Community Book club - What are you reading and what have you read recently

[Wibblewozzer]

Just wanted to update that I got into The Black Prism really quickly. Much more quickly than 100 pages. I'm around 40% into it right now and it's had some good plot developments and I'm curious to see where it goes.

If anything my only "complaint", if it can be called that, is that with the different characters it takes a bit long to return back to characters I want to see moved along their story.

 

[Gevin]

Just wanted to update that I got into The Black Prism really quickly. Much more quickly than 100 pages. I'm around 40% into it right now and it's had some good plot developments and I'm curious to see where it goes.

If anything my only "complaint", if it can be called that, is that with the different characters it takes a bit long to return back to characters I want to see moved along their story.

You may be happy to hear this

 

[Wibblewozzer]

You may be happy to hear this

Oh, I thought it was all out and complete. Glad I won't have long to wait for the fifth book it seems. I'm reading a bit slowly between other things so it'll take me some time to get there anyhow.

Edit: Wikipedia says August 29, 2019. If that's right then I should be done way before that, yikes.

 

[Atraveller]

I’m back on The Culture series.

Currently reading excession.

 

[Kuro]

I'll reveal that the amount of books I've read after school can be counted with 0 hands, but this Christmas I got "Ikigai" as present.
Book about secret to long life may be your reason for existence.

 

[Pranooy]

I'll reveal that the amount of books I've read after school can be counted with 0 hands, but this Christmas I got "Ikigai" as present.
Book about secret to long life may be your reason for existence.

How long has that been? I mean since school.

Post automatically merged: Dec 30, 2018

Just wanted to update that I got into The Black Prism really quickly. Much more quickly than 100 pages. I'm around 40% into it right now and it's had some good plot developments and I'm curious to see where it goes.

If anything my only "complaint", if it can be called that, is that with the different characters it takes a bit long to return back to characters I want to see moved along their story.

Ohh nice. Glad to hear that u like it.
I started First Law World #4: Best Served Cold and Lightbringer is on hiatus. Going to finish Best Served Cold soon and get to Lightbringer, coz I am dying to know what happens next.

Post automatically merged: Dec 30, 2018

You may be happy to hear this

Gevin? Gavin?
Lord Prism is here.

 

[Fluffynov]

Currently cycling between 12 rules for life by jordan peterson, rich dad poor dad by robert kiyosaki and words of radiance (audible) by brandon sanderson

 

[Mivey]

Anyone here also familiar with the Rivers of London series? It's from Ben Aaronovitch, a former Doctor Who writer. It's essentially a police procedural, except with a magical twist. A bit Men in Black, except there isn't a whole agency, it's just two people, and it's magic instead of aliens.
It's also very clear that it's written by someone who really loves London and knows a lot of its history and architecture, as those elements are everywhere in the books.

I recommend the first book to anybody, it's a great introduction into this world, and will only let you hooked for more, at least it did with me.

Currently reading the 7th novel, Lies Sleeping.

And the books still feel interesting, and fresh, so that's something. The only bad thing that would come to my mind is that it's pretty clear that he makes up the plot as goes along, which surprisingly, isn't as bad as it sounds. It makes for some crazy surprises, which do turn out to make a lot of sense in the end.

 

[einstellung]

Read 36 books this year. Here's my quick attempt at an awards write-up.

Best Fiction of the Year:

• The Three-Body Problem -- A pretty quick read for a 500+ page monster. Exciting sci-fi with cool xeno-sociological vignettes, very cool alien warfare tech, a compelling cult, a neat Ender's Game-esque videogame thingy and a good depiction of first-contact. Also make's me want to learn more about the Cultural Revolution in China.
• The Dispossessed -- A book that actually depicts a plausible leftist society. The back third is a bit weak, but the book is affecting. I felt self-conscious using possessive pronouns for a week after reading.
• The Great Divorce -- It's a fun exploration of a possible incarnation of heaven. I enjoyed it very much for the imaginative ride even if I don't agree ideologically or in belief with Lewis.
• The Fifth Science -- A Youtuber's sophomore short-story effort. It's better than his first. It didn't quite all come together, but I really liked how the stories all told the history of a single civilization across large swathes of time. A lot of fun ideas here. He also sees the teleportation problem for what it is, which it sometimes seems as if surprisingly few people (on the internet) do.

Best Non-Fiction of the Year:

• Barking Up the Wrong Tree -- This is my kind of self-help book. It's like an amalgamation of a self-help book, a pop-sci, pop-sociology and pop-psychology book. It's has motivational rhetoric and those sweet morsels of data and dives in to studies. Very satisfying. I imagine why this type of self-help is so rare is that it takes a lot more work (research) to produce, instead of just farting out aphorisms and half-made-up anecdotes.
• The Disaster Artist -- I listened to this memoir as an audiobook. The oral delivery really strengthens the story. The voice of Tommy is great. An interesting portrait of a damaged, confused man, who may be a minor-monster, but is also still a human who just wants a friend.

Weakest Fiction of the Year:

• Kraken -- I hesitate to call this book bad, but it has problems. It's like a cantankerous, noire, Cthulhu-inspired Harry Potter, but written for adults. While Harry Potter is perhaps over-explained, it is at least coherent. Kraken under-explains its world yet is 500+ pages and it's convoluted. The book tries to cram too much in to it's run-time. It does have a few awesome components: the comeuppance to one particular antagonist is an incredible scene, there are a handful of really cool aspects to the magic of the world and one of the henchman has a very compelling cross to bear and a great redemption arc.

Weakest Non-Fiction of the Year:

• Chaos Monkeys -- A betrayal of expectations is probably what most damaged my impression of this book. I was hoping for an expose, but it was mostly an overly-long memoir. Too little insider information, too much a somewhat boring record of a jerk's life.
• Religious Rehab: A Memoir -- This is the worst memoir I've ever read. It was like reading a high-schooler's journal that's nothing but lines and lines of "and then I did this, and then I went here, and then I did this, and then I ate an apple and then I went to sleep..." Rather than specifics or philosophizing regarding a major event, it's simply mentioned and the author immediately moves on to his next "and then I did this..." Extrapolating on what a crossroads means to the author is a very rare occurence, and even when it does, very brief. The author also comes off as a clueless idiot with no self-awareness or sense of responsibility (even though he has kids).
• Custom Reality and You -- I want to like Peter Coffin, and I do. I like some of his YouTube videos. But there's something about the way he writes that I have a hard time following. I feel as if I never quite know what he's talking about. It seems this books assumes a lot of knowledge I don't possess, or his references to outside material are too obfuscated for me to discern. His signature observation of Validation Gangs is fantastic, but in all else, I can't follow what he's talking about. He said he wrote this book 45 minutes at a time at 1AM and it reads that way. I'll still watch your videos Peter, but you need to hire an editor.

• Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About You -- I'm a sucker for a pop-science book peppered with studies, data and analysis. This one's analysis and data is simply far too sparse for my tastes. The author seems to be going somewhere interesting with his points and then the idea/chapter is abruptly concluded instead.

 

[Kuro]

How long has that been? I mean since school.

Post automatically merged: Dec 30, 2018

Ohh nice. Glad to hear that u like it.
I started First Law World #4: Best Served Cold and Lightbringer is on hiatus. Going to finish Best Served Cold soon and get to Lightbringer, coz I am dying to know what happens next.

Post automatically merged: Dec 30, 2018

Gevin? Gavin?
Lord Prism is here.

At least 10 years, could be few more. I like reading books if its good enough that I can use my imagination to make movie of it in my mind but for some reason havent found any I'd like to read, just remember one book about witches I had to read for book report was fun.

 

[Pranooy]

Read 36 books this year. Here's my quick attempt at an awards write-up.

Best Fiction of the Year:

• The Three-Body Problem -- A pretty quick read for a 500+ page monster. Exciting sci-fi with cool xeno-sociological vignettes, very cool alien warfare tech, a compelling cult, a neat Ender's Game-esque videogame thingy and a good depiction of first-contact. Also make's me want to learn more about the Cultural Revolution in China.
• The Dispossessed -- A book that actually depicts a plausible leftist society. The back third is a bit weak, but the book is affecting. I felt self-conscious using possessive pronouns for a week after reading.
• The Great Divorce -- It's a fun exploration of a possible incarnation of heaven. I enjoyed it very much for the imaginative ride even if I don't agree ideologically or in belief with Lewis.
• The Fifth Science -- A Youtuber's sophomore short-story effort. It's better than his first. It didn't quite all come together, but I really liked how the stories all told the history of a single civilization across large swathes of time. A lot of fun ideas here. He also sees the teleportation problem for what it is, which it sometimes seems as if surprisingly few people (on the internet) do.

Best Non-Fiction of the Year:

• Barking Up the Wrong Tree -- This is my kind of self-help book. It's like an amalgamation of a self-help book, a pop-sci, pop-sociology and pop-psychology book. It's has motivational rhetoric and those sweet morsels of data and dives in to studies. Very satisfying. I imagine why this type of self-help is so rare is that it takes a lot more work (research) to produce, instead of just farting out aphorisms and half-made-up anecdotes.
• The Disaster Artist -- I listened to this memoir as an audiobook. The oral delivery really strengthens the story. The voice of Tommy is great. An interesting portrait of a damaged, confused man, who may be a minor-monster, but is also still a human who just wants a friend.

stripped.

Pretty cool dude. I only read like 8 books, since i only really got into reading post-July. Going to do at least 40 this year.
I only read Fantasy these days. I really can't read anything else, especially non-fiction stuff.

Post automatically merged: Jan 1, 2019

At least 10 years, could be few more. I like reading books if its good enough that I can use my imagination to make movie of it in my mind but for some reason havent found any I'd like to read, just remember one book about witches I had to read for book report was fun.

Do yourself a favour and read First Law trilogy or any Brandon Sanderson books. hehe.

 

[Fluffynov]

Pretty cool dude. I only read like 8 books, since i only really got into reading post-July. Going to do at least 40 this year.
I only read Fantasy these days. I really can't read anything else, especially non-fiction stuff.

Post automatically merged: Jan 1, 2019

Do yourself a favour and read First Law trilogy or any Brandon Sanderson books. hehe.

I second the Brandon Sanderson recommendation. I finished way of kings earlier this year and am currently listening to words of radiance. It's so good.

 

[Mivey]

Pretty cool dude. I only read like 8 books, since i only really got into reading post-July. Going to do at least 40 this year.
I only read Fantasy these days. I really can't read anything else, especially non-fiction stuff.

You really started reading as a hobby since earlier this year? Interesting, most people I know have either "always" been reading (basically since they were old enough to read and pick up books on their own), or never touched anything they didn't need to read for school or a job.
What made you start it as a hobby? A really great book?

 

[Pranooy]

You really started reading as a hobby since earlier this year? Interesting, most people I know have either "always" been reading (basically since they were old enough to read and pick up books on their own), or never touched anything they didn't need to read for school or a job.
What made you start it as a hobby? A really great book?

I have been reading since i was old enough to read, but the past few years i fell out of it mainly because of gaming and work. This year since my travel to work is like 30-40 mins, i started listening to The Blade Itself (First Law #1) on audible (My first audible listen btw). I loved it and ended up buying 6 more audiobooks of the First Law World. Also bough hard copies of many other books.

One of my main resolutions for the new year is play less and read more. hehe.

 

[Atraveller]

You really started reading as a hobby since earlier this year? Interesting, most people I know have either "always" been reading (basically since they were old enough to read and pick up books on their own), or never touched anything they didn't need to read for school or a job.
What made you start it as a hobby? A really great book?

That’s so true. If I’m ever going to have children, the first thing I do is to stuff them with books. Fuck raising your child with an iPad.

I could never get my sister to read no matter what.

 

[Milena]

I started a new job a little more than a year ago and it's a 50-60 minutes ride to work now. I never would have accepted without audiobooks.
And since I can't resist sales (one of the worst things I got from my mother), I now have 162 audiobooks.

Right now I'm going through The Lost Fleet series by Jack Campbell and The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell. I did read The Warlod Chronicles years ago, so I knew I loved it, but last time was in Italian. I must say that the narrator for this series is great, I'm sad they didn't use him for the entire series of The Last Kingdom as well.

And The Lost Fleet is pretty nice, I've just finished the second book this morning

 

[Stevey]

 

[Pranooy]

I finished this 2 weeks ago and technically it is the first book i finished this year. It is the first 'first law' standalone book set after First law trilogy. I would say i liked it overall, but not as much as first law trilogy books. Totally wasn't a fan of the protagonist, but thankfully the insanely good cast made up for it.


Since then, i started reading "Final Empire" (Mistborn #1) and "Theft of the Swords" (Riyria Revelations #1-2). Technically listening to audio book and enjoying both so far.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I just finished The Black Prism and purchased the next book in the Lightbringer series. I really enjoyed that first book, but in some ways I wish more happened at the end. I know there's just plenty of set up since it's a five book series but other than the very, very end it didn't really strike me as feeling like the events were super impactful.

For people that have read the book this probably sounds crazy because of the event that makes up the last quarter of the book and resulting events. I suppose I just expected some other sort of big revelation for the characters in the world.

Looking forward to read more. I wanted to bump up the amount of reading I do so I expanded my Goodreads profile and marked my goal of 25 books for this year.

 

[Yakkue]

I'm currently reading 4 3 2 1 by Paul Auster, am about halfway through. The book is about 4 possible alternate lifes of Archie Ferguson, and since the different versions aren't narrated one after each other, but rather split by decades - it can get a little confusing. The premise of the book is really interesting, but I can't help but feel this would have worked better as a shorter story, rather than a 1000+ page book.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Book 2 of 25 complete for 2019 - The Blinding Knife by Brent Weeks (The Blinding Knife (Lightbringer, #2) by Brent Weeks)

This is book two of four available books in the Lightbringer with the final book expected out in August. It’s hard for me to rate the book since I have two more available and in a series I usually consider rating them comparative to one another. So far I’ve really liked the series and I’m curious to see where things continue to go. It’s nice that it doesn’t really feel like there’s been filler as things move along at a quick clip but I do think there’s been a couple spots where characters act purposely dumber than they should just for the story to go the way the author has planned instead of it feeling entirely natural.

With how much has happened in the first two books it’s tough to imagine what else could happen to fill three more books. That’ll be fun to find out.

 

[Gevin]

Finally started to read again and I'm going with Assassin's Apprentice from Robin Hobb

Heard great things about her work over the years and now it's time

 

[Milena]

Finally started to read again and I'm going with Assassin's Apprentice from Robin Hobb
Heard great things about her work over the years and now it's time

I've read this around a decade ago, so I'll probably have to read (or listen!) through them again, but I remember that I liked them!

Anyway, almost finished with The Lost Fleet, I've got around 7 hours left
I think I'll go straight to The Lost Fleet Beyond the Frontier after this, as I'm really loving the characters, the story and the narrator is really great.

 

[Stevey]

 

[Ex-User (307)]

I've been slowly finishing Volume 4 of The Wandering Inn, which is a web serial for anyone not familiar.

I have a real love-hate relationship with this author.

 

[Xagarath]

I'm reading The Gutter Prayer, which so far seems like Fritz Leiber's Lankhmar stories crossed with the New Weird.

 

[EdwardTivrusky]

Currently reading through naval and submarine thrillers by Patrick Robinson after picking them up months ago when i was on a bit of a COMANO binge. Definitely products of their time in the mid 90's but they're keeping me entertained and i picked them up second hand for next to nothing. I have four of them to read Nimitz Class, Kilo Class, HMS Unseen & USS Seawolf. Think Tom Clancy but less 'actiony' so far.

 

[Pranooy]

I finished reading "Final Empire" (Mistborn #1) and Crown conspiracy which is the first book in "Theft of the Swords" (Riyria Revelations #1-2). I really enjoyed both of these, but kinda hated the fact that both weren't massive epic fantasies with tons of characters/cities. Both these books are set around a single city with a dozen significant characters. Nothing wrong with an epic fantasy with a smaller scope, but i just prefer bigger scope.

Anyways i decided to start "Kings of the Wyld (The Band #1) by Nicholas Eames" and "The Well of Ascension (Mistborn #2) by Brandon Sanderson".

 

[Wibblewozzer]

Book #3 of 25 complete - The Broken Eye (Lightbringer, #3) by Brent Weeks

This is also book three of The Lightbringer series. I thought this book in the series was littered with characters acting slightly out of character. I was still entertained and I'm already about 1/3 done with the next book, but I couldn't help but to go "...huh" with a few choices characters would make. It's a little difficult to talk about later books in a series without feeling like stuff could be spoiled by anyone interested in checking it out. I do recommend people give the first book The Black Prism a shot as the magic system is pretty neat. It reminds me in ways to Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker magic system.

 

[Pranooy]

Book #3 of 25 complete - The Broken Eye (Lightbringer, #3) by Brent Weeks

This is also book three of The Lightbringer series. I thought this book in the series was littered with characters acting slightly out of character. I was still entertained and I'm already about 1/3 done with the next book, but I couldn't help but to go "...huh" with a few choices characters would make. It's a little difficult to talk about later books in a series without feeling like stuff could be spoiled by anyone interested in checking it out. I do recommend people give the first book The Black Prism a shot as the magic system is pretty neat. It reminds me in ways to Brandon Sanderson's Warbreaker magic system.

Damn, you are at book 4 already. Even tho i recommended this series to you, I haven't read anything since then which is 3/4th of Black Prism.
I should get back to it.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I finished reading "Final Empire" (Mistborn #1) and Crown conspiracy which is the first book in "Theft of the Swords" (Riyria Revelations #1-2). I really enjoyed both of these, but kinda hated the fact that both weren't massive epic fantasies with tons of characters/cities. Both these books are set around a single city with a dozen significant characters. Nothing wrong with an epic fantasy with a smaller scope, but i just prefer bigger scope.

You'll likely enjoy the Mistborn books as they continue then. It was actually why The Final Empire was my favorite of the three with each being less interesting to me. I liked the more intimate scope in The Final Empire and with each successive book growing in scope I cared less about the events taking place and it just felt a little "anime" to me in that things scaled up exponentially to feel a little outlandish in comparison to the prior book.

I hope that doesn't seem like a spoiler for you. I'm being purposely vague both by choice and also due to it being years since I read them. I just recall really liking the first book the best. I think I'm in the minority, though.

Post automatically merged: Feb 3, 2019

Damn, you are at book 4 already. Even tho i recommended this series to you, I haven't read anything since then which is 3/4th of Black Prism.
I should get back to it.

I had a week of being stuck in a hotel in the Midwest last week when the weather was turds. Outside of going to the office to work I just ordered food in and read, mostly. My pace will slow down now that I'm back home but I am fairly eager to finish the fourth book.

And with me so close to finishing all the released books in the series I also may speed up because I usually start looking forward to moving on to something else and I've been building a list for the 25 book goal this year. Next up is the last Robin Hobb trilogy but I'm slowly building up the full list of 25 at goodreads.com: Nicholas G’s 'to-read' books on Goodreads (13 books)

 

[Gevin]

Sent you a friend request Wibble

I finished Assassin's Apprentice, really liked though all the doggos made me sad

Now onto the sequel!

 

[Panda Pedinte]

I've read some books since my last update on this thread:

Those above are The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet and The Andromeda Strain and both were enjoyable readings. Currently I just started reading Dune and even though I'm still in the beginning the plot already got me, plus the whole universe build by the author is so different from what I've already read in the genre.

 

[Pranooy]

Any of you read the Wheel of Time books? I bought the "Eye of the World". But now i'm having second thoughts about reading the book and thinking of getting the audio books instead, since i don't think i'll get enough time to sit and read all these 14 books.


Other than that i'm reading three books currently. (Reading Dune and Listening to the other two)

 

[Dec]

Currently reading The Witch Elm by Tana French and The Demon-Haunted World by Carl Sagan.

The Witch Elm is a weird one because I've always wanted to read Tana French, and I should be reading the Dublin Murder Squad books, but this book is new and a standalone and the library had it so here I am.

It's very well written thus far. Seems slightly mundane but the writing is carrying it. Hoping it goes a more interesting direction.

The Demon-Haunted World is very interesting, but I'm struggling to understand why it was so prevalent in a "books that changed your life" discussion I read before picking it up. It is so far just Carl Sagan presenting some bogus psuedoscience and then talking about all the reasons you shouldn't believe it and how harmful it is that some people do. He is a very entertaining person though.

Post automatically merged: Feb 19, 2019

Any of you read the Wheel of Time books? I bought the "Eye of the World". But now i'm having second thoughts about reading the book and thinking of getting the audio books instead, since i don't think i'll get enough time to sit and read all these 14 books.


Other than that i'm reading three books currently. (Reading Dune and Listening to the other two)

Michael J. Sullivan is great. Just pure entertainment and with such consistency. Hollow World and Theft of Swords are really the only books that I could see someone bouncing off of, but in the case of Theft of Swords it improves so quickly, and the rest of the series is fantastic.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I'm a day away from finishing The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer, #4) by Brent Weeks. Last I saw August is still the expected release date for the final book.

My current plans are to start up the latest Robin Hobb trilogy but I may put something else ahead of it if something else on my reading list is on sale on Kindle. I'll check shortly. I'm liking The Lightbringer series a lot, and the final book should be nuts, but I'm also looking forward to jumping into something different.

Edit: Thoughts on what I should start next? I'm actually fairly open between the following series:

Mistborn: The Alloy Era Series by Brandon Sanderson
The Book of the New Sun Series by Gene Wolfe
The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb

 

[Gevin]

I'm a day away from finishing The Blood Mirror (Lightbringer, #4) by Brent Weeks. Last I saw August is still the expected release date for the final book.

My current plans are to start up the latest Robin Hobb trilogy but I may put something else ahead of it if something else on my reading list is on sale on Kindle. I'll check shortly. I'm liking The Lightbringer series a lot, and the final book should be nuts, but I'm also looking forward to jumping into something different.

Edit: Thoughts on what I should start next? I'm actually fairly open between the following series:

Mistborn: The Alloy Era Series by Brandon Sanderson
The Book of the New Sun Series by Gene Wolfe
The Fitz and The Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb

Well I did rec you BotNS already but I can't stress how much I love that series enough

 

[Tizoc]

Home - Warhammer Adventures

The first 2 books are out now. I splurged and got the audiobooks and digital epubs :V

Gonna listen to the audio books since at least the 40K one is narrated by David Tennant

 

[Dec]

David Tennant

say WHAT now

 

[Tizoc]

say WHAT now

David Tennant has narrated various audiobooks such as Doctor Who and How to Train Your Dragon.

 

[Dec]

David Tennant has narrated various audiobooks such as Doctor Who and How to Train Your Dragon.

I don't really do audiobooks. Also doesn't seem like he has narrated anything I am interested in. I'm very sad.

 

[OSatan]

Finished Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

Damn fine book top to bottom, the one now I will toss when the "but his endings" people come.

I was going to finally do the full Dark Tower interconnected universe read (with a reread of the series included) but I'm itching for some Scyfy and the nice post on resetera about the Culture Series got me hyped or I could also go full old school fantasy and finally read Lord Dunsany's work...

what to read, what to read....

any opinions?

 

[Dec]

Finished Pet Sematary by Stephen King.

Damn fine book top to bottom, the one now I will toss when the "but his endings" people come.

I was going to finally do the full Dark Tower interconnected universe read (with a reread of the series included) but I'm itching for some Scyfy and the nice post on resetera about the Culture Series got me hyped or I could also go full old school fantasy and finally read Lord Dunsany's work...

what to read, what to read....

any opinions?

I'll probably read this as my next King book because I'm a sucker for adaptions for some stupid reason.

Even though I've wanted to read The Stand for a while and haven't got around to it.

 

[OSatan]

I'll probably read this as my next King book because I'm a sucker for adaptions for some stupid reason.

Even though I've wanted to read The Stand for a while and haven't got around to it.

Def read Pet Sematary first, it will leave you wanting more King goodness.

The Stand is a monster of a book and it will leave you wanting to cleanse, literally that book is filthy!

I don't know if you can still find the edited release but go with the uncut and expanded version the best parts are the ones they restored.

 

[Dec]

Def read Pet Sematary first, it will leave you wanting more King goodness.

The Stand is a monster of a book and it will leave you wanting to cleanse, literally that book is filthy!

I don't know if you can still find the edited release but go with the uncut and expanded version the best parts are the ones they restored.

Maybe, we'll see. I've read quite a bit of King and usually I'm pretty iffy on it. Still looking for a great King book, and The Stand seemed like it had the best chance of wowing me.

 

[Gevin]

Now onto the sequel!

Finished this one. Again, I loved it even though Fitz feels like he makes all the dumb decisions possible and I hate Regal so much

Also Nighteyes

Gonna take a break to play Arcanum but I'm excited to continue reading this series

 

[OSatan]

Done with the first novel of Discworld.

The Colour of Magic + The Light Fantastic

ehhhh…..really funny and well written with a nice fresh style even after all this years but way to much Deux Ex Machina literally and figuratively. Nothing of consequence happens, its just writing to move the plot forward to an obscure joke.

The problem with satire is that if the body of your work uses the same points you are mocking it's not clever, it's just a bad reflection.

It was enjoyable to see where a lot of jokes came from finally but I will take a break from the series, to much for me to keep going.

When I come back I would probably try the "witches" series, everything I hear points that it would be more my cup of tea.

 

[Wibblewozzer]

OSatan That was largely my feeling on the series when I read the first book decades ago. But that's also my main issue with the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy books and everyone adores them. Maybe absurdist humor just isn't for me (in writing, at least).

Finished The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun #1) which is book one of five of The Book of the New Sun series but 1 of 12 for the total Solar Cycle series? I think that's made up of three series that are all in the same universe but I'm not sure how much they're directly tied together?

Mixed feelings but I'll keep going (somewhat because I bought the five book set for the value). I started the first book not really caring for its storytelling. It dropped being overly descriptive finally and started moving events along and having an actual direction so I got into it and that largely kept up. I don't like dream sequences, or scenes that feel like they're written purposely obtuse, and this book has those sprinkled in with a lead character that doesn't seem to question anything so nothing feels like it makes any real sense. The ending (of which that's being courteous to call it that) would have been an insult if the books were new and this was the only one out with no knowledge there would be a second book. Not only was there zero closure or any sort of rising climax with a resolution but it also just ends abruptly. I thought there would be one more chapter but as the story is plodding along it ends within a page right as an event happens. Like something is suddenly happening and two paragraphs later it's narrator going "I"ll stop this now but I assure you my adventure was just beginning". Okay, fuck you.

Oh, and the author has a completely ridiculous Afterwords at the end of the book where he seemingly throws himself into the fiction of the world? I don't even know.

Anyhow, second book already started and it at least feels like it more quickly moves into actual storytelling but in typical fashion it starts kind of randomly but I'm game to see how he gets around to explaining how things got to where they are now.

 

[Le Pertti]

I read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and quite liked it! Now I wonder if there are any other good books about video games?

 

[Wibblewozzer]

I read Blood, Sweat, and Pixels and quite liked it! Now I wonder if there are any other good books about video games?

It's definitely aged now but I thought The Ultimate History of Video Games was a really interesting read that taught me a lot of things I didn't know at the time. But the book first came out in 2001 and I believe had an updated edition around 2010 so go in aware that it'll stop with something like "And the GameCube and Xbox are on the horizon!" or something like that. Or at least I seem to recall it was something like that.

I know Game Over, Press Start to Continue was always well regarded in going through Nintendo's history but again it's quite old in relation to where we are now so don't expect it to be anywhere close to the modern generations.

Lastly, Boss Fight Books (Boss Fight Books * Great Books on Classic Video Games * EarthBound ZZT) has a load of fairly short books about specific games so that may be interesting to look into. I keep putting them off but one of these days I'll try one to see if I like their style and maybe go through them all.