our hero, he was fleeing from the Inquisition in the bowels of Madrid where he runs into an old Jew who's been living sealed up, underground for the last 50 years. He might know something about Melmoth...
Also, started Conan the Wanderer.
Ye olde usede booke store had lots of cheap Heinlein, but, unfortunately, none of the recommended books. But, for a buck a pop, I bought them all anyway.
More anecdotal proof that Howard is the bestest.
Started reading Conan the Wanderer, couldn't remember if I had read this one before or not. Read "Black Tears" by de Camp (and Carter?). Didn't recognize a word of it, concluded that this one was new to me.
Got two paragraphs into "The Man-Eaters of Zamboula" and realized, yup, I've read this one.
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Shadow of the Torturer by Gene Wolfe.
Nothing like reading a book where I have to look up the definition of a word nearly every other page.
"...the hue fuligin, which is darker than black..."
That one's not in the dictionary, I spent no few hours looking...
Been re-reading Lord Valentine's Castle; it's enjoyable; very science fantasy.
"...the hue fuligin, which is darker than black..."
That one's not in the dictionary, I spent no few hours looking...
Yeah, that one he made up. Sometimes I swear he wrote this book just to show off his vocabulary, which is more impressive than my own, to be certain. I tried fuligin again, this time around using my Kindle, which has its own copy of the Oxford English Dictionary on it.
Nope. If it's not in the OED, it's not in the English language.
Still, thanks to Mr. Wolfe I know that "beeves" is plural for beef, and an "agouti" is a rodent common to Central and South America that sugar cane plantations don't like.
I haven't read those books. :(
The Appendix at the end of SotT discusses the terminology for the series. He claimed not to have invented words but to have used old ones. He apparently derived "fuligin" from "fuliginous", an obscure and archaic word meaning sooty.I don't know if that counts as "made up".
I'd say that's a neologism. He's taken an adjective and transformed it into a noun.
Look, Asimov always took credit for "robotics"; fuligin is a new word.
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That's what I said, neologism.
In yo' face, Lord Dice!!
Doodle, I'm not sure what you're yelling about but Sir Shadowborn and I are agreeing with each other.
Sorry, I'm taking out my aggression from other threads on you, Lord Dice.
Classic anger transference, I know. I'd make a great wife-beater. :(
Finished Conan the Wanderer.
I think maybe I'll take a break from Conan. Maybe read Connie Willis.
Shut up, Lord Dice.
I just finished up Master of five Magics by Lydon Hardy and Starquake by Robert L. Forward. I just started Heroes in Hell by Janet Morris and The Reality Dysfunction by Peter F. Hamilton.
Heroes in Hell was pretty fun.
I spit on spoiler tags.
Was making headway on Melmoth and was getting kind of into it--this white chick is living on an island off of India and the locals start worshipping her as a goddess and then MELMOTH shows up and starts tempting her with evil, because she's so pure, and she falls in love with him, but because SHE'S SO PURE, (purity ring?), he falls in love with her and doesn't really tempt her with evil, and starts wondering if maybe there's a hope for him somehow? (shades of Faust, et. al.)--and then I left it over a friend's house.
Was consoling myself with The Doomsday Book by the much-mentioned Connie Willis which is very promising BUT, Kirvin's translating device better kick in, because I can't make out a f!~&ing thing in Middle English; AND, when it does, I better see a whole lot more of the Middle Ages--all this interdepartmental academic infighting and influenza pandemic prevention in the mid-21st century stuff is interesting and pretty well done, too, but I want to see some 1300s shiznit. And soon!
Finished The Doomsday Book. It was pretty good, but not what I was expecting. Three words: The Black Death!
Stared Bored of the Rings--so far I've laughed a couple of times.
Coming in for a landing with Melmoth.
I'm almost done with "Sunshine" by Robin McKinley and am chomping at the bit to start GRRM's "Fort Freak."
"Sunshine" is a bit of a disappointment. The heroine is kind of passive, and I'm reading it because it was listed as inspirational reading for "The Complete Scoundrel," and no one in the book was particularly. or even at all, scoundrelly. Scoundrelish? Scoundchoppeduppickles?
But it's a neat universe. Kind of a modern day Eberron, with commercially produced charms and wards, DNA tests of demonic bloodlines, and drugs to hold off lycanthropy. Lots of other technological differences too. I think they have multiple internets that you can subscribe to, with different levels of access and speed, etc. Kind of reminds me of Caprica, actually, with somewhat less killer robots, V/R, and spaceships, and quite too much Cinnamon Rolls the Size of Your Head. :-P
Started A Dance With Dragons about a week ago. Slow going due to various distractions but picked up a bit since for three days in a row it's taken me six days to get my internet, which was working fine when I went to bed the day previous, to work again. Then another hour of very slow speeds plus lots of dropped packets according to my pings. The downtime makes for more reading, but the fusion-grade hatred works against that. It's like a little man inside my head with a sledgehammer constantly slamming on the inside of my skull in the direction of the modem and router.
But right, stuff I'm reading. Might actually get to play Mage: The Ascension so some of the reading time has gone to that too. (Sons of Ether, woohoo!) That aside, I'm pretty satisfied with Martin so far. The characters seem to be about as tolerable as they've been in past books. It's nice to have back some of those that were gone from the last book due to the way things got cut up. One really neat bit was seeing what amounts to the same extended scene through the eyes of two POV characters over two books. We get a bit with Jon and Sam from Sam's POV last book, where Jon is pretty distant and abrupt. Then we got in this book why he was so crabby.
Game of Thrones season is over, so I'm starting A Clash of Kings.
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But right, stuff I'm reading. Might actually get to play Mage: The Ascension so some of the reading time has gone to that too. (Sons of Ether, woohoo!) That aside, I'm pretty satisfied with Martin so far. The characters seem to be about as tolerable as they've been in past books. It's nice to have back some of those that were gone from the last book due to the way things got cut up. One really neat bit was seeing what amounts to the same extended scene through the eyes of two POV characters over two books. We get a bit with Jon and Sam from Sam's POV last book, where Jon is pretty distant and abrupt. Then we got in this book why he was so crabby.
I liked the first three in ASOIAF much better than the later ones, but you can find enjoyable parts in all of them, IMO. Woohoo indeed for Mage! I haven't played in years. I hope you get to play. Go screw with a Void Engineer or slap around a Zig'ralaugr'rawhatevertheywere for me.
EDIT: Oh yeah, the book I am actually reading. "The Way of Shadows" by Brent Weeks. Borrowing it from a friend who's reading my Pathfinder novels as I work my way through it. Street urchin trains to become an assassin, and there's a bunch of conspiracy and/or prophecy going on. My friend said the powers reminded him of Exalted, but halfway through I'm not getting that vibe. It's part of a trilogy, so maybe the power level scales up later?
I've been on a major rogue/assassin kick since playing Skyrim, so Exalted or no, this book is suiting my tastes just fine.
Woohoo indeed for Mage! I haven't played in years. I hope you get to play. Go screw with a Void Engineer or slap around a Zig'ralaugr'rawhatevertheywere for me.
In a silver jumpsuit, with a raygun, in the hangar bay of a zeppelin. For Science!
Finished Dance of Dragons recently and am now finishing up the latest books in the never ending saga of Drizzt from R.A. Salvatore. I like it but some of the mistakes my favorite drow ranger make in dealing with the people around him really bug me, I hope by the end of this series he has learned a lesson or two, I’ll feel it’s ridiculous if he ends up making the same damn mistakes in book 40 he made in book 1.
The King in Yellow by Robert W. Chambers.
Quicksilver by Neal Stephenson.
Finishing Zainab Salbi's biography Between Two Worlds -- Escape from Tyranny: Growing up in the Shadow of Saddam. Not as fascinating or uplifting to me on the whole as Ayaan Hirsi Ali's Infidel, but interesting reading nonetheless.
I didn't read as much during my vacation as I had hoped. :(
Just about done with A Dance With Dragons now. Not sure what I want to read next.
Just about done with A Dance With Dragons now. Not sure what I want to read next.
If you liked Martin’s ‘what makes characters real is their shortsightedness.’ Portrayal of people you might really enjoy much of Cormac McCarthy’s work as well. I recently read Blood Meridian. Loved it, it was a great mix of poignant philosophy and Quentin Tarantino-esque scenes of ultra violence and I found the ending awesome, I highly recommend it.
Just about done with A Dance With Dragons now. Not sure what I want to read next.
Gregory Keyes's "Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" series is really good. Very similar to GRRM's dark, gritty, screw-over-your-main-characters style of low-magic fantasy, with the same kind of (if fewer number of) POV character/chapters. Also, it has an ending!!!!!
Just about done with A Dance With Dragons now. Not sure what I want to read next.Gregory Keyes's "Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" series is really good. Very similar to GRRM's dark, gritty, screw-over-your-main-characters style of low-magic fantasy, with the same kind of (if fewer number of) POV character/chapters. Also, it has an ending!!!!!
Eh, things with endings are overrated. GRRM was starting to lose me a bit with the plethora of one-off or very minor POVs, though. That and suddenly falling in love with changing the names of their chapters for little reason.
I was thinking about doing some history, but I noticed my interest in gaming shot up considerably when I started Martin and I've read very little fantasy in the past decade. Probably ought to fix that.
Unfortunately, the rest of my reading list is rather less interesting...almost entirely composed of declassified government documents obtained under FOIA requests. It's an important part of my research, but it also serves to make me the most boring person you're ever likely to meet. Trust me, chicks don't care about the history of Sparta OR the motivations of the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency...my research leaves me with little to talk to "normal people" about, and I don't get dates, ever.
In short...put down the G++$+#ned books and go talk to a girl...don't be like me. Ever.
Or you can be like me, not give a care about getting a date, and think that's far from boring. Well the Sparta part, don't have much interest in the gov't stuff.
Don't sell yourself short. Despite what the media and the world likes to beat into our heads, romance/dating/sex isn't everything.
There's more to life than sex, you know, but not much more.
Just about done with A Dance With Dragons now. Not sure what I want to read next.Gregory Keyes's "Kingdom of Thorn and Bone" series is really good. Very similar to GRRM's dark, gritty, screw-over-your-main-characters style of low-magic fantasy, with the same kind of (if fewer number of) POV character/chapters. Also, it has an ending!!!!!Eh, things with endings are overrated. GRRM was starting to lose me a bit with the plethora of one-off or very minor POVs, though. That and suddenly falling in love with changing the names of their chapters for little reason.
I was thinking about doing some history, but I noticed my interest in gaming shot up considerably when I started Martin and I've read very little fantasy in the past decade. Probably ought to fix that.
I'm just afraid of getting Robert Jordaned by GRRM. :-(
Hi everyone, here are some of my favorites:
Lord of the Rings
anything by Guy Gavriel Kay but I like the pseudohistorical stuff the best
Tad Williams
George R.R. Martin
Robert Jordan (though it drags a bit in places)
And 2 favorites from this decade:
Name of the Wind and Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss. Beautifully written, a fascinating main character and an intriguing story the way it is revealed bit by bit.
The Lies of Locke Lamora (and the others) by Scott Lynch about a truly audacious thief in a wealthy magical city.
The Red Wolf Conspiracy is worth a read too, it's about a voyage on a truly massive ship and has some interesting worldbuilding.
I'm just afraid of getting Robert Jordaned by GRRM. :-(
Eh, what happens happens. I know GRRM's instructions are to burn his notes, but even if they weren't it isn't necessarily awful that the series never gets finished or someone else continues it. Sanderson isn't doing too bad a job with Jordan's work, except that he's far less graceful and disciplined than Jordan was. RJ was extremely particular and regular about his word choice, parts of which Sanderson seems to miss completely. (Aiel start referring to themselves as "soldiers" when they've always been "spears" before. He makes a metaphor and then calls it a metaphor.)
The one thing Sanderson is hilariously bad at is swearing, though. RJ didn't use real world swearing very much, but his characters cussed in about the places you'd expect and with about the rhythms of real world English profanity. Sanderson's version inserts Jordan's cussing at random points in the dialog. I understand he grew up in a non-swearing environment (where was Child Welfare?!) and refuses to use sex or profanity in his own books but it's still a bizarre blind spot to have. Someone should go to a signing and swear at him in a polite, friendly manner so he can take notes.
Gym reading: Allison Hewitt is Trapped—gave me nightmares as bedtime reading, so now it's my gym motivational reading. The zombies are coming, ruuuuuuun!
Spanish practice: Cuando sea grande, quiero ser premio Nobel de la Paz—not the book I expected! Funnier, but more dubious in its lessons.
Bedtime reading: Bede's Ecclesiastical History of England—I really did not expect to sleep so well after getting home from Prometheus at 2am, but after a few pages of intro, I dropped right off and slept like a baby. But I also picked it back up and kept reading as part of a leisurely Saturday morning, so call it "soothing" rather than "sleep-inducing."
There's more to life than sex, you know, but not much more.
Meh.
There's more to life than trolling Paizo.com. you know, but not much more.