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

[Tagus]

Now that I don't play MMO's anymore, I finally have time to read. Grabbed this off the shelf to start with for some reason... forgot how good it was.

[Kipling]

Just finished reading through the Chronicles of Prydain again. Probably gonna re-read the Inheritance Cycle next for when the new book hits in November..

Spoiler: show

I feel old.

[Kerberoz]

holyfuckthisisawesome

Life in the solar system is wiped out by R-bombs in the first chapter.

[WahiGuard]

The Story of B. Daniel Quinn

[nicholai]

Just finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, really enjoyed it.

[aduidarnenye]

Just finished Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card, really enjoyed it.

I don't understand why so many people liked Ender's Game. I mean, it was gimmicky with having children fighting wars and the whole space satellite was a bit silly. It was super sexist (girls didn't usually make it to the school and only the girl failed in the end) and Ender spent the whole time whining about Peter, even though his last interaction with him was when he was 4 (he continues whining about Peter throughout the rest of the series too). I suppose it appeals to boys in the whole war thing, but I felt it was pushing a political and religious agenda (especially after learning more about Orson Scott Card). I think it would have probably stood much better as a single novel rather than a whole series.

[WahiGuard]

I don't understand why so many people liked Ender's Game. I mean, it was gimmicky with having children fighting wars and the whole space satellite was a bit silly. It was super sexist (girls didn't usually make it to the school and only the girl failed in the end) and Ender spent the whole time whining about Peter, even though his last interaction with him was when he was 4 (he continues whining about Peter throughout the rest of the series too). I suppose it appeals to boys in the whole war thing, but I felt it was pushing a political and religious agenda (especially after learning more about Orson Scott Card). I think it would have probably stood much better as a single novel rather than a whole series.

Ya and OSC wrote the Advent Rising game and we all know how that turned out. On second thought, maybe not because I`m pretty sure I am the only one who even remembers that game >.>

On topic; Manufacturing Consent by Noam Chomsky and Ed Hermen.

[MaachaQ]

I was in the mood for something different, so I have been reading (as audiobooks) the Outlander series by Diana Gabaldon. It's billed as a "romance" series, but it has fantasy elements (time travel) and is largely historical fiction. I've never really liked authors who torture their characters, which this series has a LOT of, but overall it's rather enjoyable. Definitely going back to either hard Sci-Fi or Fantasy after this though...

[Qalbert]

fwiw, the Shadow series is more enjoyable than the Ender series. But then I love Bean, so it may just be me.

[Brill Weave]

I did not like the Ender series at all. I thought it was overrated and undeserving of all the blind praise. Just finished up reading King of Plagues. Decent read, just wasn't as good as the first book in the series.

[aduidarnenye]

My favourite science fiction series has to be Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat series. I first read it at a young, impressionable age and Harrison's Humanist ways imprinted themselves upon me.

[Mellema]

I did not like the Ender series at all. I thought it was overrated and undeserving of all the blind praise.

You may not have liked it and that's fine. But both Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo award, and Xenocide was also nominated. I would not call the collected opinion of the World Science Fiction Society "blind praise".

[Jaybar]

Recently began the Wheel of Time novels by Robert Jordan. Currently on the 7th book and I'm enjoying it a lot.

Besides finishing the main Dune series by Frank Herbert (and lastly by his son) - which was beyond amazing for its political/economical/religious based themes - I started to delve into some Michael Crichton novels, starting with Andromeda Strain. I haven't really gotten much into it (Day 1 still) but I hear it's supposed to be a great novel, so hope that doesn't let me down.

On the subject of Michael Crichton, does anyone have any suggestions from him besides Jurassic Park?

Also, recommendation: Book of Atrus (Myst prequel) - if you are a fan of the Myst game, you should enjoy this novel. It's short but the adventure and problem-solving kept me reading. Very visually appealing as well with great descriptions of worlds and environments.

[Tyche]

Anyone registered their books on goodreads.com? Here's a listing of everything I have on my shelf. 37 Stephen King novels, although there's a few more that's not listed because I forgot what they were, and I don't have them at the moment, plus some other misc stuff. Home shelf is full, need a new shelf so I can get more books...or I suppose I could donate them all and just transfer them to my kindle, but that's no fun.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...93?per_page=75

[Guyverarmor]

You may not have liked it and that's fine. But both Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo award, and Xenocide was also nominated. I would not call the collected opinion of the World Science Fiction Society "blind praise".

Agreed. I liked the series very much. Just got done readidng "Ender's Shadow" which shows the series from bean's point of view.

[Brill Weave]

You may not have liked it and that's fine. But both Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo award, and Xenocide was also nominated. I would not call the collected opinion of the World Science Fiction Society "blind praise".

I should have elaborated. I'm aware of the awards that Card has received regarding the series. I'm referring to the blind praise of most readers. But as we all know, opinions are like assholes.

[aduidarnenye]

You may not have liked it and that's fine. But both Ender's Game and Speaker for the Dead won the Hugo award, and Xenocide was also nominated. I would not call the collected opinion of the World Science Fiction Society "blind praise".

The books were extremely well written, I'll give them that. I did not like the themes involved and felt the books to be everything I wrote above.

Forrest Gump got the best movie Oscar up against Pulp Fiction so the "authorities" can't always be right.

Anyone registered their books on goodreads.com? Here's a listing of everything I have on my shelf. 37 Stephen King novels, although there's a few more that's not listed because I forgot what they were, and I don't have them at the moment, plus some other misc stuff. Home shelf is full, need a new shelf so I can get more books...or I suppose I could donate them all and just transfer them to my kindle, but that's no fun.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...93?per_page=75

This looks good, will have to work on mine! Might take a while.

[Mellema]

On the subject of Michael Crichton, does anyone have any suggestions from him besides Jurassic Park?

My favorite Crichton book is probably The Andromeda Strain. Others I really liked were Airframe, Prey, and Timeline.

My favourite science fiction series has to be Harry Harrison's The Stainless Steel Rat series. I first read it at a young, impressionable age and Harrison's Humanist ways imprinted themselves upon me.

You should check out the Star Risk series by Chris Bunch. Not quite as over-the-top, but still humorous and exciting.

Anyone registered their books on goodreads.com? Here's a listing of everything I have on my shelf. 37 Stephen King novels, although there's a few more that's not listed because I forgot what they were, and I don't have them at the moment, plus some other misc stuff. Home shelf is full, need a new shelf so I can get more books...or I suppose I could donate them all and just transfer them to my kindle, but that's no fun.

http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...93?per_page=75

Nice website, thanks for the link. I just registered and added a few hundred books to my list. My problem is last time I counted I had over 2000 books, going to take a while to add all of them. I have Kindle also, but I buy most of my books from used book stores. Also, they need to work on their pricing, since you can still often find the books cheaper new than the e-versions.

[Kerberoz]

Nice site; off the top of my head:
http://www.goodreads.com/review/list...te&sort=rating

[Myrrh_Quetz]

I picked up The Way Of Kings last week and am just about to finish it. Only 200 pages left. Fucking love this book and Kaladin is one badass mother fucker.