Books, Books?, Books!, Books...What are YOU reading? aka the WoT, GoT, Orson Scott Card thread

[Souj]

Half way through the first book of the Abhorsen series and it's got a His Dark Materials feel to it- minus the anti-catholic church stuff.

[Zetanio]

Finished Easterization, interesting non-fiction book. I'd recommend it for anyone with even a passing interest in geopolitical landscapes and how the world is changing.

I've also been reading three Lonely Planet guides, finished Tokyo, still have Japan and Italy going. You can get the older versions for free on Kindle via Amazon if you're a Prime member.

[mallister]

got some new 40k stuff. i had heard the carcharadon series was good so i picked up the first book.

yeah, it's pretty good. i polished off Red Tithe, moved on to the short Reaping Time (eh, backstory for a guy we already knew the backstory to, but it was like a dollar) and i'm chewing through Outer Dark right now.

i like these guys. real different take on astartes. Red Tithe has some nice Night Lords action. those guys are always fun at parties.

the stories are set pre-Rift/cicatrix maledictum, at the onset of the tyranid hive fleet: leviathan incursion into imperial space (i.e. shit is about to get real in the most unfortunate way).

[Souj]

got some new 40k stuff. i had heard the carcharadon series was good so i picked up the first book.

I'm still sitting on the newest Caiphus Cain omnibus. Theres so many newer novels and reprints coming out of the black library recently that it's hard to keep up. $25 for an omnibus I'm not sure I'll like is sometimes hard to do and most of the single novel books are poorly priced at 18-25 a piece is real hard to justify. Rogue Trader, Death Watch and Sisters of Battle omnibuses I've had my eye on for a while, well maybe less Sisters of Battle because every other story they've been featured in they've never interested me, quite the opposite in fact.

[Zetanio]

Didn't get to read all the much on vacation but I finished Thirteen by Richard Morgan, pretty solid.

Also finished Planetside by Michael Mammay and Foundryside by Robert Jackson Bennet.

Planetside is a pretty nice military SF book. Has a rough patch or two but I definitely enjoyed reading it.

Foundryside is VERY good. If you're a fan of non-standard fantasy world building and a very unique magic system, hit this up.

[Souj]

I read Bennet's City of Stairs book and thought that was good but never got to the two other books in the trilogy. I'll put Foundryside on my list, maybe pick it up after I finish the third Abhorsen book, the third Broken Earth book and my Caiphus Cain omnibus. Nix's Abhorsen trilogy is pretty original and a good, enjoyable read while Broken Earth by Jemisin is weird because its told in 2nd person perspective but also good- won Hugo award for each of the three books when they were released.

[Andalusian girls]

finished Sapiens by Harari, which purports to be a cursory anthropological examination of human history with a bit of evolutionary biology thrown in but Harari is not much of an anthropologist or a biologist. the widespread acclaim for the book is baffling as his observations trend from the entirely speculative to being infused with things-were-better-when nostalgia, and frequently are simply factually wrong (such as suggesting societies have become more violent over time). it is the worst kind of pop-science and fundamentally not a respectable endeavor.

also finally began Atlas Shrugged but am struggling a bit. Rand has always trended towards didactic puppet shows but the strength of characterization usually made the tale at the least entertaining. here however the scenes are so transparently manipulated to support the characters that embody her worldview the entire enterprise smacks of coercion rather than any kind of exercise in free thought. still, her love of the creative spirit of man is as always infectious.

lastly nearly done with both A People's Tragedy, a sprawling one-volume history of the Russian Revolution, which unlike most histories on the matter (very fortunately) doesn't merely cover the Bolshevik movements of 1917 but also the last years of the Romanov Dynasty + the Civil War, and View With a Grain of Sand, a collection of poetry by the Nobel Laureate Szymborska. both thoroughly excellent. can't imagine the difficulties that would come with translating poetic Polish into Romancey Germanic English but whomstever did so deserves a golden cookie.

[Wulfgang]

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/...gs-of-the-wyld

Book 2 of Nicholas Eames' Kings of the Wyld series came out recently, so read book 1 followed by book 2 over two work trips during the last couple weeks. Huge fan; thought it was really enjoyable. Based a story about a collection of mercs going on adventures with great humor, action, violence, and stellar camaraderie. Highly recommend.

[Zetanio]

finished Sapiens by Harari, which purports to be a cursory anthropological examination of human history with a bit of evolutionary biology thrown in but Harari is not much of an anthropologist or a biologist. the widespread acclaim for the book is baffling as his observations trend from the entirely speculative to being infused with things-were-better-when nostalgia, and frequently are simply factually wrong (such as suggesting societies have become more violent over time). it is the worst kind of pop-science and fundamentally not a respectable endeavor.

also finally began Atlas Shrugged but am struggling a bit. Rand has always trended towards didactic puppet shows but the strength of characterization usually made the tale at the least entertaining. here however the scenes are so transparently manipulated to support the characters that embody her worldview the entire enterprise smacks of coercion rather than any kind of exercise in free thought. still, her love of the creative spirit of man is as always infectious.

lastly nearly done with both A People's Tragedy, a sprawling one-volume history of the Russian Revolution, which unlike most histories on the matter (very fortunately) doesn't merely cover the Bolshevik movements of 1917 but also the last years of the Romanov Dynasty + the Civil War, and View With a Grain of Sand, a collection of poetry by the Nobel Laureate Szymborska. both thoroughly excellent. can't imagine the difficulties that would come with translating poetic Polish into Romancey Germanic English but whomstever did so deserves a golden cookie.

Sapiens is a pile of hot takes and misinformation with some pseudohistory sprinkled on top. I am not shocked that it's popular.

[mallister]

I'm still sitting on the newest Caiphus Cain omnibus. Theres so many newer novels and reprints coming out of the black library recently that it's hard to keep up. $25 for an omnibus I'm not sure I'll like is sometimes hard to do and most of the single novel books are poorly priced at 18-25 a piece is real hard to justify. Rogue Trader, Death Watch and Sisters of Battle omnibuses I've had my eye on for a while, well maybe less Sisters of Battle because every other story they've been featured in they've never interested me, quite the opposite in fact.

i've never read the caiphus cain series. they're supposed to be really good though.

[Eragon]

Not sure if anyone else read the Eragon series (username checks out) as a teen/young adult, but a new collection of short stories is being released at the end of the year.


http://www.shurtugal.com/2018/10/10/...-and-the-worm/

[Zetanio]

I gave up on that pile of turds midway through the third book. That dude needed to get off of Tolkien's dick. Some of the most derivative work I've ever seen in my life.

[Souj]

i've never read the caiphus cain series. they're supposed to be really good though.

They are. Easily my favorite stories and the latest omnibus puts them up to 9 books.

[mallister]

40k folk:

finished Plague War. it was...not great. i kind of liked Dark Imperium (warts and all) and was really looking forward to the follow up. there's a whole section of HERE IS RANDOM TITAN DUDE FIGHTING TITANS LOOK AT THEM GO that could have been completely cut out, or, been in its own book about titan guys fighting titans.

dumb stuff: a whole lot of crazy shit happens, chaos is stupid because it's chaos, bitter custodes are bitter, etc.

there are some good parts. Bobby G loosing his shit and finally getting pissed off, A+. the new saint was cool and handled really well. the battle sisters have an interesting role there, pretty well done.

and the Good News! at the end was a pretty interesting turn of events.

but, all in all it just wasn't great. for a book detailing the contemporary timeline they are trying to sell, they really needed to bring the A game here. i give this one a C+ and i feel that's being generous.

[Zetanio]

My last few books:

Thirteen - Richard Morgan

Pretty solid, the dude wrote Altered Carbon so if you dig that style of mil-cyberpunk kinda stuff with a splash of genetics, go for it. I would definitely read another book in this vein.

The Consuming Fire - John Scalzi

The second book of the Interdependency series. I really enjoyed it. The series develops into a much larger story and we see other viewpoints and much larger settings come into play. It's become more of sci-fi worldbuilder (universebuilder really) than it was previously. Would recommend.

[Bweigelt]

It took me second to remember Black Man is called Thirteen in the US. Morgan's new book Thin Air is set shortly after Thirteen I believe, not sure if it's the same style though.

[Zetanio]

Oh shit that came out yesterday. I'm getting it now.

[mallister]

another Morgan series? sold.

also, charles stross' Laundry Files has the next book out on Oct 30, The Labyrinth Index.

[Cantih]

The second book of the Interdependency series.

Ooooh, wasn't keeping track, will get to it once my computer is up again.

[Souj]

So after loving Revalation Space and not liking Redemption Ark I decided not to go on with the next sequel. Well, today I found Absolution Gap at a used bookstore for $2 so I picked it up anyway. No idea when I'll end up getting to it though.

I also picked up books 2 and 3 of the Powder Mage trilogy. They didnt have #1 so I'll pick that up from Amazon.