See, now, this is why I didn't want to do this in here. The Books thread has been putting along now for 3000 posts and no one has ever accused anyone of having a board up their ass. Then comes along Citizen HD, and, well, there goes the neighborhood! [Imagine Body Count link here]
Comrades Inaros and Asphere: The Galtic Committe of Public Safety admires your revolutionary zeal and appreciates your efforts to do ideological battle with the enemy, but don't worry, I've got it from here.
Just read the Morgaine Cycle by C.J.Cheryrh will you? You'll love it... :)
Rest assured, Cherryh is on the brain and the Morgaine Cycle will now go on the list. But I have to tell you, it's a long list.
I also have to read more Stephenson--I adored Diamond Age.
Finished The Eyes of the Overworld and absolutely loved it! I can't wait to finish the rest of the series. I highly recommend that if there's anyone out there who hasn't read Jack Vance's Dying Earth stories to do so NOW!!!
Moving much slower through Jared Diamond. Read about Montana and Easter Island.
Began reading Artifact of Evil by Gary Gygax. It's terrible! But I already knew that.
Nice folks. Way to stay classy. =/
Howzabout we stop talking about political tomes here? Start up another thread in the Book section if you wanna talk about Herr Marx and Co. Whatever you think of his Magnum Opus bringing that shit up here is guaranteed to bring up controversy, so knock it off.
Snarky crap like ' I do believe more people should read it so they would actually know what communism is.' Is nothing less than trolling. Put out a passive aggressive piece of snark like that and you're gonna get angry/joke-snark replies. I have read Das Kapital and I still think it, and its philosophy is a pile of BS. But that's just one monkey's opinion, YMMV. Just take it ELSEWHERE!
Anyway, I am loading up my new Yule-gotten Nook with some digital fare, becoming accustomed to digital books, much as the grognard in me wants to go hug the tomes in my library.
Anyway, I am loading up my new Yule-gotten Nook with some digital fare, becoming accustomed to digital books, much as the grognard in me wants to go hug the tomes in my library.
Don't do it! When societal collapse comes along any day now, you won't be able to keep warm by burning your Nook! Books forever!
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Can you get a feature for the Nook that makes it smell like dusty paper?
That would make me happier about getting one.
Also, Happy Holidays Patrick.
Can you get a feature for the Nook that makes it smell like dusty paper?
That would make me happier about getting one.Also, Happy Holidays Patrick.
Thank Niel! Always nice to see a friendly face. =D
Don't do it! When societal collapse comes along any day now, you won't be able to keep warm by burning your Nook! Books forever!Anyway, I am loading up my new Yule-gotten Nook with some digital fare, becoming accustomed to digital books, much as the grognard in me wants to go hug the tomes in my library.
How reactionary of you! =D
Then comes along Citizen HD, and, well, there goes the neighborhood! [Imagine Body Count link here]
FIFY
Patrick Curtin wrote:
Anyway, I am loading up my new Yule-gotten Nook with some digital fare, becoming accustomed to digital books, much as the grognard in me wants to go hug the tomes in my library.
Don't do it! When societal collapse comes along any day now, you won't be able to keep warm by burning your Nook! Books forever!
My having my books on Nook might prevent structural collapse form shear weight. But I'm having trouble starting.
Though if the 'make large print' option works, it may save eye strain.
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Man, I hope that is a good read! You have to post your critique TB!Just made it home with...
Steven King's 11/22/63
(going back in time to save JFK)
Looking forward to getting into it...
Enjoyed 11/22/63! I have always loved time travel stories, all the way back to the tv show Voyager! when I was a kid. SK's characters come to life, and the book is full of great plot lines. (in addition to the obvious plot line of the story)
In his Afterword section, SK notes that Jack Finney wrote "Time and Again." SK credits Time and Again as the greatest time-travel story. Found a copy of it the other day and look forward to reading it soon.
[Imagine Body Count link here]FIFY
Oh shiznit! I forgot there was an actual video for this one. I totally would have linked it had I remembered!
EDIT: Should've known it was a single--he doesn't say mo'fo or use the n-word once!
Jade Warrior.
That looks cool.
Nice folks. Way to stay classy. =/
Howzabout we stop talking about political tomes here? Start up another thread in the Book section if you wanna talk about Herr Marx and Co.
Hee hee!
So I climb into bed earlier this morning and I grab at any tome that is within hand's reach, and it's Heroes in Hell which some of you may remember as a collection of short stories from the early eighties by fantasy and sci-fi writers about famous historical personages in Hell. Remember?
Anyway, the first story is about how Che Guevara is upsetting Lucifer by continuing his guerrilla struggle, and how the Devil has got to bring in Machiavelli and Yuri Andropov to catch him!
"Hee hee!" I'm thinking, "Patrick's going to love this!"
It also has two C.J. Cherryh stories, so the synergistic weirdiosity is freaking me out!
Then comes along Citizen HD, and, well, there goes the neighborhood! [Imagine Body Count link here]
So this is all my fault now? Man, I wasn't even doing anything...
But yeah, there was a period in the mid 80s when Cherryh and Morris used Thieves' World as a staging ground to take over every shared world anthology series out there; Martin was able to drive them back from the unforgiving winter of Wildcards, but only after a long siege.
(Yeah, if you're going to call you self Comrade i'm going to make Leningrad jokes /wink)
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Nice folks. Way to stay classy. =/
Howzabout we stop talking about political tomes here? Start up another thread in the Book section if you wanna talk about Herr Marx and Co.
Hee hee!
So I climb into bed earlier this morning and I grab at any tome that is within hand's reach, and it's Heroes in Hell which some of you may remember as a collection of short stories from the early eighties by fantasy and sci-fi writers about famous historical personages in Hell. Remember?
Anyway, the first story is about how Che Guevara is upsetting Lucifer by continuing his guerrilla struggle, and how the Devil has got to bring in Machiavelli and Yuri Andropov to catch him!
"Hee hee!" I'm thinking, "Patrick's going to love this!"
It also has two C.J. Cherryh stories, so the synergistic weirdiosity is freaking me out!
Didn't Niven have something to do with putting that together? It was awesome, I remember that. Haven't read it in forever, though.
Nice folks. Way to stay classy. =/
Howzabout we stop talking about political tomes here? Start up another thread in the Book section if you wanna talk about Herr Marx and Co.
Hee hee!
So I climb into bed earlier this morning and I grab at any tome that is within hand's reach, and it's Heroes in Hell which some of you may remember as a collection of short stories from the early eighties by fantasy and sci-fi writers about famous historical personages in Hell. Remember?
Anyway, the first story is about how Che Guevara is upsetting Lucifer by continuing his guerrilla struggle, and how the Devil has got to bring in Machiavelli and Yuri Andropov to catch him!
"Hee hee!" I'm thinking, "Patrick's going to love this!"
It also has two C.J. Cherryh stories, so the synergistic weirdiosity is freaking me out!
I read that back in the day. I enjoyed Robert Silverberg's Gilgamesh stories in that series, but they were more about how Hell had been reimagined by its denizens over the millenia. Plus having HP Lovecraft and REH riding around Hell working as envoys for His Infernal Majesty King Henry VIII, looking for Prester John? Classic..
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If you are going to read marx, read Capital along with David Harvey's podcast lectures. You'll get a lot more out of it.Actually, I've read a lot about Marx but never got around to reading his writings. I get called a commie alot so I figured I'd read it. Yes, I'm in college, and your "joke" sounded more like something I'd hear from someone who hasn't read it.I've read it. I guess you know nothing of the man beyond that book. And I'm going to assume you're in college, or young, because you assume someone can't read it and just be overwhelmed by his "brilliance".Guess you haven't read it.Nope, a history lesson.Is this sarcasm? Irony?Picked up The Communist Manifesto. I do believe more people should read it so they would actually know what communism is.If Marx were true to himself, he would have titled it "How To Live Off Your Buddy's Family's Money (Generated In All Sorts of Capitalistic Ways) Because You Can't Be Bothered To Actually Support Yourself And Your Large Family (Seven Kids, Really?) While Whining About How Unfair Life Is".
Just sayin'.
I read some of them back in the day and, when at the used bookstore, I couldn't resist the nostalgia. I don't see Niven mentioned, but I didn't look too hard.
I don't remember the stories that CC is talking about--I must not have read them all. I do remember being barely pubescent and being highly excited about all the sex.
I also remember:
I read some of them back in the day and, when at the used bookstore, I couldn't resist the nostalgia. I don't see Niven mentioned, but I didn't look too hard.
I don't remember the stories that CC is talking about--I must not have read them all. I do remember being barely pubescent and being highly excited about all the sex.
I also remember: ** spoiler omitted **
Silverberg compiled the three stories he wrote in this vein >here<. I thought they were the best written of the stories in this shared 'universe'. according to the wiki entry Silverberg scrubbed all mention of the larger sandbox setting in the compilation to avoid any IP problems.
Finishing up the Dozois collection. Just read an interesting story that had a few descriptive gems in it like this: 'The stars were out in their chill armies, like the million icy eyes of God.' Good stuff!
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More barely pubescent sexytime:
As an adult I have had no less than three conversations with other adults about the passage from Piers Anthony's Centaur Isle (I think) when Dor and somebody else were playing in the moat.
In retrospect, I doubt the scene is all that erotic, but it sufficed to give me one of my first boners in the 4th grade.
Back to in Hell: If the used bookstores comply, I am going to get the whole series!
I don't usually comment about books I haven't read, but that Dozois collection looks interesting.
More barely pubescent sexytime:
As an adult I have had no less than three conversations with other adults about the passage from Piers Anthony's Centaur Isle (I think) when Dor and somebody else were playing in the moat.
In retrospect, I doubt the scene is all that erotic, but it sufficed to give me one of my first boners in the 4th grade.
Back to in Hell: If the used bookstores comply, I am going to get the whole series!
I don't usually comment about books I haven't read, but that Dozois collection looks interesting.
The story I referenced I can't really tell you about because it has a zinger-type ending and I was wondering through the whole thing WTF was going on until I got to the end and went, ahhhhh. But it is real good stuff, hard to figure out till the last page, and very well crafted.
PS: I love the used bookstores as well, but if you are in a virtual mood, that Silverberg compiliation has some .01 used copies up for sale on Amazon (+3.99 S&H, natch). Not as cheap as most used bookstores, but when you just can't find that old book anywhere *shrug*
I am planning a used bookstore trawl through Boston (well, Cambridge, actually) and if I can't find what I'm looking for, then I'm going to hit up the internet. I'll add Silverberg to the list!
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Cherryh is my all time favorite author! She's so good. I don't think she gets enough credit.
She's up there with Neil Gaiman,Iain M. Banks and Neal Stephenson. (and since I have not read anything by China Mieville yet... he is not on this list... yet)
Finished "Regenesis" by C.J. Cherryh in record time. The book is slow in the first half, but provides needed setup for the sotrm of the second half. She managed to recapture the voice of the characters perfectly after 20 years. The book nearly gets to them same level as "Cyteen", but "Cyteen" provided this sense of wonder, that the second novel is missing. so:
Close, very close, but not the big sensation the first novel was.
Afterwards I read "The Worldwound Gambit" by Robin D. Laws. Good book, but still the weakest of the Pathfinder Tales yet, but still a good book. If Paizo manages to hold this amount of quality, I will loyally follow them to the end of times.
Now reading: "Dragon Doom" by Denis L. McKiernan... good setup weaving more than one parallel story threads from different years (way in the past, the youth of Elgo and Elyn, Elgo's journey, Elyn's journey) into one tale, but still not entirely captured by the storytelling. (I am about 100 pages into the novel)
Up next: "Ender in Exile" by Orson Scott Card (together with "A War of Gifts" and "First Meetings")
Happy New Year!
I am planning a used bookstore trawl through Boston (well, Cambridge, actually) and if I can't find what I'm looking for, then I'm going to hit up the internet. I'll add Silverberg to the list!
If you can find it anywhere, the People's Republic of Cambridge would be the place! Happy hunting!
"Too Many Curses" by A. Lee Martinez. It is about a kobold housekeeper (castlekeeper? towerkeeper? keepkeeper?) that sort of inherits an evil wizard's castle when the evil wizard croaks. She's still in charge of its upkeep and making sure everything is clean, neat, and in its place, but she is also trying to remove all the curses that the denizens of the castle have; the evil wizard used to curse his enemies instead of killing them, so his castle is full of cursed folk. They all expected their curses to lift when the evil wizard died, but they didn't when he did.
am rereading Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan as I dont remember it very well and to get ready for book 12 which I never read.
Can you get a feature for the Nook that makes it smell like dusty paper?
That would make me happier about getting one.
Just give it a spritz of paperback.
Also: partway into The Ape Who Guards the Balance by Elizabeth Peters—first book of hers I've read (snatched from library free pile while en route to plane), but she does a good job of explaining relevant backstory info. Fun characters and plot thus far (and bonus woohoo factor, as was just in Cairo and vicinity last fall).
Then comes along Citizen HD...So this is all my fault now? Man, I wasn't even doing anything...
But yeah, there was a period in the mid 80s when Cherryh and Morris used Thieves' World as a staging ground to take over every shared world anthology series out there; Martin was able to drive them back from the unforgiving winter of Wildcards, but only after a long siege.
I was working on a reply post where I appointed myself King of the Books Thread and was going to dub thee Lord Dice or something, but I was pretty [bubble bubble bubbled] and it wasn't working, so I gave up on it and then forgot to reply. How rude of me, I must apologize.
So, Lord Dice, I see you blipping around recommending books left and right, so, this being the what books are you reading thread, uh, what books are you reading?
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Over the break I read NK Jemisin's The Kingdom of Gods, the last volume in the Inheritance Trilogy. Gotta say, I've seldom if ever seen someone write from the viewpoint of a deity so convincingly. I liked it better than the first volume. Unfortunately, the next thing I picked up was The Name of the Wind, and although it's a very good book it was almost too close to TKoG to be a comfortable followup. I would've been better off with something a little more popcorn.
I read that back in the day. I enjoyed Robert Silverberg's Gilgamesh stories in that series, but they were more about how Hell had been reimagined by its denizens over the millenia. Plus having HP Lovecraft and REH riding around Hell working as envoys for His Infernal Majesty King Henry VIII, looking for Prester John? Classic..
I stopped by ye olde booke store and thought I was lucky because I found Gilgamesh the King by Robert Silverberg, but now it doesn't look like it's the same book.
Drat.
That's it, I'm done with Artifact of Evil. I just can't take it anymore!
It's fun to read about Melf and Iuz and whatnot, but, man, this book sucks. Does that mean I'm giving up on the series? Hell no! But I am skipping Night Arrant and will probably just do a quick skim through Sea of Death before plowing on ahead into unread (but probably still crappy) territory.
Heroes in Hell is pretty amusing for an amateur history buff. I mean, how can you not like a story where Napoleon and Wellington are forced to live like Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau? Although I find myself wishing I remembered more of my Roman history. Decius Mus? Gonna have to go to wikipedia.
I'm taking it slow with Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed because, honestly, I find it a little boring. But I'm about to hit three chapters about Vikings, so maybe it'll pick up.
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So, Lord Dice, I see you blipping around recommending books left and right, so, this being the what books are you reading thread, uh, what books are you reading?
At the moment I'm rereading Quicksilver, the first book in Neal Stephenson's Baroque Cycle. Stephenson is one of those writers who requires a special room in your head, but I just finished Reamde and decided to see how much I can endure; If i'm not back in two months, don't bother with search parties, just start working on the eulogies...
I have officially re-named a poster! I am the King of the Books Thread!
[Waits a moment to allow ego to deflate]
I only read my first Stephenson novel a couple of months ago (The Diamond Age) and I thought it was amazing.
Looked for The Morgaine Cycle at ye olde usede booke store and couldn't find it, but I did find a couple of old DAW editions of hers that were cheap. One was the last in a series, so I picked up Sunfall. I'll probably get to it sooner rather than later.
I only read my first Stephenson novel a couple of months ago (The Diamond Age) and I thought it was amazing.
Snowcrash is a fun quirky read, although I might have liked it because I have worked as a pizza deliverer before (one of the opening scenes is involved in pizza delivery)
Cryptonomicon is a massive tome, and kind of struck me as a computer nerd's interpretation of the secret history of WWII as imagined by Dan Brown. Worth the 1,000+ pages.
All the used book stores that I frequent always have lots of Stephenson, but, alas, as hardcovers or modern trades, they're usually a little pricey. Well, I suppose not if I was only going to buy one book, but that's not how I roll.
Snowcrash has gotten props from Comrade Curtin and Lord Dice, so that's where I'll head next, if the gods of used book stores allow.
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Cryptonomicon is a massive tome, and kind of struck me as a computer nerd's interpretation of the secret history of WWII as imagined by Dan Brown. Worth the 1,000+ pages.
Oh, better than that (although I'm somewhat prejudiced against Brown). I thought Stephenson did an excellent job of writing what various famous events looked like from the inside of a math nerd's head, and there are very few authors who could insert an infodump on the correct way to eat Cap'n Crunch(tm) cereal into a story and make it both relevant and interesting.
Snow Crash was a great deal of fun. I should really read Reamde one of these days, too.
Cryptonomicon is a massive tome, and kind of struck me as a computer nerd's interpretation of the secret history of WWII as imagined by Dan Brown. Worth the 1,000+ pages.Oh, better than that (although I'm somewhat prejudiced against Brown). I thought Stephenson did an excellent job of writing what various famous events looked like from the inside of a math nerd's head, and there are very few authors who could insert an infodump on the correct way to eat Cap'n Crunch(tm) cereal into a story and make it both relevant and interesting.
Snow Crash was a great deal of fun. I should really read Reamde one of these days, too.
Oh I was thinking more of the ur-myth Holy Grailiness of some parts of the story, which are Mr. Brown's forte. I'm not a big fan of his, I have yet to be able to get through more than three chapters of either of his books. I also have to eventually pick up Reamde some time. But I have Quicksilver in my slush pile, half read, so I should really find the time to get that squared away.
Decided to pick up Magic's Pawn again for the first time in a long while. It is always good to have gay-friendly fantasy around. After than I might finally get around to reading Satan's Circus, which has been collecting dust since I picked it up a long while ago (I completely forgot that I bought it a while back until stumbling across it recently).
Decided to pick up Magic's Pawn again for the first time in a long while. It is always good to have gay-friendly fantasy around. After than I might finally get around to reading Satan's Circus, which has been collecting dust since I picked it up a long while ago (I completely forgot that I bought it a while back until stumbling across it recently).
If you want gay-friendly fantasy take a look a Elizabeth A. Lynne's writing; out of print so far as I know, but totally worth tracking down imnsho.
Decided to pick up Magic's Pawn again for the first time in a long while. It is always good to have gay-friendly fantasy around. After than I might finally get around to reading Satan's Circus, which has been collecting dust since I picked it up a long while ago (I completely forgot that I bought it a while back until stumbling across it recently).If you want gay-friendly fantasy take a look a Elizabeth A. Lynne's writing; out of print so far as I know, but totally worth tracking down imnsho.
There are quite a few used book stores in town; I'll definitely look into them. Thanks.
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All the used book stores that I frequent always have lots of Stephenson, but, alas, as hardcovers or modern trades, they're usually a little pricey. Well, I suppose not if I was only going to buy one book, but that's not how I roll.
Snowcrash has gotten props from Comrade Curtin and Lord Dice, so that's where I'll head next, if the gods of used book stores allow.
Snowcrash is good. You might also like City of Quartz - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Quartz It was written by a teamster.
Sat down and read David Farland`s Wizardborn and Lair of Bones last night. Can`t recommend them really. First novel in the series was good, went downhill fast.
If you want gay-friendly fantasy take a look a Elizabeth A. Lynne's writing; out of print so far as I know, but totally worth tracking down imnsho.
Added to my library queue!
All the used book stores that I frequent always have lots of Stephenson, but, alas, as hardcovers or modern trades, they're usually a little pricey. Well, I suppose not if I was only going to buy one book, but that's not how I roll.
Snowcrash has gotten props from Comrade Curtin and Lord Dice, so that's where I'll head next, if the gods of used book stores allow.
I didn't know there were gods of used bookstores! I'd love to find that archeological dig-site!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/City_of_Quartz It was written by a teamster.
Oh, I didn't know Mike Davis was in the Brotherhood.
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I didn't know there were gods of used bookstores!
Yes! And I burn ox thigh-bones wrapped in fat for them every week to increase the success of my hunt!
And it works: Today I scored
--The Swords Trilogy by Michael Moorcock ($2)
--The Knight and Knave of Swords by Fritz Leiber ($3)
--The Difference Engine by William Gibson & Bruce Sterling ($3 hardcover! Now I can give away my paperback)
--Robespierre and the French Revolution by J.M. Thompson ($1)
Vive le Galt!
