Not signed in (Sign In)
    • CommentAuthorDC
    • CommentTimeAug 16th 2011
     (9362.1)
    It's certainly interesting to read/listen but not as exciting and as the remaining books of ASoIaF. It's lighter, more “relaxed” in terms of plot but worth it even if only for those references.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJ.Brennan
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011 edited
     (9362.2)
    @MaC: Given some of the historical discussions in A Feast for Crows and, more importantly, plot developments in Dance I'd definitely recommend you read the Dunk and Egg stories. The trouble is that there's no place all three are collected together. The stories and the anthologies they're in are: The Hedge Knight (Legends), The SworN Sword (Legends II), and The Mystery Knight (Warriors).

    Having finished A Dance With Dragons, now debating starting Shadow and Claw by Gene Wolf or rereading The Name of the Wind. Feeling very much on a fantasy kick at the moment. Interspersing the fantasy with essays from Hitchens' The Portable Atheist.

    edited: d'oh: Sworn Sword, not Sword Sword.
    •  
      CommentAuthorinfomancer
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011
     (9362.3)
    @DC I've read the 2001 sequels a few times, and I like them well enough as a continuation of the story, but they're not quite as good as the original. Though the Clarke curve of descending quality is not nearly as deep here as in, say, the Rama series. If you really dug 2001, I'd say give them a try.
    • CommentAuthorRenThing
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011
     (9362.4)
    @J.Brennan

    I can, and do, most highly recommend The Name of the Wind.
    • CommentAuthorDC
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011
     (9362.5)
    Thanks infomance, I'll look for the sequels then.
    •  
      CommentAuthorJ.Brennan
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011
     (9362.6)
    @RenThing: I've read both of the Kingkiller books once, but tor.com has a great reread/analysis series of it, peeking through a few of those I feel like I missed so much, so I think my own reread is in order. I succumb to your peer pressure!
    •  
      CommentAuthoroldhat
    • CommentTimeAug 17th 2011 edited
     (9362.7)
    I'm taking a break from Supergods because I think I hit the point where some of the more obscure drugs have started to hit Morrison and, as I've found with a lot of his work, he tends to get out there and I need to take it all in. So my break book is Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. I love that the man still manages to make me smile.
    •  
      CommentAuthorFauxhammer
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2011
     (9362.8)
    Jonathan Strange & Mister Norrell is currently infecting my Kindle.
  1.  (9362.9)
    Finished the first Dark Tower book, I'll read the second and then decide if I want to read them all.

    Right now I'm thoroughly enjoying Look at the birdie by Vonnegut.

    Next up are Choke (Pahlaniuk, coz I like the way he writes), We need to talk about Kevin (Lionel Shriver, because the movie's premisse intrigued me) and East of Eden (Steinbeck, was recommended to me).
    • CommentAuthorAnanzitusq
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2011
     (9362.10)
    I only made it a 150 pages into We Need to Talk About Kevin before giving up, I couldn't stand it
    •  
      CommentAuthorinfomancer
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2011
     (9362.11)
    @oldhat I know exactly what you mean. I thought his explorations of the Golden and Silver Age comics were quite good, but right about where he begins talking about the beginning of the Invisibles he kind of went off the rails a bit. And to me at least, he never really seemed to get back on them for the remainder of the book, which was unfortunate. Your mileage may vary, of course.
  2.  (9362.12)
    Christine Brooke-Rose's Xorandor - Really interesting literary science-fiction about first contact, developing intelligences and programming language.
  3.  (9362.13)
    Half-way into The Birth of Tragedy. Nietzsche as Romantic really quite interesting.
  4.  (9362.14)
    Finished Novahead last night. Thoroughly enjoyed it, and now I know why it's the final Beerlight novel.
    •  
      CommentAuthorinfomancer
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2011
     (9362.15)
    Currently in the middle of Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds and enjoying it more than Pushing Ice so far.

    Also reading Fingerprints of the Gods for zany crackpot doomsday archaeology.
    • CommentAuthorDC
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2011
     (9362.16)
    Sleepyheads by Randal C. Really funny and entertaining reading about a duo of russian sailors stranded in a small island, a talking wolf and a couple. The book is set on a world of dreams where they all have adventures until meeting each other.
    Lucille by Ludovic Debeurme is a book about a relation between anorectic girl and a troubleboy who thought they were lonely until meeting one another and running away to Italy. The book and the characters are well written but I couldn't relate to them. Their attitudes make sense because of their issues and personalities and that's probably where I fail to care about them. The author makes but it all seem too artificial.
    • CommentAuthoricelandbob
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2011
     (9362.17)
    My Autumn reading...

  5.  (9362.18)
    Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung is one of my favourite books of all time. If you've never read it before then I envy your first time experiencing it.

    I just started Geoffrey Household's classic thriller Rogue Male. Usually I'm not too into books with upper-class Englishmen as the protagonists but when it starts with said Englishman attempting to assassinate a dictator apparently for shits and giggles I can get behind that.
    •  
      CommentAuthorscs
    • CommentTimeAug 19th 2011
     (9362.19)
    Finished "A Game of Thrones", about 1/3 of the way thru "Clash of Kings." Based on earlier comments here, I'll hit the Dunk and Egg stories before volume 3 of "Ice and Fire."
    • CommentAuthorsmoggy
    • CommentTimeAug 20th 2011
     (9362.20)
    @ icelandbob I bought Psychotic Reactions as a christmas present for a mate a few years ago. Started leafing through it at home and just couldn't stop. Whatever he was on leaches through the pages, I was a twitching gibbering wreck at the end.Had to go back and buy another copy for him.
    Also Charlie Brooker - laugh out loud piss youself funny and most importantly right about everything. He's regarded as something like a god by me and my son